Using OES occupation profiles

in a job search
Spring 2013 • Occupational Outlook Quarterly 37

Chris 

Cunningham

Chris 

Cunningham is a 

statistician in the 

Office of Occupational Statistics 

and Employment 

Projections, BLS. 

He is available at 

(202) 691-5729 

or cunningham.

john@bls.gov.

When looking for work in your area 

or in a new city, it’s helpful to 

know where the jobs are—and 

how much they pay. Occupation profiles from 

the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) 

Occupational Employment Statistics (OES) 

program offer this information and more.

Using occupation profiles, jobseekers can 

see which industries employ the most workers 

in a particular field, which geographical areas 

have high concentrations of those jobs, and 

how wages differ by industry and geographical area. These OES data are useful as part of 

an overall evaluation in making career decisions. Keep in mind, however, that many other 

factors are involved in choosing an occupation.

This article gives an overview of the data 

in the OES occupation profiles. It describes 

different jobseeking situations and shows how 

employment and wage data could be useful 

in each case. The first section describes how 

to use the three types of data in each profile: 

national, industry, and geographic. The second 

section explains how to get additional data by 

creating customized tables. The final section 

provides more information, including how to 

use industry profiles of occupations.

How to use 

occupation profiles

To find the most recent OES occupation profiles, start with the list of occupations at 

www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_stru.htm. If 

you don’t know which major group an occupation is in, use your browser’s search feature—

or the “Search OES” tool to the left of the list 

of major groups.

Each profile begins with a description of 

the occupation. Then it provides employment 

and wage data in three separate sections: with 

national information, by industry, and by geographic location.

Using national information

National estimates in each profile show 

employment and wage data for the occupation. 

(See illustration 1 below.) This information 

provides a snapshot of the overall occupation, including the number of U.S. workers 

employed and the annual and hourly wage. 

The wages section includes both what workers 

earn, on average (mean wage estimates), and 

what the highest and lowest ranges are (percentile wage estimates).

Illustration 1: Employment and wage data for telemarketers, May 2012
38 Occupational Outlook Quarterly • Spring 2013

National wage estimates can give a 

general idea of what an occupation pays. For 

example, suppose there’s a job advertised for 

an entry-level telemarketer, but there’s no 

information about how much the job pays. As 

a potential applicant, you could use the OES 

occupation profile for telemarketers to find a 

typical wage for this job.

The occupation’s description at the top 

of the page, which states that telemarketers 

“solicit donations or orders for goods and 

services over the telephone,” is likely to be 

similar to the job description in the want ad. 

Below that description, there are national 

employment, mean wage, and percentile wage 

estimates for telemarketers.

The mean hourly wage for telemarketers 

in May 2012 was $12.29. The percentile wages 

show that telemarketers had a median hourly 

wage of $10.74—meaning half of telemarketers earned more than that amount, and half 

earned less. Wages ranged from $8.17 per 

hour for the lowest paid 10 percent (10th percentile) to $18.58 per hour for the highest paid 

10 percent (90th percentile).

Because the advertised position is entrylevel, the starting wage is likely to fall in 

the lower ranges. If the telemarketing position were for a more experienced worker, the 

starting wage might be closer to the mean or 

median wage estimate.

But experience isn’t the only factor affecting wages. For example, wages often vary by 

industry and geographic area. Additional data 

in the profiles give this specific information.

Using industry data

If you want a job in a specific field, such as 

healthcare, you might want to look at employment and wage data for that field. These 

fields are known as industries, and OES data 

show the types of businesses that employ 
Spring 2013 • Occupational Outlook Quarterly 39

mean annual wage of $48,730 for this occupation. Click on the “Industry profile for this 

occupation” link or scroll down the page for 

the industry section. 

Illustration 2 above shows the employment 

and the hourly and annual mean wages of the 

top-paying industries for graphic designers in 

May 2012. The mean annual wage for these 

industries fell between $61,000 and $77,000, 

well above your salary. These wages are comparatively high, but employment of graphic 

designers in these industries was small—and 

three industries employed fewer than 500 

workers: facilities support services, aerospace 

product and parts manufacturing, and securities and commodity contracts intermediation and brokerage. The top-paying industry 

that employed the largest number of graphic 

designers was the federal executive branch 

(1,650), followed by scientific research and 

development services (1,100).

occupations—such as, for healthcare-related 

occupations, hospitals.

Every profile has an industry section 

that shows industries with the most overall 

employment for the occupation, industries 

with the most concentrated employment for 

the occupation, and industries that pay the 

most for the occupation.

The industry data show which industries 

have the highest wages for an occupation. 

Let’s say, for example, that you’re an experienced graphic designer working for a commercial printer. You’re unhappy with your 

annual salary of $40,000 after learning at 

a recent trade show that many of your colleagues in other industries earn more than 

you do. Using the OES occupation profile for 

graphic designers, you can research wages by 

industry.

By scanning the national employment and 

wage estimates at the top of the page, you’ll 

notice that your current salary is below the 

Illustration 2: Top paying industries for graphic designers, May 2012
40 Occupational Outlook Quarterly • Spring 2013

Illustration 3 below shows data for the 

five industries that employed the most graphic 

designers in May 2012. Your industry, printing and related support activities, is among 

the largest; however, it paid the least among 

these top five industries. Two other industries shown—specialized design services 

and advertising, public relations, and related 

services—paid, on average, at least $10,000 

more than your current salary.

These data from the OES occupational 

profile show that you have several options 

for increasing what you earn as a graphic 

designer. By changing industries, you might 

be able to increase your annual salary.

Using geographic data

Each profile also has a geographic section 

with maps and tables showing the states and 

metropolitan areas (defined as one or more 

urban areas with 50,000 or more people) that 

have the most overall employment, the most 

concentrated employment, and the top pay for 

the occupation. For nonmetropolitan areas, the 

same type of information is provided in tables 

that are below the maps.

State and area data help jobseekers who 

are considering relocation. For example, 

suppose you’re a tool and die maker earning 

$21 per hour in Augusta, Georgia, and you’re 

thinking about relocating. Your preference to 

relocate to the Northeast or Midwest, where 

you have family, may depend on which locations pay the highest wages for tool and die 

makers.

The OES profile for tool and die makers shows, at the top of the page, that your 

current wage is below the May 2012 national 

Illustration 3: Top employing industries for graphic designers, May 2012
Spring 2013 • Occupational Outlook Quarterly 41

hourly wages of $23.31 (mean) and $22.60 

(median). The national wage data tell you that 

there are areas of the country that pay more. 

To find out which areas these are, click on the 

“Geographic profile for this occupation” link 

or scroll down the profile for the geographic 

section.

The first map in the geographic section 

shows that several states in the Midwest and 

Northeast employed a high number of tool 

and die makers in May 2012. The table below 

the map shows that Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, 

Illinois, and Pennsylvania employed the most 

tool and die makers. The map also shows that 

many tool and die makers were employed in 

Connecticut, New York, and Wisconsin.

The third map (see chart above) in the 

geographic section shows wages by state for 

tool and die makers in May 2012. Among the 

five top-paying states, Connecticut had a mean 

hourly wage of $26.08 and employed about 

1,900 tool and die makers.

However, the map indicates that Michigan also paid a relatively high mean wage. 

To help narrow your choices, you can look at 

metropolitan area data for the states with the 

Chart: Top paying states for tool and die makers, May 2012
42 Occupational Outlook Quarterly • Spring 2013

largest employment and highest wages. Three 

metropolitan areas in Michigan and one each 

in Illinois, Ohio, and Wisconsin employed 

at least 1,400 tool and die makers in May 

2012. Scrolling down further, you can see that 

Detroit-Livonia-Dearborn, which was among 

the highest employing metropolitan areas for 

this occupation, is also one of the highest paying areas, with a mean hourly wage of $29.37 

in May 2012.

After examining the OES profile for tool 

and die makers, you can make an informed 

decision about where to focus a job search.

How to create 

customized tables

The OES occupation profile page gives an 

informative snapshot of employment and 

wages. But what if jobseekers need even more 

detail?

OES has more data than what appears 

on each profile page. Jobseekers can create 

customized tables using the Multi-Screen 

Data Search tool. This tool is accessible from 

within the occupation profiles and from the 

main OES homepage. It allows jobseekers to 

choose the geographic or industry data they 

want for one or more occupations and then 

download the tables.

Creating geographic tables

Relocating for one person’s career can be 

difficult. Adding another person’s career into 

the decisionmaking process can make relocating twice as challenging. A customized 

geographic table can pull together data for two 

occupations to help with planning.

For example, let’s say you and your 

spouse have started thinking about retirement. 

Both of you want to work a few more years, 

but you’d like to relocate first. You’ve decided 

to trade the cool summers and frigid winters 

of Upstate New York for the milder yearround climate of Scottsdale, Arizona.

Check the OES occupation profiles to find 

wage levels that are close to your current ones. 

With many years of experience as an electrical 

engineer, for example, your current salary of 

$111,500 annually is near the 75th percentile 

wage estimate of $110,850 for this occupation 

nationally in May 2012. Your spouse, a dental 

assistant with fewer years in the labor force, 

earns $34,900 annually—higher than, but 

close to, the median annual wage of $34,500 

for this occupation nationally in May 2012.

By hovering your mouse over the annual 

mean wage maps in each occupation profile, 

you learn that your wages are fairly typical for 

your state. Electrical engineers in New York 

had an annual wage of $112,970 at the 75th 

percentile in May 2012, and dental assistants 

earned a median wage of $34,690 annually. Compared with your current employers, 

employers in Arizona appear to have paid 

higher wages for electrical engineers and 

similar wages for dental assistants. Now it’s 

time to get specific data about Scottsdale, 

which is part of the Phoenix-Mesa-Glendale 

metropolitan area.

You can create one customized geographic table that shows May 2012 wages for 
Spring 2013 • Occupational Outlook Quarterly 43

both of your occupations in the Phoenix area 

by doing the following:

•	 From either occupation profile, scroll up 

from the wage map and click “Create 

Customized Tables” under “Geographic 

profile for this occupation.”

•	 Select “Multiple occupations for one 

geographical area” as the search type.

•	 On the next page, choose “Metropolitan 

or nonmetropolitan area” as the geographic type.

•	 From the list of areas on the next page, 

select “Phoenix-Mesa-Glendale” under 

Arizona.

•	 The next page has a list of occupations; 

find and click on “electrical engineers 

172071” and then, while holding the 

Ctrl key on your keyboard, find and 

click on “dental assistants 319091.”

•	 Finally, select “May 2012” as the 

release date, “Annual median wage,” 

and then, while holding the Ctrl key 

on your keyboard, select “Annual 75th 

percentile wage.”

The customized table will shows that electrical engineers in the Phoenix area had an 

annual wage of $118,270 at the 75th percentile 

in May 2012. Dental assistants had a median 

annual wage of $34,760. The data suggest that 

you may be able to expect a salary increase 

when you relocate, although your spouse’s 

wage should stay about the same. This information can help both of you make decisions in 

your relocation and jobseeking efforts.

Creating industry tables

If you’re a college student majoring in 

accounting, you may want to research your 

earning prospects before you enter the labor 

force. Start with the data on the OES occupation profile for accountants and auditors.

The national estimates for this occupation 

show that the mean annual wage was $71,040 

in May 2012. Although wages vary by industry and location, you should expect a lower 

starting salary in an entry-level position—

something closer to the 10th percentile wage 

of $39,930.

In the industry section of the profile, you 

notice that in May 2012, accountants and 

auditors in the five top-paying industries had a 

wage that was higher than the national mean. 
44 Occupational Outlook Quarterly • Spring 2013

Retrieve data for the 10th percentile wage in 

the highest paying industries for accountants 

and auditors by clicking the “Create Customized Tables” link under “Industry profile for 

this occupation” and doing the following:

•	 To select a search type, choose “One 

occupation for multiple industries.” 

•	 On the next page, find “accountants and 

auditors 132011” in the occupations list. 

•	 The next two pages allow you to choose 

the sectors and industries for which you 

would like to see data—including, for 

the broad search you’re doing, an option 

to select “All sectors in this list,” and 

then “All industries in this list.” 

•	 On the last page, choose “May 2012” as 

the release date, “Annual 10th percentile 

wage” for type of data, and “Excel” for 

the type of output.

You can sort the Excel file by the wage 

column, from largest to smallest, to identify 

which industries paid the highest wages for 

accountants and auditors at the 10th percentile in May 2012. From these data, you can 

target your job search to focus on positions 

more likely to offer above-average salaries for 

entry-level accountants.

For more information

The OES occupation profiles are one of 

many sources of OES data. For example, you 

may be interested in working in a particular 

industry but are willing to work in a variety 

of occupations within that industry. In that 

case, the OES industry tables (www.bls.gov/

oes/current/oessrci.htm) are a good starting 

point. For each industry—such as construction, healthcare, or banking—the profile lists 

occupations in the field, employment, and 

average wages. The tables can be sorted so 

that they show which occupations are the largest and which are the highest paying.

OES occupational employment and wage 

data are also available as charts, maps, databases, and in a variety of publications. To find 

more, go to www.bls.gov/oes.

The Occupational Outlook Handbook

(OOH) uses OES employment and wage data 

in profiles for hundreds of occupations. These 

profiles also include information about each 

occupation’s duties, work environment, education or training requirements, job outlook, and 

more. Find the OOH online at www.bls.gov/

ooh.
No trees were harmed in the making of 

the OOQ online: www.bls.gov/ooq