EMPLOYMENT AND UNEMPLOYMENT

U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS

JULY 2012 • VOLUME 1/ NUMBER 6

U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS | JULY 2012 1 www.bls.gov

An overview of U.S. occupational employment and 

wages in 2011

Author: Audrey Watson, Occupational Employment Statistics program

A substantial share of U.S. employment in May 2011 

was concentrated in a relatively small number of 

occupations. Just 10 occupations made up more than 

20 percent of total employment, and the 20 largest occupations 

made up nearly one-third of employment—more than 41 million 

jobs. Most of these large occupations had below-average wages, 

as did most of the occupations with the highest job gains and 

losses between May 2007 and May 2011. Growth in the healthcare 

industry helped to shape employment gains in individual 

occupations, while construction and production occupations 

were concentrated in shrinking industries. Although the overall 

occupational structure of the U.S. economy generally reflected that 

of the private sector, education and protective service occupations 

were more prevalent in the public sector, particularly in local 

government.

Related articles

More BLS articles and information related to 

occupational employment and wages are 

available online at the following links:

y “Occupational employment projections to 

2020,” Monthly Labor Review, January 2012, 

http://www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/2012/01/

art5full.pdf.

y “Construction employment: a visual essay,” 

Monthly Labor Review, November 2011, 

http://www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/2011/11/

art2full.pdf.

y Chartbook: Occupational Employment and

Wages, May 2010, http://www.bls.gov/oes/

2010/may/chartbook_2010.htm.
U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS | JULY 2012 2 www.bls.gov

BEYOND THENUMBERS EMPLOYMENT AND UNEMPLOYMENT

$33,020

$26,240

$24,840

$33,120

$20,890

$69,110

$18,790

$28,920

$20,230

$25,130

0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0 3.5 4.0 4.5

Secretaries and administrative assistants, except legal, medical, ...

Laborers and freight, stock, and material movers, hand

Janitors and cleaners, except maids and housekeeping cleaners

Customer service representatives

Waiters and waitresses

Registered nurses

Combined food preparation and serving workers, including fast ...

Office clerks, general

Cashiers

Retail salespersons

Employment (millions)

SOURCE: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Employment and annual mean wages for the largest occupations in the United States, May 2011

Secretaries and administrative assistants, 

except legal, medical, and executive

Combined food preparation and serving workers, including fast food

This issue of BEYOND THE NUMBERS uses data from 

the Occupational Employment Statistics (OES) program to 

provide an overview of U.S. occupational employment and 

wages in May 2011. The first section presents employment 

and wage data for wage and salary workers in the largest 

U.S. occupations and selected occupational groups. The 

subsequent sections highlight occupations with the 

highest job gains and losses between May 2007 and May 

2011, occupations prevalent in growing and shrinking 

industries, and occupational employment comparisons 

between the public and private sector. 

Largest occupations and selected 

occupational groups

Retail salespersons and cashiers were the largest occupations 

in May 2011, with employment of 4.3 million and 3.3 million, 

respectively. (See chart 1.) The largest occupations also 

included general office clerks; combined food preparation 

and serving workers, including fast food; registered nurses; 

and waiters and waitresses. The 10 occupations shown in 

chart 1 made up more than 20 percent of employment in 

May 2011, or more than 1 in every 5 jobs.

Nearly all of the largest occupations were relatively low 

paying, with wages considerably below the all-occupations 

mean. Only one of the 10 largest occupations—registered 

nurses, with an annual mean wage of $69,110—had an 

average wage above the U.S. all-occupations mean of 

$45,230 annually. All of the remaining occupations shown 

in chart 1 had annual mean wages below $35,000, and 5 

of the 10 largest occupations had annual mean wages of 

about $25,000 or less.

Occupational groups are aggregations of detailed 

occupations with broadly similar job duties, such as 

management occupations or legal occupations. Three 

of the 10 largest occupations were in the office and 

administrative support occupational group, helping 

to make office and administrative support the largest 

occupational group overall. (See chart 2.) About 17 percent 

of total employment, or nearly one out of every 5 jobs, 

was in this group. The sales and related occupational 

Chart 1

SOURCE: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS | JULY 2012 3 www.bls.gov

$93,380

$67,470

$53,850

$43,830

$77,120

$50,870

$33,200

$21,430

$37,520

$34,120

0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18

Legal

Life, physical, and social science

Arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media

Community and social service

Architecture and engineering

Education, training, and library

Transportation and material moving

Food preparation and serving related

Sales and related

Office and administrative support

Percent of total employment

NOTE: Light bars indicate largest occupational groups and dark bars indicate smallest occupational groups. Excludes 

farming, fishing, and forestry occupations because OES does not cover the majority of the agricultural sector.

Percent of total employment and annual mean wages for the largest and smallest major occupational 

groups, May 2011

BEYOND THENUMBERS EMPLOYMENT AND UNEMPLOYMENT

group made up nearly 11 percent of total employment 

and included the two largest individual occupations, retail 

salespersons and cashiers. The smallest occupational 

groups included legal occupations; life, physical, and social 

science occupations; and arts, design, entertainment, 

sports, and media occupations, each making up around 1 

percent of total employment. 

Four of the five largest occupational groups had belowaverage wages; the lowest paying occupational group 

was food preparation and serving-related occupations, 

with an annual mean wage of $21,430. Four of the 

five smallest occupational groups had above-average 

wages, and two of these groups were among the highest 

paying occupational groups overall: legal occupations, 

with an annual mean wage of $93,380, and architecture 

and engineering occupations ($77,120). In addition 

to these two groups, the highest paying occupational 

groups included management ($107,410), computer and 

mathematical ($78,730), and healthcare practitioners and 

technical occupations ($72,730). 

Occupations with the highest job 

gains and losses

Most of the occupations with the highest job gains were 

related to healthcare or food service. Occupations with the 

largest employment increases between May 2007, before 

the start of the recession, and May 2011 are shown in 

chart 3.1 Six of the 10 occupations in the chart were related 

to healthcare, including registered nurses, which had 

an employment increase of 256,230; medical assistants; 

and medical secretaries, a healthcare-related office and 

administrative support occupation. Occupations with 

the highest job gains also included personal care aides, 

combined food preparation and serving workers, general 

and operations managers, and restaurant cooks.

Of the 10 occupations with the largest employment 

increases, only 3 had above-average wages: all other 

physicians and surgeons, general and operations 

managers, and registered nurses. The remaining seven 

occupations had wages below the U.S. all-occupations 

average of $45,230, ranging from $18,790 for combined 

Chart 2

NOTE: Light bars indicate largest occupational groups and dark bars indicate smallest occupational groups. Excludes farming, fishing, and forestry 

occupations because OES does not cover the majority of the agricultural sector.

SOURCE: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
BEYOND THENUMBERS EMPLOYMENT AND UNEMPLOYMENT

U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS | JULY 2012 4 www.bls.gov

Chart 3

$23,410

$184,650

$25,420

$32,430

$21,820

$30,170

$114,490

$18,790

$20,560

$69,110

0 100,000 200,000 300,000

Cooks, restaurant

Physicians and surgeons, all other

Nursing aides, orderlies, and attendants

Medical secretaries

Home health aides

Medical assistants

General and operations managers

Combined food preparation and serving workers, including fast food

Personal care aides

Registered nurses

Employment change, May 2007–2011

NOTE: Excludes occupations that are not directly comparable between the 2000 Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) and 

2010 SOC systems.

SOURCE: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Employment change for the occupations with the largest employment increases, May 2007–May 2011, 

and May 2011 annual mean wages

NOTE: Excludes occupations that are not directly comparable between the 2000 Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) and 2010 SOC systems.

SOURCE: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

$33,120

$28,920

$25,130

$39,830

$29,740

$36,120

$20,230

$34,170

$26,240

$44,330

-400,000 -300,000 -200,000 -100,000 0

Light truck or delivery services drivers

Office clerks, general

Retail salespersons

Heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers

Team assemblers

Bookkeeping, accounting, and auditing clerks

Cashiers

Construction laborers

Laborers and freight, stock, and material movers, hand

Carpenters

Employment change, May 2007–May 2011

NOTE: Excludes occupations that are not directly comparable between the 2000 Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) and 2010 SOC systems.

SOURCE: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Employment change for the occupations with the largest employment decreases, May 2007–May 2011,

and May 2011 annual mean wages

NOTE: Excludes occupations that are not directly comparable between the 2000 Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) and 2010 SOC systems.

SOURCE: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Chart 4
U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS | JULY 2012 5 www.bls.gov

BEYOND THENUMBERS EMPLOYMENT AND UNEMPLOYMENT

Chart 5

food preparation and serving workers to $32,430 for 

medical secretaries. (See chart 3.)

The occupations with the highest job losses between 

May 2007 and May 2011 included several occupations 

related to construction, manufacturing, transportation, 

and retail trade. (See chart 4.) Carpenters had the largest 

employment decrease over this period, with job losses 

of 390,760. Occupations with the highest job losses also 

included construction laborers, team assemblers, heavy 

and tractor-trailer truck drivers, and light or delivery 

service drivers. Four of the occupations with the largest 

employment decreases also were among the largest 

occupations overall: laborers and hand freight, stock, 

and material movers; cashiers; retail salespersons; and 

general office clerks. All of the occupations with the largest 

employment decreases had below-average wages, ranging 

from $20,230 for cashiers to $44,330 for carpenters.

Occupational composition of 

growing and shrinking industries

Healthcare and social assistance was the industry with the 

highest employment increase between 2007 and 2011. 

Healthcare occupations made up more than half of industry 

employment in May 2011, and they accounted for 5 of the 

10 largest individual occupations, including registered 

nurses, with industry employment of nearly 2.4 million, 

and nursing aides, orderlies, and attendants (1.3 million). 

(See chart 5.) The largest occupations in the healthcare 

and social assistance industry that are not considered 

healthcare occupations included personal care aides, 

childcare workers, and several office and administrative 

support occupations. Six of the 10 largest occupations 

in this industry also were among the occupations with 

the largest 2007–2011 employment increases (shown in 

chart 3), underscoring the importance of this industry in 

employment growth in individual occupations.

The healthcare and social assistance industry had an 

annual average wage of $47,550, about 5 percent above 

the U.S. all-occupations mean. Although this industry 

contained high concentrations of some of the highest 

paying occupations—including dentists, physicians 

and surgeons, optometrists, and pharmacists, all with 

annual mean wages over $100,000—most of the largest 

occupations in this industry were relatively low paying. 

$20,300

$28,510

$27,340

$32,430

$30,200

$41,880

$20,340

$21,440

$25,160

$69,170

0 500,000 1,000,000 1,500,000 2,000,000 2,500,000

Childcare workers

Office clerks, general

Receptionists and information clerks

Medical secretaries

Medical assistants

Licensed practical and licensed vocational nurses

Personal care aides

Home health aides

Nursing aides, orderlies, and attendants

Registered nurses

Employment

SOURCE: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Employment and annual mean wages for the largest occupations in healthcare and 

social assistance, May 2011

SOURCE: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS | JULY 2012 6 www.bls.gov

BEYOND THENUMBERS EMPLOYMENT AND UNEMPLOYMENT

With an annual mean wage of $69,170 in this industry, 

registered nurses was the only large occupation in the 

healthcare and social assistance industry with an average 

wage above the U.S. all-occupations mean. (See chart 5.) 

Wages for the remaining large occupations in the industry 

ranged from $20,300 for childcare workers to $41,880 for 

licensed practical and licensed vocational nurses.

In contrast to healthcare and social assistance, the 

manufacturing and construction industries experienced 

large net employment decreases between 2007 

and 2011.2 The largest occupations in each of these 

industries are shown in charts 6 and 7. Production 

occupations made up about 51 percent of manufacturing 

employment in May 2011, and more than 70 percent 

of total employment in production occupations 

was found in manufacturing establishments. Seven 

of the 10 occupations shown in chart 6 were in the 

production group, including the largest occupation, team 

assemblers, with employment of 703,740. The largest 

manufacturing occupations outside of the production 

group were laborers and hand freight, stock, and 

material movers; sales representatives, wholesale and 

manufacturing, except technical and scientific products; 

and general maintenance and repair workers. Two of the 

largest occupations in this industry—team assemblers 

and laborers and hand freight, stock, and material 

movers—also were among the occupations with the 

largest employment declines between May 2007 and May 

2011, as shown in chart 4.

The annual mean wage in manufacturing was $46,620, 

slightly above the U.S. mean. Two of the largest 

occupations in manufacturing had above-average 

annual mean wages: sales representatives, wholesale and 

manufacturing, except technical and scientific products 

($66,190) and first-line supervisors of production and 

operating workers ($56,830). (See chart 6.) Annual mean 

wages for the remaining occupations in chart 6 ranged 

from $25,580 for production worker helpers to $42,210 

for general maintenance and repair workers.

Construction and extraction occupations made up 63 

percent of employment in the construction industry. 

Chart 6

$42,210

$36,020

$66,190

$29,450

$25,580

$28,190

$36,780

$40,580

$56,830

$31,410

0 200,000 400,000 600,000 800,000

Maintenance and repair workers, general

Welders, cutters, solderers, and brazers

Sales representatives, wholesale and manufacturing, except technical and 

scientific products

Packaging and filling machine operators and tenders

Helpers—production workers

Laborers and freight, stock, and material movers, hand

Inspectors, testers, sorters, samplers, and weighers

Machinists

First-line supervisors of production and operating workers

Team assemblers

Employment

Employment and annual mean wages for the largest occupations in manufacturing, May 2011

SOURCE: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Sales representatives, wholesale and manufacturing, except technical and scientific products

SOURCE: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS | JULY 2012 7 www.bls.gov

BEYOND THENUMBERS EMPLOYMENT AND UNEMPLOYMENT

Of the 10 largest occupations in the industry, 8 were in 

the construction and extraction group, and one was a 

construction-related management occupation. General 

office clerks was the largest occupation in the industry 

that was not directly related to construction. The two 

largest occupations in the industry were construction 

laborers and carpenters, with employment of 611,330 

and 476,300, respectively. Both of these also were among 

the occupations with the largest employment declines 

between 2007 and 2011.

The average wage in the construction industry across 

all occupations was $48,390. Compared with those 

occupations in the healthcare and manufacturing 

industries, more of the largest construction occupations 

had above-average wages. Five of the 10 largest 

construction occupations, shown in chart 7, had annual 

mean wages above the U.S. average, and two others—

carpenters and heating, air conditioning, and refrigeration 

mechanics and installers—had average wages only slightly 

below the U.S. mean.

Private and public sector 

employment

The overall occupational composition of the economy 

closely reflected that of the private sector, which made up 

more than 80 percent of U.S. employment in 2011. Eight 

of the 10 largest occupations in the private sector were 

the same as those in the economy as a whole, as shown 

in chart 1. Stock clerks and order fillers and general 

and operations managers, the 11th and 12th largest 

occupations overall, rounded out the 10 largest private 

sector occupations, replacing janitors and secretaries. 

For the largest private sector occupations, private sector 

employment as a share of total employment ranged 

from 81 percent of general office clerks and 82 percent 

of registered nurses to nearly 100 percent of waiters and 

waitresses and retail salespersons.

Public sector employment was dominated by education 

occupations. Education, training, and library was the 

largest occupational group in the public sector, accounting 

for nearly 1 out of every 3 public sector jobs, and teachers 

$37,930

$93,550

$44,400

$39,660

$48,170

$52,190

$62,670

$52,470

$44,540

$34,560

0 100,000 200,000 300,000 400,000 500,000 600,000 700,000

Painters, construction and maintenance

Construction managers

Heating, air conditioning, and refrigeration mechanics and 

installers

Office clerks, general

Operating engineers and other construction equipment 

operators

Plumbers, pipefitters, and steamfitters

First-line supervisors of construction trades and extraction 

workers

Electricians

Carpenters

Construction laborers

Employment

Employment and annual mean wages for the largest occupations in construction, May 2011

SOURCE: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Heating, air conditioning, and refrigeration mechanics and 

installers

Operating engineers and other construction equipment 

operators

First-line supervisors of construction trades and 

extraction workers

SOURCE: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Chart 7
U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS | JULY 2012 8 www.bls.gov

BEYOND THENUMBERS EMPLOYMENT AND UNEMPLOYMENT

0 100,000 200,000 300,000 400,000 500,000 600,000 700,000

Executive secretaries and executive administrative assistants

Maintenance and repair workers, general

Highway maintenance workers

Registered nurses

Secretaries and administrative assistants, except legal, medical, and 

executive

Business operations specialists, all other

Office clerks, general

Firefighters

Correctional officers and jailers

Police and sheriff's patrol officers

Employment

Local State Federal

Employment for the largest occupations in the public sector, excluding state and local government schools 

and hospitals, by level of government, May 2011

SOURCE: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Secretaries and administrative assistants, except legal, medical, 

and executive

Chart 8

Chart 9

SOURCE: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

0 250,000 500,000 750,000 1,000,000 1,250,000 1,500,000

Registered nurses

Secretaries and administrative assistants, except legal, medical, 

and executive

Janitors and cleaners, except maids and housekeeping cleaners

Office clerks, general

Middle school teachers, except special and career/technical 

education

Teachers and instructors, all other

Police and sheriff's patrol officers

Secondary school teachers, except special and career/technical 

education

Teacher assistants

Elementary school teachers, except special education

Employment

Local State Federal

Employment for the largest occupations in the public sector, including state and local government schools 

and hospitals, by level of government, May 2011

Elementary school teachers, except special education

Teacher assistants

Secondary school teachers, except special and 

career/technical education

Police and sheriff's patrol officers

Teachers and instructors, all other

Middle school teachers, except special and 

career/technical education

Office clerks, general

Janitors and cleaners, except maids and housekeeping cleaners

Secretaries and administrative assistants, 

except legal, medical, and executive

Registered nurses

SOURCE: SOURCE: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS | JULY 2012 9 www.bls.gov

BEYOND THENUMBERS EMPLOYMENT AND UNEMPLOYMENT

and teacher assistants made up 5 of the 10 largest public 

sector occupations. (See chart 8.) 

Education jobs were concentrated in local government. 

Two-thirds of all employment in the education, training, 

and library occupational group and 86 percent of public 

sector employment in this group were found in local 

government. The five teaching occupations in chart 8 also 

were the five largest occupations in local government, 

making up a combined 30 percent of local government 

employment. Nearly all local government employment in 

education occupations—91 percent—was in elementary 

and secondary schools.

Education, training, and library occupations also was the 

largest occupational group in state government, making 

up about 19 percent of employment. Nearly three-quarters 

of state government education, training, and library jobs 

were in colleges, universities, and professional schools, 

with most of the remainder in junior colleges. The largest 

education occupations in state government were graduate 

teaching assistants; postsecondary teachers, all other; and 

postsecondary health specialties teachers. 

If state and local government schools and hospitals are 

excluded, most of the largest public sector occupations 

were either protective service occupations or office and 

administrative support occupations. (See chart 9.) Police 

and sheriff’s patrol officers, firefighters, and general office 

clerks were among the largest noneducation occupations 

in local government. Correctional officers and jailers 

was the largest occupation in state government, with 

employment of about 249,000. Other large noneducation 

occupations in state government included general office 

clerks; police and sheriff’s patrol officers; and child, family, 

and school social workers.

The occupational structure of the federal government 

differed from those of state and local government. 

Nearly half of federal employment consisted of office 

and administrative support occupations or business 

and financial operations occupations, compared 

with only 1 percent of federal employment in the 

education, training, and library group. Only two of the 

largest federal government occupations—registered 

nurses and all other business operations specialists—

were among the largest public sector occupations 

overall. Four occupations exclusive to the U.S. Postal 

Service—postal service mail carriers; postal service 

mail sorters, processors, and processing machine 

operators; postal service clerks; and postmasters and 

mail superintendents—made up about 20 percent of 

federal government employment. The largest federal 

government occupations outside of the postal service 

included management analysts, compliance officers, and 

transportation security screeners.

Conclusion

Most of the 10 largest occupations in May 2011 were 

relatively low-paying occupations, such as retail 

salespersons, cashiers, and general office clerks. Several 

of the largest occupations also were among those with 

the highest job gains or losses between 2007 and 2011. 

Occupations with the highest employment increases 

included several occupations prevalent in the expanding 

healthcare and social assistance industry; occupations 

associated with manufacturing, construction, retail trade, 

and transportation were among those with the greatest 

job losses. Although some large occupations such as 

retail salespersons and waiters and waitresses were found 

almost entirely in the private sector, the largest public 

sector occupations were in education and found mainly in 

local government.

This BEYOND THE NUMBERS report was prepared by 

Audrey Watson, economist, Occupational Employment 

Statistics program. Complete OES data, including data 

highlighted in this report, are available from the OES 

website at www.bls.gov/oes/. Email: OESinfo@bls.gov; 

Telephone: (202) 691-6569. 

Information in this article will be made available to 

sensory-impaired individuals upon request. Voice phone: 

(202) 691-5200. Federal Relay Service: 1-800-877-8339. 

This article is in the public domain and may be reproduced 

without permission.
BEYOND THENUMBERS EMPLOYMENT AND UNEMPLOYMENT

U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS | JULY 2012 10 www.bls.gov

1. Charts 3 and 4 exclude occupations that are not comparable between the 2000 Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) 

system used in the May 2007 OES data and the 2010 SOC used in the May 2011 data. Occupations may not be comparable 

between the two systems for several reasons. For example, 2000 SOC occupations may have been split or combined to form 

2010 SOC occupations, changes may have been made to the content of an occupation, or title or definitional clarifications may 

have caused survey respondents to classify workers differently. Although this article presents some limited comparisons of OES 

data between two periods, in general OES data are not designed for analyzing changes through time, and data users should be 

cautious in using them for that purpose. More information on using OES data to look at changes through time is available at 

www.bls.gov/oes/oes_ques.htm#Ques30. 

2. Employment trends in specific manufacturing industries during this period may have differed from the trend in manufacturing 

as a whole. Occupational employment and wage data by detailed industry for 2007 and 2011 can be downloaded from 

www.bls.gov/oes/oes_dl.htm. More recent employment data by industry are available from the Current Employment 

Statistics program at www.bls.gov/ces/home.htm.

Upcoming articles

y How parents use time and money

y Atlanta’s thriving air transportation industry: 

employment and wages, 1990–2010

Visit our online archives to access past publications at

http://www.bls.gov/opub/btn/archive.htm.

Notes

Suggested citation:

“An Overview of U.S. Occupational Employment and 

Wages in 2011,” Beyond the Numbers: Employment and 

Unemployment, vol. 1, no. 6 (Bureau of Labor Statistics, July 

2012), http://www.bls.gov/opub/btn/volume-1/anoverview-of-occupational-employment-and-wagesin-2011.htm.