Twice a year, the Bureau of Labor Statistics compiles occupational employment and wage estimates by surveying employers nationwide. Current data was released May 1, 2009.
| Occupation |
Total employment |
Mean hourly wage |
Mean annual wage |
| All Occupations |
57,740 |
$16.10 |
$33,500 |
| Office and administrative support occupations |
8,810 |
$13.35 |
$27,770 |
| Production occupations |
6,750 |
$13.74 |
$28,590 |
| Sales and related occupations |
6,020 |
$12.96 |
$26,960 |
| Healthcare practitioners and technical occupations |
5,170 |
$25.94 |
$53,960 |
| Transportation and material moving occupations |
4,600 |
$12.99 |
$27,030 |
| Food preparation and serving related occupations |
4,550 |
$8.46 |
$17,590 |
| Education, training, and library occupations |
3,280 |
$20.04 |
$41,690 |
| Installation, maintenance, and repair occupations |
3,100 |
$17.97 |
$37,380 |
| Management occupations |
2,720 |
$32.74 |
$68,090 |
| Construction and extraction occupations |
2,570 |
$15.63 |
$32,520 |
| Healthcare support occupations |
2,190 |
$10.84 |
$22,540 |
| Retail salespersons |
2,090 |
$10.89 |
$22,660 |
| Registered nurses |
1,900 |
$25.01 |
$52,020 |
| Cashiers |
1,740 |
$7.67 |
$15,950 |
| Building and grounds cleaning and maintenance occupations |
1,510 |
$9.79 |
$20,370 |
| Protective service occupations |
1,420 |
$14.02 |
$29,160 |
| Business and financial operations occupations |
1,410 |
$23.86 |
$49,630 |
| Office clerks, general |
1,370 |
$11.70 |
$24,340 |
| Truck drivers, heavy and tractor-trailer |
1,270 |
$16.26 |
$33,820 |
| Laborers and freight, stock, and material movers, hand |
1,090 |
$9.46 |
$19,670 |
| Combined food preparation and serving workers, including fast food |
1,050 |
$7.21 |
$15,000 |
| Maintenance and repair workers, general |
1,050 |
$16.44 |
$34,200 |
| Personal care and service occupations |
1,050 |
$9.37 |
$19,490 |
| Waiters and waitresses |
1,030 |
$8.37 |
$17,420 |
| Team assemblers |
830 |
$13.52 |
$28,120 |
| First-line supervisors/managers of office and administrative support workers |
820 |
$18.13 |
$37,720 |
| Nursing aides, orderlies, and attendants |
800 |
$10.53 |
$21,910 |
| Community and social services occupations |
770 |
$15.35 |
$31,930 |
| Production workers, all other |
770 |
$9.69 |
$20,160 |
| Licensed practical and licensed vocational nurses |
760 |
$15.38 |
$32,000 |
| Secretaries, except legal, medical, and executive |
750 |
$12.08 |
$25,120 |
| General and operations managers |
740 |
$33.55 |
$69,790 |
| First-line supervisors/managers of retail sales workers |
720 |
$16.84 |
$35,030 |
| Stock clerks and order fillers |
710 |
$10.13 |
$21,070 |
| Industrial truck and tractor operators |
650 |
$12.63 |
$26,270 |
| Elementary school teachers, except special education |
640 |
Not available |
$43,060 |
| Janitors and cleaners, except maids and housekeeping cleaners |
640 |
$9.02 |
$18,770 |
| Assemblers and fabricators, all other |
620 |
$12.74 |
$26,490 |
| Customer service representatives |
610 |
$14.71 |
$30,600 |
| Executive secretaries and administrative assistants |
590 |
$15.60 |
$32,440 |
| Security guards |
590 |
$9.26 |
$19,250 |
| Home health aides |
560 |
$9.09 |
$18,910 |
| Teacher assistants |
550 |
Not available |
$15,520 |
| Bookkeeping, accounting, and auditing clerks |
490 |
$13.93 |
$28,970 |
| Cooks, institution and cafeteria |
490 |
$8.74 |
$18,180 |
| Electricians |
490 |
$19.11 |
$39,740 |
| Receptionists and information clerks |
480 |
$10.35 |
$21,530 |
| Construction laborers |
450 |
$11.37 |
$23,640 |
| First-line supervisors/managers of production and operating workers |
440 |
$21.18 |
$44,060 |
| Maids and housekeeping cleaners |
440 |
$8.42 |
$17,500 |
| Packers and packagers, hand |
440 |
$8.74 |
$18,170 |
| Architecture and engineering occupations |
410 |
$27.02 |
$56,200 |
| Shipping, receiving, and traffic clerks |
400 |
$12.73 |
$26,480 |
| Arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media occupations |
390 |
$18.08 |
$37,610 |
| Truck drivers, light or delivery services |
390 |
$13.35 |
$27,760 |
| Machinists |
380 |
$16.43 |
$34,180 |
| Computer and mathematical occupations |
350 |
$24.40 |
$50,740 |
| Personal and home care aides |
350 |
$7.71 |
$16,040 |
| Secondary school teachers, except special and vocational education |
340 |
Not available |
$46,420 |
| Cooks, restaurant |
330 |
$9.59 |
$19,940 |
| Legal occupations |
330 |
$38.42 |
$79,910 |
| Billing and posting clerks and machine operators |
320 |
$12.75 |
$26,520 |
| First-line supervisors/managers of food preparation and serving workers |
320 |
$12.64 |
$26,300 |
| Police and sheriff's patrol officers |
320 |
$18.32 |
$38,110 |
| Sales representatives, wholesale and manufacturing, except technical and scientific products |
320 |
$24.45 |
$50,850 |
| Accountants and auditors |
300 |
$24.10 |
$50,120 |
| Automotive service technicians and mechanics |
300 |
$17.42 |
$36,240 |
| Cutting, punching, and press machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic |
300 |
$14.02 |
$29,160 |
| Medical assistants |
300 |
$11.33 |
$23,560 |
| Inspectors, testers, sorters, samplers, and weighers |
290 |
$16.38 |
$34,080 |
| Medical and clinical laboratory technicians |
290 |
$12.07 |
$25,110 |
| Counter and rental clerks |
270 |
$9.36 |
$19,470 |
| Medical secretaries |
270 |
$11.73 |
$24,390 |
| Middle school teachers, except special and vocational education |
250 |
Not available |
$44,600 |
| Cooks, fast food |
240 |
$7.46 |
$15,510 |
| First-line supervisors/managers of construction trades and extraction workers |
240 |
$21.30 |
$44,300 |
| Medical and health services managers |
240 |
$33.02 |
$68,690 |
| Child, family, and school social workers |
230 |
$13.50 |
$28,080 |
| Counter attendants, cafeteria, food concession, and coffee shop |
230 |
$6.89 |
$14,320 |
| Extruding and drawing machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic |
230 |
$15.85 |
$32,960 |
| First-line supervisors/managers of mechanics, installers, and repairers |
230 |
$22.59 |
$47,000 |
| Landscaping and groundskeeping workers |
230 |
$10.53 |
$21,910 |
| Radiologic technologists and technicians |
230 |
$21.09 |
$43,870 |
| Financial managers |
210 |
$30.78 |
$64,020 |
| Farming, fishing, and forestry occupations |
200 |
$11.59 |
$24,100 |
| Industrial machinery mechanics |
200 |
$19.39 |
$40,340 |
| Parts salespersons |
200 |
$11.84 |
$24,620 |
| Chief executives |
190 |
$58.74 |
$122,180 |
| Food preparation workers |
190 |
$9.65 |
$20,060 |
| Pharmacists |
190 |
$50.33 |
$104,690 |
| Child care workers |
180 |
$7.87 |
$16,380 |
| Pharmacy technicians |
180 |
$12.46 |
$25,920 |
| Tellers |
180 |
$10.37 |
$21,570 |
| Computer-controlled machine tool operators, metal and plastic |
170 |
$14.00 |
$29,120 |
| Physical therapists |
170 |
$29.75 |
$61,880 |
| Bill and account collectors |
160 |
$12.94 |
$26,920 |
| Business operations specialists, all other |
160 |
$26.10 |
$54,280 |
| Dishwashers |
160 |
$7.61 |
$15,820 |
| Food service managers |
160 |
$21.55 |
$44,830 |
| Highway maintenance workers |
160 |
$13.65 |
$28,390 |
| Lawyers |
160 |
$58.44 |
$121,550 |
| Life, physical, and social science occupations |
160 |
$23.11 |
$48,080 |
| Bus and truck mechanics and diesel engine specialists |
150 |
$16.63 |
$34,600 |
| Hosts and hostesses, restaurant, lounge, and coffee shop |
150 |
$7.36 |
$15,310 |
| Laundry and dry-cleaning workers |
150 |
$9.46 |
$19,670 |
| Preschool teachers, except special education |
150 |
$10.42 |
$21,670 |
| Medical records and health information technicians |
140 |
$12.38 |
$25,750 |
| Rolling machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic |
140 |
$9.30 |
$19,350 |
| Welders, cutters, solderers, and brazers |
140 |
$15.10 |
$31,420 |
| Cost estimators |
130 |
$24.92 |
$51,840 |
| Dining room and cafeteria attendants and bartender helpers |
130 |
$7.90 |
$16,440 |
| Fire fighters |
130 |
$16.15 |
$33,600 |
| Hairdressers, hairstylists, and cosmetologists |
130 |
$11.94 |
$24,830 |
| Instructional coordinators |
130 |
Not available |
Not available |
| Paralegals and legal assistants |
130 |
$17.29 |
$35,970 |
| Postal service mail carriers |
130 |
Not available |
Not available |
| Business teachers, postsecondary |
120 |
Not available |
$76,720 |
| Coaches and scouts |
120 |
Not available |
Not available |
| Dental assistants |
120 |
$13.36 |
$27,800 |
| Operating engineers and other construction equipment operators |
120 |
$15.36 |
$31,950 |
| Printing machine operators |
120 |
$12.57 |
$26,140 |
| Respiratory therapists |
120 |
$17.26 |
$35,900 |
| Sales representatives, wholesale and manufacturing, technical and scientific products |
120 |
$41.21 |
$85,720 |
| Compliance officers, except agriculture, construction, health and safety, and transportation |
110 |
$23.91 |
$49,730 |
| Education administrators, elementary and secondary school |
110 |
Not available |
$69,480 |
| Loan officers |
110 |
$21.31 |
$44,320 |
| Purchasing agents, except wholesale, retail, and farm products |
110 |
$17.82 |
$37,070 |
| Sales representatives, services, all other |
110 |
$17.57 |
$36,540 |
| Special education teachers, preschool, kindergarten, and elementary school |
110 |
Not available |
$43,930 |
| Bartenders |
100 |
$7.79 |
$16,200 |
| Butchers and meat cutters |
100 |
$11.74 |
$24,430 |
| Cleaners of vehicles and equipment |
100 |
$9.68 |
$20,130 |
| Computer support specialists |
100 |
$16.84 |
$35,040 |
| Construction managers |
100 |
$25.63 |
$53,310 |
| Driver/sales workers |
100 |
$14.81 |
$30,800 |
| Educational, vocational, and school counselors |
100 |
$21.38 |
$44,470 |
| File clerks |
100 |
$9.31 |
$19,370 |
| First-line supervisors/managers of helpers, laborers, and material movers, hand |
100 |
$20.03 |
$41,660 |
| First-line supervisors/managers of non-retail sales workers |
100 |
$28.78 |
$59,860 |
| Kindergarten teachers, except special education |
100 |
Not available |
$41,240 |
| Network and computer systems administrators |
100 |
$26.48 |
$55,070 |
| Production, planning, and expediting clerks |
100 |
$18.43 |
$38,340 |
| Tool and die makers |
100 |
$20.57 |
$42,780 |
| Carpenters |
90 |
$14.27 |
$29,680 |
| First-line supervisors/managers of transportation and material-moving machine and vehicle operators |
90 |
Not available |
Not available |
| Helpers--electricians |
90 |
$12.02 |
$25,010 |
| Mental health and substance abuse social workers |
90 |
$16.34 |
$33,990 |
| Structural iron and steel workers |
90 |
$14.76 |
$30,710 |
| Advertising sales agents |
80 |
$19.02 |
$39,550 |
| Coating, painting, and spraying machine setters, operators, and tenders |
80 |
$10.90 |
$22,670 |
| Hotel, motel, and resort desk clerks |
80 |
$8.38 |
$17,420 |
| Industrial production managers |
80 |
$38.16 |
$79,370 |
| Switchboard operators, including answering service |
80 |
$9.59 |
$19,950 |
| Administrative services managers |
70 |
$23.75 |
$49,390 |
| Detectives and criminal investigators |
70 |
$24.90 |
$51,780 |
| Dispatchers, except police, fire, and ambulance |
70 |
$15.75 |
$32,750 |
| First-line supervisors/managers of landscaping, lawn service, and groundskeeping workers |
70 |
$16.44 |
$34,200 |
| Industrial engineers |
70 |
$31.34 |
$65,200 |
| Medical and public health social workers |
70 |
$16.15 |
$33,590 |
| Medical transcriptionists |
70 |
$14.75 |
$30,680 |
| Nonfarm animal caretakers |
70 |
$9.12 |
$18,960 |
| Painters, construction and maintenance |
70 |
$13.62 |
$28,340 |
| Physicians and surgeons, all other |
70 |
Not available |
Not available |
| Police, fire, and ambulance dispatchers |
70 |
$14.94 |
$31,070 |
| Radio and television announcers |
70 |
$15.32 |
$31,880 |
| Vocational education teachers, secondary school |
70 |
Not available |
$46,950 |
| Diagnostic medical sonographers |
60 |
$25.49 |
$53,010 |
| Eligibility interviewers, government programs |
60 |
$14.75 |
$30,680 |
| Family and general practitioners |
60 |
$87.42 |
$181,830 |
| Healthcare support workers, all other |
60 |
$11.35 |
$23,600 |
| Human resources assistants, except payroll and timekeeping |
60 |
$16.23 |
$33,750 |
| Installation, maintenance, and repair workers, all other |
60 |
$15.84 |
$32,950 |
| Librarians |
60 |
$21.96 |
$45,670 |
| Loan interviewers and clerks |
60 |
$15.57 |
$32,390 |
| Mechanical engineers |
60 |
$28.91 |
$60,140 |
| Nursing instructors and teachers, postsecondary |
60 |
Not available |
$50,650 |
| Occupational therapists |
60 |
$30.33 |
$63,090 |
| Order clerks |
60 |
$13.61 |
$28,300 |
| Physical therapist aides |
60 |
$9.94 |
$20,670 |
| Postal service mail sorters, processors, and processing machine operators |
60 |
Not available |
Not available |
| Security and fire alarm systems installers |
60 |
$14.65 |
$30,470 |
| Social and human service assistants |
60 |
$11.87 |
$24,690 |
| Training and development specialists |
60 |
$21.19 |
$44,070 |
| Transportation, storage, and distribution managers |
60 |
$44.35 |
$92,250 |
| All other information and record clerks |
50 |
$14.16 |
$29,450 |
| Automotive body and related repairers |
50 |
$15.29 |
$31,810 |
| Computer and information systems managers |
50 |
$36.15 |
$75,200 |
| Computer, automated teller, and office machine repairers |
50 |
$14.03 |
$29,190 |
| Data entry keyers |
50 |
$11.82 |
$24,590 |
| Dentists, general |
50 |
$79.31 |
$164,960 |
| Engineering managers |
50 |
$45.56 |
$94,770 |
| First-line supervisors/managers of housekeeping and janitorial workers |
50 |
$11.70 |
$24,330 |
| Health educators |
50 |
$13.78 |
$28,670 |
| Legislators |
50 |
Not available |
$17,650 |
| Management analysts |
50 |
Not available |
Not available |
| Millwrights |
50 |
$24.28 |
$50,500 |
| Molding, coremaking, and casting machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic |
50 |
$17.06 |
$35,490 |
| Office and administrative support workers, all other |
50 |
$13.58 |
$28,240 |
| Probation officers and correctional treatment specialists |
50 |
$17.59 |
$36,590 |
| Property, real estate, and community association managers |
50 |
$13.66 |
$28,410 |
| Public relations specialists |
50 |
$20.24 |
$42,100 |
| Refuse and recyclable material collectors |
50 |
$10.11 |
$21,020 |
| Social and community service managers |
50 |
$18.73 |
$38,950 |
| Special education teachers, secondary school |
50 |
Not available |
$46,910 |
| Tire repairers and changers |
50 |
$10.83 |
$22,530 |
| Veterinary assistants and laboratory animal caretakers |
50 |
$10.77 |
$22,410 |
| Broadcast technicians |
40 |
$14.03 |
$29,170 |
| Cement masons and concrete finishers |
40 |
$14.47 |
$30,090 |
| Dietitians and nutritionists |
40 |
$19.52 |
$40,600 |
| Electrical and electronic engineering technicians |
40 |
$21.55 |
$44,820 |
| Fallers |
40 |
$11.04 |
$22,950 |
| Funeral directors |
40 |
$17.16 |
$35,690 |
| Speech-language pathologists |
40 |
$26.13 |
$54,350 |
| Surgical technologists |
40 |
$18.83 |
$39,160 |
| Wholesale and retail buyers, except farm products |
40 |
$20.47 |
$42,580 |
| Library assistants, clerical |
30 |
$9.69 |
$20,140 |
| Purchasing managers |
30 |
$29.14 |
$60,620 |
| Sales and related workers, all other |
30 |
$22.41 |
$46,620 |
| Vocational education teachers, postsecondary |
30 |
$18.00 |
$37,430 |
| Weighers, measurers, checkers, and samplers, recordkeeping |
30 |
$13.85 |
$28,800 |
| Computer programmers |
Not available |
$29.16 |
$60,660 |
| Computer systems analysts |
Not available |
$26.50 |
$55,110 |
| Dental hygienists |
Not available |
$25.06 |
$52,130 |
| Dental laboratory technicians |
Not available |
$22.20 |
$46,170 |
| Education administrators, postsecondary |
Not available |
$40.25 |
$83,710 |
| Employment, recruitment, and placement specialists |
Not available |
$21.04 |
$43,760 |
| Farmworkers and laborers, crop, nursery, and greenhouse |
Not available |
$9.01 |
$18,750 |
| Heating, air conditioning, and refrigeration mechanics and installers |
Not available |
$15.93 |
$33,140 |
| Helpers, construction trades, all other |
Not available |
$10.65 |
$22,150 |
| Helpers--production workers |
Not available |
$12.12 |
$25,210 |
| Insurance sales agents |
Not available |
$18.37 |
$38,210 |
| Library technicians |
Not available |
$12.58 |
$26,170 |
| Managers, all other |
Not available |
$27.05 |
$56,270 |
| Milling and planing machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic |
Not available |
$13.72 |
$28,540 |
| Packaging and filling machine operators and tenders |
Not available |
$10.04 |
$20,870 |
| Paving, surfacing, and tamping equipment operators |
Not available |
$12.36 |
$25,700 |
| Payroll and timekeeping clerks |
Not available |
$14.41 |
$29,970 |
| Plumbers, pipefitters, and steamfitters |
Not available |
$14.79 |
$30,760 |
| Sales managers |
Not available |
$37.32 |
$77,630 |
| Sawing machine setters, operators, and tenders, wood |
Not available |
$10.24 |
$21,300 |
| Sheet metal workers |
Not available |
$15.82 |
$32,910 |
