Business and Financial Operations Occupations
BLS May 2025 wages High openings flow SOC 13-1071

Human Resources Specialists

About 81,800 projected annual openings shape how to read Human Resources Specialists against Project Management Specialists, Logisticians, Management Analysts, Financial Examiners.

Full salary details → About this data

Same-major-group titles next to Human Resources Specialists: Project Management Specialists ($102K) , Logisticians ($82K) , Management Analysts ($102K) , Financial Examiners ($94K) . Hash-ordered per card so residual SOC siblings do not share an identical peer sentence.

What Human Resources Specialists publish as work

O*NET task statements for SOC 13-1071 - occupation-level descriptions, not every employer's posting. Sibling cards diverge here because the task set is entity-keyed.

  1. 1. Interpret and explain human resources policies, procedures, laws, standards, or regulations
  2. 2. Hire employees and process hiring-related paperwork
  3. 3. Administer employee benefit plans
  4. 4. Maintain current knowledge of Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) and affirmative action guidelines and laws, such as the Americans with D…
  5. 5. Schedule or administer skill, intelligence, psychological, or drug tests for current or prospective employees
  6. 6. Prepare or maintain employment records related to events, such as hiring, termination, leaves, transfers, or promotions, using human reso…
  7. 7. Address employee relations issues, such as harassment allegations, work complaints, or other employee concerns
  8. 8. Conduct reference or background checks on job applicants
  9. 9. Review employment applications and job orders to match applicants with job requirements
  10. 10. Inform job applicants of details such as duties and responsibilities, compensation, benefits, schedules, working conditions, or promotion…
  11. 11. Select qualified job applicants or refer them to managers, making hiring recommendations when appropriate
  12. 12. Schedule or conduct new employee orientations

Human Resources Specialists: O*NET ranks Speaking first

Importance-ranked O*NET profile for SOC 13-1071 - lead skill Speaking at 4.1 ; lead knowledge Personnel and Human Resources. Sibling cards diverge here even when peer titles overlap.

Top skills

  1. 1. Speaking 4.1
  2. 2. Reading Comprehension 4.0
  3. 3. Active Listening 4.0
  4. 4. Writing 3.9
  5. 5. Critical Thinking 3.9
  6. 6. Social Perceptiveness 3.4
  7. 7. Service Orientation 3.4
  8. 8. Active Learning 3.3

Knowledge areas

  1. 1. Personnel and Human Resources 4.6
  2. 2. Administrative 3.9
  3. 3. Administration and Management 3.8
  4. 4. English Language 3.8
  5. 5. Customer and Personal Service 3.5
  6. 6. Law and Government 3.3
Projected annual openings
81,800
growth + transfers + exits
National median $75,940/yr
$76K
National median
↑ +6%
Growth 2024-2034
912,430
Estimated US jobs
Project Management Specialists
Highest-pay peer · $102K

Typical Entry and Preparation Assignments

Entry education Bachelor's degree

Top Paying States for Human Resources Specialists

1. Washington $84,550
2. Massachusetts $85,630
3. California $83,500
4. Maryland $83,910
5. New Jersey $80,690
6. New York $84,380
7. Connecticut $82,890
8. Colorado $80,840
9. Virginia $82,090
10. District of Columbia $110,970

Other Business and Financial Operations Occupations titles

  1. 1. Management Analysts $101,860
  2. 2. Financial Examiners $94,160
  3. 3. Project Management Specialists $102,320
  4. 4. Labor Relations Specialists $95,420
  5. 5. Logisticians $82,320
  6. 6. Business Operations Specialists, All Other $83,050

Roughly 81,800 projected annual openings (growth, transfers, exits) are the scale signal for Human Resources Specialists. Median pay is $75,940 in Business and Financial Operations Occupations.

Employment Projections expect +6% change between 2024 and 2034 (faster than average vs baseline 3.1%). BLS assigns Bachelor's degree as typical education needed for entry. These are occupation-level assignments, not universal requirements. BLS does not publish a separate occupation-specific safety rate for this role; its broad SOC-group rate is excluded from this career card's grade.

Highest published state median in this ranking: Washington at $84,550. The table records differences without proving causes. Highest-pay peer shown here: Project Management Specialists at $102,320. Compare the same statistic in the relevant local wage area before treating the national median as a personal benchmark; OEWS excludes employer benefits.

Human Resources Specialists pay-rank #24 in Business and Financial Operations Occupations

On the Business and Financial Operations Occupations median table (32 detailed occupations with OEWS medians), Human Resources Specialists lands at #24, in the lower third. That rank is a table position, not a statement about individual workers.

Other lower-third titles · closest medians

Full Salary Details Compare this role

Data from U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May 2025. Projections from BLS Employment Projections program, 2024-2034.

SOC 13-1071 · national median $75,940 · lower third of Business and Financial Operations Occupations (#24/32). Open the full OEWS map or a named state before treating the card median as a local ask.

Human Resources Specialists salary map

State, metro, and percentile for SOC 13-1071

Washington · top state for Human Resources Specialists

$85K published median

Massachusetts · #2 state pay

$86K · behind Washington

Project Management Specialists

Highest-pay peer vs Human Resources Specialists · $102K

Logisticians

Lower-pay peer beside Human Resources Specialists · $82K

Compare Human Resources Specialists

Head-to-head OEWS medians with another SOC
Compare Human Resources Specialists with another occupation →

Openings and labor-flow next reads

Most Openings Rankings

Labor-flow scale across occupations

Compare openings side-by-side

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Frequently Asked Questions

Where does Human Resources Specialists land on the Business and Financial Operations Occupations median table? ▼
Human Resources Specialists is pay-rank #24 of 32 in this major group, lower third of the median table. Closest lower-third titles: Loan Officers ($77K), Fundraisers ($73K), Training and Development Specialists ($69K), Property Appraisers and Assessors ($68K). That position is a table rank, not a worker percentile.
What do human resources specialists do day to day? ▼
O*NET lists published task statements for Human Resources Specialists. Leading ones include: Interpret and explain human resources policies, procedures, laws, standards, or regulations; Hire employees and process hiring-related paperwork; Administer employee benefit plans; Maintain current knowledge of Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) and affirmative action guidelines and laws, such as the Americans with D…. These are occupation-level task descriptions, not every employer's job description.
Which O*NET skills rank highest for human resources specialists? ▼
For SOC 13-1071, O*NET importance scores lead with Speaking (4.1), Reading Comprehension (4.0), Active Listening (4.0), Writing (3.9). Knowledge areas emphasize Personnel and Human Resources, Administrative, Administration and Management. These are occupation-level profiles, not a hiring checklist for every employer.
What is the OEWS national median for Human Resources Specialists? ▼
May 2025 OEWS reports $75,940 as the national median for Human Resources Specialists. The published 10th-90th range is $47,180 to $128,720. Beside Project Management Specialists ($102,320), this is the occupation-level national figure, not a local offer.
What employment change does BLS publish for Human Resources Specialists? ▼
The 2024-2034 projection for Human Resources Specialists is +6%. Projected annual openings: about 81,800. Relative to the current all-occupations baseline of 3.1%: faster than average.
Which three states show the highest OEWS medians for Human Resources Specialists? ▼
Washington ($84,550), Massachusetts ($85,630), California ($83,500) lead this ranking. The table does not identify why those state estimates differ.

Source data and WageDex calculations are identified in context on this page. Wage and state figures use BLS OEWS May 2025; growth and education use BLS Employment Projections for 2024-2034; safety fields cite BLS CFOI/SOII; task statements cite O*NET where shown. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error.

Disclaimer: Wage and outlook figures on this page are provided for informational purposes only and do not constitute career, financial, or salary-negotiation advice. Actual pay varies by employer, experience, and local conditions; consult a career counselor or the hiring employer for guidance specific to your situation.

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, OES Occupational wage estimates by area and industry · 2025

Federal sources on this Human Resources Specialists card
  • BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS / OES) - national median and percentiles for SOC 13-1071. bls.gov/oes
  • O*NET OnLine - task and skill statements for Human Resources Specialists. onetcenter.org
  • BLS Employment Projections - 2024-2034 change and openings for this occupation. bls.gov/emp
  • U.S. Census Bureau ACS - demographic and labor-force context for state and metro geography. census.gov/programs-surveys/acs
  • IRS Statistics of Income (SOI) - payroll-tax aggregate context for wage comparisons. irs.gov/statistics