2

A. Employment and Wages

by Major Occupational Group

and Industry

Fatemeh Hajiha

Fatemeh Hajiha is an economist in the Division of Occupational

Employment Statistics, 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. The data are collected in six semiannual panels over a 3-year 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. More information about

the survey is found in the Technical Note to this document.

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 Office of Management and Budget’s

(OMB’s) occupational classification system, the Standard

Occupational Classification system (SOC). SOC is the first

OMB-required occupational classification system for Federal agencies. The OES survey categorizes workers into 801

detailed occupations and categorizes these detailed occupations into 22 of the 23 SOC major occupational groups. Military-specific occupations are not included in the OES survey. Chart A1 displays total employment in millions of

workers, the percentage of total employment, and the mean

wage for each group. The chart is arrayed by employment,

with the largest occupational group on the top and the smallest group on the bottom.

 A.

Chart A1. Mean hourly wage and percent of total employment by major occupational group, 

 May 2004

Employment level, in millions

0 5 10 15 20 25 30

Occupational group (mean hourly wage in parentheses)

Office and administrative support ($13.95) 17.7%

Sales and related ($15.49) 10.5%

Food preparation and serving related ($8.43) 8.2%

Production ($14.08) 7.9%

Transportation and material moving ($13.41) 7.5%

Education, training, and library ($20.23) 6.2%

Healthcare practitioner and technical ($27.55) 5.0%

Management ($41.12) 4.8%

Construction and extraction ($18.04) 4.8%

Installation, maintenance, and repair ($17.89) 4.1%

Business and financial operations ($27.10) 4.0%

Building and grounds cleaning and maintenance ($10.33) 3.4%

Healthcare support ($11.17) 2.6%

Personal care and service ($10.48) 2.4%

Protective service ($16.75) 2.3%

Computer and mathematical ($31.50) 2.3%

Architecture and engineering ($29.69) 1.9%

Community and social services ($17.52) 1.3%

Arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media ($21.01) 1.2%

Life, physical, and social science ($26.89) 0.9%

Legal ($38.42) 0.7%

Farming, fishing, and forestry ($9.76) 0.4%
3

In terms of employment, the 22 occupational groups 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 66 million workers. Of the 5, the office and administrative support group,

with more than 22.6 million workers, is the largest, and 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 ($17.80). The food preparation and serving related group has a mean wage of $8.43

per hour, the lowest among all occupational groups.

The second category consists of five occupational groups

with midsize employment. Accounting for about one-quarter

of total employment, or about 32 million workers, these

groups are education, training, and library; healthcare practitioner and technical; management; construction and extraction; 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 6.2 million workers, has the third-largest employment among the midsize occupational groups and the highest mean wage among occupational groups. The installation,

maintenance, and repair group, with 5.2 million workers, has

the smallest employment and the lowest mean wage among

midsize occupational groups.

The remaining 12 occupational groups account for 23.3

percent of total employment, or 29.9 million workers. Among

these, the business and financial operations group, with

around 5.1 million workers, has the largest employment, and

farming, fishing, and forestry, with fewer than 0.5 million

workers, the smallest. Three of the 12 smallest occupational

groups—legal; computer and mathematical; and architecture and engineering—have the second-, third-, and fourthhighest 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 A1 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.

Table A1: Percentile wages by major occupational group, May 2004

 Total ........................................... 128,127,360 $7.16 $9.28 $13.83 $21.66 $32.94 $17.80

Management. .................................................................... 6,200,940 17.19 24.47 35.77 51.87 (1) 41.12

Legal .................................................................................. 958,520 14.12 19.01 29.24 51.29 (1) 38.42

Computer and mathematical ............................................ 2,915,300 16.24 22.03 30.11 39.68 49.49 31.50

Architecture and engineering ........................................... 2,372,770 15.43 20.74 27.94 37.24 46.14 29.69

Healthcare practitioner and technical ............................. 6,359,380 11.95 16.60 22.71 31.24 45.78 27.55

Business and financial operations .................................. 5,131,840 13.94 18.09 24.21 32.77 43.32 27.10

Life, physical, and social science ................................... 1,131,390 12.63 17.01 23.88 33.73 45.27 26.89

Arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media ............. 1,595,710 7.98 11.47 17.39 25.88 37.24 21.01

Education, training, and library ........................................ 7,891,810 8.33 12.36 18.57 25.74 33.90 20.23

Construction and extraction ............................................ 6,170,410 9.31 11.93 16.38 22.74 29.78 18.04

Installation, maintenance, and repair .............................. 5,215,390 9.36 12.37 16.91 22.34 27.72 17.89

Community and social services ...................................... 1,673,740 9.36 12.08 16.09 21.56 27.79 17.52

Protective service ............................................................ 3,006,100 7.64 9.91 14.57 21.96 29.51 16.75

Sales and related .............................................................. 13,507,840 6.51 7.77 10.51 17.97 30.29 15.49

Production ......................................................................... 10,128,200 7.67 9.51 12.65 17.15 23.00 14.08

Office and administrative support ................................... 22,649,080 7.88 9.89 12.84 16.92 21.52 13.95

Transportation and material moving ................................ 9,581,320 6.89 8.47 11.48 16.24 21.61 13.41

Healthcare support ........................................................... 3,271,350 7.29 8.66 10.45 13.07 16.28 11.17

Personal care and service ............................................... 3,099,550 6.06 7.08 8.68 11.55 17.00 10.48

Building and grounds cleaning and maintenance ........... 4,300,440 6.39 7.52 9.28 12.17 16.13 10.33

Farming, fishing, and forestry .......................................... 458,850 6.38 7.17 8.23 10.88 15.63 9.76

Food preparation and serving related ............................. 10,507,390 5.75 6.41 7.58 9.51 12.51 8.43

Employment 10th

percentile

25th

percentile

50th

percentile

75th

percentile

90th

percentile

Mean

wage

 1 Represents a wage above $70 per hour.

Hourly earnings

Major occupational group
4

As indicated earlier, the lowest paid occupational group

is the one for 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 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 $5.75 per hour, while 90 percent of the

workers earn less than $12.51 per hour, a difference of only

$6.76 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 $17.19 per hour, while at least 10 percent earn more

than $70.00 per hour, a difference of at least $52.81 per hour.

The widest distribution of wages is among legal occupations, with a difference of at least $55.88 between the 10thand 90th-percentile wages.

As shown in table A1, 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 A2 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 A2, 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 79 cents, $1.02, and $1.26, respectively,

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

wage; the amounts separating the 75th-percentile wage from

the 90th-percentile wage in those three occupational groups

are, respectively, $4.75, $5.45, and $12.32—at least five times

the amounts separating the 10th-percentile wage from the

25th-percentile wage. By contrast, wages for the middle 50

percent of workers in the 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 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.

Chart A2. Wage distribution by occupational group, May 2004

Occupational group

Management

Legal

Computer and mathematical

Architecture and engineering

Business and financial operations

Healthcare practitioners and technical

Life, physical, and social science

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

Healthcare support

Personal care and service

Building and grounds cleaning and maintenance

Farming, fishing, and forestry

Food preparation and serving related

$0 $10 $20 $30 $40 $50 $60 $70 $80 $90 $100

Hourly wage

$17.19

$14.12

$16.24

$15.43

$13.94

$11.95

$12.63

$7.98

$8.33

$9.31

$9.36

$9.36

$7.64

$6.51

$7.67

$6.89

$7.88

$7.29

$6.06

$6.39

$6.38

$5.75

$46.14

$49.49

$45.27

$37.24

$33.90

$29.78

$27.72

$29.51

$27.79

$23.00

$30.29

$21.52

$21.61

$16.28

$16.13

$17.00

$15.63

$12.51

$43.32

$45.78

(1)

(1)

 Represents a wage above $70.00 per hour 1

10th 

percentile

25th 

percentile

75th 

percentile

90th 

percentile
5

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 major occupational groups. This is because

major occupational groups incorporate data from as many

as 75 specific occupations in their mean hourly wages. For

example, the legal occupations group includes occupations

such as lawyers and legal secretaries. 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 legal secretaries. 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 difference noted between their respective major groups. Table 1 of this publication shows

these variations.

Occupational wages by three-digit NAICS industry

The OES program also produces detailed occupational wages

by industry sector and at the three-digit, four-digit, and selected five-digit industry level within the North American

Industry Classification System (NAICS). Table A2 shows

the mean wage for eight selected OES occupations in eight

selected three-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 A2, chief executives show the largest variation in

wages, with $36.65 separating the highest paying industry

from the lowest. The mean wage for chief executives ranges

from $47.73 per hour in the social assistance industry to

$84.38 per hour in the petroleum and coal products manufacturing industry. Another large difference between industries, $16.07, 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 $16.36 per hour in the social assistance

industry to $32.43 per hour in the utilities industry. The

occupation of receptionists and information clerks exhibits a

smaller variation among the selected industries, with $4.34

separating the lowest wage from the highest. The mean

wage of this occupation across the eight selected industries

ranges from $8.69 per hour in personal and laundry services

to $13.03 per hour in utilities.

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

industries shown for all occupations other than chief executives and secretaries, except legal, medical, and executive,

for which it has the second-highest wage. Because table A2

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, three-digit, and four-digit industry levels, as well as for States and metropolitan areas, is

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

Table A2. Mean wages for selected OES occupations and three-digit NAICS industries, May 2004

Chief executive ........................................................... $57.51 $75.84 $84.38 $55.80 $69.76 $47.73 $47.97 $58.54

Computer support specialists .................................... 19.57 25.50 24.95 15.90 21.31 17.00 19.11 18.42

Accountants and auditors .......................................... 27.60 28.95 28.63 22.26 25.51 21.57 21.58 25.22

Sales representatives, wholesale and

 manufacturing, except technical and scientific

 products .................................................................... 23.33 32.43 30.51 22.02 27.27 16.36 20.49 19.78

Secretaries, except legal, medical, and

 executive ................................................................... 10.71 15.13 15.24 11.04 13.81 11.58 11.17 11.12

Janitors and cleaners, except maids and

 housekeeping cleaners ............................................ 8.57 12.93 11.59 8.95 9.12 8.57 8.47 8.45

Security guards .......................................................... 9.39 17.84 15.53 13.68 14.03 10.28 10.18 14.76

Receptionists and information clerks ........................ 10.01 13.03 11.50 9.92 10.88 9.81 10.49 8.69

Occupation

Industry

Support

activities

for

agriculture and

forestry

Utilities

Petroleum and

coal

products

manufacturing

Credit

intermediation

and

related

activities

Social

assistance

Personal

and

laundry

services

Food

services

and

drinking

places

Food

and

beverage

stores