June 2010
Occupational Employment Statistics (OES) Highlights:
An
Overview of U.S. Occupational Employment and Wages in 2009
(PDF
version)
Retail salespersons and cashiers were the two largest
occupations in May 2009, representing nearly 1 out of every 17 jobs. Just
15 occupations accounted for over one-quarter of U.S. employment. In
addition to retail salespersons and cashiers, these occupations included general office clerks, janitors, heavy and tractor-trailer truck
drivers, and elementary school
teachers. Of the 15 largest occupations, only 3—general
and operations managers, registered nurses, and elementary
school teachers—had mean wages above the U.S. average of $20.90 per hour
or $43,460 annually. (See chart 1.)
Click here to see these
data in table format.
At the other end of the spectrum, occupations with employment of 5,000
or less accounted for about 0.1 percent of total U.S. employment. Some of
the smallest occupations in the United States are shown in chart 2. These
occupations included dredge
operators, astronomers, geographers, locomotive
firers, and radio operators.
Click here to see these
data in table format.
More than 1 out of every 3 jobs was in an office
and administrative support, sales, or food
preparation and serving occupation. (See chart 3.) Office and
administrative support jobs made up 5 of the 15 largest occupations,
including general office clerks, with employment of over 2.8 million; customer service representatives (2.2 million); stock clerks and order
fillers (1.9 million); secretaries, except legal, medical, and
executive (1.8 million); and bookkeeping, accounting, and auditing
clerks (1.8 million). The largest food preparation and serving
occupations included combined food
preparation and serving workers and waiters
and waitresses, which were also among the largest occupations overall. Life, physical, and social
science; community and social
services; legal; and arts,
design, entertainment, sports, and media were among the smallest
occupational groups, each accounting for only about 1 percent of total
employment.
Click here to see these
data in table format.
Establishments providing health
care and social assistance, such as hospitals and physicians’ offices,
accounted for about 1 out of every 8 jobs, more than any other type of
employer. The five largest occupations in this industry made up over
one-third of total industry employment, and included registered nurses; nursing aides, orderlies, and
attendants; and home health
aides. (See table a.)
Table A: Largest industry sectors, and
employment and mean wages for the largest occupations in those sectors,
May 2009
|
Largest occupations in sector |
| Industry sector |
Percent of total U.S. employment |
Occupation |
Employment |
Percent of sector employment |
Hourly mean wage |
Annual mean wage |
| Health care and social assistance |
12.9 |
Registered nurses |
2,225,330 |
13.2 |
$32.02 |
$66,600 |
| Nursing aides, orderlies, and attendants |
1,317,360 |
7.8 |
11.89 |
24,720 |
| Home health aides |
899,980 |
5.3 |
10.24 |
21,300 |
| Licensed practical and licensed vocational nurses |
623,210 |
3.7 |
19.58 |
40,730 |
| Personal and home care aides |
570,480 |
3.4 |
9.64 |
20,040 |
| Retail trade |
11.5 |
Retail salespersons |
3,891,310 |
26.0 |
11.75 |
24,440 |
| Cashiers |
2,828,730 |
18.9 |
9.14 |
19,010 |
| Stock clerks and order fillers |
1,303,730 |
8.7 |
10.25 |
21,320 |
| First-line supervisors/managers of retail sales workers |
1,037,570 |
6.9 |
18.66 |
38,800 |
| Laborers and freight, stock, and material movers, hand |
351,870 |
2.4 |
10.53 |
21,900 |
| Educational services |
9.8 |
Elementary school teachers, except special education |
1,532,990 |
12.0 |
(1) |
53,190 |
| Teacher assistants |
1,098,920 |
8.6 |
(1) |
24,710 |
| Secondary school teachers, except special and vocational
education |
1,084,060 |
8.5 |
(1) |
55,200 |
| Middle school teachers, except special and vocational
education |
661,700 |
5.2 |
(1) |
53,580 |
| Teachers and instructors, all other |
525,780 |
4.1 |
(1) |
40,140 |
| Manufacturing |
9.5 |
Team assemblers |
756,630 |
6.1 |
14.52 |
30,190 |
| First-line supervisors/managers of production and operating
workers |
444,390 |
3.6 |
26.60 |
55,320 |
| Machinists |
305,610 |
2.5 |
18.78 |
39,060 |
| Inspectors, testers, sorters, samplers, and weighers |
299,450 |
2.4 |
16.90 |
35,150 |
| Helpers--production workers |
286,600 |
2.3 |
11.92 |
24,790 |
| Accommodation and food services |
8.6 |
Combined food preparation and serving workers, including fast
food |
2,229,440 |
19.8 |
8.46 |
17,590 |
| Waiters and waitresses |
2,128,120 |
18.9 |
9.76 |
20,310 |
| Cooks, restaurant |
849,920 |
7.5 |
11.05 |
22,980 |
| First-line supervisors/managers of food preparation and serving
workers |
620,750 |
5.5 |
14.83 |
30,840 |
| Cooks, fast food |
514,660 |
4.6 |
8.73 |
18,160 |
Retail trade businesses
accounted for more than 1 out of every 9 jobs. Cashiers, retail
salespersons, and their supervisors made up over half of
employment in the retail trade sector. Two occupations associated with
handling merchandise—stock clerks and order fillers; and laborers
and hand freight, stock, and material movers—made up an additional 11
percent of retail employment. Manufacturing establishments,
providers of educational
services, and businesses offering accommodation and food services were
also among the largest employers, with each of these three industry
sectors accounting for 9 to 10 percent of total employment.
The U.S. median wage in 2009 was $15.95 per hour or $33,190 per year.
The median represents the wage in the middle of the earnings
distribution—half of jobs pay this amount or more, and half pay this
amount or less—and may be a more accurate measure of typical earnings than
the mean wage, which can be affected by a small percentage of jobs with
very high pay. Occupations with wages near the U.S. median included many
office and administrative support; construction; installation,
maintenance, and repair; production; and transportation
and material moving occupations. Chart 4 shows some of the largest
occupations with wages between $1.00 above and $1.00 below the median,
including dental assistants, insurance claims and policy processing
clerks, general maintenance and
repair workers, and transit and
intercity bus drivers. In addition, these occupations included
first-line supervisors for two groups of relatively low-paying
occupations: retail sales workers and housekeeping and janitorial
workers.
Click here to see these
data in table format.
California, Texas, New York, Florida,
and Illinois were the States with
the highest total employment, accounting for more than one-third of U.S.
jobs. These and other States with high overall employment also had the
highest employment of many individual occupations. However, smaller States
were among the largest employers of some occupations, due in part to
factors like geographical characteristics and industry mix. For example, Nevada, a relatively small State in
terms of total employment, had more gaming managers, gaming
dealers, and gaming
supervisors than any other State; Mississippi, another small State, also
had some of the highest employment of these occupations. Colorado, Louisiana, and Oklahoma had among the highest employment of petroleum engineers and geological
and petroleum technicians. The midwestern States of Iowa, Nebraska, Kansas, Wisconsin, and Minnesota accounted for about 7 percent of total U.S. employment, but 28 percent of
employment of farm equipment
mechanics; all of these States except Wisconsin also had among the
highest employment of slaughterers
and meatpackers.
As at the State level, metropolitan areas and divisions with high total
employment—like New York-White
Plains-Wayne, N.Y.-N.J.; Los
Angeles-Long Beach-Glendale, Calif.; Chicago-Naperville-Joliet,
Ill.; and Houston-Sugar
Land-Baytown, Texas—also tended to have high employment in many
specific occupations. However, there were exceptions. Orlando-Kissimmee,
Fla., a much smaller area than those listed above, had some of the
highest employment levels of meeting
and convention planners; baggage
porters and bellhops; travel
agents; and hotel, motel, and
resort desk clerks. Hartford-West
Hartford-East Hartford, Conn., was a significant employer of insurance
underwriters and actuaries,
while Nashville-Davidson–Murfreesboro–Franklin,
Tenn., had among the highest employment of agents
and business managers of artists, performers, and athletes; and musicians and singers. The areas
with the highest employment of anthropologists and archeologists included Albuquerque, N.M.; Tucson, Ariz.; Honolulu,
Hawaii; and Santa Fe,
N.M.
Complete Occupational Employment Statistics data for May 2009 are
available from the OES home page. This
highlight was prepared by Audrey Watson. For more information, please contact the OES program.
Last Modified Date: March 30, 2018
United States Department of Labor
