Data tables for the overview of May 2021 occupational employment and wages

Employment for the largest healthcare practitioners and technical occupations, May 2021
Occupation	Employment
Registered nurses	3,047,530
Licensed practical and licensed vocational nurses	641,240
Pharmacy technicians	436,630
Clinical laboratory technologists and technicians	318,780
Pharmacists	312,550
Physicians, all other	256,670
Nurse practitioners	234,690
Physical therapists	225,350
Radiologic technologists and technicians	216,380
Dental hygienists	207,190

Highest and lowest paying healthcare practitioners and technical occupations, May 2021
Occupation	Annual mean wage
Cardiologists	$353,970
Anesthesiologists	331,190
Oral and maxillofacial surgeons	311,460
Emergency medicine physicians	310,640
Orthopedic surgeons, except pediatric	306,220
All healthcare practitioners and technical occupations	91,100
All occupations	58,260
Veterinary technologists and technicians	38,250
Psychiatric technicians	38,000
Pharmacy technicians	37,970
Emergency medical technicians	36,690
Dietetic technicians	34,160

Industries with the largest employment of healthcare practitioners and technical occupations, May 2021
Industry	Employment
General medical and surgical hospitals	3,205,390
Offices of physicians	1,188,560
Outpatient care centers	408,420
Health and personal care stores	380,930
Nursing care facilities (skilled nursing facilities)	365,870
Offices of other health practitioners	354,430
Home health care services	329,460
Offices of dentists	316,710
Federal executive branch	221,660
Other professional, scientific, and technical services	184,930

Highest and lowest paying states for healthcare practitioners and technical occupations, May 2021
State	Annual mean wage
California	$115,220
Hawaii	113,370
New Jersey	112,860
District of Columbia	106,340
Alaska	105,660
United States	91,100
West Virginia	75,670
South Dakota	75,120
Louisiana	74,320
Alabama	71,790
Mississippi	69,660

Employment for the largest transportation and material moving occupations, May 2021
Occupation	Employment
Laborers and freight, stock, and material movers, hand	2,729,010
Stockers and order fillers	2,451,430
Heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers	1,903,420
Light truck drivers	1,010,040
Industrial truck and tractor operators	758,290
Packers and packagers, hand	585,270
First-line supervisors of transportation and material moving workers, except aircraft cargo handling supervisors	549,260
Driver/sales workers	477,020
Bus drivers, school	361,420
Cleaners of vehicles and equipment	351,960

Highest and lowest paying transportation and material moving occupations, May 2021
Occupation	Annual mean wage
Airline pilots, copilots, and flight engineers	$198,190
Air traffic controllers	127,920
Commercial pilots	115,080
Captains, mates, and pilots of water vessels	98,330
Ship engineers	96,910
All occupations	58,260
All transportation and material moving occupations	41,340
Packers and packagers, hand	30,950
Cleaners of vehicles and equipment	30,550
Taxi drivers	30,050
Automotive and watercraft service attendants	29,960
Parking attendants	29,210

Metropolitan areas with the highest concentrations of transportation and material moving occupations, May 2021
Area	Percent
Stockton-Lodi, CA	20.3
Memphis, TN-MS-AR	17.4
Chambersburg-Waynesboro, PA	16.8
Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA	16.6
Lakeland-Winter Haven, FL	16.1
Hagerstown-Martinsburg, MD-WV	14.8
Scranton--Wilkes-Barre--Hazleton, PA	14.6
Houma-Thibodaux, LA	14.4
Danville, IL	14.4
Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton, PA-NJ	14.3
United States	9.0

Employment for the largest protective service occupations, May 2021
Occupation	Employment
Security guards	1,057,100
Police and sheriff's patrol officers	665,380
Correctional officers and jailers	392,600
Firefighters	317,310
First-line supervisors of police and detectives	128,230
Lifeguards, ski patrol, and other recreational protective service workers	114,320
Detectives and criminal investigators	107,890
Protective service workers, all other	100,110
Crossing guards and flaggers	82,690
First-line supervisors of firefighting and prevention workers	80,890

Highest and lowest paying protective service occupations, May 2021
Occupation	Annual mean wage
First-line supervisors of police and detectives	$98,760
Detectives and criminal investigators	90,370
First-line supervisors of firefighting and prevention workers	83,270
Police and sheriff's patrol officers	70,750
First-line supervisors of correctional officers	69,750
All occupations	58,260
All protective service occupations	53,420
Gambling surveillance officers and gambling investigators	38,080
Security guards	35,830
Crossing guards and flaggers	35,670
School bus monitors	30,220
Lifeguards, ski patrol, and other recreational protective service workers	27,320

Highest and lowest paying states for security guards, May 2021
State	Annual mean wage
District of Columbia	$52,840
Alaska	49,040
Washington	43,720
New York	41,810
Idaho	40,970
United States	35,830
South Carolina	29,920
West Virginia	28,290
Kentucky	27,950
Alabama	27,670
Mississippi	27,650

Industries with the highest employment of protective service occupations, May 2021
Industry	Employment
Local government, excluding schools and hospitals	1,402,270
Investigation and security services	721,420
State government, excluding schools and hospitals	381,880
Federal executive branch	141,530
Elementary and secondary schools	119,860
Other support services	50,760
General medical and surgical hospitals	48,090
Colleges, universities, and professional schools	42,340
Traveler accommodation	39,630
Other amusement and recreation industries	33,120

Employment for the largest occupations, May 2021
Occupation	Employment (millions)
Retail salespersons	3.7
Home health and personal care aides	3.4
Cashiers	3.3
Fast food and counter workers	3.1
Registered nurses	3.0
General and operations managers	3.0
Customer service representatives	2.8
Laborers and freight, stock, and material movers, hand	2.7
Office clerks, general	2.6
Stockers and order fillers	2.5

Annual mean wages for the largest occupations, May 2021
Occupation	Annual mean wage
General and operations managers	$115,250
Registered nurses	82,750
All occupations	58,260
Customer service representatives	39,070
Office clerks, general	38,990
Laborers and freight, stock, and material movers, hand	34,950
Stockers and order fillers	33,020
Retail salespersons	31,920
Home health and personal care aides	29,260
Cashiers	26,770
Fast food and counter workers	26,060

Major occupational groups as a percentage of total employment, May 2021
Occupational group	Percent
Office and administrative support	13.0
Sales and related	9.4
Transportation and material moving	9.0
Food preparation and serving related	8.0
Business and financial operations	6.4
Management	6.3
Healthcare practitioners and technical	6.2
Production	6.0
Educational instruction and library	5.8
Healthcare support	4.7
Construction and extraction	4.2
Installation, maintenance, and repair	4.0
Computer and mathematical	3.3
Building and grounds cleaning and maintenance	2.9
Protective service	2.4
Personal care and service	1.8
Architecture and engineering	1.7
Community and social service	1.6
Arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media	1.3
Life, physical, and social science	0.9
Legal	0.8
Farming, fishing, and forestry	0.3

Occupations with the largest employment in the public sector, May 2021
Occupation	Employment
Elementary school teachers, except special education	1,196,370
Teaching assistants, except postsecondary	952,910
Secondary school teachers, except special and career/technical education	877,700
Police and sheriff's patrol officers	659,050
Middle school teachers, except special and career/technical education	527,110
Registered nurses	522,500
Janitors and cleaners, except maids and housekeeping cleaners	469,960
Secretaries and administrative assistants, except legal, medical, and executive	465,560
Office clerks, general	459,780
Correctional officers and jailers	372,470

Employment by typical entry-level educational requirement as a percentage of total employment, May 2021
Typical entry-level educational requirement	Percent
Doctoral or professional degree	2.6
Master's degree	1.8
Bachelor's degree	24.2
Associate's degree	2.2
Postsecondary nondegree award	6.2
Some college, no degree	2.7
High school diploma or equivalent	38.6
No formal educational credential	21.7

Largest occupations typically requiring an associate's degree for entry, May 2021
Occupation	Employment
Preschool teachers, except special education	391,670
Paralegals and legal assistants	336,250
Radiologic technologists and technicians	216,380
Dental hygienists	207,190
Computer network support specialists	176,200
Respiratory therapists	133,410
Veterinary technologists and technicians	118,670
Human resources assistants, except payroll and timekeeping	102,770
Electrical and electronic engineering technologists and technicians	101,450
Architectural and civil drafters	101,310

Annual mean wages by typical entry-level educational requirement, May 2021
Typical entry-level educational requirement	Annual mean wage
Doctoral or professional degree	$144,210
Master's degree	86,990
Bachelor's degree	93,590
Associate's degree	60,180
Postsecondary nondegree award	46,610
Some college, no degree	42,970
High school diploma or equivalent	46,760
No formal educational credential	31,810
All occupations	58,260

Highest paying occupations typically requiring an associate's degree for entry, May 2021
Occupation	Annual mean wage
Air traffic controllers	$127,920
Nuclear technicians	95,200
Radiation therapists	94,000
Nuclear medicine technologists	84,850
Funeral home managers	82,900
Dental hygienists	81,360
Diagnostic medical sonographers	80,680
Magnetic resonance imaging technologists	77,820
Aerospace engineering and operations technologists and technicians	73,510
Legal support workers, all other	73,000
All associate's degree occupations	60,180
All occupations	58,260

Employment for the largest STEM occupations, May 2021
Occupation	Employment
Software developers	1,364,180
Computer user support specialists	654,310
Computer systems analysts	505,150
Computer and information systems managers	485,190
Computer occupations, all other	370,190
Network and computer systems administrators	316,760
Civil engineers	304,310
Industrial engineers	293,950
Mechanical engineers	278,240
Sales representatives, wholesale and manufacturing, technical and scientific products	266,160

Metropolitan areas with the highest employment shares of STEM occupations, May 2021
Metropolitan area	Percent
California-Lexington Park, MD	24.4
San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA	22.1
Boulder, CO	17.8
Huntsville, AL	17.6
Bloomington, IL	14.7
Corvallis, OR	13.8
Durham-Chapel Hill, NC	13.4
Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA	13.1
San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward, CA	12.9
Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV	12.4
United States	6.6

Industries with the highest employment shares of STEM occupations, May 2021
Industry	Percent
Computer systems design and related services	62.5
Architectural, engineering, and related services	61.1
Software publishers	57.1
Scientific research and development services	56.6
Computer and peripheral equipment manufacturing	49.1
Data processing, hosting, and related services	46.9
Navigational, measuring, electromedical, and control instruments manufacturing	39.4
Other information services	36.3
Communications equipment manufacturing	34.3
Semiconductor and other electronic component manufacturing	32.9
All industries	6.6

Highest and lowest paying STEM occupations, May 2021
Occupation	Annual mean wage
Computer and information systems managers	$162,930
Architectural and engineering managers	158,970
Natural sciences managers	156,110
Physicists	151,580
Petroleum engineers	145,720
All STEM occupations	100,900
All occupations	58,260
Environmental science and protection technicians, including health	50,550
Surveying and mapping technicians	49,810
Food science technicians	47,870
Agricultural technicians	44,850
Forest and conservation technicians	43,420

Last Modified Date: March 31, 2022