Service Occupations

About

Service Occupations are most often employed by the Restaurants & Food Services industry. The average yearly wage for Service Occupations was $26,938 in 2016. The top 3 most similar occupations to Service Occupations by wage are Production, Transportation, & Material Moving Occupations, Sales & Office Occupations, and Natural resources, construction, & maintenance occupations.

The top 3 locations that employ the most Service Occupations are Maui, Kalawao & Kauai Counties PUMA, HI, Spring Valley & Summerlin South PUMA, NV, and Jamaica, Hollis & St. Albans PUMA, NY. The top 3 locations with a relatively high concentration of Service Occupations are Hunts Point, Longwood & Melrose PUMA, NY, Concourse, Highbridge & Mount Eden PUMA, NY, and Bedford Park, Fordham North & Norwood PUMA, NY.

About the photo: Ristorante Italiano in New York City

Photo by Michele Ursino

Information on the businesses and industries that employ Service Occupations and on wages and locations for those in the field. Restaurants & Food Services is the industry that employs the most Service Occupations, both by share and by number, though the highest paid industry for Service Occupations, by average wage, is Metal ore mining. Service Occupations are paid most in Oyster Bay Town (South) PUMA, NY but are relatively concentrated in Hunts Point, Longwood & Melrose PUMA, NY.

Wages

Yearly Wage

$26,938

AVERAGE SALARY

± $145

In 2018, Service Occupations earned an average of $26,938, $26,951 less than than the average national salary of $53,888.

Service Occupations are the lowest paid occupation in the US followed by Production, Transportation, & Material Moving Occupations. This chart shows the various occupations closest to Service Occupations as measured by average annual salary in the US.

Wage Distribution

0.45

WAGE GINI

In 2018, Service Occupations had a wage GINI coefficient of 0.45, which is lower than than the national average of 0.479. In other words, wages are distributed more evenly for Service Occupations (shown in red) than for the overall labor force (shown in gray).

Wage by Location

HIGHEST PAYING PUMAS

This map shows the Public Use Microdata Areas (PUMAs) in the United States shaded by average annual wage for Service Occupations.

Spatial Concentration

PUMAs with a Relatively High Concentration of Service Occupations

This map displays which Public Use Microdata Areas (PUMAs) in the United States have a relatively high population of Service Occupations.

Industries

Most Common

The most common industries employing Service Occupations, by number of employees, are Restaurants & Food Services, Justice, public order, & safety activities , and Amusement & Recreation.

Highest Paying

The highest paying industries for Service Occupations, by average wage, are Construction, & mining & oil & gas field machinery manufacturing , Electric & gas, and other combinations, Metal ore mining, Petroleum refining, Coal mining, and Public finance activities.

Industries by Share

25.9M

2018 Workforce

± 113,629

1.13%

1 YEAR GROWTH

± 0.615%

The number of people employed as Service Occupations has been growing at a rate of 1.13%, from 25,622,063 people in 2017 to 25,911,104 people in 2018.

This graphic shows the share of Service Occupations employed by various industries. Restaurants & Food Services employs the largest share of Service Occupations at 26.4%, followed by Justice, public order, & safety activities with 6.77% and Amusement & Recreation with 4.67%.

Diversity

Demographic information on Service Occupations in the US. The average age of male Service Occupations in the workforce is 38 and of female Service Occupations is 38.4, and the most common race/ethnicity for Service Occupations is White (Non-Hispanic).

Gender Composition

11.5M

MALE WORKFORCE

± 79,930

14.4M

FEMALE WORKFORCE

± 88,649

55.7% of Service Occupations are Female, making them the more common gender in the occupation. This chart shows the gender breakdown of Service Occupations.

Race & Ethnicity

Most Common Race or Ethnicity of Service Occupations

White (Non-Hispanic)
Black (Non-Hispanic)
White (Hispanic)

50.9% of Service Occupations are White (Non-Hispanic), making that the most common race or ethnicity in the occupation. Representing 16.3% of Service Occupations, Black (Non-Hispanic) is the second most common race or ethnicity in this occupation. This chart shows the racial and ethnic breakdown of Service Occupations.

Age by Gender

38

AVERAGE MALE AGE

± 0.109

38.4

AVERAGE FEMALE AGE

± 0.0987

The median age of Service Occupations is 38.2, and Male employees are generally 0.432 years younger than than their Female counterparts.

Education

Data on higher education choices for Service Occupations from The Department of Education and Census Bureau. The most common major for Service Occupations is Business but a relatively high number of Service Occupations hold a major in Personal & Culinary Services.

Majors

ACS PUMS data only shows the major for bachelor's degree-majorss. However, we can filter the data based on highest degree-majors obtained.

MOST COMMON MAJORS

MOST SPECIALIZED MAJORS

Skills

Data on the critical and distinctive skills necessary for Service Occupations from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Service Occupations need many skills, but most especially Active Listening. The revealed comparative advantage (RCA) shows that Service Occupations need more than the average amount of Operation and Control, Operation Monitoring, and Quality Control Analysis.