1

Technical information: (202) 691-6569

 http://www.bls.gov/oes/

Media contact: 691-5902

USDL 04-2320

For release: 10:00 A.M. EST

Friday, November 12, 2004

OCCUPATIONAL EMPLOYMENT AND WAGES, NOVEMBER 2003

Healthcare practitioner and technical occupations such as specialist physicians and dentists accounted for

8 out of the 10 highest-paying occupations in November 2003, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics

of the U.S. Department of Labor. The average hourly wages for these health-related occupations ranged

from $87.83 for surgeons to $62.04 for dentists. The lowest-paying occupation was fast food cooks who

earned $7.28 per hour. Five of the six lowest-paying occupations were related to food preparation and

serving.

Retail salespersons and cashiers were the largest occupations in the United States, with about 4.1 million

and 3.4 million employees, respectively. Other occupations with more than 2 million workers included

general office clerks; hand laborers and material movers; registered nurses; waiters and waitresses; janitors

and cleaners, except maids and housekeeping cleaners; and combined food preparation and serving workers,

including fast food. The average hourly wages for these occupations ranged from $7.36 for combined food

0 5,000,000 10,000,000 15,000,000 20,000,000 25,000,000

Food preparation and serving related ($8.37)

Farm ing, fishing, and forestry ($9.76)

Building and grounds c leaning and m aintenance ($10.23)

Personal care and service ($10.37)

Healthcare support ($11.04)

Transportation and m aterial moving ($13.28)

Office and adm inistrative support ($13.72)

Production ($13.91)

Sales and related ($15.17)

Protective service ($16.56)

Com munity and social services ($17.21)

Installation, m aintenance, and repair ($17.58)

Construction and extraction ($17.79)

Education, training, and library ($19.90)

Arts, design, entertainm ent, sports, and media ($20.84)

Life, physical, and social science ($26.41)

Business and financial operations ($26.92)

Healthcare practitioner and technical ($27.04)

Architecture and engineering ($29.04)

Computer and m athematical science ($30.84)

Legal ($37.78)

Managem ent ($40.10)

Em ploym ent level

.7%

5.1%

 4.9%

.9%

1.2%

6.2%

4.8%

4.1%

1.3% 

2.3%

10.6%

8.0%

17.7%

7.3%

2.5%

2.4%

3.4%

.4%

8.1%

2.2%

1.8%

4.0%

Occupational group (with mean hourly wage shown in parentheses)

Chart 1. Mean hourly wage and percent of total employment by major occupational group
2

Management .....................................................

Business and financial operations........................

Computer and mathematical science ...................

Architecture and engineering..............................

Life, physical, and social science ........................

Community and social services...........................

Legal................................................................

Education, training, and library............................

Arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media ......

Healthcare practitioner and technical..................

Healthcare support ............................................

Protective service ..............................................

Food preparation and serving related...................

Building and grounds cleaning and

 maintenance ..................................................

Personal care and service ..................................

Sales and related ...............................................

Office and administrative support .......................

Farming, fishing, and forestry .............................

Construction and extraction ................................

Installation, maintenance, and repair ....................

Production ........................................................

Transportation and material moving ....................

$17.00

 to

$21.49

$21.50

 to

$27.24

$27.25

 to

$34.49

Wage range

Under

 $8.50

 $8.50

 to

$10.74

Major occupational group $10.75

 to

$13.49

$13.50

 to

$16.99

$34.50

 to

$43.74

 Over

$43.75

 1.3

 1.7

 .7

 .6

1.9

 7.0

 1.4

11.3

12.2

2.4

24.4

16.3

66.4

41.3

48.7

35.9

14.8

56.3

 6.9

7.3

17.3

26.1

1.2

 2.1

 1.4

1.7

3.5

10.7

 2.2

8.7

9.8

 4.8

31.1

14.6

17.9

25.2

22.1

16.9

19.6

17.5

12.0

10.4

19.6

19.3

 2.8

5.6

 3.2

4.1

 7.2

17.9

5.5

9.9

12.2

8.0

23.8

15.0

9.0

16.4

12.1

11.5

22.7

11.5

16.5

15.0

20.5

18.1

5.5

12.2

 7.0

 8.3

13.2

21.4

10.7

14.7

14.9

12.6

13.7

14.8

 4.1

9.7

7.3

9.5

19.7

7.3

18.6

19.5

17.8

15.1

 9.2

18.9

12.6

14.2

17.7

19.0

14.5

18.8

16.1

19.5

13.7

 1.8

 5.2

 4.9

 8.2

14.0

 4.3

17.7

20.8

12.4

11.3

13.5

21.4

18.3

20.7

18.9

13.7

13.3

16.8

13.6

21.0

1.3

13.0

.6

 1.7

 2.5

6.4

6.5

 2.0

14.8

16.7

8.4

6.2

16.0

17.5

21.9

21.1

16.0

 7.1

11.2

11.2

9.3

13.7

 .3

8.2

 .2

 .4

1.2

 4.4

 1.9

.7

9.2

 7.7

3.0

 2.2

17.0

11.1

19.9

17.7

11.4

2.4

10.8

5.2

5.8

7.5

.1

3.4

.1

.1

.6

3.1

.6

.3

3.3

2.1

.8

.8

33.5

9.4

14.9

11.6

10.3

.7

30.3

3.5

6.1

10.6

-

1.0

-

-

.6

4.2

.3

.1

.9

.7

.2

.9

Table A. Wage distribution by major occupational group, November 2003

(Percent distribution)

5.2

preparation and serving workers, including fast food to $11.44 for general office clerks, with the exception

of registered nurses who earned $25.39. (See table 1.)

These statistics for wage and salary workers are from the Occupational Employment Statistics (OES)

survey, a federal-state cooperative program between BLS and State Workforce Agencies. The OES survey

provides estimates of employment and hourly and annual wages for wage and salary workers in 22 major

occupational groups and in 770 detailed occupations.

Management and legal occupational groups were the highest paying of the 22 major occupational groups.

Over 30 percent of the workers in these occupational groups earned more than $43.75 per hour. (See table

A.) The major occupational group with the highest employment level in November 2003 was office and

administrative support workers, followed by sales and related workers, food preparation and serving

workers, and production workers. (See chart 1.)

The major occupational groups with the lowest average wages were food preparation and serving

related; farming, fishing, and forestry; building and grounds cleaning and maintenance; and personal care and
3

service. At least 40 percent of all workers in each of these groups earned less than $8.50 per hour. (See

table A.)

Major groups in which 50 percent or more of the employment was concentrated in the middle three

wage ranges (from $13.50 mean hourly wage to $27.24 mean hourly wage) included business and financial

operations occupations; life, physical, and social science occupations; community and social services

occupations; education, training, and library occupations; healthcare practitioner and technical occupations;

construction and extraction occupations; and installation, maintenance, and repair occupations.

Table 1 shows employment and wage estimates for detailed occupations within each major group. The

OES program also provides national occupational employment and wage data by industry, and cross-industry

estimates for all states and 334 metropolitan areas. November 2003 OES data for states and metropolitan

areas and the national employment and wage data by industry will be available on the BLS Web site in

November.

The OES survey is designed to estimate employment and wages at detailed industry and area levels with

a desired level of reliability based on a sample of 1.2 million establishments, collected in six semiannual panels

over a 3-year period.
Technical Note

Scope of the survey

The Occupational Employment Statistics (OES) survey is a

semiannual mail survey measuring occupational employment

and wage rates for wage and salary workers in nonfarm

establishments, by industry, in the United States (Guam, Puerto

Rico, and the Virgin Islands also are surveyed, but their data

are not included in this release). In 2002, the OES survey

switched from industry coding based on the Standard

Industrial Classification (SIC) system to that based on the

North American Industry Classification System (NAICS).

In November 2002, the OES survey changed from an annual

survey of 400,000 establishments to a semiannual survey of

200,000 establishments per panel. The OES survey samples

and contacts establishments in May and November of each

year, and over 3 years, or the equivalent of six panels, contacts

approximately 1.2 million establishments. The full 3-year sample

allows the production of estimates at fine levels of geographic,

industry, and occupational detail. The nationwide response

rate for the November 2003 panel was 79 percent for

establishments, covering 73 percent of weighted employment.

The Standard Occupational Classification system

In 1999, the OES survey began using the Office of

Management and Budget’s (OMB) occupational classification

system, the Standard Occupational Classification (SOC)

system. The SOC system is the first OMB-required

occupational classification system for federal agencies. The

OES survey categorizes workers in 1 of about 770 detailed

occupations. Together, these detailed occupations comprise

23 major occupational groups. The major groups are as follows:

The industry coding system

As noted earlier, in 2002, the OES survey switched from

using the Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) system to

using the North American Industry Classification System

(NAICS). For more information about NAICS, see the BLS

Web site at http://www.bls.gov/bls/naics.htm.

The OES survey includes establishments in NAICS sectors

11 (logging and agricultural support activities only), 21, 22, 23,

31-33, 42, 44-45, 48-49, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 61, 62, 71, 72, 81

(except private households), state government, and local

government. Data for the U.S. Postal Service and the federal

government are universe counts obtained from the Postal

Service and the Office of Personnel Management, respectively.

An establishment is defined as an economic unit that

processes goods or provides services, such as a factory, mine,

or store. The establishment is generally at a single physical

location and is engaged primarily in one type of economic

activity.

The OES survey covers all full- and part-time wage and

salary workers in nonfarm industries. The survey does not

include the self-employed owners and partners in

unincorporated firms, household workers, or unpaid family

workers.

Survey coverage

BLS funds the survey and provides the procedures and

technical support, while the State Workforce Agencies

(SWAs) collect the data. BLS produces cross-industry NAICS

estimates for the nation, states, and metropolitan statistical

areas (MSAs). NAICS estimates are produced for sector, 3-

digit, 4-digit, and selected 5-digit industry levels. BLS releases

all cross-industry and national estimates, and the SWAs

release industry estimates at the state and MSA levels.

State Unemployment Insurance (UI) files provide the

universe from which the OES survey draws its sample. The

employment benchmarks are obtained from reports submitted

by employers to the UI program. Supplemental sources are

used for rail transportation (NAICS 4821) and Guam because

they do not report to the UI program. The OES survey sample

is stratified by area, industry, and size class. Size classes are

defined as follows:

Management occupations

Business and financial operations occupations

Computer and mathematical science occupations

Architecture and engineering occupations

Life, physical, and social science occupations

Community and social services occupations

Legal occupations

Education, training, and library occupations

Arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media occupations

Healthcare practitioner and technical occupations

Healthcare support occupations

Protective service occupations

Food preparation and serving related occupations

Building and grounds cleaning and maintenance occupations

Personal care and service occupations

Sales and related occupations

Office and administrative support occupations

Farming, fishing, and forestry occupations

Construction and extraction occupations

Installation, maintenance, and repair occupations

Production occupations

Transportation and material moving occupations

Military specific occupations (not surveyed in OES)

1 1 to 4

2 5 to 9

3 10 to 19

4 20 to 49

5 50 to 99

6 100 to 249

7 250 and above

Size class Number of employees

For more information about the SOC system, please see the

Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Web site at http://

www.bls.gov/soc.

UI reporting units with 250 or more employees are sampled

with virtual certainty across a 3-year period. Generally, onesixth of the certainty units are sampled in each panel in each

state.
Concepts

Occupational employment is the estimate of total wage and

salary employment in an occupation across the industries in

which that occupation was reported. The OES survey defines

employment as the number of workers who can be classified as

full-time or part-time employees, including workers on paid

vacations or other types of leave; workers on unpaid shortterm absences; salaried officers, executives, and staff members

of incorporated firms; employees temporarily assigned to other

units; and employees for whom the reporting unit is their

permanent duty station regardless of whether that unit

prepares their paycheck.

The OES survey form sent to an establishment contains

between 50 and 225 SOC occupations selected on the basis of

the sampled establishment’s industry classification and size

class. To reduce paperwork and respondent burden, no survey

form contains every SOC occupation. Thus, data for specific

occupations are collected primarily from establishments in

industries that are the predominant employers of workers in

those occupations. Each survey form is structured, however,

to allow a respondent to provide detailed occupational

information for each worker at the establishment; that is,

unlisted occupations can be added to the survey form.

Wages for the OES survey are straight-time, gross pay,

exclusive of premium pay. Base rate, cost-of-living allowances,

guaranteed pay, hazardous-duty pay, incentive pay including

commissions and production bonuses, tips, and on-call pay are

included. Excluded are back pay, jury duty pay, overtime pay,

severance pay, shift differentials, non-production bonuses,

employer cost for supplementary benefits, and tuition

reimbursements.

The OES survey collects wage data in 12 intervals.

Employers report the number of employees in an occupation

for each wage range. The wage intervals used for the

November 2003 survey are as follows:

intervals and divided by the occupation’s weighted survey

employment. The mean wage for each interval is based on

occupational wage data collected by the BLS Office of

Compensation and Working Conditions for the National

Compensation Survey (NCS).

The mean hourly wage value for the highest wage interval,

$70.00 and over, is calculated after excluding data for pilots.

Pilots comprise a large portion of the employment from the NCS

that falls into the highest interval, and about 1 percent of the

workers reported for the OES survey makes $70.00 and over.

Since pilots work fewer hours than workers in other

occupations, their hourly wage rates are much higher than

other occupations. After excluding pilots from the calculation,

the mean wage rate for the highest interval was computed

separately for each panel or annual sample (November 2003,

May 2003, November 2002, 2001, and 2000). Then the average

of these five mean wage rates was derived and used for all of

the $70.00 and over data in the November 2003 survey. The

wage rates for this interval do not go through any wage

updating procedures.

Percentile wage. The p-th percentile wage range for an

occupation is the wage where p percent of all workers earn that

amount or less and where (100-p) percent of all workers earn

that amount or more. This statistic is calculated by uniformly

distributing the workers inside each wage interval, ranking the

workers from lowest paid to highest paid, and calculating the

product of the total employment for the occupation and the

desired percentile to determine the worker that earns the p-th

percentile wage rate.

Annual wage. Many employees are paid at an hourly rate

by their employers and may work more than or less than 40

hours per week. Annual wage estimates in this release are

calculated by multiplying the mean hourly wage by a “yearround, full-time” figure of 2,080 hours (52 weeks by 40 hours).

Thus, annual wage estimates may not represent the actual

annual pay received by the employee if they work more or less

than 2,080 hours per year. Alternatively, some workers are paid

based on an annual amount, but they generally do not work the

usual 2,080 hours per year. Since the OES survey does not

collect the actual number of hours worked, hourly rates cannot

be calculated with a reasonable degree of confidence from

annual rates. For this reason, the annual salary is directly

calculated from reported survey data, and only annual wages

are estimated for these occupations. Occupations that

typically have a work year of less than 2,080 hours include

musical and entertainment occupations, pilots and flight

attendants, and teachers.

Hourly versus annual wage reporting. For each

occupation, respondents are asked to report the number of

employees paid within specific wage intervals. The intervals

are defined both as hourly rates and the corresponding annual

rates, where the annual rate for an occupation is calculated by

multiplying the hourly wage rate by a typical work year of 2,080

hours. The responding establishment can reference either the

Interval Hourly

Wages

Annual

Range A Under $6.75 Under $14,040

Range B $6.75 to $8.49 $14,040 to $17,679

Range C $8.50 to $10.74 $17,680 to $22,359

Range D $10.75 to $13.49 $22,360 to $28,079

Range E $13.50 to $16.99 $28,080 to $35,359

Range F $17.00 to $21.49 $35,360 to $44,719

Range G $21.50 to $27.24 $44,720 to $56,679

Range H $27.25 to $34.49 $56,680 to $71,759

Range I $34.50 to $43.74 $71,760 to $90,999

Range J $43.75 to $55.49 $91,000 to $115,439

Range K $55.50 to $69.99 $115,440 to $145,599

Range L $70.00 and over $145,600 and over

Mean hourly wage. The mean hourly wage rate for an

occupation is the total wages that all workers in the occupation

earn in an hour divided by the total employment of the

occupation. To calculate the mean hourly wage of each

occupation, total weighted hourly wages are summed across all
hourly or the annual rate, but they are instructed to report the

hourly rate for part-time workers.

Estimation methodology

Beginning in the November 2002, the OES survey samples

approximately 200,000 establishments semiannually in

November and May of each year, for a combined sample of 1.2

million different establishments over six semiannual panels.

Until 2002, the survey sampled approximately 400,000

establishments in the fourth quarter of each year, for a 3-year

combined sample size of 1.2 million. While estimates can be

made from a single year or 2 years of data, the OES survey has

been designed to produce estimates at a desired level of

precision using the full 3 years, or 6 panels, of data. The 3-year

sample allows the production of estimates at fine levels of

geographic, industry, and occupational detail.

Producing estimates using the 3 years of sample data

provides significant sampling error reductions (particularly for

small geographic areas and occupations); however, it also has

some quality limitations in that it requires the adjustment of

earlier year’s data to the current reference period, a procedure

referred to as “wage updating.”

Wage updating. As noted above, combining multiple years

of data has both statistical advantages and limitations.

Significant reductions in sampling error can be achieved by

taking advantage of 3 years of data, which covers over 70

percent of the employment in the United States. This feature

is particularly important in improving the reliability of estimates

for small domains in the population (that is, wage and

employment estimates for detailed occupations in small areas).

Combining multiple years of data also has been necessary to

obtain full coverage of establishments with 250 or more workers

that are sampled with certainty.

Starting with the 1997 estimates, the OES program has used

the BLS Employment Cost Index to adjust survey data from

prior years or panels before combining them with the current

panel’s data. The wage updating procedure assumes that each

occupation’s wage rate, as measured in the earlier year or panel,

moves according to the average movement of the broader

occupation division that encompasses it and that there are no

major geographic, industry, or detailed occupational

differences.

November 2003 OES survey estimates. The November 2003

OES survey estimates are based on data collected from

establishments in the November 2003, May 2003, and the

November 2002, 2001, and 2000 samples. The November 2003

estimates used the wage-updating methodology introduced in

1997. In addition, a “nearest neighbor” hot deck imputation

procedure was used to impute occupational employment totals

for establishments that reported no employment data. For

establishments that reported (or imputed) occupational

employment totals but did not report an employment

distribution across the wage intervals, a variation of mean

imputation was used to impute the distribution. During

estimates processing, OES employment data were

benchmarked to the average employment for May and

November 2003 from the BLS Quarterly Census of Employment

and Wages.

Reliability of the estimates. Estimates calculated from a

sample survey are subject to two types of error: sampling and

nonsampling. Sampling error occurs when estimates are

calculated from a subset (i.e., sample) of the population instead

of the full population. When a sample of the population is

surveyed, there is a chance that the sample estimate of the

characteristic of interest may differ from the population value

of that characteristic. Differences between the sample estimate

and the population value will vary depending on the sample

selected. This variability can be estimated by calculating the

standard error (SE) of the sample estimate. If we were to repeat

the sampling and estimation process countless times using the

same survey design, approximately 90 percent of the intervals

created by adding and subtracting 1.645 SEs from the sample

estimate would include the population value. These intervals

are called 90-percent confidence intervals. The OES survey,

however, usually uses the relative standard error (RSE) of a

sample estimate instead of its SE to measure sampling error.

RSE is defined as the SE of a sample estimate divided by the

sample estimate itself. This statistic provides the user with a

measure of the relative precision of the sample estimate. RSEs

are calculated for both occupational employment and mean

wage rate estimates. Occupational employment RSEs are

calculated using a subsample, random group replication

technique called the Jackknife. Mean wage rate RSEs are

calculated using a variance components model that accounts

for both the observed and unobserved components of the wage

data. The variances of the unobserved components are

estimated using wage data from the BLS National

Compensation Survey. In general, estimates based on many

establishments have lower RSEs than estimates based on few

establishments. If the distributional assumptions of the models

are violated, the resulting confidence intervals may not reflect

the prescribed level of confidence.

Nonsampling error occurs for a variety of reasons, none of

which are directly connected to sampling. Examples of

nonsampling error include: nonresponse, data incorrectly

reported by the respondent, mistakes made in entering

collected data into the database, and mistakes made in editing

and processing the collected data.

Additional information

The November 2003 OES national data by occupation,

comparable to data in table 1, will be available soon on the

Internet (http://www.bls.gov/oes). Users also may access each

occupation’s definition and percentile wages. The November

2003 cross-industry data for states and metropolitan areas will

be available on the BLS Web site in November. Industry

staffing patterns at the sector, 3-, 4-, and selected 5-digit

NAICS levels also will be available from the Internet beginning

in November. These data will include industry-specific

occupational employment and wage data.

For additional information, contact the Office of

Employment and Unemployment Statistics, Division of
Occupational Employment Statistics, Room 2135,

2 Massachusetts Avenue, NE, Washington, DC, 20212;

telephone 202-691-6569 (e-mail: oesinfo@bls.gov).

Information in this release will be made available to sensory

impaired individuals upon request. Voice phone: 202-691-

5200; TDD message referral phone number: 1-800-877-8339.
Table 1. National employment and wage data from the Occupational Employment Statistics survey by occupation, November 2003

Hourly Annual1

Management occupations

Chief executives........................................................................................................................ 372,170 $66.53 $138,380 $65.58

General and operations managers............................................................................................ 1,841,470 42.94 89,310 35.86

Legislators................................................................................................................................. 64,570 15.03 31,260 7.96

Advertising and promotions managers...................................................................................... 64,390 35.60 74,050 29.52

Marketing managers.................................................................................................................. 176,270 45.16 93,930 40.97

Sales managers........................................................................................................................ 310,320 44.53 92,610 39.41

Public relations managers......................................................................................................... 54,490 37.00 76,960 32.60

Administrative services managers............................................................................................ 266,330 31.11 64,710 27.95

Computer and information systems managers.......................................................................... 257,860 46.13 95,960 43.51

Financial managers................................................................................................................... 509,690 42.54 88,470 38.02

Human resources managers..................................................................................................... 158,560 36.84 76,620 33.82

Industrial production managers................................................................................................. 159,820 37.38 77,750 34.45

Purchasing managers............................................................................................................... 84,750 35.32 73,470 32.61

Transportation, storage, and distribution managers.................................................................. 90,940 34.06 70,830 31.19

Farm, ranch, and other agricultural managers.......................................................................... 5,000 25.08 52,180 22.92

Construction managers............................................................................................................. 194,820 36.44 75,800 32.51

Education administrators, preschool and child care center/program........................................ 54,570 19.68 40,940 16.94

Education administrators, elementary and secondary school................................................... 208,850 (2) 75,420 (2)

Education administrators, postsecondary................................................................................. 102,200 36.12 75,120 32.58

Engineering managers.............................................................................................................. 188,350 48.31 100,490 45.98

Food service managers............................................................................................................. 218,920 20.18 41,980 18.24

Funeral directors....................................................................................................................... 24,220 26.83 55,810 22.17

Gaming managers..................................................................................................................... 3,580 31.19 64,880 27.85

Lodging managers..................................................................................................................... 31,570 20.20 42,030 17.48

Medical and health services managers..................................................................................... 223,940 35.74 74,340 31.90

Natural sciences managers....................................................................................................... 39,780 45.41 94,440 41.78

Postmasters and mail superintendents..................................................................................... 26,230 24.55 51,050 24.38

Property, real estate, and community association managers.................................................... 159,760 23.18 48,210 18.63

Social and community service managers.................................................................................. 116,210 24.13 50,180 22.21

Business and financial operations occupations

Agents and business managers of artists, performers, and athletes........................................ 12,240 32.76 68,150 26.78

Purchasing agents and buyers, farm products.......................................................................... 14,940 24.05 50,020 21.03

Wholesale and retail buyers, except farm products.................................................................. 139,140 23.61 49,120 20.29

Purchasing agents, except wholesale, retail, and farm products.............................................. 244,940 24.33 50,610 22.72

Claims adjusters, examiners, and investigators........................................................................ 236,810 22.54 46,890 21.17

Insurance appraisers, auto damage.......................................................................................... 11,260 21.72 45,170 21.46

Compliance officers, except agriculture, construction, health and safety,

 and transportation.............................................................................................................. 159,640 24.12 50,160 22.32

Cost estimators......................................................................................................................... 186,710 25.43 52,900 23.66

Emergency management specialists......................................................................................... 9,800 23.65 49,180 21.69

Employment, recruitment, and placement specialists............................................................... 171,660 23.14 48,140 19.70

Compensation, benefits, and job analysis specialists............................................................... 87,090 23.79 49,480 22.54

Training and development specialists....................................................................................... 196,880 22.85 47,530 21.28

Management analysts............................................................................................................... 433,830 35.15 73,110 30.33

Meeting and convention planners............................................................................................. 33,290 20.42 42,470 18.78

Accountants and auditors.......................................................................................................... 954,270 26.98 56,110 23.93

Appraisers and assessors of real estate................................................................................... 65,770 23.85 49,610 20.63

Budget analysts......................................................................................................................... 53,430 27.90 58,030 26.49

Credit analysts........................................................................................................................... 68,420 26.44 55,000 22.42

Financial analysts...................................................................................................................... 171,170 34.06 70,850 29.39

Personal financial advisors........................................................................................................ 93,020 38.46 79,990 28.96

Insurance underwriters.............................................................................................................. 93,770 25.96 53,990 23.25

Financial examiners.................................................................................................................. 23,300 30.69 63,830 28.39

Loan counselors........................................................................................................................ 31,620 18.36 38,190 16.19

Loan officers.............................................................................................................................. 262,920 27.19 56,550 22.85

Tax examiners, collectors, and revenue agents........................................................................ 69,950 22.78 47,390 20.79

Tax preparers............................................................................................................................ 46,260 16.38 34,070 13.26

Computer and mathematical science occupations

Computer and information scientists, research......................................................................... 23,770 40.98 85,240 39.81

Computer programmers............................................................................................................ 403,220 31.33 65,170 29.68

Computer software engineers, applications.............................................................................. 410,580 36.66 76,260 35.30

Computer software engineers, systems software...................................................................... 292,520 38.36 79,790 37.14

Computer support specialists.................................................................................................... 480,520 20.74 43,140 19.18

Computer systems analysts...................................................................................................... 485,720 32.23 67,040 31.28

Database administrators........................................................................................................... 97,540 29.86 62,100 28.44

Network and computer systems administrators........................................................................ 244,610 28.90 60,100 27.43

Network systems and data communications analysts............................................................... 156,270 29.92 62,220 28.51

Actuaries................................................................................................................................... 14,550 41.84 87,040 36.19

Mathematicians......................................................................................................................... 2,410 37.62 78,240 37.34

See footnotes at end of table.

Occupation Median hourly 

wages

Mean wages

Employment
Hourly Annual1

Computer and mathematical science occupations 3⁄4 Continued

Operations research analysts.................................................................................................... 53,620 $29.98 $62,360 $28.41

Statisticians............................................................................................................................... 20,980 30.87 64,210 30.92

Mathematical technicians.......................................................................................................... 1,790 20.56 42,760 17.97

Architecture and engineering occupations

Architects, except landscape and naval.................................................................................... 91,830 31.31 65,120 28.19

Landscape architects................................................................................................................ 18,730 26.45 55,010 24.41

Cartographers and photogrammetrists...................................................................................... 9,150 23.19 48,230 21.90

Surveyors.................................................................................................................................. 51,430 21.54 44,800 20.16

Aerospace engineers................................................................................................................ 71,750 37.82 78,660 37.19

Agricultural engineers................................................................................................................ 2,780 27.90 58,040 25.17

Biomedical engineers................................................................................................................ 7,560 32.49 67,580 31.14

Chemical engineers................................................................................................................... 29,770 37.70 78,410 36.21

Civil engineers........................................................................................................................... 211,280 31.55 65,620 30.21

Computer hardware engineers.................................................................................................. 70,110 39.44 82,040 38.02

Electrical engineers................................................................................................................... 149,540 35.27 73,370 34.05

Electronics engineers, except computer................................................................................... 131,240 35.96 74,800 35.32

Environmental engineers........................................................................................................... 44,930 31.76 66,070 30.79

Health and safety engineers, except mining safety engineers and inspectors.......................... 27,770 30.62 63,680 29.53

Industrial engineers................................................................................................................... 163,470 31.50 65,530 30.79

Marine engineers and naval architects...................................................................................... 6,060 35.07 72,940 34.28

Materials engineers................................................................................................................... 22,030 32.16 66,900 31.25

Mechanical engineers............................................................................................................... 214,070 32.42 67,430 31.35

Mining and geological engineers, including mining safety engineers........................................ 4,680 32.31 67,200 30.86

Nuclear engineers..................................................................................................................... 16,320 41.08 85,440 40.03

Petroleum engineers................................................................................................................. 13,340 42.33 88,050 40.73

Architectural and civil drafters................................................................................................... 97,200 19.06 39,630 18.36

Electrical and electronics drafters............................................................................................. 34,600 22.18 46,120 20.49

Mechanical drafters................................................................................................................... 74,620 21.35 44,410 20.37

Aerospace engineering and operations technicians.................................................................. 10,650 25.47 52,970 24.85

Civil engineering technicians..................................................................................................... 87,890 19.04 39,610 18.38

Electrical and electronic engineering technicians...................................................................... 181,550 22.20 46,190 21.82

Electro-mechanical technicians................................................................................................. 23,640 20.22 42,070 19.58

Environmental engineering technicians..................................................................................... 17,480 19.48 40,510 18.35

Industrial engineering technicians............................................................................................. 66,050 22.33 46,440 20.61

Mechanical engineering technicians......................................................................................... 47,010 21.22 44,140 20.51

Surveying and mapping technicians.......................................................................................... 57,970 15.54 32,320 14.41

Life, physical, and social science occupations

Agricultural and food scientists.................................................................................................. 17,530 25.81 53,690 23.85

Biochemists and biophysicists................................................................................................... 15,940 33.70 70,100 30.96

Microbiologists........................................................................................................................... 13,970 27.69 57,600 25.05

Zoologists and wildlife biologists............................................................................................... 14,340 24.83 51,650 23.71

Conservation scientists............................................................................................................. 14,130 25.09 52,200 24.60

Foresters................................................................................................................................... 10,250 23.16 48,180 22.63

Epidemiologists......................................................................................................................... 3,900 27.46 57,110 25.80

Medical scientists, except epidemiologists................................................................................ 66,020 32.77 68,170 28.94

Astronomers.............................................................................................................................. 810 40.12 83,440 41.30

Physicists................................................................................................................................... 13,450 41.33 85,960 40.18

Atmospheric and space scientists............................................................................................. 7,280 31.53 65,590 31.44

Chemists................................................................................................................................... 81,750 28.82 59,940 26.42

Materials scientists.................................................................................................................... 7,180 35.14 73,080 34.18

Environmental scientists and specialists, including health........................................................ 63,520 26.25 54,600 24.07

Geoscientists, except hydrologists and geographers................................................................ 25,190 37.26 77,490 32.97

Hydrologists............................................................................................................................... 7,120 30.04 62,480 28.37

Economists................................................................................................................................ 11,940 37.68 78,370 33.90

Market research analysts.......................................................................................................... 153,130 29.87 62,130 26.36

Survey researchers................................................................................................................... 16,300 15.61 32,470 12.97

Clinical, counseling, and school psychologists.......................................................................... 98,000 28.19 58,640 25.59

Industrial-organizational psychologists...................................................................................... 1,590 35.06 72,930 32.57

Sociologists............................................................................................................................... 3,300 28.90 60,120 26.74

Urban and regional planners..................................................................................................... 30,600 26.31 54,720 25.33

Anthropologists and archeologists............................................................................................ 4,690 21.63 44,990 19.84

Geographers.............................................................................................................................. 740 27.35 56,890 27.06

Historians.................................................................................................................................. 2,450 22.19 46,160 20.37

Political scientists...................................................................................................................... 4,700 39.14 81,400 39.27

Agricultural and food science technicians................................................................................. 18,220 15.09 31,390 14.03

Biological technicians................................................................................................................ 52,950 17.00 35,360 16.04

See footnotes at end of table.

Occupation Median hourly 

wages

Table 1. National employment and wage data from the Occupational Employment Statistics survey by occupation, November 20033⁄4 Continued

Mean wages

Employment
Hourly Annual1

Life, physical, and social science occupations 3⁄4 Continued

Chemical technicians................................................................................................................ 61,870 $18.82 $39,130 $18.09

Geological and petroleum technicians...................................................................................... 10,310 20.88 43,420 19.60

Nuclear technicians................................................................................................................... 7,530 28.77 59,840 28.97

Environmental science and protection technicians, including health........................................ 28,070 18.11 37,660 17.21

Forensic science technicians.................................................................................................... 9,010 22.22 46,220 20.77

Forest and conservation technicians......................................................................................... 18,090 16.43 34,160 15.38

Community and social services occupations

Substance abuse and behavioral disorder counselors.............................................................. 64,900 16.15 33,580 15.15

Educational, vocational, and school counselors........................................................................ 217,570 22.52 46,850 21.63

Marriage and family therapists.................................................................................................. 20,850 19.92 41,420 18.37

Mental health counselors.......................................................................................................... 86,650 16.86 35,060 15.41

Rehabilitation counselors.......................................................................................................... 117,670 14.47 30,100 13.18

Child, family, and school social workers.................................................................................... 252,870 17.88 37,190 16.49

Medical and public health social workers.................................................................................. 103,040 19.49 40,540 18.83

Mental health and substance abuse social workers.................................................................. 102,110 17.24 35,860 16.18

Health educators....................................................................................................................... 45,520 19.92 41,430 18.32

Probation officers and correctional treatment specialists.......................................................... 87,200 20.31 42,240 18.85

Social and human service assistants........................................................................................ 326,050 12.29 25,570 11.54

Clergy........................................................................................................................................ 37,630 18.47 38,410 16.80

Directors, religious activities and education.............................................................................. 12,120 16.33 33,960 14.06

Legal occupations

Lawyers..................................................................................................................................... 512,070 51.56 107,250 44.58

Administrative law judges, adjudicators, and hearing officers................................................... 14,820 34.15 71,040 32.37

Arbitrators, mediators, and conciliators..................................................................................... 4,710 29.88 62,150 25.80

Judges, magistrate judges, and magistrates............................................................................. 25,270 42.04 87,430 43.86

Paralegals and legal assistants................................................................................................. 210,440 19.78 41,130 18.48

Court reporters.......................................................................................................................... 16,200 22.66 47,130 20.29

Law clerks................................................................................................................................. 41,200 16.26 33,820 15.75

Title examiners, abstractors, and searchers............................................................................. 48,620 18.50 38,490 16.30

Education, training, and library occupations

Business teachers, postsecondary............................................................................................ 68,040 (2) 64,410 (2)

Computer science teachers, postsecondary............................................................................. 37,090 (2) 57,480 (2)

Mathematical science teachers, postsecondary........................................................................ 43,440 (2) 56,480 (2)

Architecture teachers, postsecondary....................................................................................... 5,730 (2) 64,680 (2)

Engineering teachers, postsecondary....................................................................................... 32,470 (2) 76,110 (2)

Agricultural sciences teachers, postsecondary......................................................................... 10,620 (2) 67,010 (2)

Biological science teachers, postsecondary.............................................................................. 58,620 (2) 71,820 (2)

Forestry and conservation science teachers, postsecondary.................................................... 3,050 (2) 66,570 (2)

Atmospheric, earth, marine, and space sciences teachers, postsecondary............................. 8,880 (2) 68,940 (2)

Chemistry teachers, postsecondary.......................................................................................... 17,880 (2) 63,040 (2)

Environmental science teachers, postsecondary...................................................................... 3,850 (2) 65,440 (2)

Physics teachers, postsecondary.............................................................................................. 12,500 (2) 68,400 (2)

Anthropology and archeology teachers, postsecondary............................................................ 4,910 (2) 65,310 (2)

Area, ethnic, and cultural studies teachers, postsecondary...................................................... 7,190 (2) 62,390 (2)

Economics teachers, postsecondary......................................................................................... 12,120 (2) 72,300 (2)

Geography teachers, postsecondary......................................................................................... 4,140 (2) 60,150 (2)

Political science teachers, postsecondary................................................................................. 12,990 (2) 64,280 (2)

Psychology teachers, postsecondary........................................................................................ 28,370 (2) 59,780 (2)

Sociology teachers, postsecondary........................................................................................... 13,890 (2) 58,720 (2)

Health specialties teachers, postsecondary.............................................................................. 98,390 (2) 75,760 (2)

Nursing instructors and teachers, postsecondary..................................................................... 35,170 (2) 54,860 (2)

Education teachers, postsecondary.......................................................................................... 46,390 (2) 51,350 (2)

Library science teachers, postsecondary.................................................................................. 3,850 (2) 54,260 (2)

Criminal justice and law enforcement teachers, postsecondary............................................... 9,900 (2) 49,440 (2)

Law teachers, postsecondary.................................................................................................... 11,980 (2) 94,620 (2)

Social work teachers, postsecondary........................................................................................ 6,870 (2) 55,860 (2)

Art, drama, and music teachers, postsecondary....................................................................... 62,010 (2) 52,210 (2)

Communications teachers, postsecondary............................................................................... 20,910 (2) 52,610 (2)

English language and literature teachers, postsecondary......................................................... 57,290 (2) 52,080 (2)

Foreign language and literature teachers, postsecondary........................................................ 21,520 (2) 51,050 (2)

History teachers, postsecondary............................................................................................... 18,780 (2) 57,450 (2)

Philosophy and religion teachers, postsecondary..................................................................... 16,780 (2) 54,990 (2)

Graduate teaching assistants.................................................................................................... 116,520 (2) 27,340 (2)

Home economics teachers, postsecondary.............................................................................. 4,120 (2) 50,530 (2)

Recreation and fitness studies teachers, postsecondary.......................................................... 15,250 (2) 47,000 (2)

Vocational education teachers, postsecondary......................................................................... 116,570 20.80 43,320 19.10

Preschool teachers, except special education.......................................................................... 363,790 11.26 23,430 9.83

Kindergarten teachers, except special education...................................................................... 163,250 (2) 43,530 (2)

Elementary school teachers, except special education............................................................. 1,418,570 (2) 44,960 (2)

See footnotes at end of table.

Table 1. National employment and wage data from the Occupational Employment Statistics survey by occupation, November 20033⁄4 Continued

Median hourly 

wages

Occupation

Mean wages

Employment
Hourly Annual1

Education, training, and library occupations 3⁄4 Continued

Middle school teachers, except special and vocational education............................................ 611,440 (2) $45,600 (2)

Vocational education teachers, middle school.......................................................................... 16,820 (2) 45,610 (2)

Secondary school teachers, except special and vocational education..................................... 1,033,020 (2) 47,810 (2)

Vocational education teachers, secondary school.................................................................... 100,660 (2) 47,160 (2)

Special education teachers, preschool, kindergarten, and elementary school......................... 202,100 (2) 45,230 (2)

Special education teachers, middle school............................................................................... 96,160 (2) 47,750 (2)

Special education teachers, secondary school......................................................................... 133,550 (2) 48,760 (2)

Adult literacy, remedial education, and GED teachers and instructors..................................... 62,150 20.52 42,670 18.23

Self-enrichment education teachers.......................................................................................... 136,810 16.67 34,680 14.69

Archivists, curators, and museum technicians.......................................................................... 22,080 19.40 40,360 17.39

Librarians................................................................................................................................... 151,650 22.18 46,140 21.50

Library technicians..................................................................................................................... 109,140 12.54 26,080 11.95

Audio-visual collections specialists........................................................................................... 8,300 17.35 36,090 16.37

Farm and home management advisors.................................................................................... 13,400 20.12 41,860 19.20

Instructional coordinators.......................................................................................................... 100,760 24.20 50,330 22.86

Teacher assistants.................................................................................................................... 1,242,800 (2) 20,100 (2)

Arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media occupations

Art directors............................................................................................................................... 24,790 34.39 71,530 30.37

Fine artists, including painters, sculptors, and illustrators......................................................... 9,370 20.48 42,610 17.80

Multi-media artists and animators............................................................................................. 32,030 25.73 53,530 22.48

Commercial and industrial designers........................................................................................ 32,940 26.97 56,110 25.04

Fashion designers..................................................................................................................... 11,090 30.78 64,030 26.21

Floral designers......................................................................................................................... 67,460 10.22 21,260 9.66

Graphic designers..................................................................................................................... 156,220 20.01 41,620 17.75

Interior designers....................................................................................................................... 45,810 21.42 44,550 19.43

Merchandise displayers and window trimmers.......................................................................... 58,150 12.46 25,910 10.89

Set and exhibit designers.......................................................................................................... 8,610 18.96 39,430 17.17

Actors........................................................................................................................................ 57,580 (2) 47,650 (2)

Producers and directors............................................................................................................ 59,460 (2) 73,030 (2)

Athletes and sports competitors................................................................................................ 11,520 (2) 85,040 (2)

Coaches and scouts.................................................................................................................. 113,370 (2) 33,190 (2)

Umpires, referees, and other sports officials............................................................................. 8,780 (2) 28,740 (2)

Dancers..................................................................................................................................... 14,230 12.73 26,480 9.49

Choreographers......................................................................................................................... 15,140 17.65 36,700 15.41

Music directors and composers................................................................................................. 9,550 (2) 42,960 (2)

Musicians and singers............................................................................................................... 50,750 (2) 51,450 (2)

Announcers............................................................................................................................... 48,760 14.48 30,110 10.33

News analysts, reporters and correspondents.......................................................................... 61,200 19.38 40,320 15.25

Public relations specialists........................................................................................................ 157,050 23.36 48,590 20.70

Editors....................................................................................................................................... 106,540 23.18 48,210 20.41

Technical writers....................................................................................................................... 43,860 26.56 55,250 25.08

Writers and authors................................................................................................................... 44,380 25.49 53,020 20.84

Interpreters and translators....................................................................................................... 25,310 17.55 36,500 16.44

Audio and video equipment technicians.................................................................................... 40,060 17.12 35,610 14.98

Broadcast technicians............................................................................................................... 30,940 16.11 33,510 13.55

Radio operators......................................................................................................................... 1,840 16.14 33,570 14.92

Sound engineering technicians................................................................................................. 11,550 22.11 45,980 17.89

Photographers........................................................................................................................... 56,210 14.63 30,430 12.47

Camera operators, television, video, and motion picture.......................................................... 22,580 20.25 42,120 17.96

Film and video editors............................................................................................................... 15,250 23.20 48,260 20.11

Healthcare practitioner and technical occupations

Chiropractors............................................................................................................................. 20,660 40.02 83,230 32.02

Dentists..................................................................................................................................... 98,800 62.04 129,040 57.90

Dietitians and nutritionists......................................................................................................... 46,630 20.93 43,520 20.50

Optometrists.............................................................................................................................. 22,760 46.45 96,610 41.99

Pharmacists............................................................................................................................... 219,790 39.03 81,180 39.67

Anesthesiologists...................................................................................................................... 22,280 86.72 180,380 (3)

Family and general practitioners............................................................................................... 111,160 67.24 139,860 66.19

Internists, general...................................................................................................................... 53,330 76.84 159,820 (3)

Obstetricians and gynecologists................................................................................................ 19,510 84.92 176,630 (3)

Pediatricians, general................................................................................................................ 25,440 68.18 141,800 65.62

Psychiatrists.............................................................................................................................. 19,730 66.63 138,590 65.12

Surgeons................................................................................................................................... 53,410 87.83 182,690 (3)

Physician assistants.................................................................................................................. 61,850 32.02 66,600 32.79

Podiatrists.................................................................................................................................. 7,650 51.63 107,390 45.94

Registered nurses..................................................................................................................... 2,280,170 25.39 52,810 24.53

Audiologists............................................................................................................................... 10,480 25.47 52,990 24.04

Occupational therapists............................................................................................................. 83,220 26.39 54,890 25.63

See footnotes at end of table.

Table 1. National employment and wage data from the Occupational Employment Statistics survey by occupation, November 20033⁄4 Continued

Mean wages

Median hourly 

wages

Occupation Employment
Hourly Annual1

Healthcare practitioner and technical occupations 3⁄4 Continued

Physical therapists..................................................................................................................... 137,370 $29.44 $61,240 $28.22

Radiation therapists................................................................................................................... 14,030 28.35 58,970 26.71

Recreational therapists.............................................................................................................. 22,460 16.25 33,800 15.64

Respiratory therapists................................................................................................................ 89,300 20.64 42,930 20.22

Speech-language pathologists.................................................................................................. 89,370 25.80 53,670 24.47

Veterinarians............................................................................................................................. 45,070 36.13 75,160 31.39

Medical and clinical laboratory technologists............................................................................ 148,710 21.82 45,380 21.37

Medical and clinical laboratory technicians............................................................................... 142,700 15.11 31,420 14.49

Dental hygienists....................................................................................................................... 145,170 28.23 58,730 27.25

Cardiovascular technologists and technicians.......................................................................... 43,150 18.73 38,950 18.17

Diagnostic medical sonographers............................................................................................. 40,210 24.90 51,800 24.51

Nuclear medicine technologists................................................................................................. 17,400 27.67 57,540 25.81

Radiologic technologists and technicians.................................................................................. 175,800 20.87 43,410 20.12

Emergency medical technicians and paramedics..................................................................... 186,110 13.02 27,080 11.90

Dietetic technicians................................................................................................................... 25,690 12.04 25,030 10.99

Pharmacy technicians............................................................................................................... 226,200 11.80 24,540 11.26

Psychiatric technicians.............................................................................................................. 59,200 13.55 28,180 12.34

Respiratory therapy technicians................................................................................................ 25,530 17.64 36,700 17.29

Surgical technologists............................................................................................................... 77,980 16.27 33,830 15.94

Veterinary technologists and technicians.................................................................................. 55,090 12.19 25,350 11.63

Licensed practical and licensed vocational nurses................................................................... 691,110 16.31 33,930 15.92

Medical records and health information technicians................................................................. 152,220 12.97 26,990 11.98

Opticians, dispensing................................................................................................................ 61,990 14.18 29,500 13.15

Orthotists and prosthetists......................................................................................................... 4,930 27.26 56,700 23.97

Occupational health and safety specialists and technicians..................................................... 44,700 23.85 49,610 23.24

Athletic trainers.......................................................................................................................... 12,860 (2) 35,720 (2)

Healthcare support occupations

Home health aides.................................................................................................................... 576,560 9.08 18,890 8.75

Nursing aides, orderlies, and attendants................................................................................... 1,363,310 10.27 21,370 9.98

Psychiatric aides........................................................................................................................ 53,550 11.61 24,140 11.11

Occupational therapist assistants.............................................................................................. 19,990 18.33 38,130 18.33

Occupational therapist aides..................................................................................................... 5,830 12.49 25,970 11.09

Physical therapist assistants..................................................................................................... 54,240 17.92 37,270 17.93

Physical therapist aides............................................................................................................. 37,480 10.76 22,390 10.13

Massage therapists................................................................................................................... 29,550 16.83 35,000 14.40

Dental assistants....................................................................................................................... 271,200 13.72 28,550 13.41

Medical assistants..................................................................................................................... 376,300 12.08 25,130 11.69

Medical equipment preparers.................................................................................................... 39,330 11.92 24,800 11.51

Medical transcriptionists............................................................................................................ 96,340 13.72 28,530 13.36

Pharmacy aides......................................................................................................................... 61,150 9.51 19,770 8.89

Veterinary assistants and laboratory animal caretakers............................................................ 67,510 9.42 19,590 8.83

Protective service occupations

First-line supervisors/managers of correctional officers............................................................ 35,570 22.53 46,870 21.29

First-line supervisors/managers of police and detectives......................................................... 98,750 30.68 63,820 30.38

First-line supervisors/managers of fire fighting and prevention workers................................... 55,700 28.59 59,460 27.56

Fire fighters............................................................................................................................... 274,590 18.66 38,810 17.99

Fire inspectors and investigators............................................................................................... 12,250 22.88 47,600 22.03

Forest fire inspectors and prevention specialists...................................................................... 1,540 19.57 40,700 18.52

Bailiffs........................................................................................................................................ 16,690 16.83 35,000 16.48

Correctional officers and jailers................................................................................................. 412,030 17.11 35,580 15.98

Detectives and criminal investigators........................................................................................ 85,670 26.53 55,190 25.65

Fish and game wardens............................................................................................................ 7,010 23.43 48,730 20.40

Parking enforcement workers.................................................................................................... 9,690 14.30 29,740 13.64

Police and sheriff's patrol officers.............................................................................................. 612,420 21.90 45,560 21.41

Transit and railroad police......................................................................................................... 4,790 22.29 46,350 21.28

Animal control workers.............................................................................................................. 13,050 12.97 26,970 12.44

Private detectives and investigators.......................................................................................... 33,420 16.96 35,270 14.65

Gaming surveillance officers and gaming investigators............................................................ 8,170 13.54 28,150 12.39

Security guards.......................................................................................................................... 961,660 10.48 21,790 9.60

Crossing guards........................................................................................................................ 68,910 9.82 20,430 9.18

Food preparation and serving related occupations

Chefs and head cooks............................................................................................................... 117,370 16.00 33,280 14.19

First-line supervisors/managers of food preparation and serving workers................................ 705,070 13.03 27,100 12.01

Cooks, fast food........................................................................................................................ 620,300 7.28 15,130 7.01

Cooks, institution and cafeteria................................................................................................. 405,480 9.42 19,590 8.93

Cooks, restaurant...................................................................................................................... 742,160 9.68 20,140 9.33

Cooks, short order..................................................................................................................... 223,780 8.39 17,450 8.00

Food preparation workers......................................................................................................... 860,770 8.43 17,520 7.98

See footnotes at end of table.

Median hourly 

wages

Table 1. National employment and wage data from the Occupational Employment Statistics survey by occupation, November 20033⁄4 Continued

Occupation

Mean wages

Employment
Hourly Annual1

Food preparation and serving related occupations 3⁄4 Continued

Bartenders................................................................................................................................. 479,330 $8.15 $16,950 $7.29

Combined food preparation and serving workers, including fast food....................................... 2,072,980 7.36 15,320 7.05

Counter attendants, cafeteria, food concession, and coffee shop............................................ 473,560 7.79 16,210 7.47

Waiters and waitresses............................................................................................................. 2,170,120 7.63 15,870 6.79

Food servers, nonrestaurant..................................................................................................... 184,180 8.44 17,560 7.82

Dining room and cafeteria attendants and bartender helpers................................................... 389,660 7.41 15,420 7.06

Dishwashers.............................................................................................................................. 486,090 7.47 15,550 7.27

Hosts and hostesses, restaurant, lounge, and coffee shop...................................................... 299,190 7.79 16,210 7.45

Building and grounds cleaning and maintenance occupations

First-line supervisors/managers of housekeeping and janitorial workers.................................. 202,410 15.15 31,510 14.02

First-line supervisors/managers of landscaping, lawn service, and

 groundskeeping workers.................................................................................................... 97,810 17.83 37,090 16.41

Janitors and cleaners, except maids and housekeeping cleaners............................................ 2,073,410 9.85 20,480 8.98

Maids and housekeeping cleaners............................................................................................ 894,170 8.53 17,740 8.06

Pest control workers.................................................................................................................. 58,340 13.12 27,290 12.38

Landscaping and groundskeeping workers............................................................................... 838,740 10.51 21,850 9.70

Pesticide handlers, sprayers, and applicators, vegetation........................................................ 23,040 12.71 26,450 12.38

Tree trimmers and pruners........................................................................................................ 40,130 13.24 27,540 12.44

Personal care and service occupations

Gaming supervisors.................................................................................................................. 25,290 19.96 41,520 19.54

Slot key persons........................................................................................................................ 15,400 12.07 25,110 10.95

First-line supervisors/managers of personal service workers................................................... 115,350 15.79 32,840 14.36

Animal trainers.......................................................................................................................... 7,480 12.86 26,740 10.99

Nonfarm animal caretakers....................................................................................................... 88,100 9.28 19,310 8.40

Gaming dealers......................................................................................................................... 78,660 7.76 16,140 6.84

Gaming and sports book writers and runners........................................................................... 16,520 10.02 20,840 9.13

Motion picture projectionists...................................................................................................... 10,610 9.79 20,360 8.21

Ushers, lobby attendants, and ticket takers.............................................................................. 106,740 8.03 16,690 7.17

Amusement and recreation attendants..................................................................................... 234,560 7.99 16,610 7.35

Costume attendants.................................................................................................................. 3,330 13.76 28,620 12.17

Locker room, coatroom, and dressing room attendants............................................................ 22,800 8.77 18,240 8.40

Embalmers................................................................................................................................ 8,010 17.59 36,590 16.59

Funeral attendants.................................................................................................................... 29,550 9.83 20,450 9.15

Barbers...................................................................................................................................... 17,680 11.20 23,300 9.75

Hairdressers, hairstylists, and cosmetologists.......................................................................... 334,660 10.66 22,170 9.28

Makeup artists, theatrical and performance.............................................................................. 760 15.77 32,810 11.47

Manicurists and pedicurists....................................................................................................... 41,070 9.67 20,120 8.41

Shampooers.............................................................................................................................. 15,210 7.45 15,490 7.00

Skin care specialists.................................................................................................................. 17,750 13.23 27,510 11.38

Baggage porters and bellhops.................................................................................................. 57,190 10.64 22,130 8.67

Concierges................................................................................................................................ 17,740 11.72 24,370 11.03

Tour guides and escorts............................................................................................................ 28,140 9.86 20,500 9.17

Travel guides............................................................................................................................. 5,240 16.49 34,310 13.47

Flight attendants........................................................................................................................ 99,910 (2) 49,900 (2)

Transportation attendants, except flight attendants and baggage porters................................ 28,440 9.98 20,750 9.08

Child care workers..................................................................................................................... 496,330 8.47 17,610 7.96

Personal and home care aides.................................................................................................. 507,410 8.31 17,290 8.05

Fitness trainers and aerobics instructors................................................................................... 177,890 14.58 30,340 11.83

Recreation workers................................................................................................................... 261,740 10.28 21,370 9.11

Residential advisors.................................................................................................................. 50,040 11.08 23,040 10.27

Sales and related occupations

First-line supervisors/managers of retail sales workers............................................................ 1,128,280 17.49 36,380 15.18

First-line supervisors/managers of non-retail sales workers..................................................... 313,500 32.98 68,600 27.26

Cashiers.................................................................................................................................... 3,425,840 8.21 17,070 7.68

Gaming change persons and booth cashiers............................................................................ 29,940 10.00 20,790 9.79

Counter and rental clerks.......................................................................................................... 447,070 10.11 21,030 8.55

Parts salespersons.................................................................................................................... 236,920 13.19 27,430 11.93

Retail salespersons................................................................................................................... 4,083,810 10.84 22,540 8.82

Advertising sales agents........................................................................................................... 141,840 23.35 48,560 18.85

Insurance sales agents............................................................................................................. 287,840 25.92 53,920 19.41

Securities, commodities, and financial services sales agents................................................... 239,990 41.23 85,760 30.14

Travel agents............................................................................................................................. 98,410 14.15 29,430 13.11

Sales representatives, wholesale and manufacturing, technical and scientific 

 products.............................................................................................................................. 385,020 31.82 66,190 27.80

Sales representatives, wholesale and manufacturing, except technical 

 and scientific products........................................................................................................ 1,417,380 25.49 53,020 21.41

See footnotes at end of table.

Median hourly 

wages

Table 1. National employment and wage data from the Occupational Employment Statistics survey by occupation, November 20033⁄4 Continued

Mean wages

Occupation Employment
Hourly Annual1

Sales and related occupations 3⁄4 Continued

Demonstrators and product promoters...................................................................................... 97,650 $11.98 $24,920 $9.75

Models....................................................................................................................................... 1,520 14.59 30,340 10.88

Real estate brokers................................................................................................................... 42,670 35.63 74,100 26.14

Real estate sales agents........................................................................................................... 123,680 21.94 45,640 16.27

Sales engineers......................................................................................................................... 69,220 35.16 73,120 32.94

Telemarketers........................................................................................................................... 405,060 11.08 23,060 9.75

Door-to-door sales workers, news and street vendors, and related workers............................ 18,730 13.64 28,370 11.06

Office and administrative support occupations

First-line supervisors/managers of office and administrative support workers.......................... 1,402,290 20.66 42,960 19.19

Switchboard operators, including answering service................................................................ 210,190 10.80 22,460 10.34

Telephone operators................................................................................................................. 39,440 14.61 30,390 13.98

Bill and account collectors......................................................................................................... 417,430 13.84 28,790 13.08

Billing and posting clerks and machine operators..................................................................... 490,960 13.26 27,590 12.76

Bookkeeping, accounting, and auditing clerks.......................................................................... 1,762,390 14.06 29,250 13.45

Gaming cage workers............................................................................................................... 18,640 10.97 22,830 10.65

Payroll and timekeeping clerks.................................................................................................. 198,800 14.82 30,820 14.29

Procurement clerks................................................................................................................... 71,490 14.85 30,880 14.56

Tellers........................................................................................................................................ 538,860 10.15 21,100 10.01

Brokerage clerks....................................................................................................................... 72,360 17.79 37,010 16.58

Correspondence clerks............................................................................................................. 23,680 13.75 28,600 13.14

Court, municipal, and license clerks.......................................................................................... 103,210 14.35 29,840 13.41

Credit authorizers, checkers, and clerks................................................................................... 72,930 14.40 29,940 13.29

Customer service representatives............................................................................................. 1,920,600 13.81 28,720 12.79

Eligibility interviewers, government programs........................................................................... 94,390 16.03 33,340 15.69

File clerks.................................................................................................................................. 239,990 10.50 21,850 9.91

Hotel, motel, and resort desk clerks.......................................................................................... 186,630 8.81 18,320 8.43

Interviewers, except eligibility and loan..................................................................................... 188,160 11.58 24,090 11.02

Library assistants, clerical......................................................................................................... 109,080 10.25 21,320 9.61

Loan interviewers and clerks..................................................................................................... 196,520 14.49 30,150 13.70

New accounts clerks................................................................................................................. 99,830 13.25 27,560 12.59

Order clerks............................................................................................................................... 302,350 12.82 26,670 12.09

Human resources assistants, except payroll and timekeeping................................................. 161,890 15.56 32,370 15.06

Receptionists and information clerks........................................................................................ 1,064,600 10.71 22,280 10.31

Reservation and transportation ticket agents and travel clerks................................................. 156,140 13.99 29,090 12.71

Cargo and freight agents........................................................................................................... 69,380 16.95 35,250 16.28

Couriers and messengers......................................................................................................... 117,460 10.17 21,160 9.56

Police, fire, and ambulance dispatchers.................................................................................... 90,490 14.36 29,860 13.71

Dispatchers, except police, fire, and ambulance....................................................................... 161,570 15.83 32,920 14.72

Meter readers, utilities............................................................................................................... 50,740 15.14 31,490 14.26

Postal service clerks.................................................................................................................. 76,800 19.69 40,950 19.60

Postal service mail carriers....................................................................................................... 344,090 20.87 43,410 21.41

Postal service mail sorters, processors, and processing machine operators........................... 221,930 18.05 37,540 18.92

Production, planning, and expediting clerks.............................................................................. 281,030 17.60 36,610 16.95

Shipping, receiving, and traffic clerks........................................................................................ 757,750 12.25 25,490 11.53

Stock clerks and order fillers..................................................................................................... 1,540,270 10.44 21,710 9.55

Weighers, measurers, checkers, and samplers, recordkeeping............................................... 82,440 13.18 27,410 11.85

Executive secretaries and administrative assistants................................................................. 1,436,190 17.35 36,080 16.51

Legal secretaries....................................................................................................................... 273,900 17.94 37,310 17.17

Medical secretaries................................................................................................................... 361,780 13.11 27,260 12.53

Secretaries, except legal, medical, and executive.................................................................... 1,822,940 12.81 26,640 12.29

Computer operators.................................................................................................................. 150,030 15.48 32,190 14.59

Data entry keyers...................................................................................................................... 322,770 11.43 23,780 10.93

Word processors and typists..................................................................................................... 173,730 13.87 28,860 13.21

Desktop publishers.................................................................................................................... 33,290 16.07 33,430 15.10

Insurance claims and policy processing clerks......................................................................... 235,120 14.47 30,090 13.86

Mail clerks and mail machine operators, except postal service................................................ 150,950 10.99 22,860 10.54

Office clerks, general................................................................................................................. 2,961,160 11.44 23,800 10.79

Office machine operators, except computer.............................................................................. 92,880 11.71 24,360 11.03

Proofreaders and copy markers................................................................................................ 22,560 12.75 26,520 11.80

Statistical assistants.................................................................................................................. 19,940 15.14 31,490 14.42

Farming, fishing, and forestry occupations

First-line supervisors/managers of farming, fishing, and forestry workers................................ 19,810 18.43 38,340 17.09

Farm labor contractors.............................................................................................................. 2,880 10.21 21,230 8.10

Agricultural inspectors............................................................................................................... 13,650 15.42 32,070 14.01

Animal breeders........................................................................................................................ 1,520 14.73 30,630 12.29

Graders and sorters, agricultural products................................................................................ 51,960 8.64 17,970 7.95

Agricultural equipment operators.............................................................................................. 20,440 9.68 20,130 8.80

Farmworkers and laborers, crop, nursery, and greenhouse...................................................... 236,710 8.01 16,660 7.55

See footnotes at end of table.

Mean wages

Occupation

Table 1. National employment and wage data from the Occupational Employment Statistics survey by occupation, November 20033⁄4 Continued

Median hourly 

wages

Employment
Hourly Annual1

Farming, fishing, and forestry occupations 3⁄4 Continued

Farmworkers, farm and ranch animals...................................................................................... 42,290 $9.01 $18,740 $8.27

Forest and conservation workers.............................................................................................. 9,330 11.24 23,380 9.39

Fallers........................................................................................................................................ 11,090 14.48 30,120 12.86

Logging equipment operators.................................................................................................... 27,910 13.93 28,970 13.37

Log graders and scalers............................................................................................................ 4,470 13.90 28,910 12.89

Construction and extraction occupations

First-line supervisors/managers of construction trades and extraction workers........................ 518,660 25.32 52,660 23.75

Boilermakers............................................................................................................................. 17,970 21.25 44,190 20.77

Brickmasons and blockmasons................................................................................................. 109,660 20.60 42,850 20.23

Stonemasons............................................................................................................................ 14,420 17.43 36,260 16.44

Carpenters................................................................................................................................. 873,840 18.04 37,520 16.77

Carpet installers........................................................................................................................ 38,860 17.01 35,370 15.79

Floor layers, except carpet, wood, and hard tiles...................................................................... 15,030 16.99 35,330 15.81

Floor sanders and finishers....................................................................................................... 7,000 14.49 30,140 13.28

Tile and marble setters.............................................................................................................. 37,710 18.03 37,500 17.08

Cement masons and concrete finishers.................................................................................... 187,900 16.25 33,790 14.88

Terrazzo workers and finishers................................................................................................. 6,820 15.02 31,250 13.45

Construction laborers................................................................................................................ 845,890 13.85 28,810 12.03

Paving, surfacing, and tamping equipment operators............................................................... 60,210 15.69 32,630 14.12

Pile-driver operators.................................................................................................................. 4,170 23.12 48,090 23.42

Operating engineers and other construction equipment operators........................................... 343,600 18.47 38,410 16.85

Drywall and ceiling tile installers................................................................................................ 111,980 17.90 37,230 16.37

Tapers....................................................................................................................................... 32,380 19.64 40,850 18.95

Electricians................................................................................................................................ 575,980 21.29 44,290 20.16

Glaziers..................................................................................................................................... 45,910 17.45 36,300 15.49

Insulation workers..................................................................................................................... 52,590 16.55 34,420 14.57

Painters, construction and maintenance................................................................................... 245,560 15.49 32,210 14.21

Paperhangers............................................................................................................................ 7,930 16.59 34,500 15.77

Pipelayers.................................................................................................................................. 53,900 15.44 32,120 13.96

Plumbers, pipefitters, and steamfitters...................................................................................... 422,360 20.97 43,620 19.70

Plasterers and stucco masons.................................................................................................. 52,410 17.36 36,110 15.98

Reinforcing iron and rebar workers........................................................................................... 33,740 19.49 40,540 17.17

Roofers...................................................................................................................................... 116,070 16.15 33,580 14.63

Sheet metal workers.................................................................................................................. 189,130 18.43 38,330 17.02

Structural iron and steel workers............................................................................................... 71,090 20.79 43,240 20.10

Helpers--brickmasons, blockmasons, stonemasons, and tile and marble setters.................... 59,250 13.15 27,350 11.85

Helpers--carpenters................................................................................................................... 101,740 11.01 22,910 10.51

Helpers--electricians.................................................................................................................. 90,790 11.97 24,900 11.27

Helpers--painters, paperhangers, plasterers, and stucco masons............................................ 27,760 10.63 22,110 9.74

Helpers--pipelayers, plumbers, pipefitters, and steamfitters..................................................... 77,940 11.56 24,040 10.87

Helpers--roofers......................................................................................................................... 21,310 10.52 21,890 9.92

Construction and building inspectors........................................................................................ 82,080 21.59 44,910 20.72

Elevator installers and repairers................................................................................................ 21,910 26.80 55,750 26.88

Fence erectors.......................................................................................................................... 23,090 12.29 25,560 11.14

Hazardous materials removal workers...................................................................................... 37,710 17.47 36,330 15.90

Highway maintenance workers.................................................................................................. 139,810 14.42 29,990 14.00

Rail-track laying and maintenance equipment operators.......................................................... 12,120 16.71 34,750 17.23

Septic tank servicers and sewer pipe cleaners......................................................................... 17,270 14.81 30,810 13.81

Segmental pavers..................................................................................................................... 1,860 13.67 28,440 12.97

Derrick operators, oil and gas................................................................................................... 14,130 15.40 32,030 14.59

Rotary drill operators, oil and gas.............................................................................................. 13,480 18.22 37,890 16.78

Service unit operators, oil, gas, and mining.............................................................................. 14,030 16.28 33,860 14.83

Earth drillers, except oil and gas............................................................................................... 18,730 16.67 34,670 15.88

Explosives workers, ordnance handling experts, and blasters.................................................. 5,170 17.55 36,510 17.07

Continuous mining machine operators...................................................................................... 8,300 17.75 36,920 17.83

Mine cutting and channeling machine operators....................................................................... 4,580 17.75 36,920 17.79

Rock splitters, quarry................................................................................................................. 3,350 13.33 27,730 12.48

Roof bolters, mining.................................................................................................................. 4,070 18.57 38,620 18.60

Roustabouts, oil and gas........................................................................................................... 35,010 11.74 24,420 10.53

Helpers--extraction workers....................................................................................................... 27,260 13.35 27,770 12.68

Installation, maintenance, and repair occupations

First-line supervisors/managers of mechanics, installers, and repairers.................................. 447,750 24.92 51,820 23.70

Computer, automated teller, and office machine repairers....................................................... 142,910 17.04 35,450 16.32

Radio mechanics....................................................................................................................... 6,320 18.41 38,280 17.55

Telecommunications equipment installers and repairers, except line installers........................ 193,780 22.55 46,900 23.43

Avionics technicians.................................................................................................................. 21,020 21.06 43,800 20.95

Electric motor, power tool, and related repairers....................................................................... 25,130 16.66 34,650 15.78

Electrical and electronics installers and repairers, transportation equipment........................... 17,130 19.26 40,070 19.17

Electrical and electronics repairers, commercial and industrial equipment............................... 72,680 20.19 41,990 20.04

See footnotes at end of table.

Median hourly 

wages

Employment

Mean wages

Table 1. National employment and wage data from the Occupational Employment Statistics survey by occupation, November 20033⁄4 Continued

Occupation
Hourly Annual1

Installation, maintenance, and repair occupations 3⁄4 Continued

Electrical and electronics repairers, powerhouse, substation, and relay................................... 20,310 $24.90 $51,790 $25.35

Electronic equipment installers and repairers, motor vehicles.................................................. 15,070 13.99 29,090 12.52

Electronic home entertainment equipment installers and repairers.......................................... 34,700 14.20 29,540 13.36

Security and fire alarm systems installers................................................................................. 47,690 17.80 37,020 16.39

Aircraft mechanics and service technicians.............................................................................. 113,470 21.52 44,770 21.15

Automotive body and related repairers...................................................................................... 168,630 17.35 36,080 16.04

Automotive glass installers and repairers.................................................................................. 18,040 13.59 28,260 13.08

Automotive service technicians and mechanics........................................................................ 689,630 16.19 33,680 15.18

Bus and truck mechanics and diesel engine specialists........................................................... 249,230 17.37 36,120 16.90

Farm equipment mechanics...................................................................................................... 31,850 13.72 28,550 13.30

Mobile heavy equipment mechanics, except engines............................................................... 112,070 18.27 38,010 17.87

Rail car repairers....................................................................................................................... 16,790 19.04 39,600 19.42

Motorboat mechanics................................................................................................................ 17,990 14.85 30,890 14.30

Motorcycle mechanics............................................................................................................... 15,000 14.28 29,690 13.39

Outdoor power equipment and other small engine mechanics................................................. 25,010 12.44 25,870 11.89

Bicycle repairers........................................................................................................................ 7,560 9.87 20,530 9.52

Recreational vehicle service technicians................................................................................... 12,520 14.45 30,060 13.63

Tire repairers and changers...................................................................................................... 85,030 10.72 22,300 10.01

Mechanical door repairers......................................................................................................... 10,730 15.62 32,480 14.11

Control and valve installers and repairers, except mechanical door......................................... 35,900 20.61 42,870 20.81

Heating, air conditioning, and refrigeration mechanics and installers....................................... 217,130 17.93 37,290 17.15

Home appliance repairers......................................................................................................... 36,810 15.47 32,170 14.56

Industrial machinery mechanics................................................................................................ 199,090 19.16 39,850 18.63

Maintenance and repair workers, general................................................................................. 1,245,160 15.20 31,620 14.49

Maintenance workers, machinery.............................................................................................. 85,060 16.30 33,890 15.73

Millwrights.................................................................................................................................. 60,470 21.14 43,970 20.76

Refractory materials repairers, except brickmasons................................................................. 3,740 18.44 38,360 18.02

Electrical power-line installers and repairers............................................................................. 99,290 22.95 47,730 23.62

Telecommunications line installers and repairers..................................................................... 146,410 19.63 40,840 19.72

Camera and photographic equipment repairers........................................................................ 4,220 15.61 32,470 14.81

Medical equipment repairers..................................................................................................... 24,390 18.92 39,360 18.39

Musical instrument repairers and tuners................................................................................... 5,260 15.34 31,920 13.68

Watch repairers......................................................................................................................... 3,750 15.25 31,710 13.56

Coin, vending, and amusement machine servicers and repairers............................................ 35,540 13.78 28,660 13.32

Commercial divers..................................................................................................................... 2,660 18.13 37,700 16.38

Fabric menders, except garment............................................................................................... 1,990 14.72 30,610 14.07

Locksmiths and safe repairers.................................................................................................. 18,730 15.06 31,330 14.11

Manufactured building and mobile home installers................................................................... 14,470 11.50 23,920 10.99

Riggers...................................................................................................................................... 12,780 17.01 35,390 16.51

Signal and track switch repairers.............................................................................................. 7,600 21.44 44,590 21.12

Helpers--installation, maintenance, and repair workers............................................................ 151,820 11.26 23,420 10.23

Production occupations

First-line supervisors/managers of production and operating workers...................................... 690,910 22.65 47,120 21.23

Aircraft structure, surfaces, rigging, and systems assemblers.................................................. 19,830 17.40 36,190 16.95

Coil winders, tapers, and finishers............................................................................................ 28,400 12.28 25,550 11.76

Electrical and electronic equipment assemblers....................................................................... 228,100 12.45 25,890 11.54

Electromechanical equipment assemblers................................................................................ 51,040 13.12 27,290 12.60

Engine and other machine assemblers..................................................................................... 47,520 16.97 35,290 16.30

Structural metal fabricators and fitters....................................................................................... 88,190 14.72 30,620 14.03

Fiberglass laminators and fabricators....................................................................................... 31,600 12.41 25,810 11.94

Team assemblers...................................................................................................................... 1,185,060 12.23 25,430 11.26

Timing device assemblers, adjusters, and calibrators.............................................................. 4,390 13.75 28,590 12.86

Bakers....................................................................................................................................... 159,420 10.90 22,680 10.13

Butchers and meat cutters........................................................................................................ 131,250 13.21 27,470 12.51

Meat, poultry, and fish cutters and trimmers............................................................................. 142,640 9.35 19,440 8.90

Slaughterers and meat packers................................................................................................ 130,880 10.10 21,000 9.95

Food and tobacco roasting, baking, and drying machine operators and tenders...................... 17,450 12.44 25,870 11.67

Food batchmakers..................................................................................................................... 80,080 11.40 23,710 10.67

Food cooking machine operators and tenders.......................................................................... 38,780 10.74 22,330 10.05

Computer-controlled machine tool operators, metal and plastic............................................... 123,700 14.98 31,170 14.43

Numerical tool and process control programmers.................................................................... 17,370 19.62 40,800 18.78

Extruding and drawing machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic................. 90,940 13.20 27,450 12.82

Forging machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic........................................ 40,600 13.76 28,620 12.91

Rolling machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic.......................................... 40,330 14.44 30,040 14.01

Cutting, punching, and press machine setters, operators, and tenders,

 metal and plastic................................................................................................................ 249,360 12.80 26,620 12.23

Drilling and boring machine tool setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic................. 46,360 14.44 30,030 13.46

Grinding, lapping, polishing, and buffing machine tool setters, operators, and tenders, 

 metal and plastic................................................................................................................ 95,740 14.00 29,120 12.99

Lathe and turning machine tool setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic.................. 73,080 14.99 31,170 14.48

See footnotes at end of table.

Median hourly 

wages

Table 1. National employment and wage data from the Occupational Employment Statistics survey by occupation, November 20033⁄4 Continued

Occupation Employment

Mean wages
Hourly Annual1

Production occupations 3⁄4 Continued

Milling and planing machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic....................... 29,110 $14.82 $30,820 $14.49

Machinists................................................................................................................................. 361,240 16.56 34,440 16.15

Metal-refining furnace operators and tenders............................................................................ 17,070 15.96 33,190 15.55

Pourers and casters, metal....................................................................................................... 13,540 14.51 30,180 13.69

Model makers, metal and plastic............................................................................................... 8,300 21.57 44,860 21.43

Patternmakers, metal and plastic.............................................................................................. 5,730 18.68 38,840 18.11

Foundry mold and coremakers.................................................................................................. 18,680 13.95 29,010 13.03

Molding, coremaking, and casting machine setters, operators, and tenders,

 metal and plastic................................................................................................................ 148,840 12.40 25,800 11.57

Multiple machine tool setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic................................. 95,650 14.71 30,600 13.84

Tool and die makers.................................................................................................................. 101,090 21.13 43,940 20.59

Welders, cutters, solderers, and brazers................................................................................... 350,230 15.16 31,530 14.39

Welding, soldering, and brazing machine setters, operators, and tenders............................... 50,280 15.12 31,460 14.03

Heat treating equipment setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic............................. 25,120 14.57 30,310 14.01

Lay-out workers, metal and plastic............................................................................................ 11,040 15.88 33,040 15.39

Plating and coating machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic...................... 38,200 13.35 27,760 12.62

Tool grinders, filers, and sharpeners......................................................................................... 20,730 15.08 31,370 14.41

Bindery workers......................................................................................................................... 76,510 12.02 24,990 11.03

Bookbinders.............................................................................................................................. 6,660 14.84 30,870 14.06

Job printers................................................................................................................................ 58,410 15.85 32,970 15.06

Prepress technicians and workers............................................................................................ 80,290 15.91 33,090 15.17

Printing machine operators....................................................................................................... 182,740 15.30 31,820 14.30

Laundry and dry-cleaning workers............................................................................................ 217,360 8.66 18,010 8.16

Pressers, textile, garment, and related materials...................................................................... 84,270 8.54 17,760 8.20

Sewing machine operators........................................................................................................ 251,370 9.16 19,040 8.53

Shoe and leather workers and repairers................................................................................... 7,830 9.92 20,640 9.40

Shoe machine operators and tenders....................................................................................... 5,000 10.39 21,620 9.81

Sewers, hand............................................................................................................................. 15,490 9.68 20,140 8.76

Tailors, dressmakers, and custom sewers................................................................................ 31,540 11.49 23,900 10.43

Textile bleaching and dyeing machine operators and tenders.................................................. 22,960 10.69 22,230 10.44

Textile cutting machine setters, operators, and tenders............................................................ 27,300 10.46 21,760 9.90

Textile knitting and weaving machine setters, operators, and tenders...................................... 45,860 11.34 23,590 11.32

Textile winding, twisting, and drawing out machine setters, operators, and tenders................ 56,140 11.19 23,280 10.73

Extruding and forming machine setters, operators, and tenders, synthetic 

 and glass fibers.................................................................................................................. 24,580 13.79 28,680 13.64

Fabric and apparel patternmakers............................................................................................ 10,450 16.69 34,720 14.19

Upholsterers.............................................................................................................................. 38,830 12.84 26,710 12.10

Cabinetmakers and bench carpenters...................................................................................... 126,490 12.69 26,390 11.98

Furniture finishers...................................................................................................................... 27,720 11.82 24,590 11.17

Model makers, wood................................................................................................................. 3,610 14.29 29,710 12.10

Patternmakers, wood................................................................................................................ 3,060 15.55 32,350 14.85

Sawing machine setters, operators, and tenders, wood .......................................................... 54,280 11.28 23,470 10.81

Woodworking machine setters, operators, and tenders, except sawing................................... 88,340 11.29 23,470 10.78

Nuclear power reactor operators............................................................................................... 4,010 30.56 63,560 30.42

Power distributors and dispatchers........................................................................................... 9,300 27.62 57,450 27.36

Power plant operators............................................................................................................... 33,770 24.60 51,170 24.78

Stationary engineers and boiler operators................................................................................. 48,430 21.46 44,650 21.09

Water and liquid waste treatment plant and system operators................................................. 95,130 16.99 35,340 16.43

Chemical plant and system operators....................................................................................... 60,200 21.33 44,370 21.29

Gas plant operators................................................................................................................... 10,890 23.85 49,600 23.86

Petroleum pump system operators, refinery operators, and gaugers....................................... 40,950 23.09 48,030 24.06

Chemical equipment operators and tenders............................................................................. 51,070 18.81 39,120 18.64

Separating, filtering, clarifying, precipitating, and still machine setters, operators, 

 and tenders........................................................................................................................ 37,850 16.08 33,440 15.53

Crushing, grinding, and polishing machine setters, operators, and tenders............................. 41,390 13.39 27,840 12.68

Grinding and polishing workers, hand....................................................................................... 42,320 11.96 24,870 11.16

Mixing and blending machine setters, operators, and tenders.................................................. 113,690 13.99 29,110 13.41

Cutters and trimmers, hand....................................................................................................... 28,450 11.74 24,430 10.70

Cutting and slicing machine setters, operators, and tenders.................................................... 68,920 13.31 27,690 12.74

Extruding, forming, pressing, and compacting machine setters, operators, and tenders......... 72,010 13.76 28,630 13.07

Furnace, kiln, oven, drier, and kettle operators and tenders..................................................... 30,230 14.95 31,100 14.24

Inspectors, testers, sorters, samplers, and weighers................................................................ 489,020 14.91 31,010 13.56

Jewelers and precious stone and metal workers...................................................................... 28,120 14.68 30,540 13.22

Dental laboratory technicians.................................................................................................... 45,980 15.94 33,160 14.62

Medical appliance technicians................................................................................................... 11,230 15.09 31,380 13.68

Ophthalmic laboratory technicians............................................................................................ 26,180 11.93 24,810 11.04

Packaging and filling machine operators and tenders.............................................................. 401,520 11.44 23,790 10.56

Coating, painting, and spraying machine setters, operators, and tenders................................ 92,710 13.07 27,200 12.46

Painters, transportation equipment........................................................................................... 47,390 17.80 37,020 16.52

Painting, coating, and decorating workers................................................................................ 28,980 11.84 24,620 10.73

See footnotes at end of table.

Median hourly 

wages

Table 1. National employment and wage data from the Occupational Employment Statistics survey by occupation, November 20033⁄4 Continued

Employment

Mean wages

Occupation
Hourly Annual1

Production occupations 3⁄4 Continued

Photographic process workers.................................................................................................. 28,730 $11.05 $22,970 $9.84

Photographic processing machine operators............................................................................ 54,090 10.09 20,990 9.15

Semiconductor processors........................................................................................................ 43,970 13.85 28,810 13.21

Cementing and gluing machine operators and tenders............................................................. 24,850 12.11 25,190 11.29

Cleaning, washing, and metal pickling equipment operators and tenders................................ 16,650 12.36 25,710 11.46

Cooling and freezing equipment operators and tenders........................................................... 7,980 11.90 24,740 10.64

Etchers and engravers.............................................................................................................. 8,840 12.23 25,440 10.86

Molders, shapers, and casters, except metal and plastic.......................................................... 37,210 12.67 26,350 11.77

Paper goods machine setters, operators, and tenders............................................................. 109,210 14.57 30,300 14.11

Tire builders............................................................................................................................... 16,400 17.35 36,080 18.64

Helpers--production workers..................................................................................................... 457,200 10.24 21,290 9.58

Transportation and material moving occupations

Aircraft cargo handling supervisors........................................................................................... 8,580 19.12 39,760 16.65

First-line supervisors/managers of helpers, laborers, and material movers, hand.................... 159,780 19.42 40,400 18.37

First-line supervisors/managers of transportation and material-moving machine

 and vehicle operators......................................................................................................... 211,960 22.88 47,590 21.32

Airline pilots, copilots, and flight engineers............................................................................... 76,940 (2) 129,230 (2)

Commercial pilots...................................................................................................................... 19,940 (2) 58,720 (2)

Air traffic controllers................................................................................................................... 22,610 45.31 94,240 46.64

Airfield operations specialists.................................................................................................... 4,670 20.22 42,050 17.65

Ambulance drivers and attendants, except emergency medical technicians............................ 18,420 9.80 20,380 9.10

Bus drivers, transit and intercity................................................................................................ 187,900 14.77 30,730 13.96

Bus drivers, school.................................................................................................................... 471,130 11.11 23,100 10.92

Driver/sales workers.................................................................................................................. 397,630 11.34 23,580 9.79

Truck drivers, heavy and tractor-trailer...................................................................................... 1,520,740 16.49 34,290 15.98

Truck drivers, light or delivery services..................................................................................... 951,400 12.86 26,750 11.65

Taxi drivers and chauffeurs....................................................................................................... 131,880 10.23 21,280 9.25

Locomotive engineers............................................................................................................... 30,070 25.98 54,050 24.45

Locomotive firers....................................................................................................................... 630 22.73 47,290 22.22

Rail yard engineers, dinkey operators, and hostlers................................................................. 6,020 18.81 39,130 17.60

Railroad brake, signal, and switch operators............................................................................ 15,310 23.26 48,370 21.97

Railroad conductors and yardmasters....................................................................................... 35,120 25.21 52,430 22.25

Subway and streetcar operators................................................................................................ 8,720 22.52 46,850 23.49

Sailors and marine oilers........................................................................................................... 27,170 15.25 31,710 14.33

Captains, mates, and pilots of water vessels............................................................................ 24,050 25.52 53,090 24.47

Motorboat operators.................................................................................................................. 3,130 17.42 36,230 16.04

Ship engineers.......................................................................................................................... 10,230 27.20 56,570 26.23

Bridge and lock tenders............................................................................................................. 3,490 16.48 34,270 17.61

Parking lot attendants................................................................................................................ 109,890 8.54 17,770 8.08

Service station attendants......................................................................................................... 96,450 8.86 18,420 8.22

Traffic technicians..................................................................................................................... 5,980 16.97 35,300 16.20

Transportation inspectors.......................................................................................................... 23,860 24.07 50,060 23.79

Conveyor operators and tenders............................................................................................... 52,920 12.73 26,480 12.17

Crane and tower operators........................................................................................................ 44,610 18.48 38,430 17.65

Dredge operators....................................................................................................................... 2,190 14.33 29,810 13.39

Excavating and loading machine and dragline operators.......................................................... 67,540 16.31 33,920 15.29

Loading machine operators, underground mining..................................................................... 3,520 16.04 33,370 15.79

Hoist and winch operators......................................................................................................... 6,440 17.63 36,660 15.18

Industrial truck and tractor operators......................................................................................... 605,390 13.50 28,080 12.72

Cleaners of vehicles and equipment......................................................................................... 321,630 9.28 19,290 8.34

Laborers and freight, stock, and material movers, hand........................................................... 2,269,700 10.45 21,740 9.61

Machine feeders and offbearers................................................................................................ 150,190 11.21 23,320 10.59

Packers and packagers, hand................................................................................................... 868,390 8.86 18,430 8.17

Gas compressor and gas pumping station operators................................................................ 5,250 21.56 44,840 21.07

Pump operators, except wellhead pumpers.............................................................................. 10,540 18.01 37,470 17.04

Wellhead pumpers.................................................................................................................... 8,640 15.95 33,170 15.60

Refuse and recyclable material collectors................................................................................. 137,510 12.98 27,000 12.06

Shuttle car operators................................................................................................................. 3,220 18.03 37,510 18.66

Tank car, truck, and ship loaders.............................................................................................. 15,910 16.73 34,800 15.59

2 Hourly wage rates for occupations where workers typically work fewer than 2,080 hours per year are not available.

3 Represents a wage above $70.00 per hour.

Employment Median hourly 

wages

Table 1. National employment and wage data from the Occupational Employment Statistics survey by occupation, November 20033⁄4 Continued

Mean wages

1

 Annual wages have been calculated by multiplying the hourly mean wage by a "year-round, full-time" hours figure of 2,080 hours; for those 

occupations where there is not an hourly mean wage published, the annual wage has been directly calculated from the reported survey data.

Occupation