U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS COMPENSATION AND WORKING CONDITIONS

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Relative Pay Rates among Major Industry and Occupational Groups

by John E. Buckley

Bureau of Labor Statistics

Originally Posted: March 26, 2003

Based on the results of the National Compensation Survey, hourly earnings of all workers in private industry and State and

local governments averaged $15.36 in 1999; average earnings varied considerably by industry and occupational group,

ranging from $33.26 per hour for executive, administrative, and managerial workers in mining to $6.49 for service workers in

retail trade.

The results of the 1999 National Compensation Survey (NCS) represent the third annual findings of establishment-based

surveys in a sample of 154 metropolitan and nonmetropolitan areas. The sample represents the Nation’s 326 metropolitan

statistical areas (as defined by the Office of Management and Budget, 1994) and the remaining portions of the 50 States.

(The 1997 NCS survey was limited to 149 areas representing the contiguous United States.) The major difference between

the 1999 survey and the two earlier surveys is that the 1999 data include private establishments with fewer than 50

employees. Agricultural, private household, and Federal government workers are not included in the NCS.

For ease of analysis, averages for industry and occupational groups were compared with the national average and converted

to relative earnings. (See table 1.) The national average ($15.36) was assigned a value of 100 and averages for subnational

data were converted to a percent of the national estimate. For example, when the average hourly rate for State and local

governments ($19.34) was compared with the national rate, the value for governments converted to 126. ($19.34/15.36 x 100

= 126.)

Pay Relative Comparisons

Among the higher paying industries, pay relatives for mining, State and local governments, and transportation and public

utilities were 135, 126, and 120, respectively. The pay relative for the finance, insurance, and real estate industry (113) also

exceeded the national average, as did the construction and manufacturing industries. Retail trade was the lowest paying

industry sector, with a pay relative of 63.

At the "all occupations" level, workers in State and local governments earned considerably more than private industry

workers grouped together. Part of the overall difference between the two sectors is explained by differences in their

occupational and industrial mix. For example, professional specialty and technical occupations are proportionally more

prevalent in government than in private industry. Service occupations in government are unique in that they primarily consist

of police and firefighters who earn higher pay than most workers in service occupations found in private industry.

There were some notable exceptions to the pay advantage of government workers over private industry workers when

individual industries and occupational groups were examined. Except for the construction and retail trade industries, the pay

relative for executive, administrative, and managerial workers in government (169) was moderately to significantly lower than

relatives for similar workers in the remaining industries shown in table 1. For example, the executive, administrative, and

managerial pay relatives for mining (217), manufacturing (213), transportation and public utilities (199), and wholesale trade

(191) were higher than the government relative. The relative earnings of the small number of sales workers in government

were considerably lower than sales workers in most of the other industries, with retail trade workers being the main

exception.

Service workers in the transportation and public utilities sector had considerably higher earnings than service workers in

other industries. The pay advantage for these transportation and public utilities workers is largely due to the mix of service

occupations found among the different industry sectors. The pay relative of service workers in the transportation and public

utilities industry (125) is strongly influenced by the presence of high-paid public transportation attendants (such as flight
U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS COMPENSATION AND WORKING CONDITIONS

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attendants and transportation conductors) in that industry. Lower paying food, health, and cleaning services occupations

influence earnings of service workers in other industries.

Average earnings of workers in white-collar occupations generally exceeded earnings of workers in blue-collar and service

occupations, often by wide margins. In private industry, for example, the pay relative for white-collar occupations was 118; for

blue-collar and service occupations the values were 84 and 52, respectively. Within the white-collar group, wages also varied

considerably, with the relative pay of executive, administrative, and managerial workers (182) far surpassing the relative pay

of sales workers (84) and administrative support workers (79). Pay for the lower paying white-collar jobs was more in line with

blue-collar rates than for other white-collar jobs.

The relatively low pay of sales workers is strongly influenced by the large numbers employed in the retail trade industry.

Sales workers in most other industries receive pay rates well above the average. For example, sales workers in mining had

relative earnings of 181; the pay relative for sales workers in manufacturing was 156. The pay relatives for sales workers in

three other industry divisions--construction, wholesale trade, and finance, insurance, and real estate--ranged from 130 to

137. Sales workers in the services and State and local government sectors had, along with retail trade, pay relatives well

below the average.

There also was wide pay dispersion among the four blue-collar major occupational groups. (Pay dispersion is a measure of

variation in pay among occupational groups.) The relative earnings of private industry precision production, craft, and repair

workers (107) were higher than the earnings for machine operators, assemblers, and inspectors (74), transportation and

material moving occupations (83), and handlers, equipment cleaners, helpers, and laborers (63). Average earning differences

among these same four major occupational groups were considerably narrower in State and local governments.

Average pay levels for the five service occupational groups in private industry were more closely clustered than the average

levels for the white- and blue-collar groups. Service occupations are generally at the lower end of the earnings spectrum,

especially in the retail trade and services industries. In general, service workers in the public sector earned more than their

private industry counterparts. The major exception was the transportation and public utilities industry, where the high pay of

public transportation attendants positively affected the average pay estimate of workers in service occupations.

Pay Spreads For Occupations Within Industries

Among the nine major occupational groups, the smallest pay relative spread occurred in the State and local government

sector. (See table 1 for a definition of the major occupational groups.) The average pay of professional specialty and

technical workers in government ($26.04) was about 114 percent higher than the average pay of sales workers ($12.16) in

that sector. (See table 2.) This relationship contrasted with the approximately 250-percent difference in average pay that

executive, administrative, and managerial workers received over handlers, equipment cleaners, helpers, and laborers in the

mining industry. The services, wholesale trade, retail trade, and manufacturing industries also had differences of more than

200 percent between high- and low-paying major occupational groups.

Occupational Pay Dispersion Across Industries

Table 2 presents average hourly earnings for the nine major occupational groups and nine industry sectors, along with a

measure of dispersion for occupations across industries. Service occupations had the widest spread across industries,

reflecting the disparate mix of jobs in that major occupational group. Workers in service occupations in retail trade averaged

$6.49 per hour. On the other hand, service workers in the transportation and public utilities sector averaged $19.16, or about

195 percent higher than the average for service workers in retail trade. Part of this large spread was caused by the low

earnings rate for waiters and waitresses in retail trade. (Tips are not included as part of wages in the NCS because they are

not paid for by the employers; thus, the rate for waiters and waitresses reflects the absence of this information.)

Sales occupations had the next widest spread among industries, also reflecting the differing jobs in that major occupational

group. Sales workers in retail trade averaged $9.82 per hour, influenced by the relatively low pay and high presence of

cashiers and counter clerks in that industry. On the other hand, sales workers in the mining sector averaged $27.80 per hour,
U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS COMPENSATION AND WORKING CONDITIONS

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or about 183 percent higher than the average for sales workers in retail trade. Sales work in mining requires proportionally

larger numbers of professional staff engaged in high-value transactions.

The occupation with the narrowest spread involved transportation and public utilities and retail trade. A 39-percent difference

separated the average hourly rate of precision production, craft, and repair workers in transportation and public utilities

($20.72) from the average of similar workers in retail trade ($14.93). This relatively narrow spread reflects the fairly

homogeneous nature of duties performed by precision production, craft, and repair workers in all industries, the long-term

training required for these kinds of occupations, and the ability of these workers to transfer their skills among industries with

minimal additional training.

John E. Buckley

Economist, Division of Compensation Data Analysis and Planning, Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Telephone: (202) 691-6299, E-mail: Buckley_J@bls.gov

Table 1. Relative pay levels by major occupational group and industry, all civilian workers,

National Compensation Survey, 1999 (U.S. = $15.36 = 100)

Major

occupational

groups (1)

All

workers

Private industry

State and

local

government

Goods producing Service producing

All

private

industry

workers

Mining Construction

Manufacturing

Transportation

and

public

utilities

Wholesale

trade

Retail

trade

Finance,

insurance,

and real

estate

Services

All occupations 100 96 135 108 104 120 97 63 113 97 126

White-collar

occupations 122 118 174 130 152 134 125 72 118 124 142

 White-collar,

 excluding

 sales

131 128 174 130 152 135 122 96 116 127 143

 Professional

 specialty and

 technical

161 157 209 149 168 193 176 137 160 151 170

 Executive,

 administrative,

 and

 managerial

180 182 217 159 213 199 191 133 180 177 169

 Sales 84 84 181 132 156 120 130 64 137 81 79

 Administrative

 support 79 79 99 86 86 92 76 68 82 75 81

Blue-collar

occupations 85 84 113 103 84 106 77 69 82 72 98

 Precision

 production, 107 107 130 115 103 135 - 97 99 99 111

Footnotes:

(1) The nine major occupational groups used in the National Compensation Survey are the white-collar professional, executive, sales, and

administrative support groups; the blue-collar precision production, machine operators, transportation, and handlers groups; and the overall

service group.

NOTE: Dashes indicate that no data were reported or that data did not meet publication criteria.
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Major

occupational

groups (1)

All

workers

Private industry

State and

local

government

Goods producing Service producing

All

private

industry

workers

Mining Construction

Manufacturing

Transportation

and

public

utilities

Wholesale

trade

Retail

trade

Finance,

insurance,

and real

estate

Services

 craft, and

 repair

 Machine

 operators,

 assemblers,

 and

 inspectors

74 74 95 94 78 89 - 56 71 52 94

 Transportation

 and material

 moving

84 83 107 101 83 94 77 59 70 70 91

 Handlers,

 equipment

 cleaners,

 helpers, and

 laborers

64 63 62 71 67 88 58 58 71 56 81

Service

occupations 60 52 66 64 76 125 67 42 67 54 94

 Protective

 service 97 59 - - 95 99 - 67 74 56 118

 Food service 44 43 - - - 65 47 41 47 47 61

 Health service 61 59 - - - - - 51 54 59 72

 Cleaning and

 building

 service

60 57 - 62 76 62 69 51 68 53 71

 Personal

 service 58 57 - - - 152 58 51 71 53 64

Footnotes:

(1) The nine major occupational groups used in the National Compensation Survey are the white-collar professional, executive, sales, and

administrative support groups; the blue-collar precision production, machine operators, transportation, and handlers groups; and the overall

service group.

NOTE: Dashes indicate that no data were reported or that data did not meet publication criteria.
U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS COMPENSATION AND WORKING CONDITIONS

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Table 2. Average hourly earnings and dispersion percents for nine major occupational groups, private industry and

State and local government, National Compensation Survey, 1999 (U.S. = $15.36)

Major

occupational

groups

Private industry

State 

and

local

government

Dispersion

percent 

(1)

Goods producing Service producing

Mining

ConstructionManufacturing

Transportation

and

public

utilities

Wholesale

trade

Retail

trade

Finance,

insurance,

and

real

estate

Services

White-collar occupations:

Professional

specialty and

technical

$32.15 $22.81 $25.78 $29.66 $27.07 $21.05 $24.60 $23.27 $26.04 53

Executive,

administrative,

and managerial

33.26 24.37 32.64 30.6 29.32 20.46 27.66 27.17 25.89 63

Sales 27.8 20.22 23.99 18.46 19.92 9.82 20.98 12.42 12.16 183

Administrative

support 15.27 13.16 13.25 14.13 11.73 10.37 12.53 11.54 12.37 47

Blue-collar occupations:

Precision

production,

craft, and

repair

19.94 17.69 15.89 20.72 -- 14.93 15.23 15.18 17.06 39

Machine

operators,

assemblers,

and inspectors

14.52 14.44 11.99 13.66 -- 8.6 10.97 8.03 14.38 81

Transportation

and material

moving

16.38 15.53 12.8 14.48 11.87 9.13 10.77 10.75 13.96 79

Handlers,

equipment

cleaners,

helpers, and

laborers

9.57 10.92 10.23 13.53 8.92 8.89 10.89 8.67 12.44 56

Service

occupations 10.15 9.83 11.72 19.16 10.34 6.49 10.34 8.26 14.41 195

Footnotes:

(1) The dispersion percent shows the percentage difference between average earnings in the highest paying and lowest paying industry.

NOTE: Dashes indicate that no data were reported or that data did not meet publication criteria.

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