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 |
50,000 |
$16.76 |
$34,870 |
| Office and administrative support occupations |
8,550 |
$14.97 |
$31,140 |
| Production occupations |
6,360 |
$14.57 |
$30,290 |
| Food preparation and serving related occupations |
4,930 |
$8.98 |
$18,670 |
| Sales and related occupations |
4,690 |
$14.06 |
$29,240 |
| Transportation and material moving occupations |
4,460 |
$13.78 |
$28,660 |
| Education, training, and library occupations |
3,160 |
$22.81 |
$47,450 |
| Healthcare practitioners and technical occupations |
2,690 |
$29.18 |
$60,680 |
| Healthcare support occupations |
2,510 |
$11.24 |
$23,380 |
| Installation, maintenance, and repair occupations |
2,280 |
$19.33 |
$40,200 |
| Business and financial operations occupations |
1,740 |
$24.29 |
$50,520 |
| Cashiers |
1,630 |
$8.76 |
$18,230 |
| Combined food preparation and serving workers, including fast food |
1,590 |
$7.89 |
$16,410 |
| Building and grounds cleaning and maintenance occupations |
1,550 |
$11.22 |
$23,330 |
| Management occupations |
1,520 |
$39.32 |
$81,790 |
| Team assemblers |
1,450 |
$13.31 |
$27,690 |
| Retail salespersons |
1,410 |
$11.63 |
$24,190 |
| Construction and extraction occupations |
1,280 |
$18.76 |
$39,010 |
| Personal care and service occupations |
1,130 |
$10.69 |
$22,240 |
| Nursing aides, orderlies, and attendants |
1,100 |
$10.58 |
$22,020 |
| Laborers and freight, stock, and material movers, hand |
1,020 |
$11.55 |
$24,020 |
| Truck drivers, heavy and tractor-trailer |
1,020 |
$15.21 |
$31,630 |
| Registered nurses |
990 |
$24.68 |
$51,330 |
| Office clerks, general |
960 |
$11.56 |
$24,050 |
| Protective service occupations |
920 |
$17.13 |
$35,620 |
| Stock clerks and order fillers |
890 |
$10.67 |
$22,190 |
| Elementary school teachers, except special education |
860 |
Not available |
$51,610 |
| Janitors and cleaners, except maids and housekeeping cleaners |
830 |
$10.92 |
$22,720 |
| Waiters and waitresses |
830 |
$7.91 |
$16,450 |
| Bookkeeping, accounting, and auditing clerks |
760 |
$13.99 |
$29,100 |
| Community and social services occupations |
760 |
$18.89 |
$39,300 |
| Home health aides |
730 |
$9.58 |
$19,920 |
| Secretaries, except legal, medical, and executive |
650 |
$13.49 |
$28,070 |
| Cutting, punching, and press machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic |
510 |
$13.03 |
$27,100 |
| Secondary school teachers, except special and vocational education |
500 |
Not available |
$49,970 |
| Computer and mathematical occupations |
470 |
$29.14 |
$60,610 |
| First-line supervisors/managers of production and operating workers |
460 |
$24.83 |
$51,650 |
| First-line supervisors/managers of retail sales workers |
460 |
$19.70 |
$40,980 |
| Food preparation workers |
460 |
$9.13 |
$19,000 |
| First-line supervisors/managers of office and administrative support workers |
450 |
$21.88 |
$45,510 |
| Maintenance and repair workers, general |
450 |
$15.67 |
$32,600 |
| Licensed practical and licensed vocational nurses |
430 |
$18.43 |
$38,340 |
| Packers and packagers, hand |
410 |
$8.63 |
$17,950 |
| Sales representatives, wholesale and manufacturing, except technical and scientific products |
390 |
$23.37 |
$48,600 |
| General and operations managers |
380 |
$40.40 |
$84,030 |
| Executive secretaries and administrative assistants |
360 |
$16.91 |
$35,170 |
| First-line supervisors/managers of food preparation and serving workers |
360 |
$14.32 |
$29,780 |
| Shipping, receiving, and traffic clerks |
360 |
$15.90 |
$33,080 |
| Medical secretaries |
350 |
$12.48 |
$25,960 |
| Automotive service technicians and mechanics |
340 |
$18.87 |
$39,260 |
| Driver/sales workers |
340 |
$8.88 |
$18,470 |
| Truck drivers, light or delivery services |
340 |
$13.59 |
$28,270 |
| Bus and truck mechanics and diesel engine specialists |
320 |
$18.94 |
$39,400 |
| Fire fighters |
310 |
$14.88 |
$30,950 |
| Machinists |
310 |
$14.21 |
$29,560 |
| Maids and housekeeping cleaners |
310 |
$9.68 |
$20,140 |
| Landscaping and groundskeeping workers |
300 |
$11.01 |
$22,900 |
| Architecture and engineering occupations |
290 |
$27.58 |
$57,360 |
| Construction laborers |
280 |
$18.31 |
$38,090 |
| Cooks, institution and cafeteria |
280 |
$11.88 |
$24,720 |
| Medical assistants |
280 |
$12.70 |
$26,410 |
| Middle school teachers, except special and vocational education |
280 |
Not available |
$47,420 |
| Receptionists and information clerks |
280 |
$10.73 |
$22,310 |
| Arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media occupations |
270 |
$19.54 |
$40,640 |
| Tellers |
270 |
$10.93 |
$22,730 |
| Dining room and cafeteria attendants and bartender helpers |
260 |
$7.75 |
$16,120 |
| Inspectors, testers, sorters, samplers, and weighers |
250 |
$15.13 |
$31,470 |
| Legal occupations |
250 |
$23.34 |
$48,550 |
| Cooks, fast food |
240 |
$8.71 |
$18,110 |
| Cooks, restaurant |
230 |
$9.43 |
$19,620 |
| Industrial truck and tractor operators |
220 |
$11.94 |
$24,840 |
| Hairdressers, hairstylists, and cosmetologists |
210 |
$12.76 |
$26,550 |
| Child, family, and school social workers |
200 |
$17.68 |
$36,780 |
| Preschool teachers, except special education |
200 |
$11.08 |
$23,050 |
| Accountants and auditors |
190 |
$25.49 |
$53,020 |
| Carpenters |
190 |
$15.53 |
$32,310 |
| First-line supervisors/managers of mechanics, installers, and repairers |
190 |
$28.05 |
$58,340 |
| Billing and posting clerks and machine operators |
170 |
$13.73 |
$28,570 |
| Child care workers |
170 |
$11.25 |
$23,390 |
| Computer-controlled machine tool operators, metal and plastic |
170 |
$20.16 |
$41,930 |
| Counter and rental clerks |
170 |
$10.55 |
$21,940 |
| Food servers, nonrestaurant |
170 |
$9.15 |
$19,030 |
| Helpers--production workers |
170 |
$9.91 |
$20,620 |
| Postal service mail carriers |
170 |
Not available |
Not available |
| Security guards |
170 |
$15.05 |
$31,310 |
| Life, physical, and social science occupations |
160 |
$26.02 |
$54,120 |
| Police and sheriff's patrol officers |
160 |
$20.49 |
$42,620 |
| Teacher assistants |
150 |
Not available |
$22,100 |
| Welders, cutters, solderers, and brazers |
150 |
$14.41 |
$29,980 |
| Bartenders |
140 |
$9.67 |
$20,120 |
| Dishwashers |
140 |
$8.02 |
$16,690 |
| Social and human service assistants |
140 |
$14.54 |
$30,250 |
| Insurance sales agents |
130 |
$35.24 |
$73,300 |
| Pharmacy technicians |
130 |
$13.04 |
$27,130 |
| Welding, soldering, and brazing machine setters, operators, and tenders |
130 |
$15.24 |
$31,710 |
| Managers, all other |
120 |
$46.68 |
$97,100 |
| Parts salespersons |
120 |
$11.57 |
$24,070 |
| Plumbers, pipefitters, and steamfitters |
120 |
$23.00 |
$47,840 |
| Business operations specialists, all other |
110 |
$25.38 |
$52,790 |
| Cleaners of vehicles and equipment |
110 |
$9.68 |
$20,140 |
| Computer support specialists |
110 |
$15.40 |
$32,020 |
| Dental assistants |
110 |
$15.52 |
$32,270 |
| Education administrators, elementary and secondary school |
110 |
Not available |
$77,870 |
| First-line supervisors/managers of transportation and material-moving machine and vehicle operators |
110 |
$26.42 |
$54,940 |
| Heating, air conditioning, and refrigeration mechanics and installers |
110 |
$17.65 |
$36,720 |
| Human resources, training, and labor relations specialists, all other |
110 |
$13.55 |
$28,180 |
| Pharmacists |
110 |
$51.15 |
$106,390 |
| Printing machine operators |
110 |
$12.27 |
$25,520 |
| Word processors and typists |
110 |
$15.08 |
$31,360 |
| Education, training, and library workers, all other |
100 |
$14.42 |
$29,990 |
| Educational, vocational, and school counselors |
100 |
$21.86 |
$45,460 |
| First-line supervisors/managers of helpers, laborers, and material movers, hand |
100 |
$18.02 |
$37,470 |
| Hosts and hostesses, restaurant, lounge, and coffee shop |
100 |
$7.96 |
$16,560 |
| Kindergarten teachers, except special education |
100 |
Not available |
$39,580 |
| Laundry and dry-cleaning workers |
100 |
$9.23 |
$19,200 |
| Medical and health services managers |
100 |
$34.46 |
$71,680 |
| Mental health and substance abuse social workers |
100 |
$21.06 |
$43,800 |
| Production, planning, and expediting clerks |
100 |
$22.35 |
$46,490 |
| Switchboard operators, including answering service |
100 |
$11.89 |
$24,730 |
| Computer systems analysts |
90 |
$32.38 |
$67,360 |
| Cost estimators |
90 |
$19.29 |
$40,130 |
| Family and general practitioners |
90 |
$72.99 |
$151,820 |
| Operating engineers and other construction equipment operators |
90 |
$22.44 |
$46,670 |
| Sales managers |
90 |
$43.09 |
$89,630 |
| Special education teachers, preschool, kindergarten, and elementary school |
90 |
Not available |
$50,750 |
| Chief executives |
80 |
$58.24 |
$121,130 |
| Dispatchers, except police, fire, and ambulance |
80 |
$15.94 |
$33,150 |
| Financial managers |
80 |
$41.51 |
$86,330 |
| First-line supervisors/managers of construction trades and extraction workers |
80 |
$25.78 |
$53,630 |
| Fitness trainers and aerobics instructors |
80 |
$9.83 |
$20,450 |
| Food service managers |
80 |
$20.13 |
$41,880 |
| Industrial machinery mechanics |
80 |
$23.98 |
$49,880 |
| Maintenance workers, machinery |
80 |
$21.09 |
$43,870 |
| Physical therapists |
80 |
$35.35 |
$73,530 |
| Recreation workers |
80 |
$11.36 |
$23,620 |
| Sheet metal workers |
80 |
$17.78 |
$36,990 |
| Computer programmers |
70 |
$33.35 |
$69,370 |
| Electricians |
70 |
$16.42 |
$34,150 |
| First-line supervisors/managers of housekeeping and janitorial workers |
70 |
$15.63 |
$32,510 |
| Highway maintenance workers |
70 |
$15.95 |
$33,180 |
| Hotel, motel, and resort desk clerks |
70 |
$9.26 |
$19,250 |
| Industrial production managers |
70 |
$31.49 |
$65,500 |
| Legal secretaries |
70 |
$12.16 |
$25,300 |
| Management analysts |
70 |
$26.51 |
$55,150 |
| Mechanical engineers |
70 |
$28.70 |
$59,690 |
| Respiratory therapists |
70 |
$21.18 |
$44,050 |
| Automotive body and related repairers |
60 |
$18.60 |
$38,690 |
| Bill and account collectors |
60 |
$15.07 |
$31,340 |
| Butchers and meat cutters |
60 |
$14.05 |
$29,230 |
| Computer and information systems managers |
60 |
$48.71 |
$101,320 |
| First-line supervisors/managers of non-retail sales workers |
60 |
$43.16 |
$89,770 |
| Heat treating equipment setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic |
60 |
$14.55 |
$30,260 |
| Loan officers |
60 |
$23.11 |
$48,060 |
| Medical and public health social workers |
60 |
$19.82 |
$41,220 |
| Medical transcriptionists |
60 |
$14.55 |
$30,250 |
| Payroll and timekeeping clerks |
60 |
$17.47 |
$36,340 |
| Purchasing agents, except wholesale, retail, and farm products |
60 |
$27.08 |
$56,320 |
| Sales and related workers, all other |
60 |
$16.71 |
$34,750 |
| Sales representatives, services, all other |
60 |
$20.28 |
$42,180 |
| Administrative services managers |
50 |
$30.92 |
$64,310 |
| Coaches and scouts |
50 |
Not available |
$29,820 |
| Dental hygienists |
50 |
$30.25 |
$62,930 |
| File clerks |
50 |
$9.23 |
$19,190 |
| Grinding, lapping, polishing, and buffing machine tool setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic |
50 |
$14.95 |
$31,100 |
| Healthcare support workers, all other |
50 |
$14.47 |
$30,090 |
| Helpers--installation, maintenance, and repair workers |
50 |
$14.22 |
$29,580 |
| Human resources assistants, except payroll and timekeeping |
50 |
$16.15 |
$33,590 |
| Industrial engineers |
50 |
$30.42 |
$63,280 |
| Lawyers |
50 |
$34.27 |
$71,280 |
| Molding, coremaking, and casting machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic |
50 |
$13.29 |
$27,630 |
| Network and computer systems administrators |
50 |
$29.57 |
$61,510 |
| New accounts clerks |
50 |
$13.77 |
$28,630 |
| Special education teachers, middle school |
50 |
Not available |
$44,010 |
| Computer software engineers, applications |
40 |
$39.53 |
$82,230 |
| Computer specialists, all other |
40 |
$30.64 |
$63,720 |
| Cooks, short order |
40 |
$9.81 |
$20,400 |
| Dentists, general |
40 |
$73.99 |
$153,900 |
| First-line supervisors/managers of landscaping, lawn service, and groundskeeping workers |
40 |
$23.44 |
$48,750 |
| Graphic designers |
40 |
$22.11 |
$45,980 |
| Industrial engineering technicians |
40 |
$23.90 |
$49,710 |
| Interviewers, except eligibility and loan |
40 |
$13.71 |
$28,510 |
| Library assistants, clerical |
40 |
$14.04 |
$29,200 |
| Medical equipment preparers |
40 |
$12.43 |
$25,850 |
| Medical records and health information technicians |
40 |
$13.46 |
$27,990 |
| Nonfarm animal caretakers |
40 |
$9.35 |
$19,450 |
| Order clerks |
40 |
$14.19 |
$29,520 |
| Physical therapist assistants |
40 |
$22.29 |
$46,360 |
| Physicians and surgeons, all other |
40 |
$101.05 |
$210,180 |
| Public relations specialists |
40 |
$22.13 |
$46,020 |
| Roofers |
40 |
$16.90 |
$35,160 |
| Sales representatives, wholesale and manufacturing, technical and scientific products |
40 |
$32.57 |
$67,750 |
| Social and community service managers |
40 |
$30.43 |
$63,290 |
| Special education teachers, secondary school |
40 |
Not available |
$54,670 |
| Surgical technologists |
40 |
$16.08 |
$33,440 |
| Training and development specialists |
40 |
$20.42 |
$42,470 |
| Water and liquid waste treatment plant and system operators |
40 |
$19.29 |
$40,120 |
| Court, municipal, and license clerks |
30 |
$12.38 |
$25,750 |
| Librarians |
30 |
$25.22 |
$52,460 |
| Loan interviewers and clerks |
30 |
$17.91 |
$37,260 |
| Teachers and instructors, all other |
30 |
Not available |
$62,210 |
| Transportation, storage, and distribution managers |
30 |
$33.54 |
$69,760 |
| Assemblers and fabricators, all other |
Not available |
$15.02 |
$31,240 |
| Bakers |
Not available |
$9.99 |
$20,790 |
| Claims adjusters, examiners, and investigators |
Not available |
$28.70 |
$59,690 |
| Coating, painting, and spraying machine setters, operators, and tenders |
Not available |
$13.78 |
$28,660 |
| Counter attendants, cafeteria, food concession, and coffee shop |
Not available |
$10.93 |
$22,740 |
| Data entry keyers |
Not available |
$10.50 |
$21,850 |
| Instructional coordinators |
Not available |
$25.27 |
$52,570 |
| Insurance claims and policy processing clerks |
Not available |
$16.72 |
$34,790 |
| Internists, general |
Not available |
$88.76 |
$184,630 |
| Manicurists and pedicurists |
Not available |
$9.92 |
$20,640 |
| Massage therapists |
Not available |
$9.66 |
$20,100 |
| Mental health counselors |
Not available |
$21.95 |
$45,650 |
| Metal workers and plastic workers, all other |
Not available |
$11.45 |
$23,830 |
| Multiple machine tool setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic |
Not available |
$20.46 |
$42,560 |
| Painters, construction and maintenance |
Not available |
$17.56 |
$36,530 |
| Paper goods machine setters, operators, and tenders |
Not available |
$11.75 |
$24,440 |
| Tax preparers |
Not available |
$8.56 |
$17,810 |
| Telemarketers |
Not available |
$12.35 |
$25,690 |
| Tire repairers and changers |
Not available |
$10.05 |
$20,910 |
| Tool and die makers |
Not available |
$20.89 |
$43,450 |
| Veterinary technologists and technicians |
Not available |
$15.03 |
$31,250 |
| Vocational education teachers, secondary school |
Not available |
Not available |
$36,520 |
