Skills Across Higher-Median Occupations
20 O*NET skills compared with May 2025 BLS occupation medians
This page matches each O*NET skill to detailed occupations where its importance score is at least 3.5, then computes an equal-weighted mean of those occupations' published BLS medians. It compares occupation sets; it does not measure a skill premium, an individual's salary, or the return from acquiring a skill.
Occupation-Median Benchmarks by Skill
| # | Skill | Mean of Occupation Medians |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Science | $151,861 |
| 2 | Active Learning | $116,113 |
| 3 | Systems Evaluation | $115,641 |
| 4 | Complex Problem Solving | $115,405 |
| 5 | Judgment and Decision Making | $114,794 |
| 6 | Operations Analysis | $112,468 |
| 7 | Systems Analysis | $112,087 |
| 8 | Mathematics | $111,756 |
| 9 | Time Management | $108,543 |
| 10 | Writing | $103,469 |
| 11 | Persuasion | $103,257 |
| 12 | Social Perceptiveness | $102,182 |
| 13 | Monitoring | $101,726 |
| 14 | Management of Personnel Resources | $100,186 |
| 15 | Coordination | $98,077 |
| 16 | Reading Comprehension | $96,855 |
| 17 | Learning Strategies | $96,051 |
| 18 | Critical Thinking | $95,650 |
| 19 | Negotiation | $94,732 |
| 20 | Instructing | $92,713 |
Highest-Median Occupations in the Top 10 Skill Sets
#1 Science (59 occupations) mean of medians $151,861
Five highest published occupation medians among rows where science has O*NET importance of at least 3.5:
#2 Active Learning (182 occupations) mean of medians $116,113
Five highest published occupation medians among rows where active learning has O*NET importance of at least 3.5:
#3 Systems Evaluation (37 occupations) mean of medians $115,641
Five highest published occupation medians among rows where systems evaluation has O*NET importance of at least 3.5:
#4 Complex Problem Solving (207 occupations) mean of medians $115,405
Five highest published occupation medians among rows where complex problem solving has O*NET importance of at least 3.5:
#5 Judgment and Decision Making (203 occupations) mean of medians $114,794
Five highest published occupation medians among rows where judgment and decision making has O*NET importance of at least 3.5:
#6 Operations Analysis (13 occupations) mean of medians $112,468
Five highest published occupation medians among rows where operations analysis has O*NET importance of at least 3.5:
#7 Systems Analysis (47 occupations) mean of medians $112,087
Five highest published occupation medians among rows where systems analysis has O*NET importance of at least 3.5:
#8 Mathematics (41 occupations) mean of medians $111,756
Five highest published occupation medians among rows where mathematics has O*NET importance of at least 3.5:
#9 Time Management (103 occupations) mean of medians $108,543
Five highest published occupation medians among rows where time management has O*NET importance of at least 3.5:
#10 Writing (240 occupations) mean of medians $103,469
Five highest published occupation medians among rows where writing has O*NET importance of at least 3.5: