Occupational Employment and Wages, May 2020

53-0000 Transportation and Material Moving Occupations (Major Group)

Transportation and Material Moving Occupations comprises the following occupations: Aircraft Cargo Handling Supervisors; First-Line Supervisors of Transportation and Material Moving Workers, Except Aircraft Cargo Handling Supervisors; Airline Pilots, Copilots, and Flight Engineers; Commercial Pilots; Air Traffic Controllers; Airfield Operations Specialists; Flight Attendants; Ambulance Drivers and Attendants, Except Emergency Medical Technicians; Driver/Sales Workers; Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers; Light Truck Drivers; Bus Drivers, Transit and Intercity; Passenger Vehicle Drivers, Except Bus Drivers, Transit and Intercity; Motor Vehicle Operators, All Other; Locomotive Engineers; Rail Yard Engineers, Dinkey Operators, and Hostlers; Railroad Brake, Signal, and Switch Operators and Locomotive Firers; Railroad Conductors and Yardmasters; Subway and Streetcar Operators; Rail Transportation Workers, All Other; Sailors and Marine Oilers; Captains, Mates, and Pilots of Water Vessels; Motorboat Operators; Ship Engineers; Bridge and Lock Tenders; Parking Attendants; Automotive and Watercraft Service Attendants; Traffic Technicians; Transportation Inspectors; Passenger Attendants; Aircraft Service Attendants and Transportation Workers, All Other; Conveyor Operators and Tenders; Crane and Tower Operators; Dredge Operators; Hoist and Winch Operators; Industrial Truck and Tractor Operators; Cleaners of Vehicles and Equipment; Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand; Machine Feeders and Offbearers; Packers and Packagers, Hand; Stockers and Order Fillers; Gas Compressor and Gas Pumping Station Operators; Pump Operators, Except Wellhead Pumpers; Wellhead Pumpers; Refuse and Recyclable Material Collectors; Tank Car, Truck, and Ship Loaders; Material Moving Workers, All Other

National estimates for Transportation and Material Moving Occupations
Industry profile for Transportation and Material Moving Occupations
Geographic profile for Transportation and Material Moving Occupations

National estimates for Transportation and Material Moving Occupations:

Employment estimate and mean wage estimates for Transportation and Material Moving Occupations:

Employment (1)	Employment RSE (3)	Mean hourly wage	Mean annual wage (2)	Wage RSE (3)
12,163,360	0.3 %	$ 19.08	$ 39,680	0.3 %

Percentile wage estimates for Transportation and Material Moving Occupations:

Percentile	10%	25%	50% (Median)	75%	90%
Hourly Wage	$ 10.81	$ 13.02	$ 16.38	$ 22.32	$ 30.32
Annual Wage (2)	$ 22,490	$ 27,070	$ 34,080	$ 46,430	$ 63,050

Industry profile for Transportation and Material Moving Occupations:

Industries with the highest published employment and wages for Transportation and Material Moving Occupations are provided. For a list of all industries with employment in Transportation and Material Moving Occupations, see the Create Customized Tables function.

Industries with the highest levels of employment in Transportation and Material Moving Occupations:

Industry	Employment (1)	Percent of industry employment	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
Truck Transportation	1,115,560	75.84	$ 23.01	$ 47,850
Warehousing and Storage	1,061,770	74.89	$ 18.39	$ 38,240
Employment Services	825,520	25.79	$ 14.78	$ 30,750
Food and Beverage Stores (4451 and 4452 only)	753,200	25.90	$ 14.12	$ 29,370
General Merchandise Stores	674,750	22.53	$ 13.86	$ 28,830

Industries with the highest concentration of employment in Transportation and Material Moving Occupations:

Industry	Employment (1)	Percent of industry employment	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
Couriers and Express Delivery Services	643,820	83.73	$ 21.63	$ 44,990
Inland Water Transportation	19,930	80.58	$ 32.65	$ 67,920
School and Employee Bus Transportation	133,700	78.64	$ 18.73	$ 38,960
Other Transit and Ground Passenger Transportation	73,950	76.34	$ 16.27	$ 33,840
Truck Transportation	1,115,560	75.84	$ 23.01	$ 47,850

Top paying industries for Transportation and Material Moving Occupations:

Industry	Employment (1)	Percent of industry employment	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
Nonscheduled Air Transportation	18,950	41.39	$ 47.52	$ 98,850
Scheduled Air Transportation	272,620	61.76	$ 44.85	$ 93,290
Federal Executive Branch (OEWS Designation)	55,390	2.66	$ 43.54	$ 90,560
Securities, Commodity Contracts, and Other Financial Investments and Related Activities	730	0.08	$ 39.88	$ 82,950
Technical and Trade Schools	6,290	5.02	$ 38.06	$ 79,170

Geographic profile for Transportation and Material Moving Occupations:

States and areas with the highest published employment, location quotients, and wages for Transportation and Material Moving Occupations are provided. For a list of all areas with employment in Transportation and Material Moving Occupations, see the Create Customized Tables function.

States with the highest employment level in Transportation and Material Moving Occupations:

State	Employment (1)	Employment per thousand jobs	Location quotient (9)	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
California	1,399,640	85.18	0.97	$ 20.28	$ 42,180
Texas	1,063,900	87.91	1.01	$ 19.39	$ 40,330
Florida	699,650	82.88	0.95	$ 17.92	$ 37,270
Illinois	581,380	103.31	1.18	$ 20.11	$ 41,830
New York	565,210	65.03	0.74	$ 21.55	$ 44,830

States with the highest concentration of jobs and location quotients in Transportation and Material Moving Occupations:

State	Employment (1)	Employment per thousand jobs	Location quotient (9)	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
Kentucky	211,490	118.64	1.36	$ 18.67	$ 38,830
Tennessee	331,750	114.25	1.31	$ 17.45	$ 36,300
New Jersey	424,270	112.16	1.28	$ 19.31	$ 40,170
Arkansas	128,670	109.24	1.25	$ 17.50	$ 36,400
Mississippi	116,990	108.64	1.24	$ 16.64	$ 34,610

Top paying states for Transportation and Material Moving Occupations:

State	Employment (1)	Employment per thousand jobs	Location quotient (9)	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
Alaska	25,010	84.42	0.97	$ 28.53	$ 59,350
Hawaii	45,630	79.49	0.91	$ 24.37	$ 50,690
District of Columbia	14,480	21.08	0.24	$ 23.99	$ 49,900
Washington	243,690	76.27	0.87	$ 23.20	$ 48,260
North Dakota	39,020	97.55	1.12	$ 21.98	$ 45,720

Metropolitan areas with the highest employment level in Transportation and Material Moving Occupations:

Metropolitan area	Employment (1)	Employment per thousand jobs	Location quotient (9)	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA	672,500	76.12	0.87	$ 21.56	$ 44,840
Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA	482,170	82.81	0.95	$ 20.23	$ 42,080
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN-WI	451,800	103.57	1.18	$ 20.54	$ 42,720
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX	354,830	98.88	1.13	$ 20.87	$ 43,410
Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA	266,650	101.28	1.16	$ 18.34	$ 38,140
Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX	262,880	88.55	1.01	$ 19.81	$ 41,210
Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD	227,620	84.41	0.97	$ 18.47	$ 38,420
Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA	223,180	149.81	1.71	$ 19.11	$ 39,750
Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL	221,110	88.16	1.01	$ 19.19	$ 39,910
Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, AZ	187,860	89.09	1.02	$ 19.06	$ 39,640

Metropolitan areas with the highest concentration of jobs and location quotients in Transportation and Material Moving Occupations:

Metropolitan area	Employment (1)	Employment per thousand jobs	Location quotient (9)	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
Memphis, TN-MS-AR	103,860	170.78	1.95	$ 17.99	$ 37,420
Chambersburg-Waynesboro, PA	8,960	159.84	1.83	$ 18.52	$ 38,510
Houma-Thibodaux, LA	12,320	150.81	1.72	(8)	(8)
Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA	223,180	149.81	1.71	$ 19.11	$ 39,750
Lebanon, PA	7,130	148.90	1.70	$ 16.25	$ 33,790
Hagerstown-Martinsburg, MD-WV	14,300	148.83	1.70	$ 17.77	$ 36,960
Vineland-Bridgeton, NJ	8,400	146.69	1.68	$ 16.80	$ 34,950
Sioux City, IA-NE-SD	11,350	144.89	1.66	$ 18.11	$ 37,670
Scranton--Wilkes-Barre--Hazleton, PA	34,740	143.32	1.64	$ 17.18	$ 35,740
Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton, PA-NJ	48,740	141.76	1.62	$ 17.87	$ 37,160

Top paying metropolitan areas for Transportation and Material Moving Occupations:

Metropolitan area	Employment (1)	Employment per thousand jobs	Location quotient (9)	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
Anchorage, AK	14,050	85.40	0.98	$ 30.66	$ 63,770
Urban Honolulu, HI	32,770	79.05	0.90	$ 26.51	$ 55,140
Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA	143,010	73.12	0.84	$ 25.19	$ 52,390
Fairbanks, AK	2,750	89.04	1.02	$ 24.77	$ 51,520
San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward, CA	169,240	72.61	0.83	$ 24.41	$ 50,760
Midland, TX	11,130	111.99	1.28	$ 23.25	$ 48,350
Odessa, TX	8,860	120.24	1.38	$ 22.27	$ 46,330
Mount Vernon-Anacortes, WA	3,390	73.60	0.84	$ 22.26	$ 46,310
Denver-Aurora-Lakewood, CO	122,950	84.36	0.96	$ 22.24	$ 46,250
Greeley, CO	11,700	111.95	1.28	$ 21.98	$ 45,730

Nonmetropolitan areas with the highest employment in Transportation and Material Moving Occupations:

Nonmetropolitan area	Employment (1)	Employment per thousand jobs	Location quotient (9)	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
Kansas nonmetropolitan area	35,240	93.14	1.07	$ 17.56	$ 36,520
North Northeastern Ohio nonmetropolitan area (noncontiguous)	28,310	90.81	1.04	$ 17.44	$ 36,270
West Northwestern Ohio nonmetropolitan area	27,770	116.31	1.33	$ 18.54	$ 38,560
North Texas Region of Texas nonmetropolitan area	25,630	95.26	1.09	$ 16.61	$ 34,550
Balance of Lower Peninsula of Michigan nonmetropolitan area	25,350	103.06	1.18	$ 17.24	$ 35,850

Nonmetropolitan areas with the highest concentration of jobs and location quotients in Transportation and Material Moving Occupations:

Nonmetropolitan area	Employment (1)	Employment per thousand jobs	Location quotient (9)	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
Southern Pennsylvania nonmetropolitan area	23,890	132.64	1.52	$ 17.56	$ 36,530
North Georgia nonmetropolitan area	21,660	131.83	1.51	$ 15.28	$ 31,790
West Arkansas nonmetropolitan area	10,710	125.70	1.44	$ 15.92	$ 33,110
Western Wisconsin nonmetropolitan area	16,460	123.61	1.41	$ 19.00	$ 39,520
South Central Tennessee nonmetropolitan area	12,580	123.43	1.41	$ 16.38	$ 34,060

Top paying nonmetropolitan areas for Transportation and Material Moving Occupations:

Nonmetropolitan area	Employment (1)	Employment per thousand jobs	Location quotient (9)	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
Alaska nonmetropolitan area	8,070	80.65	0.92	$ 25.84	$ 53,750
West North Dakota nonmetropolitan area	13,980	120.87	1.38	$ 25.18	$ 52,360
Western Wyoming nonmetropolitan area	7,520	79.89	0.91	$ 22.19	$ 46,160
Northwest Colorado nonmetropolitan area	6,720	58.66	0.67	$ 21.65	$ 45,040
Western Washington nonmetropolitan area	10,310	87.60	1.00	$ 21.63	$ 44,990

About May 2020 National, State, Metropolitan, and Nonmetropolitan Area Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates

These estimates are calculated with data collected from employers in all industry sectors, all metropolitan and nonmetropolitan areas, and all states and the District of Columbia.

The percentile wage estimate is the value of a wage below which a certain percent of workers fall. The median wage is the 50th percentile wage estimate—50 percent of workers earn less than the median and 50 percent of workers earn more than the median. More about percentile wages.

(1) Estimates for detailed occupations do not sum to the totals because the totals include occupations not shown separately. Estimates do not include self-employed workers.

(2) Annual wages have been calculated by multiplying the hourly mean wage by a "year-round, full-time" hours figure of 2,080 hours; for those occupations where there is not an hourly wage published, the annual wage has been directly calculated from the reported survey data.

(3) The relative standard error (RSE) is a measure of the reliability of a survey statistic. The smaller the relative standard error, the more precise the estimate.

(8) Estimate not released.

(9) The location quotient is the ratio of the area concentration of occupational employment to the national average concentration. A location quotient greater than one indicates the occupation has a higher share of employment than average, and a location quotient less than one indicates the occupation is less prevalent in the area than average.

Other OEWS estimates and related information:

May 2020 National Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates

May 2020 State Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates

May 2020 Metropolitan and Nonmetropolitan Area Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates

May 2020 National Industry-Specific Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates

May 2020 Occupation Profiles

Technical Notes

Last Modified Date: March 31, 2021