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Bureau of Labor Statistics > Occupational Requirements Survey > Publications > Factsheets

Weight lifted or carried: Understanding means and percentiles

The Occupational Requirements Survey (ORS) publishes job-related information on physical demands; environmental conditions; education, training, and experience; as well as cognitive and mental requirements. The job requirements reflect those necessary for workers to perform critical tasks in support of the critical job functions, and not the capabilities of individual workers.

Lifting and carrying weight is included in the physical demand requirements of ORS. These factors are included in the calculation of an occupation’s overall strength level requirement. For additional information on strength levels, see the ORS factsheet on strength and the ORS Handbook of Methods section on calculating strength.

Lifting is defined as the raising or lowering of an object from one level to another. This includes upward pulling motions which are not captured in pulling with hands and arms. Carrying is defined as the transportation of an object that is either held or worn on the body. Objects that are carried by being worn are typically belted on the waist or otherwise worn on the upper body. Additional definitions and examples are available in the ORS collection manual.

Average (mean)

Maximum weight lifted or carried estimates represent either the average (mean) or distribution (percentiles) of the maximum weight lifted or carried by all the workers in that occupation. This is also the case for aggregated SOC groups and all civilian worker estimates.

On average, civilian workers were lifting or carrying a maximum weight of 23.83 pounds. However, some occupations require workers to lift less than the maximum weight and some require workers to lift more. The average food services manager was required to lift or carry a maximum of about 14 pounds while the average butcher was required to lift or carry nearly 70 pounds.

Average calculation

The average maximum weight lifted or carried is calculated by multiplying the maximum weight required by the employment weight assigned to that job and dividing by the total employment weights in the occupation (domain).

Average equals the maximum weight lifted times the employment weight then divided by the sum of all employment weights in the occupation

Employment weights for jobs where workers are not required to lift or carry any weight are included in the occupation. The employment weight is derived from the establishment industry, size class, and occupation which represents the number of workers. The employment weight is the way the relative size of each observation is represented. For more information about the formulas used to calculate percentages, workers, and averages, please see the ORS Handbook of Methods section on calculations.

Example

Consider this hypothetical example. In this scenario, the occupation contains 11 observations from a variety of establishments. The maximum weight lifted or carried is between zero and 25 pounds.

Table 1. Example of the average maximum weight lifted and/or carried calculation
Observation	Maximum weight lifted and/or carried	Employment weight	Maximum weight lifted and/or carried x Employment weight
1	0	75	0
2	0	337	0
3	3	10	30
4	5	198	990
5	7	36	252
6	13	11	143
7	15	57	72
8	18	36	648
9	20	57	1,140
10	22	55	1,210
11	25	125	3,125
Total	128	997	7,610
Note: This is not data published by BLS or ORS. This is only intended as a small-scale example to illustrate how these estimates are calculated for requirements and occupations.

Average equals 7,610 divided by 997 which equals 7.63 pounds

In this case, the sum of each observation’s maximum weight lifted multiplied by each of the observation’s employment weight was 7,610 pounds. The total employment was 997. Dividing the sum, 7,610 pounds, by the total employment weight, 997, produces an average maximum weight lifted of 7.63 pounds.

Distribution

In addition to occupational averages, ORS provides data on the distribution of requirements within an occupation. While the mean estimates provide data on the average requirement, the percentile estimates provide data on the range of requirements found within an occupation across establishments.

In Chart 1, all civilian workers and fast food and counter workers had similar requirements for the average amount of weight required to lift or carry (23.83 for all workers, and 24.40 for fast food and counter workers). Chart 2 provides more information about the distribution of requirements within each occupation or group.

At the tail end, for the 10^th percentile, both the all workers group and the food service managers are required to lift or carry almost no weight. On the other hand, the lowest amounts typically required for fast food and counter workers to lift or carry is eight pounds, and the lowest amount for butchers and meat cutters is 30 pounds.

At the other end, for the 90^th percentile, the all workers group’s and the fast food and counter workers’ requirements are more similar, requiring the lift or carry of 50 pounds. Butchers and meat cutters consistently require lifting and carrying of weight up to 95 pounds at the 90^th percentile.

Distribution calculation

The percentiles are determined by sorting all of the observations within an occupation or group. The observations are arranged by the maximum weight required to lift or carry from smallest to largest. The employment weight is the way the relative size of each observation is represented. The employment weight for each observation divided by the total employment weight produces the relative percentage of workers in each observation. The percentile is determined by finding the percentile threshold in the cumulative percentage of workers.

The percentage of workers equals the observation employment weight divided by the total employment weight.

Example

This hypothetical example contains the same 11 observations from our example in table 1. The maximum weight required to be lifted or carried remains the same, ranging from zero to 25 pounds. The percentiles are identifiable by locating which observation includes the percentage of workers for that percentile.

Table 2. Example of the percentile calculation for the maximum weight lifted and/or carried
Observation	Maximum weight lifted and/or carried	Quote weight	Percentage of workers	Cumulative percentage of workers	Percentile cutoff
1	0	75	7.52%	7.52%
2	0	337	33.80%	41.32%	10 & 25
3	3	10	1.00%	42.32%
4	5	198	19.86%	62.18%	50
5	7	36	3.61%	65.79%
6	13	11	1.10%	66.90%
7	15	57	5.72%	72.62%
8	18	36	3.61%	76.23%	75
9	20	57	5.72%	81.94%
10	22	55	5.52%	87.46%
11	25	125	12.54%	100.00%	90
Total	128	997	100.00%
Note: This is not data published by BLS or ORS. This is only intended as a small-scale example to illustrate how these estimates are calculated for requirements and occupations.

In this example, the first 10^th and 25^th percentiles of the occupation are required to carry no more than zero pounds. More than 41 percent of the workers in this example are not required to lift or carry any weight.

At the 50^th percentile or median, workers are required to lift or carry five pounds of weight. This means that 50 percent of workers are required to lift or carry five pounds or less, and 50 percent of workers are required to carry five pounds or more.

At the 75^th percentile, workers are required to lift or carry 18 pounds. This means that 75 percent of workers are required to lift or carry up to 18 pounds, and 25 percent of workers are required to lift or carry 18 or more pounds.

At the 90^th percentile, workers are required to lift or carry 25 pounds. This means that 90 percent of workers are required to lift or carry up to 25 pounds and 10 percent of workers in this hypothetical occupation are required to carry 25 pounds or more.

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For additional information on occupational requirements see the ORS homepage or download the ORS complete dataset to explore the latest estimates.