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Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS)

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS)

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Updated September 16, 2026

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Overview

The OEWS program conducts a semiannual survey to produce estimates of employment and wages for specific occupations. The program collects data on wage and salary workers in nonfarm establishments, producing employment and wage estimates for about 830 occupations. The OEWS program produces occupational estimates for all industries combined at different geographic levels for the nation—currently 530 metropolitan and nonmetropolitan areas plus 50 states, District of Columbia (D.C.), and 3 territories. National occupational employment and wage estimates are also available by industry for about 410 industry groups and by public or private ownership across all industries and for schools and hospitals.

Coverage

The OEWS survey covers all full- and part-time wage and salary workers in nonfarm establishments. The survey does not cover the self-employed, owners and partners in unincorporated firms, household workers, or unpaid family workers.

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Methodology

OEWS estimates are constructed from a sample of about 1.1 million establishments. Each year, two semiannual panels of about 186,000 to 189,000 sampled establishments are contacted, one panel in May and the other in November. Responses are obtained by internet or other electronic means, mail, email, telephone, or personal visit. The OEWS survey is designed to produce estimates by combining six semiannual panels of data collected over a 3-year period. For example, the May 2025 estimates are based on responses collected from May 2025, November 2024, May 2024, November 2023, May 2023, and November 2022. The unweighted sampled employment of 84.7 million across all six semiannual panels used in the May 2025 estimates represents about 55% of total national employment. The overall national response rate for the May 2025 estimates, based on the 50 states and D.C., was 66.2% based on establishments and 67.2% based on weighted sampled employment.

The OEWS survey is a federal–state cooperative program between BLS and state workforce agencies (SWAs). BLS provides the procedures and technical support, draws the sample, and produces the survey materials, while SWAs collect most of the data. SWAs from all 50 states and D.C., Puerto Rico, Guam, and the U.S. Virgin Islands participate in the survey.

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Issues Affecting Interpretation

Over time, classification systems, data collection methods, survey reference periods, and estimation methodology have changed. Because of these changes, caution should be used in trend analysis. For more information, see the OEWS Frequently Asked Questions.

The OEWS survey classifies workers into more than 800 occupational categories based on the Office of Management and Budget’s Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) system. Together, these occupations make up 22 of the 23 SOC major occupational groups. Major group 55, Military Specific Occupations, is not included in the OEWS data. Data on selected healthcare occupations are presented in Health, United States.

Because each set of OEWS estimates is produced by combining 3 years of survey data, the OEWS program requires 3 years to fully implement changes to the SOC. The May 2021–May 2025 OEWS estimates are based on the 2018 SOC system. The May 2020 and May 2019 estimates are based on a combination of survey data collected using the 2010 SOC and survey data collected using the 2018 SOC and use a hybrid of the 2010 and 2018 SOC systems. OEWS estimates for May 2012 to May 2018 were based on the 2010 SOC system. Estimates for May 2010 and May 2011 were based on a hybrid of the 2000 and 2010 SOC systems, and estimates for 2000 to May 2009 used the 2000 SOC. More information about the SOC system can be found at the Standard Occupational Classification website.

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References

For more information, see the OEWS website.

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