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Salaries by Industry, 2026

BLS OEWS May 2024 · NAICS 2-digit sectors · Updated Apr 3, 2025

The North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) groups all US employment into 20 top-level sectors, from Agriculture to Government. Below is the workforce size and median annual wage for each, sourced from the BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) survey. Click any sector for the top 25 roles in it with sector-specific wages.

NAICS 62

Health Care and Social Assistance

Hospitals, physicians' and dentists' offices, home health, nursing facilities, childcare, and social services.

Workforce
23M
Median Pay
$48K
NAICS 44-45

Retail Trade

Stores selling merchandise direct to consumers, including motor vehicle dealers, grocery, apparel, electronics, and general merchandise.

Workforce
16M
Median Pay
$36K
NAICS 72

Accommodation and Food Services

Hotels, motels, restaurants, bars, and food-service contractors.

Workforce
14M
Median Pay
$34K
NAICS 61

Educational Services

K-12 schools, colleges and universities, trade and technical schools, and other educational institutions.

Workforce
14M
Median Pay
$59K
NAICS 31-33

Manufacturing

Factories and plants producing food, textiles, wood, paper, chemicals, metals, machinery, electronics, vehicles, and other goods.

Workforce
13M
Median Pay
$52K
NAICS 54

Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services

Legal, accounting, architecture, engineering, design, consulting, research, advertising, and other knowledge-based services.

Workforce
11M
Median Pay
$83K
NAICS 99

Government

Federal, state, and local government employment, excluding the U.S. Postal Service and state and local government-operated schools and hospitals (which are counted elsewhere).

Workforce
10M
Median Pay
$67K
NAICS 56

Administrative and Support Services

Staffing, business support, cleaning, security, travel services, waste management, and remediation.

Workforce
9.3M
Median Pay
$42K
NAICS 23

Construction

Residential and nonresidential building construction, heavy and civil engineering, and specialty trade contractors.

Workforce
8.1M
Median Pay
$60K
NAICS 48-49

Transportation and Warehousing

Air, rail, truck, water, and pipeline transportation, couriers, and warehousing and storage operations.

Workforce
7.4M
Median Pay
$51K
NAICS 52

Finance and Insurance

Banks, credit unions, securities and investment firms, insurance carriers, and financial intermediation activities.

Workforce
6.2M
Median Pay
$75K
NAICS 42

Wholesale Trade

Merchant wholesalers and business-to-business distributors of durable and nondurable goods across all product categories.

Workforce
6.1M
Median Pay
$57K
NAICS 81

Other Services

Personal and laundry services, repair and maintenance, religious and civic organizations, and private households.

Workforce
4.4M
Median Pay
$45K
NAICS 51

Information

Publishing, motion picture and sound recording, broadcasting, telecommunications, data processing, and software publishers.

Workforce
2.9M
Median Pay
$92K
NAICS 55

Management of Companies and Enterprises

Corporate headquarters and holding companies that manage subsidiary operations.

Workforce
2.8M
Median Pay
$91K
NAICS 71

Arts, Entertainment, and Recreation

Performing arts, sports, museums, amusement parks, casinos, fitness centers, and recreational activities.

Workforce
2.7M
Median Pay
$38K
NAICS 53

Real Estate and Rental and Leasing

Real estate brokerage, property management, and rental of consumer, commercial, and industrial goods.

Workforce
2.4M
Median Pay
$50K
NAICS 22

Utilities

Electric power generation and distribution, natural gas distribution, water and sewage treatment, and related utility services.

Workforce
583K
Median Pay
$99K
NAICS 21

Mining, Quarrying, and Oil and Gas

Metal and nonmetal mining, oil and gas extraction, and support activities for extractive industries.

Workforce
579K
Median Pay
$63K
NAICS 11

Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing and Hunting

Farms, ranches, timber operations, commercial fishing, and related primary food and natural-resource production.

Workforce
427K
Median Pay
$37K

About This View

Industry classification follows the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS), the official framework used by US, Canadian, and Mexican statistical agencies. The 20 sectors shown here are the top-level (2-digit) NAICS groupings. Workforce and wage data come from the BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) survey, May 2024.

Medians shown are sector-wide (across all occupations in that sector). For a specific role's wage within a specific industry, visit that role's salary page and look at the Industry Wage Breakdown card.

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