Employment and Wages by Major 

Occupational Group and Industry

Fatemeh Hajiha is an economist in the Division of Occupation Employment 

Statistics, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The Occupational Employment Statistics (OES) survey 

is a semiannual mail survey measuring occupational 

employment and wage rates of workers in all U.S. 

industries. The survey is based on a sample of 1.2 million

business establishments and over 80 million workers. The 

data are collected in six semiannual panels over a 3-year period. This survey design permits estimation and analysis of 

wage distributions by occupational employment across all 

industries, as well as within individual industries and by detailed geographic areas. More information about the survey is 

found in appendix B of this bulletin.

The following analysis examines employment and wages 

by major occupational group across all industries, as well as 

wages for detailed occupations in selected industries. 

Employment and wages by major occupational 

group

The OES survey uses the Standard Occupational Classification system (SOC), which categorizes workers into 801 detailed occupations and aggregates these detailed occupations 

into 2 major occupational groups. Chart 1 displays tota

employment for millions of workers, the percentage of total 

employment, and the mean wage for each group. The chart 

is organized by employment, with the largest occupational 

group on the bottom and the smallest group on the top.

In terms of employment level, the 2 occupational group

can be placed into three broad categories. The first consists 

of five groups with the largest employment. They are office 

and administrative support; sales and related; food preparation and serving related; production; and transportation and 

material moving. These groups together account for more 

than half of total employment, or more than 67 million workFatemeh Hajiha

17.5%

10.7%

8.3%

7.9%

7.4%

6.2%

4.9%

4.6%

4.1%

3.3%

2.6%

2.4%

2.3%

2.3%

1.8%

1.3%

1.3%

0.9%

0.8%

0.3%

5.0%

4.2%

0 5 10 15 20 25

Office and administrative support ($14.28)

Sales and related ($15.77)

Food preparation and serving related ($8.58)

Production ($14.37)

Transportation and material moving ($13.85)

Education, training, and library ($20.89)

Healthcare practitioner and technical ($28.45)

Construction and extraction ($18.39)

Management ($42.52)

Business and financial operations ($27.85)

Installation, maintenance, and repair ($18.30)

Building and grounds cleaning and maintenance ($10.55)

Healthcare support ($11.47)

Personal care and service ($10.67)

Protective service ($17.19)

Computer and mathematical ($32.26)

Architecture and engineering ($30.73)

Community and social services ($18.04)

Arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media ($21.30)

Life, physical, and social science ($27.90)

Legal ($38.98)

Farming, fishing, and forestry ($10.10)

Employment level in millions

Chart 1. Mean hourly wage and percent total employment by major occupational group, May 2005 Occupational group (with mean hourly wage shown in parentheses)
ers. Of the five groups, the office and administrative support 

group, with about 22.8 million workers, is the largest, an

the transportation and material-moving group, with about 

9.6 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 ($18.21). The food

preparation and serving related group has a mean wage of 

$8.58 per hour, the lowest among all occupational groups. 

The second category consists of six occupational groups 

with midsize employment. Accounting for about 29 percent

of total employment, or about 38 million workers, these 

groups are education, training, and library; healthcare practitioner and technical; construction and extraction; management; business and financial operations; and installation, 

maintenance, and repair. The mean wage estimates in these 

groups range from more than twice the mean wage for all 

workers to wages that are about the same as the mean for 

all workers. The management group, with about 6.0 million workers, has the fourth largest employment among the 

midsize occupational groups and the highest mean wage 

among occupational groups. The installation, maintenance, 

and repair group, with 5.3 million workers, has the smallest 

employment and the lowest mean wage among midsize occupational groups. 

The remaining 11 occupational groups account for 19.4 

percent of total employment, or 25.3 million workers. Among

these, the building and ground cleaning and maintenance 

group, with around 4.3 million workers, has the largest employment, and farming, fishing, and forestry, with fewer than 

0.5 million workers, has the smallest. Three of the 11 smallest occupational groups—legal; computer and mathematical; 

and architecture and engineering—have the second, third, and 

fourth highest mean wage, respectively, among occupational 

groups. Another three—farming, fishing, and forestry; building and grounds cleaning and maintenance; and personal care 

and service—have the second, third, and fourth lowest mean 

wage, respectively, among occupational groups. 

Percentile wages by occupational group 

In addition to total employment and mean wage by major 

occupational group, table 1 displays the 10th-, 25th-, 50th-,

75th-, and 90th-percentile wages for each of the 2 major occupational groups  A percentile wage shows the percentag

of workers in an occupation who earn less than a given wage 

and the percentage who earn more. For example, the 50thpercentile 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 the 10th-percentile wage or 

less, and 90 percent of workers earn the 90th-percentile wage 

or less. 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 food preparation and serving related occupations. This is 

clearly indicated by the fact that, for each percentile wage 

shown in the table, the food preparation and serving related 

group wage is lower than that for any of the other groups. In 

Table 1. Percentile wages by major occupational group, May 2005 

Hourly earnings 

Major occupational group Employment 10th 25th 50th 75th 90th Mean 

percentile percentile percentile percentile percentile wage

 Total......................................................................... 130,307,840 7.26 9.46 14.15 22.20 33.74 18.21

Management................................................................. 5,960,560 18.17 25.67 37.32 53.73 (1) 42.52

Legal............................................................................. 986,740 14.44 19.64 30.24 52.53 (1) 38.98

Computer and mathematical ........................................ 2,952,740 16.57 22.47 30.74 40.64 51.01 32.26

Architecture and engineering........................................ 2,382,480 15.94 21.52 28.94 38.69 48.50 30.73

Healthcare practitioner and technical ........................... 6,547,350 12.34 17.30 23.83 32.69 48.63 28.45

Life, physical, and social science ................................ 1,185,730 13.31 17.71 24.78 34.77 47.33 27.90

Business and financial operations................................ 5,410,410 14.32 18.58 24.88 33.62 44.28 27.85

Arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media ........... 1,683,310 8.20 11.78 17.71 26.35 38.38 21.30

Education, training, and library .................................... 8,078,500 8.67 12.74 19.04 26.41 34.94 20.89

Construction and extraction ......................................... 6,370,400 9.51 12.18 16.66 23.12 30.37 18.39

Installation, maintenance, and repair ........................... 5,305,260 9.54 12.63 17.25 22.86 28.34 18.30

Community and social services ................................... 1,692,950 9.70 12.49 16.52 22.15 28.52 18.04

Protective service ......................................................... 3,056,660 7.78 10.11 15.00 22.60 30.36 17.19

Sales and related ......................................................... 13,930,320 6.62 7.84 10.64 18.48 31.24 15.77

Production ................................................................... 10,249,220 7.81 9.70 12.91 17.43 23.51 14.37

Office and administrative support ................................ 22,784,330 8.00 10.03 13.10 17.24 22.18 14.28

Transportation and material moving ............................ 9,594,920 7.06 8.74 11.90 16.70 22.24 13.85

Healthcare support ....................................................... 3,363,800 7.43 8.86 10.64 13.34 16.63 11.47

Personal care and service ........................................... 3,188,850 6.21 7.22 8.89 11.88 17.11 10.67

Building and grounds cleaning and maintenance ........ 4,342,550 6.59 7.66 9.50 12.44 16.40 10.55

Farming, fishing, and forestry ...................................... 443,070 6.66 7.41 8.41 11.34 16.28 10.10

Food preparation and serving related .......................... 10,797,700 5.83 6.53 7.73 9.72 12.77 8.58
addition to being the lowest paid, the food preparation and 

serving related group has the narrowest distribution of wages 

of all occupational groups. Ten percent of the workers in 

this group, approximately 1 million, earn less than $5.83 per 

hour, while 90 percent of the workers earn less than $12.77

per hour, a difference of only $6.94 per hour. 

In addition to having the highest mean wage, management 

occupations have the highest wages in all percentile wage 

categories. Also, the group has the second widest distribution 

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

percent of workers in this group earn less than $18.17 per 

hour, while at least 10 percent earn more than $70.00 per 

hour, a difference of at least $51.83 per hour. The widest distribution of wages is among legal occupations, with a difference of at least $55.56 between the 10th- and 90th-percentile 

wages. 

As shown in table 1, the mean wage in every occupational 

group is higher than the 50th-percentile, or median, wage 

for that group, suggesting that workers in the top half have a 

wider wage distribution than those in the lower half. In other 

words, the distribution of wages in each occupational group 

is skewed toward the higher end of the wage range.

Chart  uses the percentile wages from table A1 to depict 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, and the right 

endpoint of the bar indicates the 90th-percentile 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 can be seen from chart 2, the width of the wage distribution for both the middle 80 percent and the middle 50

percent of workers in an occupational group 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, 

with only 75 cents, $1.01, and $1.22, respectively, separatin

the 10th-percentile wage from the 25th-percentile wage; the

amounts separating the 75th-percentile wage from the 90thpercentile wage in those three occupational groups are, respectively, $4.94, $5.23, and $12.76—at least five times the 

Chart 2. Wage distribution by occupational group, 10th percentile to 90th percentile, May 2005

Building and grounds cleaning and maintenance

Management

Legal

Computer and mathematical

Architecture and engineering

Farming, fishing, and forestry

Food preparation and serving related

Personal care and service

Healthcare support

Healthcare practitioners and technical

Life, physical, and social science

Business and financial operations

Arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media

Education, training, and library

Construction and extraction

Installation, maintenance, and repair

Community and social services

Protective service

Sales and related

Production

Office and administrative support

Transportation and material moving

18.17

14.44

16.57

15.94

12.34

13.31

14.32

8.20

8.67

9.51

9.54

9.70

7.78

6.62

7.81

8.00

7.06

7.43

6.21

6.59

6.66

5.83 12.77

16.28

16.40

17.11

16.63

22.24

22.18

23.51

31.24

30.36

28.52

28.34

34.94

30.37

38.38

44.28

47.33

48.63

48.05

51.01

(1)

(1)

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

Hourly wages

10th 25th 75th 90th

Percentile Percentile Percentile Percentile

(1) Represents a wage above $70.00 per hour
Table 2. Mean wages for selected OES occupations and 3-digit NAICS industries, May 2005

Industry

 Food 

Support Petroleum and Credit Food Personal

Occupation activities and coal bever- interme- Social services and

for Utilities products age diation assis- and laundry

agriculture manufac- stores and tance drinking services

and turing related related places

forestry activities

Chief executive ....................................................... $64.05 $74.94 $78.52 $54.90 $72.12 $48.82 $52.48 $60.18

Computer support specialists.................................. 19.35 24.12 22.51 16.24 21.26 17.45 19.30 19.78

Accountants and auditors ....................................... 27.28 28.22 30.63 23.92 26.73 22.61 22.74 27.93

Sales representatives, wholesale and ................... 

 manufacturing, except technical and scientific.....

 products ............................................................... 24.42 30.64 32.14 24.02 29.08 22.42 19.72 23.48

Secretaries, except legal, medical, and .................. 

 executive.............................................................. 10.91 14.79 14.63 11.08 14.02 12.01 11.41 11.34

Janitors and cleaners, except maids and 

 housekeeping cleaners ........................................ 9.26 12.28 11.38 9.26 9.28 8.93 8.70 8.57

Security guards ....................................................... 10.60 18.13 12.45 14.35 14.51 10.57 10.27 14.75

Receptionists and information clerks ...................... 10.15 12.32 11.50 9.73 11.06 10.27 10.77 8.85

amounts separating the 10th-percentile wage from the 25thpercentile wage

By contrast, wages for the middle 50 percent of workers in the computer and mathematical; architecture and engineering; and installation, maintenance, and repair groups 

are comparatively less skewed toward the lower end of the 

pay distribution. In these occupational groups, the amounts 

separating the 75th-percentile wage from the 90th-percentile 

wage are at most twice the amounts separating the 10th-percentile wage from the 25th-percentile wage

Major occupational groups incorporate data from as many 

as 75 specific occupations in their mean hourly wages. Each 

of these major groups includes employees working in a wide 

range of occupations, requiring different degrees of training 

and skill, or involving different work environments. For example, the legal occupations group includes occupations such 

as lawyers and law clerks. The wages and employment levels 

for both are included in the overall wage and employment 

estimates for legal occupations, even though the mean hourly 

wage of lawyers is almost three times the wage of law clerks. 

The shares of employment accounted for by these occupations 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 differences noted between 

their respective major groups. Table 1 of this publication 

shows these variations.

Occupational wages by 3-digit NAICS industry 

codes

The OES program also produces detailed occupational wages 

by industry sector and at the 3-digit, 4-digit, and selected 5-

digit industry level within the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS). Table 2 shows the mean wage 

for eight selected OES occupations in eight selected 3-digit 

industries. Wages for detailed occupations vary according 

to industry, as illustrated in the table. For example, while 

chief executives have high overall wages compared with 

those in other occupations, the mean wage for chief executives itself varies depending on the industry in which they 

are employed.

In fact, among the occupations for which data are given in 

table 2, chief executives show the largest variation in wages,

with $29.70 separating the highest paying industry from the

lowest. The mean wage for chief executives ranges from 

$48.82 per hour in the social assistance industry to $78.52 pe

hour in the petroleum and coal products manufacturing industry. Another large difference between industries, $12.42

occurs for the occupation of wholesale and manufacturing 

sales representatives, except technical and scientific products 

workers. The hourly mean wage for these workers ranges 

from $19.72 per hour in the food services and drinking places

industry to $32.14 per hour in the petroleum and coal products manufacturing industry. The occupation of receptionists

and information clerks exhibits a smaller variation among the 

selected industries, with $3.47 separating the lowest wage 

from the highest. The mean wage of this occupation across 

the eight selected industries ranges from $8.85 per hour in 

personal and laundry services to $12.32 per hour in utilities

Similarly, mean wages vary across occupations in an industry. The utilities industry has the highest wages for five 

occupations among industries shown in table 2. Because 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 occupational employment and 

wage estimates at the sector, 3-digit, and 4-digit industry levels, as well as for States and metropolitan areas, is available 

on the OES Web site at www.bls.gov/oes/.