Trends: Bureau of Labor Statistics (OEWS)
Median Wage by Occupation Group, 2021 to 2025
The median annual wage across all occupations was $45,760 in the May 2021 OEWS release and $50,980 in May 2025. The table gives the published median annual wage and employment of each of the 22 SOC major groups in each of the five releases, as BLS printed them; BLS does not design OEWS as a time series, and the figures are shown side by side without a computed growth rate.
Median annual wage by major occupation group, May 2021 to May 2025
| Occupation group | May 2021 | May 2022 | May 2023 | May 2024 | May 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| All Occupations | $45,760 | $46,310 | $48,060 | $49,500 | $50,980 |
| Management Occupations (11-0000) | $102,450 | $107,360 | $116,880 | $122,090 | $126,520 |
| Business and Financial Operations Occupations (13-0000) | $76,570 | $76,850 | $79,050 | $80,920 | $82,660 |
| Computer and Mathematical Occupations (15-0000) | $97,540 | $100,440 | $104,200 | $105,850 | $109,280 |
| Architecture and Engineering Occupations (17-0000) | $79,840 | $83,700 | $91,420 | $97,310 | $99,520 |
| Life, Physical, and Social Science Occupations (19-0000) | $72,740 | $74,330 | $78,280 | $78,980 | $82,530 |
| Community and Social Service Occupations (21-0000) | $48,410 | $49,380 | $52,000 | $57,530 | $58,300 |
| Legal Occupations (23-0000) | $82,430 | $95,170 | $99,220 | $99,990 | $102,500 |
| Educational Instruction and Library Occupations (25-0000) | $57,220 | $57,490 | $59,940 | $59,220 | $60,570 |
| Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media Occupations (27-0000) | $51,190 | $58,030 | $58,920 | $60,140 | $62,750 |
| Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations (29-0000) | $75,040 | $77,760 | $80,820 | $83,090 | $86,530 |
| Healthcare Support Occupations (31-0000) | $29,880 | $33,600 | $36,140 | $37,180 | $38,340 |
| Protective Service Occupations (33-0000) | $46,590 | $45,450 | $47,760 | $50,580 | $50,080 |
| Food Preparation and Serving Related Occupations (35-0000) | $28,400 | $29,640 | $32,240 | $34,130 | $35,050 |
| Building and Grounds Cleaning and Maintenance Occupations (37-0000) | $30,240 | $33,870 | $35,990 | $36,790 | $37,680 |
| Personal Care and Service Occupations (39-0000) | $29,450 | $31,340 | $34,260 | $35,110 | $36,410 |
| Sales and Related Occupations (41-0000) | $30,600 | $35,290 | $36,760 | $37,460 | $38,530 |
| Office and Administrative Support Occupations (43-0000) | $38,050 | $40,910 | $44,480 | $46,320 | $47,450 |
| Farming, Fishing, and Forestry Occupations (45-0000) | $29,860 | $33,970 | $35,520 | $36,750 | $36,630 |
| Construction and Extraction Occupations (47-0000) | $48,210 | $50,570 | $55,680 | $58,360 | $59,540 |
| Installation, Maintenance, and Repair Occupations (49-0000) | $47,940 | $50,080 | $53,920 | $58,230 | $59,620 |
| Production Occupations (51-0000) | $37,710 | $39,910 | $43,630 | $45,960 | $46,990 |
| Transportation and Material Moving Occupations (53-0000) | $36,860 | $37,940 | $40,050 | $42,740 | $44,350 |
Employment by major occupation group
| Occupation group | May 2021 | May 2022 | May 2023 | May 2024 | May 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| All Occupations | 140,886,310 | 147,886,000 | 151,853,870 | 154,187,380 | 155,495,730 |
| Management Occupations | 8,909,910 | 9,860,740 | 10,495,770 | 10,966,830 | 11,132,700 |
| Business and Financial Operations Occupations | 9,053,790 | 9,677,720 | 10,087,830 | 10,351,440 | 10,537,240 |
| Computer and Mathematical Occupations | 4,654,750 | 5,003,910 | 5,177,400 | 5,192,890 | 5,260,110 |
| Architecture and Engineering Occupations | 2,436,520 | 2,481,170 | 2,539,660 | 2,567,210 | 2,617,130 |
| Life, Physical, and Social Science Occupations | 1,273,640 | 1,314,360 | 1,389,430 | 1,446,770 | 1,473,260 |
| Community and Social Service Occupations | 2,239,680 | 2,313,620 | 2,418,130 | 2,569,630 | 2,668,680 |
| Legal Occupations | 1,178,140 | 1,216,600 | 1,240,630 | 1,273,410 | 1,305,620 |
| Educational Instruction and Library Occupations | 8,191,930 | 8,496,780 | 8,744,560 | 8,947,710 | 9,100,570 |
| Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media Occupations | 1,815,290 | 2,063,380 | 2,106,490 | 2,098,690 | 2,046,290 |
| Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations | 8,787,730 | 9,043,070 | 9,284,210 | 9,592,690 | 9,823,860 |
| Healthcare Support Occupations | 6,603,680 | 6,792,310 | 7,063,530 | 7,448,010 | 7,901,670 |
| Protective Service Occupations | 3,385,030 | 3,437,610 | 3,504,330 | 3,654,910 | 3,776,610 |
| Food Preparation and Serving Related Occupations | 11,201,480 | 12,514,620 | 13,247,870 | 13,613,490 | 13,680,750 |
| Building and Grounds Cleaning and Maintenance Occupations | 4,108,810 | 4,316,350 | 4,429,070 | 4,496,150 | 4,548,260 |
| Personal Care and Service Occupations | 2,566,440 | 2,835,650 | 3,040,630 | 3,159,940 | 3,255,790 |
| Sales and Related Occupations | 13,256,290 | 13,183,250 | 13,380,660 | 13,351,680 | 13,424,300 |
| Office and Administrative Support Occupations | 18,299,380 | 18,674,770 | 18,533,450 | 18,218,070 | 17,753,430 |
| Farming, Fishing, and Forestry Occupations | 452,490 | 461,750 | 432,200 | 442,050 | 435,200 |
| Construction and Extraction Occupations | 5,848,950 | 6,075,520 | 6,225,630 | 6,361,720 | 6,425,160 |
| Installation, Maintenance, and Repair Occupations | 5,574,410 | 5,823,400 | 5,989,460 | 6,045,020 | 6,086,190 |
| Production Occupations | 8,408,030 | 8,738,980 | 8,770,170 | 8,743,450 | 8,565,760 |
| Transportation and Material Moving Occupations | 12,639,920 | 13,560,460 | 13,752,760 | 13,645,620 | 13,677,150 |
Reading these tables
Each column is one annual Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics release, labeled by its May reference month. The median annual wage is the wage at which half of the employees in the group earn more and half less, computed by BLS from establishment-reported wage intervals, with annual figures derived from hourly ones at 2,080 hours a year where BLS does so. A major group is one of the 22 top-level categories of the 2018 Standard Occupational Classification; the all-occupations row covers every wage and salary worker in the survey. Employment is the estimated number of such workers, rounded as published.
BLS states that OEWS is not designed as a time series: each release pools six semiannual survey panels over three years, and changes in classification, methodology, the sample and the industry mix all affect the estimates, so a difference between two columns combines genuine wage movement with those effects. For that reason the table shows the published figures only and computes no percent change; the Employment Cost Index is the BLS measure built to track wage change for fixed jobs. Each group's current percentile table and member occupations are on its occupation hub.
Source, release and next release
- Table: OEWS May 2021 national file (oesm21nat.zip), fetched (SHA-256 83ad09f19e62…).
- Table: OEWS May 2022 national file (oesm22nat.zip), fetched (SHA-256 725348e28b50…).
- Table: OEWS May 2023 national file (oesm23nat.zip), fetched (SHA-256 8ce5e8277c3b…).
- Table: OEWS May 2024 national file (oesm24nat.zip), fetched (SHA-256 5fa368aa034c…).
- Table: OEWS May 2025 national file (src/data/oews/national.json), fetched (SHA-256 18aa2c7fb30c…).
- Data: BLS OEWS May 2025, released 2026-05-15
- Earlier releases: BLS national zips oesm21nat to oesm24nat, pinned by SHA-256 in scripts/ingest/oews-history-lib.ts; the May 2025 column is the site's own OEWS spine.
- Figures are shown as published; this site does not seasonally adjust, deflate, interpolate or extend any series.