Wage analysis
Fifteen ways to ask a precise question of one national wage release—without confusing scale, midpoint, average, or distribution.
All comparisons use BLS OEWS, May 2025. Each article fixes a sort key—employment, mean, median, hourly mean, or a percentile measure—then explains what the ordering leaves out. The result is a research view, not a list of best careers or a prediction of individual pay.
Begin with median versus mean if the choice of statistic is unclear. Use wage percentiles for distribution questions and state wage comparisons before moving from national to state data.
A national ranking by mean annual wage.
May 2025Highest occupation median wagesA national ranking by the midpoint wage estimate.
May 2025Largest occupations by employmentA national ranking by estimated wage-and-salary employment.
May 2025Widest 10th-to-90th percentile wage spreadsA comparison of the distance between published lower and upper percentile estimates.
May 2025Largest mean-to-median wage gapsOccupations where the arithmetic mean sits furthest above the midpoint in percentage terms.
May 2025Highest 90th-percentile wagesA national comparison of the published 90th-percentile annual wage estimate.
May 2025Highest 10th-percentile wage estimatesA national comparison of the published 10th-percentile annual wage estimate.
May 2025Highest mean hourly wagesA national ranking using the OEWS hourly mean measure.
May 2025Healthcare occupation wagesHigh-employment detailed occupations within the healthcare practitioner and technical major group.
May 2025Management occupation wagesHigh-employment detailed occupations within the management major group.
May 2025Computer and mathematical occupation wagesHigh-employment detailed occupations in the computer and mathematical major group.
May 2025Educational instruction occupation wagesHigh-employment detailed occupations in educational instruction and library work.
May 2025Construction and extraction occupation wagesHigh-employment detailed occupations in construction and extraction.
May 2025Transportation and material moving wagesHigh-employment detailed occupations in transportation and material moving.
May 2025Office and administrative support wagesHigh-employment detailed occupations in office and administrative support.
A table position can change when a different measure is used. Large occupations can have moderate wages; high means can sit above lower medians; and a wide 10th-to-90th spread can signal distribution shape without explaining its cause. Open the occupation profile for all published measures.
LaborBrief retains source URLs, the May 2025 data period, and an August 4, 2026 verification date. Suppressed estimates are not substituted. The source page, verification method, occupation index, and glossary provide the audit trail.
Primary sources
- BLS OEWS tables — BLS OEWS, May 2025
- BLS OEWS questions and answers — methods and definitions