3

Employment and Wages by

Major Occupational Group

and Industry

Fatemeh Hajiha

Since 1996, the Occupational Employment Statistics

(OES) program has collected occupational employment

and wage information from all industries each year.

The OES survey covers 400 detailed industries and more

than 760 occupations, and collects employment and wage

data for 400,000 establishments each year, or 1.2 million establishments over the full 3-year sampling period. This survey design permits estimation and analysis of wage distributions by occupation across all industries as well as within

individual industries, and by detailed geographic areas.

 The following analysis examines employment and wages

by major occupational group across all industries, and wages

for detailed occupations in selected industries. Following

the articles in this bulletin, table 1 shows national employment, hourly mean wage, annual mean wage, and percentile

wages for each detailed occupation. Table 2 presents a

sample of the data available from the OES survey, including

national industry-specific and State and MSA cross-industry employment and wage data for the five largest occupations within each major group of the Standard Occupational

Classification (SOC). (For a description of the SOC system

used by Federal agencies, see appendix A.).

Employment and wages by major occupational

group

The OES program collects and publishes data for 22 of the 23

Text table 1. Percentile wages by major occupational group

 Total ........................................... 127,980,370 $6.76 $8.72 $13.01 $20.31 $30.23 $16.35

Management ...................................................................... 7,212,360 14.62 20.84 30.88 44.77 66.62 34.04

Legal .................................................................................. 909,370 12.76 17.36 27.03 47.77 (1) 33.19

Computer and mathematical ............................................. 2,825,870 14.95 20.26 27.72 36.66 45.62 29.02

Architecture and engineering ............................................ 2,489,070 14.36 19.09 25.78 33.97 42.76 27.08

Business and financial operations .................................... 4,676,680 12.65 16.47 21.98 29.67 39.74 24.32

Healthcare practitioner and technical ............................... 6,118,970 10.97 15.05 20.56 27.65 41.87 24.01

Life, physical, and social science ..................................... 1,067,730 11.54 15.52 21.53 29.97 40.71 23.90

Arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media ............... 1,508,790 7.26 10.52 16.19 24.14 34.35 19.12

Education, training, and library ......................................... 7,658,480 7.68 11.46 17.41 24.14 31.94 18.81

Construction and extraction ............................................. 6,239,430 8.84 11.29 15.57 21.56 27.89 17.05

Installation, maintenance, and repair ................................ 5,323,070 8.85 11.58 15.92 21.14 26.44 16.81

Community and social services ....................................... 1,523,890 8.83 11.38 15.12 20.35 26.28 16.44

Protective service ............................................................. 2,957,990 7.16 9.14 13.66 20.58 27.32 15.64

Sales and related .............................................................. 13,418,240 6.15 7.16 9.63 16.35 27.21 13.91

Production ......................................................................... 11,270,210 7.27 8.95 11.81 16.25 21.87 13.27

Office and administrative support .................................... 22,798,590 7.47 9.32 12.04 15.93 20.31 13.09

Transportation and material moving ................................. 9,410,660 6.57 8.09 10.96 15.63 21.02 12.77

Healthcare support. .......................................................... 3,122,870 6.91 8.06 9.85 12.32 15.48 10.53

Personal care and service ................................................ 2,802,050 5.97 6.76 8.28 11.04 16.80 10.10

Building and grounds cleaning and maintenance ............. 4,275,340 6.18 7.13 8.71 11.39 15.19 9.80

Farming, fishing, and forestry ........................................... 453,050 6.26 6.68 7.76 10.62 15.44 9.44

Food preparation and serving related .............................. 9,917,660 5.71 6.29 7.13 8.85 11.59 8.04

Hourly earnings

Employment

10th

percentile

25th

percentile

50th

percentile

75th

percentile

90th

percentile

Mean

wage

Major occupational group

 1 Represents a wage above $70 per hour.

Fatemeh Hajiha is an economist in the Division of Occupational

and Administrative Statistics, Bureau of Labor Statistics.
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0 5,000,000 10,000,000 15,000,000 20,000,000 25,000,000

Food preparation and serving related ($8.04)

Farming, fishing, and forestry ($9.44)

Building and grounds cleaning and maintenance ($9.80)

Personal care and service ($10.10)

Healthcare support ($10.53)

Transportation and material moving ($12.77)

Office and administrative support ($13.09)

Production ($13.27)

Sales and related ($13.91)

Protective service ($15.64)

Community and social services ($16.44)

Installation, maintenance, and repair ($16.81)

Construction and extraction ($17.05)

Education, training, and library ($18.81)

Arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media ($19.12)

Life, physical, and social science ($23.90)

Healthcare practitioner and technical ($24.01)

Business and financial operations ($24.32)

Architecture and engineering ($27.08)

Computer and mathematical ($29.02)

Legal ($33.19)

Management ($34.04)

major occupational groups in the SOC. The OES survey

does not cover military specific occupations. Chart 1 displays employment, the percentage of total employment, and

the mean wage for each of these groups. The chart is arrayed by mean wage, with the highest paying occupational

group on the top and the lowest paying group on the bottom. Total employment for all occupational groups in 2001

was approximately 128 million workers.

In terms of employment and wages, the 22 occupational

groups fall into three broad categories. The first consist of

five groups with the largest employment. They are sales and

related; production; office and administrative support; transportation and material moving; and food preparation and

serving related. These groups together account for more

than one-half of total employment, or about 67 million workers. Of the five, the office and administrative support group,

with about 22.8 million workers, is the largest, and the transportation and material moving group, withmore than 9.4 million workers, is the smallest. The mean wage in each of these

five major groups is less than the mean wage for all workers

across occupational groups ($16.35). The food preparation

and serving related group has a mean wage of $8.04 per hour,

the lowest among all occupational groups.

A second category consists of five occupational groups

with midsize employment. Accounting for more than onequarter of total employment, or 32.6 million workers, these

groups are management; healthcare practitioner and technical; education, training, and library; construction and extraction; and installation, maintenance, and repair. The mean

wage in each of these groups is greater than the mean wage

for all workers across occupational groups. The management group, with about 7.2 million workers, has the second

largest employment among the midsize occupational groups

and the highest mean wage among all occupational groups.

The installation, maintenance, and repair group, with 5.3 million workers, has the smallest employment and lowest mean

wage among the midsize occupational groups. Still, the mean

wage of $16.81 per hour for this group is higher than the

mean wage for all workers across occupational groups.

The remaining 12 occupational groups account for 22.4

percent of total employment, or 28.6 million workers. Among

these, the business and financial operations group, with

around 4.7 million workers, has the largest employment, and

the farming, fishing, and forestry occupations, with fewer

than 0.5 million, the smallest. Four of the twelve smallest

occupational groups—legal; computer and mathematical; architecture and engineering; and business and financial operations—have the second-, third-, fourth-, and fifth-highest mean wage, respectively, among all occupational groups.

Another four—farming, fishing, and forestry; building and

grounds cleaning and maintenance; personal care and service; and healthcare support—have the second-, third-,

Computer and mathematical ($29.02)

Architecture and engineering ($27.08)

Business and financial operations ($24.32)

Life, physical, and social science ($23.90)

Construction and extraction ($17.05)

Building and grounds cleaning and maintenance ($9.80)

Farming, fishing, and forestry ($9.44)

Food preparation and serving related ($8.04)

17.8%

Management ($34.04)

Legal ($33.19)

Healthcare practitioner and technica (@24.01)l

Arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media ($19.12)

Education, training, and library ($18.81)

Installatiion, maintenance, and repair ($16.81)

Community and social services ($16.44)

Protective service ($15.64)

Sales and related ($13.91)

Production ($13.27)

Office and administrative support ($13.09)

Transportation and material moving ($12.77)

Healthcare support ($10.53)

Personal care and service ($10.10)

5.6%

0.7%

2.2%

1.9%

3.7%

4.8%

0.8%

1.2%

6.0%

4.9%

4.2%

1.2%

2.3%

10.5%

8.8%

7.4%

2.4%

2.2%

3.3%

0.4%

7.7%

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

Employment level (employment share annoted)

Chart 1. Mean hourly wage and percent of total employment by major occupational group, 2001 Occupation group (with mean hourly wage shown in parentheses)
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$0 $10 $20 $30 $40 $50 $60 $70

Food preparation and serving related occupations

Building and grounds cleaning and maintenance occupations

Healthcare support occupations

Office and administrative support occupations

Sales and related occupations

Community and social services occupations

Construction and extraction occupations

Arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media occupations

Healthcare practitioners and technical occupations

Architecture and engineering occupations

Legal occupations

Chart 2. Wage distribution by occupational group, 2001

Management

Legal

Computer and mathematical

Architecture and engineering

Business and financial operations

Healthcare practioner and technical

Life, physical, and social science

Arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media

Education, training, and library

Construction and extraction

Installation, maintenance, and repair

Sales and related

Protective service

Community and social services

Personal care and services

Food preparation and serving related

Farming, fishing and forestry

Building and grounds cleaning and maintenance

Production

Office and administrative support

Transportation and material moving

Healthcare support

10th

percentile

25th

percentile

75th

percentile

90th

percentile

$14.62

$12.76

$14.95

$14.36

$12.65

$10.97

$11.54

$7.26

$7.16

$7.68

$8.84

$8.85

$27.32

$8.83 $26.28

$26.44

$27.89

$41.87

$40.71

$34.35

$31.94

$6.15 $27.21

$7.27 $27.81

$20.31

$6.57

$7.47

$21.02

$6.91 $15.48

$5.97 $16.80

$6.18 $15.19

$6.26 $15.44

$5.71 $11.59

$0 $10 $20 $30 $40 $50 $60 $70

Hourly wages

$45.62

$42.76

$39.74

(1)

1 Represents a wage above $70 per hour.

fourth-, and fifth-lowest mean wage.

Percentile wages by occupational group

In addition to total employment and mean wage by major

occupational group, text table 1 also displays the 10th-, 25th-,

50th-, 75th-, and 90th-percentile wages for each of the 22

major occupational groups. A percentile wage shows the

percentage of workers in an occupation who earn less than a

given wage and the percentage who earn more. For example,

the 50th-percentile wage, or median wage, is the pay level at

which 50 percent of workers earn more and 50 percent earn

less. Likewise, 10 percent of workers earn less than the 10thpercentile wage and 90 percent of workers earn less than the

90th-percentile wage. The middle 80 percent of workers in an

occupational group earn wages between these two endpoints.

As indicated earlier, the lowest paid occupational group

is the food preparation and serving related occupations. This

is clearly indicated by the fact that, for each percentile wage

shown, the food preparation and serving related group wage

is lower than that for any of the other groups. In addition to

being the lowest paid occupational group, the food preparation and serving related occupations have the narrowest

distribution of wages among all occupational groups. Ten

percent of workers in this group, or approximately 1 million,

earn less than $5.71 per hour, while ninety percent of the

workers earn less than $11.59 per hour, a difference of only

$5.88 per hour.

In addition to having the highest mean wage, the management occupations have the second widest distribution

of wages between the 10th- and the 90th-percentile wage.

Ten percent of workers in this group earn less than $14.62

per hour, while ninety percent earn less than $66.62 per hour,

a difference of $52.00 per hour. However, the management

group does not have the highest wages in all percentile wage

categories. The group ranks second in the 10th- and 90thpercentile categories. The largest distribution of wages is

among legal occupations, which has a difference of at least

$57.24 between the 10th- and 90th-percentile wages.

 As shown in text table 1, the mean wage in every occupational group is higher than the 50th-percentile, or median,

wage for that group, suggesting that the top half of workers

has a wider wage distribution than does the lower half. In

other words, the distribution of wages in each occupational

group is skewed towards the higher end of the wage range.

Chart 2 uses the percentile wages from text table 1 to

graphically display the wage distribution for each major occupational group. Combined, the portions of the bars represent the middle 80 percent of the distribution for each group.

The left endpoint of the bar indicates the 10th-percentile

wage-–10 percent of workers in the occupational group earn

less than that wage. The right endpoint of the bar indicates

$66.62
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Text table 2. Mean wages for selected OES occupations and two-digit SIC industries

Financial managers ..................................................... $28.10 $32.18 $37.88 $40.58 $35.09 $31.81 $32.04 $32.52

Accountants and auditors ........................................... 22.05 23.80 23.72 25.89 20.18 21.85 22.41 21.45

Computer programmers ............................................. 24.14 29.81 26.16 29.22 23.82 29.50 26.49 26.20

Sales representatives, wholesale and

 manufacturing, except technical and scientific

 products. .................................................................. 21.31 23.08 22.47 24.22 17.96 21.89 14.51 20.23

Secretaries, except legal, medical, and

 executive .................................................................. 11.10 11.52 13.14 14.80 10.98 13.60 10.50 12.14

Janitors and cleaners, except maids and

 housekeeping workers ............................................ 8.85 8.74 10.47 11.80 8.36 8.49 9.18 9.26

Landscaping and groundskeeping workers .............. 9.61 11.34 10.60 12.85 8.57 10.06 9.40 10.20

Machinery maintenance workers ............................... 10.09 13.80 15.18 21.18 14.27 18.36 16.29 14.83

Agricultural

services

General

building

contractors

Food

stores

Depository

institutions

Food and

kindred

products

(mfg.)

Personal

services

Health

services

Electric,

gas, and

sanitary

services

Occupation

Industry

the 90th-percentile wage–-10 percent of workers in the occupational group earn more than that wage. Similarly, the inner

bar segment between the 25th and 75th percentiles shows

the middle 50 percent of the distribution for each of the occupational groups.

As shown in chart 2, the width of the wage distributions

for both the middle 80 percent and middle 50 percent of workers in an occupational group generally declines with the mean

wage of that group. Wages for the middle 50 percent of

workers are skewed, to varying degrees, toward the lower

end of the pay distribution for all occupational groups. Most

noticeable in this regard are the farming, fishing, and forestry; personal care and service; and sales and related groups.

By contrast, wages for the middle 50 percent of workers in

computer and mathematical; architecture and engineering;

education, training, and library; and installation, maintenance,

and repair groups are comparatively less skewed toward the

lower end of the pay distribution.

In addition to cross-industry estimates for the 22 major

occupational groups, the OES program produces detailed

occupational wages across all industries. These estimates

show that wages for detailed occupations can vary substantially within a major occupational group. This is due to the

fact that occupational groups incorporate data from as many

as 75 specific occupations into the mean hourly wages. For

example, the legal occupations group includes occupations

such as lawyers and legal secretaries. The wages and employment for both are included in the overall wage and employment estimates for legal occupations, even though the

mean hourly wage of lawyers is almost 3 times that of legal

secretaries. The shares of employment accounted for by

these occupations will affect the wages for the entire legal

occupations group. Because of these variations, comparative wages for detailed occupations in different major occupational groups might not follow the overall pattern of wage

difference noted between their respective major groups. Table

1 of this publication shows these variations.

Occupational wages by two-digit SIC industry

The OES program also produces detailed occupational wages

by industry major groups at the two-digit level within the

Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) system. Text table 2

shows the mean wage for eight selected OES occupations in

eight selected two-digit industries. Wages for detailed occupations vary according to industry, as illustrated in the

table. For example, while financial managers have high overall wages compared with other detailed occupations, the

mean wage for financial managers itself varies depending on

the industry in which they are employed.

In fact, among the occupations for which data are shown

in text table 2, financial managers show the largest variation

in wages, with $12.48 separating the highest paying industry

from the lowest. The mean wage for financial managers ranges

from $40.58 per hour in the electric, gas, and sanitary services industry to $28.10 per hour in the agricultural services

industry. Another large difference between industries, $11.09,

occurs for the occupation of machinery maintenance workers. The hourly mean wages for these workers range from

$21.18 per hour in the electric, gas, and sanitary services

industry to $10.09 per hour in agricultural services. The occupation of janitors and cleaners, except maids and housekeeping cleaners, exhibits a smaller variation among the selected

industries, with $3.44 separating the highest wage from the

lowest. The mean wage of this occupation across the eight

selected industries ranges from $11.80 per hour in electric,

gas, and sanitary services to $8.36 per hour in food stores.

Similarly, mean wages vary across occupations in an industry. The electric, gas, and sanitary services industry has

the highest wages among industries shown for all occupations except computer programmers, for which it has the third

highest wage. It is interesting that, while the highest wages

for each occupation are fairly concentrated in this single

industry, the lowest wages are found in three industries—

agricultural services, food services, and personal services.

Because text table 2 shows only a sample of industries and

occupations, it may not reflect the overall wage pattern for a

given industry. Detailed information about industries and

occupational employment and wage estimates at the twodigit industry level are available on the OES Web site at

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