BLS occupation directory
2026 salary guide by job
This directory focuses on 158 widely recognized jobs people commonly compare by pay. Narrow source classifications and residual BLS buckets are left out of the directory. Direct occupations use their own BLS row; separately named roles inside a combined row are visibly labelled as combined-category data. Open an occupation for modeled federal and state take home. A separately labelled 2026 trend estimate appears only when the post-2020 history and latest employment estimate pass the stated continuity and sample-size screen; it is calculated by HourlyPaycheck and is not a BLS forecast.
The middle job
$50,980
the BLS all-occupations median estimate used here. The mean is $69,770.
Job topics here
158
widely recognized jobs selected for this guide, grouped into 21 fields.
Highest median estimate
$281,870
Psychiatrist, among the direct BLS occupations selected here.
Largest employment estimate
4.3m
home health aide, the highest BLS employment estimate among the occupations included here.
Browse by field
The fields are the Bureau’s own, while the job selection is deliberately focused on widely recognized roles. Each non-empty field has a separate crawlable directory so all 158 topics remain reachable through ordinary links.
Healthcare Practitioners and Technical
24 occupations · $86,530 group median
Business and Financial Operations
12 occupations · $82,660 group median
Computer and Mathematical
12 occupations · $109,280 group median
Construction and Extraction
12 occupations · $59,540 group median
Office and Administrative Support
11 occupations · $47,450 group median
Transportation and Material Moving
11 occupations · $44,350 group median
Management
9 occupations · $126,520 group median
Educational Instruction and Library
9 occupations · $60,570 group median
Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media
8 occupations · $62,750 group median
Food Preparation and Serving Related
8 occupations · $35,050 group median
Sales and Related
8 occupations · $38,530 group median
Healthcare Support
6 occupations · $38,340 group median
Installation, Maintenance, and Repair
5 occupations · $59,620 group median
Architecture and Engineering
4 occupations · $99,520 group median
Community and Social Service
4 occupations · $58,300 group median
Protective Service
4 occupations · $50,080 group median
Building and Grounds Cleaning and Maintenance
4 occupations · $37,680 group median
Production
3 occupations · $46,990 group median
Legal
2 occupations · $102,500 group median
Life, Physical, and Social Science
1 occupation · $82,530 group median
Personal Care and Service
1 occupation · $36,410 group median
The highest paying jobs
By median annual pay. Four of these ten are in healthcare. The take home column is where the picture changes: at these wages higher federal brackets generally take a larger share than the headline figure suggests.
| Job | Median estimate | Estimated take home |
|---|---|---|
| Psychiatrist | $281,870 | $203,813 |
| Physician | $271,090 | $197,025 |
| Airline Pilot | $232,140 | $171,463 |
| Dentist | $170,950 | $128,114 |
| Marketing Manager | $166,790 | $125,271 |
| Lawyer | $159,670 | $120,394 |
| Human Resources Manager | $149,280 | $113,300 |
| Sales Manager | $148,270 | $112,603 |
| Pharmacist | $140,910 | $107,585 |
| Data Engineer | $139,500 | $106,618 |
Largest direct occupations in this guide
The ten largest selected direct BLS occupations by estimated employment. Combined-category role guides are left out because their source employment is not a role-only count.
| Job | Estimated employment | Median estimate |
|---|---|---|
| Home Health Aide | 4,305,810 | $35,800 |
| Retail Sales Associate | 3,897,860 | $35,410 |
| Barista | 3,854,050 | $31,200 |
| Registered Nurse | 3,379,720 | $97,550 |
| Cashier | 3,089,410 | $32,880 |
| Warehouse Associate | 2,833,810 | $37,330 |
| Customer Service Representative | 2,595,750 | $44,770 |
| Server | 2,270,910 | $35,230 |
| Janitor | 2,209,760 | $36,840 |
| Truck Driver | 2,062,040 | $58,640 |
Where tax takes the most
The share of the median wage lost to federal income tax, Social Security and Medicare before any state has touched it. It rises with pay, and this is what that looks like at the top of the scale.
| Job | Modeled federal and FICA | Estimated take home |
|---|---|---|
| Psychiatrist | 27.7% | $203,813 |
| Physician | 27.3% | $197,025 |
| Airline Pilot | 26.1% | $171,463 |
| Dentist | 25.1% | $128,114 |
| Marketing Manager | 24.9% | $125,271 |
Questions people ask
Where do these salary figures come from?+
The wage figures shown here are derived from the BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 used by this site. They are BLS estimates; the take home figures are separate modeled estimates that apply the 2026 federal brackets, Social Security and Medicare. Occupation pages can also apply the state rules currently represented by the calculator.
Why does the source data say 2025 in the 2026 salary guide?+
This directory uses the May 2025 OEWS release, published in May 2026. BLS releases wage estimates after the survey period, so the data year and publication year differ. A page shows an illustrative 2026 trend extrapolation only when its post-2020 history has at least 4 consecutive exact annual medians and its latest employment estimate is at least 1,000. It is calculated by HourlyPaycheck, not published or forecast by BLS.
What is the difference between the median and the average?+
The median estimate marks the middle of the estimated wage distribution. The mean estimate combines the published wage estimates and is more sensitive to high and low values. These pages lead with the median and show the mean and percentiles where BLS publishes them.
What are the highest paying jobs?+
Among the direct BLS occupations in this focused 158-topic guide, the highest published median estimates are Psychiatrist at $281,870, Physician at $271,090, Airline Pilot at $232,140. Four of the ten entries in this current list are in healthcare. Combined-category role guides are excluded from this ranking so their source wage is not presented as role-specific pay.
What national wage benchmark does this page use?+
For the all-occupations estimate in the BLS dataset used here, the median annual wage is $50,980 and the mean is $69,770. The mean being higher than the median is consistent with higher wages pulling the arithmetic average upward.
Wages: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025. OEWS surveys wages in May and publishes about a year later, so this release appeared in May 2026 and is the most recent. Annual figures convert at 2,080 hours a year, as BLS states them. Tax is worked out here from the 2026 federal and state tables. United States federal government works carry no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.