BLS OEWS rankings

Occupation rankings

Pay, growth, and employment boards on the same detailed-occupation pool. A top median wage is not the same ranking as the occupation that employs the most workers.

7
OEWS ranking boards
$559,030
Pediatric Surgeons
4,305,810
Home Health and Personal Care Aides

Download the occupation wage dataset (CSV) , open extract wired into this page's Dataset JSON-LD. See the methodology.

Highest Paying Occupations

Occupations with the highest annual median salary according to BLS data.

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  1. 1 Pediatric Surgeons $559,030
  2. 2 Cardiologists $496,010
  3. 3 Radiologists $420,860
  4. 4 Surgeons, All Other $414,010
  5. 5 Anesthesiologists $391,490

Lowest Paying Occupations

Occupations with the lowest annual median salary in the United States.

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  1. 1 Cooks, Fast Food $30,890
  2. 2 Fast Food and Counter Workers $31,200
  3. 3 Hosts and Hostesses, Restaurant, Lounge, and Coffee Shop $31,200
  4. 4 Amusement and Recreation Attendants $32,150
  5. 5 Shampooers $32,600

Fastest Growing Occupations

Occupations projected to grow the fastest by 2034.

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  1. 1 Wind Turbine Service Technicians +49.9%
  2. 2 Solar Photovoltaic Installers +42.1%
  3. 3 Nurse Practitioners +40.1%
  4. 4 Data Scientists +33.5%
  5. 5 Information Security Analysts +28.5%

Largest Employment

Occupations employing the most workers nationwide.

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  1. 1 Home Health and Personal Care Aides 4,305,810
  2. 2 Retail Salespersons 3,897,860
  3. 3 Fast Food and Counter Workers 3,854,050
  4. 4 General and Operations Managers 3,503,020
  5. 5 Registered Nurses 3,379,720

Most Projected Openings

Occupations with the most projected annual job openings.

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  1. 1 Fast Food and Counter Workers 0.9K/yr
  2. 2 Home Health and Personal Care Aides 0.8K/yr
  3. 3 Retail Salespersons 0.6K/yr
  4. 4 Cashiers 0.5K/yr
  5. 5 Stockers and Order Fillers 0.5K/yr

Highest Hourly Pay

Occupations with the highest median hourly wage.

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  1. 1 Pediatric Surgeons $268.76/hr
  2. 2 Cardiologists $238.47/hr
  3. 3 Radiologists $202.34/hr
  4. 4 Surgeons, All Other $199.04/hr
  5. 5 Anesthesiologists $188.22/hr

Highest Paying Jobs Without a Degree

The best-paying occupations that typically require no more than a high school diploma.

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  1. 1 Nuclear Power Reactor Operators 122,890
  2. 2 Elevator and Escalator Installers and Repairers 109,910
  3. 3 Transportation, Storage, and Distribution Managers 107,230
  4. 4 Power Distributors and Dispatchers 106,730
  5. 5 First-Line Supervisors of Police and Detectives 106,040

Two rankings, two questions

Open the board that matches the decision, not the one with the largest headline number.

  • A highest-median occupation is not the occupation that employs the most people, compare the pay board with the employment board before treating either as “the top job.” Largest employment
  • Growth and openings boards use BLS Employment Projections, not the OEWS wage ranking. Fastest growing
  • State pages keep employment and wage leaders on separate axes for the same occupation pool. State salary profiles

Rankings are published occupational estimates for May 2025 OEWS (and EP 2024–34 where labeled), not an offer, hiring volume, or individual outcome.