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Salary by Occupation Group: Every SOC Major Group Compared

Every SOC major occupational group, side by side, with its national median and mean wage, total employment and the number of detailed occupations it covers — ranked by median pay. Click any group to see the occupations within it, or use the lookup to pin down a single job. National BLS figures; your market differs.

May 2024 national BLS data. Figures are national medians and percentiles from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics OEWS (May 2024); your local market, employer and experience will differ. Wage data ages — this reflects the May 2024 release, verified June 2026. Informational only, not career, salary-negotiation or financial advice.

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Occupation group	Median pay	Mean pay	Employment	Occupations
Management Occupations	$122,090	$141,760	10,966,830	38
Computer and Mathematical Occupations	$105,850	$116,810	5,192,890	21
Legal Occupations	$99,990	$137,680	1,273,410	8
Architecture and Engineering Occupations	$97,310	$103,980	2,567,210	36
Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$83,090	$105,220	9,592,690	71
Business and Financial Operations Occupations	$80,920	$93,680	10,351,440	32
Life, Physical, and Social Science Occupations	$78,980	$89,690	1,446,770	48
Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media Occupations	$60,140	$77,040	2,098,690	41
Educational Instruction and Library Occupations	$59,220	$65,900	8,947,710	64
Construction and Extraction Occupations	$58,360	$63,920	6,361,720	60
Installation, Maintenance, and Repair Occupations	$58,230	$61,640	6,045,020	51
Community and Social Service Occupations	$57,530	$63,030	2,569,630	17
Protective Service Occupations	$50,580	$61,000	3,654,910	24
Office and Administrative Support Occupations	$46,320	$50,160	18,218,070	54
Production Occupations	$45,960	$50,090	8,743,450	105
Transportation and Material Moving Occupations	$42,740	$48,750	13,645,620	50
Sales and Related Occupations	$37,460	$54,070	13,351,680	22
Healthcare Support Occupations	$37,180	$39,650	7,448,010	17
Building and Grounds Cleaning and Maintenance Occupations	$36,790	$39,540	4,496,150	10
Farming, Fishing, and Forestry Occupations	$36,750	$41,730	442,050	13
Personal Care and Service Occupations	$35,110	$39,410	3,159,940	32
Food Preparation and Serving Related Occupations	$34,130	$36,020	13,613,490	17

Wages are national figures from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May 2024 national (U.S. federal public-domain data); BLS suppression flags are kept verbatim. Verified June 2026. How we compile this.

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Salary-by-occupation cheat-sheet

Salary by Occupation Group: Every SOC Major Group Compared

Salary-by-occupation cheat-sheet