US Salaries by Occupational Field
All 22 official US SOC major groups — 830 detailed occupations grouped into the fields people actually search for. Median pay, total employment and the top-paying job in each — BLS OEWS May 2025.
What are the main US occupational fields and how do they pay?
The US Bureau of Labor Statistics groups every job into 22 official SOC major groups (occupational fields). Across 830 detailed occupations in BLS OEWS May 2025, the best-paying field by its top job is Healthcare Practitioners and Technical (top: Pediatric Surgeons at $559,030), while the largest by workforce is Office and Administrative Support (17,753,420 US workers). Updated annually from BLS OEWS.
Every occupational field, ranked by US workforce
| Field | Occupations | US workers | Top-paying job | Top median |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Office and Administrative SupportSOC 43 | 54 | 17,753,420 | Executive Secretaries and Executive Administrative Assistants | $76,590 |
| Food Preparation and ServingSOC 35 | 17 | 13,680,760 | Chefs and Head Cooks | $62,470 |
| Transportation and Material MovingSOC 53 | 50 | 13,677,170 | Airline Pilots, Copilots, and Flight Engineers | $232,140 |
| Sales and RelatedSOC 41 | 22 | 13,424,280 | Sales Engineers | $124,900 |
| ManagementSOC 11 | 37 | 11,119,550 | Chief Executives | $213,990 |
| Business and Financial OperationsSOC 13 | 32 | 10,537,240 | Financial Risk Specialists | $117,330 |
| Healthcare Practitioners and TechnicalSOC 29 | 71 | 9,823,910 | Pediatric Surgeons | $559,030 |
| Educational Instruction and LibrarySOC 25 | 64 | 9,100,600 | Law Teachers, Postsecondary | $128,500 |
| ProductionSOC 51 | 105 | 8,565,770 | Nuclear Power Reactor Operators | $122,890 |
| Healthcare SupportSOC 31 | 17 | 7,901,670 | Occupational Therapy Assistants | $72,300 |
| Construction and ExtractionSOC 47 | 60 | 6,425,200 | Elevator and Escalator Installers and Repairers | $109,910 |
| Installation, Maintenance, and RepairSOC 49 | 51 | 6,086,210 | Electrical and Electronics Repairers, Powerhouse, Substation, and Relay | $103,020 |
| Computer and MathematicalSOC 15 | 21 | 5,260,120 | Computer and Information Research Scientists | $140,300 |
| Building and Grounds Cleaning and MaintenanceSOC 37 | 10 | 4,548,260 | First-Line Supervisors of Landscaping, Lawn Service, and Groundskeeping Workers | $58,430 |
| Protective ServiceSOC 33 | 24 | 3,776,600 | First-Line Supervisors of Police and Detectives | $106,040 |
| Personal Care and ServiceSOC 39 | 32 | 3,255,790 | Makeup Artists, Theatrical and Performance | $97,150 |
| Community and Social ServiceSOC 21 | 17 | 2,668,670 | Social Workers, All Other | $71,900 |
| Architecture and EngineeringSOC 17 | 36 | 2,617,130 | Computer Hardware Engineers | $161,740 |
| Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and MediaSOC 27 | 41 | 2,046,270 | Art Directors | $114,850 |
| Life, Physical, and Social ScienceSOC 19 | 48 | 1,473,280 | Industrial-Organizational Psychologists | $193,950 |
| LegalSOC 23 | 8 | 1,305,620 | Lawyers | $159,670 |
| Farming, Fishing, and ForestrySOC 45 | 13 | 434,320 | First-Line Supervisors of Farming, Fishing, and Forestry Workers | $59,320 |
“US workers” is the sum of the published BLS OEWS employment estimates for the occupations in each field. “Top median” is the highest published national annual median wage among those occupations.
Best-paying fields (by top occupation)
Frequently asked questions
- What is an occupational field (SOC major group)?
- The US Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) system sorts every job into 22 major groups — broad families such as Healthcare Practitioners, Computer and Mathematical, or Construction and Extraction. Each detailed occupation's 6-digit SOC code begins with its major-group number (e.g. 29-1141 Registered Nurses sits in group 29, Healthcare Practitioners).
- Which US occupational field pays the most?
- By its highest-paid occupation, Healthcare Practitioners and Technical leads: Pediatric Surgeons earn a median of $559,030 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). Management and Healthcare Practitioners fields also contain many of the highest-paid detailed occupations.
- Which field employs the most US workers?
- Office and Administrative Support is the largest field by headcount, with about 17,753,420 workers across its 54 detailed occupations (BLS OEWS May 2025). Field totals are the sum of the published employment estimates for member occupations.
- Where does this data come from?
- From the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) May 2025 national release — cross-industry, all-ownership estimates. As US federal government work it is public domain. GeraJobs groups the occupations by their official SOC major group and publishes the figures verbatim; suppressed cells are shown as "—", never estimated.
Looking for a role in one of these fields?
GeraJobs lists live US vacancies with employer-stated salary ranges — see which roles pay above the BLS benchmark for their field.
Data source
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics — Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) · May 2025 national estimates · Public domain (U.S. federal government work)
Grouped by official US SOC 2018 major group and published verbatim by GeraJobs. Last updated: 2026-06-27. ← All US salaries by occupation