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Women’s earnings by occupation, 2011

January 02, 2013

In 2011, women working full time in management, business, and financial operations jobs had the highest median weekly earnings of any major occupational category ($977). Within this occupation group, women who were chief executives and computer and information systems managers had median weekly earnings of $1,464 and $1,543, respectively.

Employment and median usual weekly earnings of women who worked full time, by selected occupation, 2011 annual averages
OccupationEmploymentMedian weekly earnings

Total, 16 years and over

44,486,000$684

Management, business, and financial operations occupations

7,386,000977

Chief executives

245,0001,464

Computer and information systems managers

138,0001,543

Human resource workers

406,000912

Accountants and auditors

852,000956

Professional and related occupations

13,139,000919

Social workers

554,000798

Lawyers

242,0001,631

Elementary and middle school teachers

1,973,000933

Designers

201,000816

Pharmacists

110,0001,898

Physicians and surgeons

206,0001,527

Registered nurses

1,937,0001,034

Service occupations

6,991,000433

Waiters and waitresses

559,000389

Maids and housekeeping cleaners

638,000392

Hairdressers, hairstylists, and cosmetologists

259,000440

Sales and office occupations

13,977,000602

Advertising sales agents

112,000772

Real estate brokers and sales agents

204,000676

Office clerks, general

673,000594

 

The second highest paying job group for women was professional and related occupations in 2011, with median weekly earnings of $919.  Within this group, women who were lawyers ($1,631), pharmacists ($1,898), and physicians ($1,527) had the highest earnings. Women who were registered nurses ($1,034) or elementary and middle school teachers ($933) represented the largest occupations in the professional and related group, and were among the largest occupations of women overall.

In 2011, women who worked full time in the service occupations group had about the lowest median weekly earnings at $443.  For example, women working full time as maids and housekeeping cleaners and as waiters and waitresses had median weekly earnings of $392 and $389, respectively. 

These data are from the Current Population Survey. Earnings data in this article are median usual weekly earnings of full-time wage and salary workers. Full-time workers are those who usually work 35 hours or more per week at their sole or principal job. To learn more, see "Highlights of Women's Earnings in 2011,” BLS Report 1038 (PDF).

SUGGESTED CITATION

Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, The Economics Daily, Women’s earnings by occupation, 2011 at https://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2013/ted_20130102.htm (visited March 28, 2024).

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