Personal care and service workers most common in Nevada, Dakotas, Hawaii, and Colorado in May 2020

Personal care and service occupations had national employment of 2.7 million in May 2020, representing 1.9 percent of total U.S. employment. Personal care and service occupations include a wide variety of service-related careers, such as concierges, motion picture projectionists, and gambling dealers.

The occupations with the most employees in this group were childcare workers (494,360), recreation workers (325,640), and hairdressers, hairstylists, and cosmetologists (302,410). Together these occupations totaled 42 percent of all personal care and service jobs. Mean annual wages for these three occupations were $26,790 for childcare workers, $30,960 for recreation workers, and $32,740 for hairdressers, hairstylists, and cosmetologists.

Makeup artists, theatrical and performance, with annual mean wages of $99,990 and morticians, undertakers, and funeral arrangers with annual wages of $59,000 were the highest paying occupations. There were 2,780 people working as makeup artists, theatrical and performance, while 24,560 were employed as morticians, undertakers, and funeral arrangers in the United States in May 2020.

States known for recreation and tourism—Nevada, South Dakota, North Dakota, Hawaii, and Colorado—were among the states with the highest concentrations of workers in personal care and service occupations in May 2020.

Personal care and service workers were most common in Nevada, with personal care and service jobs making up 4.0 percent of total jobs in the state, a concentration more than double the national average.

The Dakotas were next—personal care and service jobs made up 2.8 and 2.7 percent of all jobs in South Dakota and North Dakota respectively. In Hawaii and Colorado, 2.6 and 2.4 percent, respectively, of total employment in the state were in these occupations.

These data are from the Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics program. To learn more, see additional data for personal care and service occupations. The OEWS survey covers wage and salary workers in nonfarm establishments and does not include the self-employed or owners, partners, and proprietors of unincorporated businesses. May 2020 OEWS estimates do not fully reflect the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. For more information, see the OEWS COVID-19 impact statement.