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Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics
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OEWS Publications by Type
See also OEWS Publications by Topic
OEWS Handouts
- What is the Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) program? OEWS One Page Handout (HTML) (PDF)
- How much could I be earning? Using Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics data during salary negotiations (HTML) (PDF)
- Where are the jobs in my field? How OEWS can take the mystery out of your job search (HTML) (PDF)
- "Education Pays" handout (HTML) (PDF)
Spotlight on Statistics
- A Look at Jobs Paying Less Than $15.00 Per Hour; Andrew Mattingly and Audrey Watson, September 2024 (HTML)
- Occupational Employment and Wages in State and Local Government; Audrey Watson, December 2021 (HTML) (PDF)
- Occupational Employment And Wages In Metro And Nonmetro Areas; Stella Fayer and Audrey Watson, November 2020 (HTML) (PDF)
- A look at employment and wages in U.S. establishments with foreign ownership; Erik Friesenhahn, Stella Fayer, and Audrey Watson, October 2019 (HTML) (PDF)
- STEM occupations: past, present, and future; Stella Fayer, Alan Lacey and Audrey Watson, January 2017 (HTML) (PDF)
- Employment and Wages in Healthcare Occupations; Stella Fayer and Audrey Watson, December 2015 (HTML) (PDF)
- Spotlight on Statistics: BLS Statistics by Occupation; Audrey Watson, August 2014 (HTML) (PDF)
TED: The Economics Daily
Blog Posts
- Why This Counts: What types of jobs are in the U.S. labor market?
- Labor Day 2017 Fast Facts
- Diagnosing “Grey’s Anatomy” with 5 doses of BLS data
Highlights and Beyond the Numbers
- Employment and wages for alternate definitions of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) occupations; Audrey Watson, June 2025 (HTML)
- As manufacturing sector changes, production occupations disappear: an analysis of employment from 2007-20; Paul Garbarino and Elizabeth Cross, November 2023 (HTML)
- Comparing occupational employment and wages in public and private elementary and secondary schools; Audrey Watson, February 2023 (HTML)
- Wage differentials: how jobseekers can use them to analyze occupational wage and cost of living data by U.S. area; Ben Cover, September 2014 (HTML) (PDF)
- An overview of employment and wages in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) groups; John Jones, April 2014 (HTML) (PDF)
- Measuring occupational concentration by industry; Audrey Watson, February 2014 (HTML) (PDF)
- Employment and wages in community and social service occupations; John Jones, October 2012 (HTML) (PDF)
- An overview of U.S. occupational employment and wages in 2011; Audrey Watson, July 2012 (HTML) (PDF)
- Architecture and Engineering Occupations; Audrey Watson, February 2012 (HTML) (PDF)
- Occupational Employment and Wage Patterns in Nonmetropolitan Areas; John Jones, November 2011 (HTML) (PDF)
- Area Focus - Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA; Tanner Beam, August 2011 (HTML) (PDF)
- An Overview of U.S. Occupational Employment and Wages in 2010; Audrey Watson, June 2011 (HTML) (PDF)
- Using Occupational Employment Statistics (OES) Data in a Job Search; Claudia Calderon, April 2011 (HTML) (PDF)
- Using Location Quotients to Analyze Occupational Data; Ben Cover, April 2011 (HTML) (PDF)
- An Occupational Comparison of Private and State Colleges and Universities; Audrey Watson, January 2011 (HTML) (PDF)
- Gulf Coast Occupational Employment and Wages; Swati Patel, October 2010 (HTML) (PDF)
- An Overview of U.S. Occupational Employment and Wages in 2009; Audrey Watson, June 2010 (HTML) (PDF)
- How Jobseekers and Employers Can Use Occupational Employment Statistics (OES) Data during Wage and Salary Discussions; Clayton Lindsay, April 2010 (HTML) (PDF)
- An Occupational Analysis of Industries with Employment Gains; Fatemeh Hajiha and Audrey Watson, February 2010 (HTML) (PDF)
- An Occupational Comparison of Selected Retail Trade Industries; Joe Kane, December 2009 (HTML) (PDF)
- An Occupational Analysis of Industries with the Most Job Losses; Fatemeh Hajiha and Audrey Watson, November 2009 (HTML) (PDF)
- Occupational employment patterns in areas with low unemployment rates; Ben Cover, September 2009 (HTML) (PDF)
- Industry focus - Food services and drinking places; Rebecca Keller, September 2009 (HTML) (PDF)
- Area focus - Elkhart-Goshen, IN; July 2009 (HTML) (PDF)
- Jobs on the Environment; June 2009 (HTML) (PDF)
Monthly Labor Review
- Occupational employment and wage differences across cohorts of establishments by Elizabeth Weber Handwerker, David S. Piccone Jr, and Elizabeth Cross, January 2020
- Model-based estimates for the Occupational Employment Statistics program by Matthew Dey, David S. Piccone Jr, and Stephen M. Miller, September 2019
- Employment trends by typical entry-level education requirement by Audrey L. Watson, September 2017
- Nursing and the Great Recession by Michael L. Dolfman, Mathew Insco, and Richard J. Holden, July 2017
- Longitudinal data from the Occupational Employment Statistics survey by Matthew Dey and Elizabeth Weber Handwerker, October 2016
- Purchasing power: using wage statistics with regional price parities to create a standard for comparing wages across U.S. areas by Ben Cover, April 2016
- Measuring wage inequality within and across U.S. metropolitan areas, 2003-13 by J. Chris Cunningham, September 2015
- Agriculture: occupational employment and wages by Stella Fayer, July 2014
- Measuring the distribution of wages in the United States from 1996 through 2010 using the Occupational Employment Survey by James R. Spletzer and Elizabeth Weber Handwerker, May 2014
- Implementing the 2010 Standard Occupational Classification in the Occupational Employment Statistics program by Audrey Watson, May 2013
- "Construction employment: a visual essay" by Ben Cover, November 2011
- How occupational employment is affected by mass layoffs by Dina Itkin and Laurie Salmon, June 2011
- Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) occupations: a visual essay by Ben Cover, John Jones, and Audrey Watson, May 2011
- What do OES data have to say about increasing wage inequality? by John Jones, June 2009
- How shifting occupational composition has affected the real average wage by Rebecca Keller, June 2009
- Occupational employment in the not-for-profit sector by Zack Warren, November 2008
- The effect of business ownership change on occupational employment and wages by Dina Itkin, September 2008
- Establishment wage differentials by Julia Lane, Laurie Salmon, and Jim Spletzer, April 2007
Career Outlook
- Occupational wages in Animal Crossing: New Horizons by Elizabeth Cross, June 2018
- The Game of Life versus real life: How the data compare by Elizabeth Cross, June 2020
- Mapping "The Hunger Games": Using location quotients to find the Districts of Panem by Elizabeth Cross, February 2017
- Careers with options: Occupations with jobs in many industries by Elka Torpey and Audrey Watson, Spring 2014
- Using OES occupation profiles in a job search by Chris Cunningham, Spring 2013
- Medical physicists and health physicists: Radiation occupations by Jeff Lapointe, Summer 2011
- House work: Jobs in residential upkeep by Amy Bierer, Winter 2010-11
- Mapping out a career: An analysis of geographic concentration of occupations by Audrey Watson, Fall 2010
- Career beginnings for business majors by Dina Itkin, Winter 2008-09
- Beyond averages: Other ways to look at occupational wages by Ben Cover, Winter 2007-08
OES Chartbooks
OES Bulletins
- Occupational Employment and Wages, May 2006 -- Bureau of Labor Statistics; June 2008; Bulletin 2703
- Employment and Wages of Typical U.S. Occupations by Audrey Watson
- Occupational Employment and Wages, May 2005 -- Bureau of Labor Statistics; May 2007; Bulletin 2585
- Employment and Wages by Major Occupational Group and Industry by Fatemeh Hajiha
- Occupational Shares in Growing and Shrinking Establishments by Zachary Warren
- Wages and Employment of Workers in Automobile Manufacturing by Jeffrey Holt
- Wage and Employment Patterns in the Mining Sector by Dina Itkin
- Examining Social Science Occupations by Ben Cover
- A Concise Look at Occupations in the Life and Physical Sciences by John I. Jones
- Crime Fighters by Michael Soloy
- Occupational Composition of the Elder Care Industries, May 2005 by Audrey Watson
- Employment Changes from 2001 to 2005 for Occupations Concentrated in the Finance Industries by Fatemeh Hajiha
- Occupational Employment and Wages, May 2004 -- Bureau of Labor Statistics; September 2005; Bulletin 2575
- Employment and Wages by Major Occupational Group and Industry by Fatemeh Hajiha
- Occupations in the Temporary Help Services Industry by Patrick Kilcoyne
- Occupational Structure and Urban Growth by Audrey Watson
- A Comparison of Occupational Employment and Wages in Metropolitan Areas and Nonmetropolitan Areas by Benjamin Cover
- Employment Composition: Variation Across States and Metropolitan Areas by Fatemeh Hajiha and Laurie Salmon
- Occupational Employment and Wages, May 2003 -- Bureau of Labor Statistics; September 2004; Bulletin 2567
- Employment and Wages by Major Occupational Group and Industry by Fatemeh Hajiha
- The Role of Occupational Composition in State Wage Differentials by Patrick Kilcoyne
- New and Emerging Occupations by Jerome Pikulinski
- An Investigation of Industry and Size Effects on Wage Dispersion by John Ichiro Jones
- Employment by Occupational Group and Establishment Size by Fatemeh Hajiha
- Occupational Employment and Wages, 2001 -- Bureau of Labor Statistics; June 2003; Bulletin 2559
- Employment and Wages by Major Occupational Group and Industry by Fatemeh Hajiha
- High-Tech Occupations by Metropolitan Statistical Area by Patrick Kilcoyne
- Employment and Wages in Elementary and Secondary Schools by Chakinna Brewington
- New and Emerging Occupations by Jerome Pikulinski
- Concentration of Entertainment-related Employment by Metropolitan Area by Jillian Kerr
- An Examination of the Employment and Wages of FAA-certified and FAA-noncertified Aircraft Mechanics and Service Technicians, 2001 by Michael Soloy
- Occupational Employment and Wages, 2000 -- Bureau of Labor Statistics; April 2002; Bulletin 2549
- Employment and Wages by Major Occupational Group and Industry by Fatemeh Hajiha
OES Videos
- Get ready to test your knowledge of occupations in the United States!
- A Look at Occupational Employment in the United States
- Explore Careers that Let You Put Your Creativity to Work
Last Modified Date: June 10, 2025