Visualizing The American Workforce As 100 People

Nation and State ^ | 05/20/2023 | Tyler Durden

[SeekAndFind]

In 2022, the U.S. population stood at 333 million. Of that, roughly 60% were employed in various jobs, positions, and sectors in the U.S. economy.

But where did all these people work? What jobs did they do and what positions did they hold? Where do most Americans do their nine-to-five?

Using data from the National Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates (2022) put out by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), Visual Capitalist's Pallavi Rao reimagines the employed American workforce as only 100 people, to find out answers.

Interestingly, the data contains a mix of information demarcations. Some are job-specific (type of work), some are based on position (like Management), and some are broken down by industry (Transport and Health).

The Most Common Jobs In the U.S.

By far, most of the American workforce (13 out of 100) are employed in Office & Administrative work. This includes a mind-boggling variety of jobs: receptionists, payroll clerks, secretaries, proof-readers, administrative assistants, and customer service representatives to name a few.

Notably, any sort of management role is absent from this, as well as any other job categories, since the BLS categorizes managers in their own class.

The industry which employs the second largest group of people is Health, accounting for 11 people from the 100. This category is a combination of two sectors listed in the original dataset (healthcare practitioners and healthcare support) and covers the entire industry: from physicians, surgeons, veterinarians, nurses, and therapists to technicians, assistants, orderlies, and home and personal care aides.

Here’s a quick look at all the major sectors most of America’s workforce actually works in.

Rank	Jobs	People	Examples
1.	Office & Admin	13	Receptionists, Clerks, Customer service, Secretaries.
2.	Health	11	Doctors, Nurses, Paramedics, Vets, Orderlies, Personal care aides.
3.	Transport	9	Warehouse workers, Packagers, Pilots, Ambulance, Bus, Truck, Taxi drivers, Ship captains.
4.	Sales	9	Sales representatives, Counter clerks.
5.	Food	8	Food preparers & servers, Bartenders, Dishwashers, Hosts.
6.	Management	6	Legislators, Chief executives, Directors, General & Operations managers.
7.	Business & Finance	6	Accountants, Auditors, Financial analysts, Logisticians.
8.	Manufacturing	6	Factory workers, Gas fitters, Machine operators, Cobblers, Tailors, Barbers.
9.	Education	6	Teachers (all fields, all levels).
10.	Construction & Extraction	4	Stone / brick / block / cement masons. Construction laborers. Roofers, Plumbers, Electricians, Mining workers.
11.	Mechanics & Installation	4	Auto mechanic, Farm equipment mechanic, Home appliance mechanic, Locksmiths.
12.	Data & Tech	3	Information analyst, Database architect, Software & Web developers, Data scientists, Mathematicians, Computer support.
13.	Custodial	3	Cleaning, Groundskeeping, Landscaping, Housekeeping.
14.	Protection	2	Cops, Firefighters, Security guards, Lifeguards, Correctional officers.
15.	Hospitality	2	Animal trainers / caretakers. Ushers / attendants. Makeup artists. Concierge. Exercise trainers.
16.	Architecture & Engineering	2	All engineers and architects (excluding the information industry).
17.	Community & Social Service	2	Social workers, Therapists (counsellors) & Religious work.
18.	Arts, Media, & Sport	1	Fine artists, Designers, Actors, Athletes, Journalists, Writers, Authors, Musicians.
19.	Science	1	All scientists (not engineers).
20.	Legal	1	Lawyers, Judges, Paralegals, Mediators.
21.	Farming, Fishing, & Forestry	1	Farmers, logging workers.
	Total	100

The third most common job is actually a tie between Transport—cargo moving workers, pilots, truck drivers—and Sales—retail and industry sales agents, counter clerks—with both sectors employing nine of the 100 people. In the Sales category, two of the nine people are cashiers.

Ranked fifth is Food, with eight people, ranging from private chefs to serving staff at fast food restaurants.

Another six all belong in some kind of Management role (across industry, and including legislators) with two of those six being “top level executives” like a CEO, a general manager, a mayor, or university president. Management shares its spot with Business & Finance, Manufacturing, and Education, all at six each.

The following jobs or industries also employ the same number of people:

• Construction & Extraction along with Mechanics & Installation, at four each.

• Data & Tech, with Custodial jobs, with three each.

• Protection, Hospitality, Architecture & Engineering, and Social work, all at two each.

• Artists & Athletes, Scientists, Legal, and Farming, Fishing & Forestry are all one each.

Quirks of the Job Data

From the numbers, some fascinating nuances of the American workforce are revealed. For example, there are more cashiers (2) in the economy than artists, writers, designers & athletes (1). There are the same number of customer service representatives as the entire Scientific and Legal fields put together (2).

But perhaps the most interesting quirk comes from how few people are employed in the Farming, Fishing & Forestry industry, a critical primary sector. In raw data, the BLS estimates only slightly more than 450,000 farm, fish & forestry workers.

Importantly, it’s worth noting the BLS only collects data from “nonfarm” establishments, explaining the low estimate for their category, which is almost one-sixth of what the USDA estimates. Please see the data note at the end of this article for a full explanation.

Which Jobs Have the Highest Wages in the U.S.?

Meanwhile, the top 20 highest paid jobs (by annual average wages) all belong to doctors (usually specialists or surgeons), with two exceptions: CEOs and athletes.

The lowest-paid jobs are a mix of entertainers, and service and retail staff.

As a broader category, however, Management makes the most money, followed by Legal and then Tech. Workers in Food, Health Support, and Custodial jobs have the lowest wages.

Rank	Jobs	Annual Average Wages
1.	Management	$131,200
2.	Legal	$124,540
3.	Data & Tech	$108,130
4.	Health (Practitioners)	$96,770
5.	Architecture & Engineering	$94,670
6.	Business & Finance	$86,080
7.	Scientists	$83,640
8.	Arts, Media, Sports	$76,500
9.	Education	$63,240
10.	Construction & Extraction	$58,400
11.	Community & Social Service	$55,760
12.	Mechanics & Installation	$55,680
13.	Protection	$54,010
14.	Sales	$50,370
15.	Office & Admin	$45,550
16.	Manufacturing	$45,370
17.	Transport	$43,930
18.	Farming, Fishing, & Forestry	$37,870
20.	Hospitality	$36,210
19.	Custodial	$35,900
21.	Health (Support)	$35,560
22.	Food	$32,130

Analyzing the data throws up a few correlations between number of employees and wages. The top three sectors with the most jobs (Admin, Transport, and Sales) are in the bottom 10 categories when it comes to pay.

On the other hand, three sectors in the bottom 10 of employment numbers, (Data & Tech, Architecture & Engineering, and Legal) are in the top five highest paid sectors.

The Health sector sees a big divide in pay between practitioners (doctors, nurses, therapists) ranked 5th and support staff (assistants, aides, & orderlies), ranked 21st, or second-to-last.

How is the American Workforce Changing?

Over the last five years, the American workforce has not stayed static. Of the listed 22 groups, 13 saw growth in employment numbers, nine saw a decrease, and one stayed flat since 2018.

The top gainer by far is Health Support (medical assistants, care aides, orderlies, etc.) which grew by 65%. Looking at the timeline of growth does not paint a steady picture: employment jumped between 2018 and 2019, briefly fell in 2020, and has since risen again in 2021-2022.

Another top gainer is Transport, rising from the 4th to 3rd biggest employer, beating out Sales in 2022. Business & Finance and Management have also seen steady increases since 2018.

On the other hand Hospitality saw a staggering 48% drop in numbers, not all together surprising given the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic as well as the rise of tech companies like Airbnb.

Meanwhile, Office & Admin work saw a 15% loss in employees, even though this category is still the biggest employer in the country by a significant margin. Although jobs in this group saw steady declines from 2018-2021, it registered a slight uptick in workers between 2021 and 2022.

Here’s a full list of top-level sectors and how they changed.

Jobs	2018	2022	% Change (2018-2022)
Health Support	4,117,450	6,792,310	+65%
Transport	10,244,260	13,560,460	+32%
Management	7,616,650	9,860,740	+29%
Business & Finance	7,721,300	9,677,720	+25%
Data & Tech	4,384,300	5,003,910	+14%
Sciences	1,171,910	1,314,360	+12%
Legal	1,127,900	1,216,600	+7%
Community & Social Service	2,171,820	2,313,620	+7%
Arts, Media, & Sports	1,951,170	2,063,380	+6%
Health Practioners	8,646,730	9,043,070	+5%
Mechanics and Installataion	5,628,880	5,823,400	+3%
Construction & Extraction	5,962,640	6,075,520	+2%
Protection	3,437,410	3,437,610	0%
Custodial	4,421,980	4,316,350	-2%
Architecture & Engineering	2,556,220	2,481,170	-3%
Education	8,779,780	8,496,780	-3%
Farming, Fishing, & Forestry	480,130	461,750	-4%
Manufacturing	9,115,530	8,738,980	-4%
Food	13,374,620	12,514,620	-6%
Sales and Related	14,542,290	13,183,250	-9%
Office & Admin	21,828,990	18,674,770	-15%
Hospitality	5,451,330	2,835,650	-48%

Looking ahead, questions about the future of the American workforce loom large, especially in the wake of the AI revolution that has swept imaginations, and quite possibly, soon the economy. People who hold administrative jobs—the largest category—are most vulnerable since many office tasks can be automated with increasingly sophisticated AI tools.

Will AI be as dominating a factor as the Industrial Revolution on the global economy? Will it cause as big a shift as the offshoring of manufacturing from the U.S.?

Or will AI blend seamlessly into the current make-up of the American workforce, merely enhancing productivity and profit?

[Renfrew]

Ever wonder why America doesn’t make things anymore.? The answer is here. Why do real work when it pays a fraction of the jobs where you sit at a desk all day:

16. Manufacturing $45,370
17. Transport $43,930
18. Farming, Fishing, & Forestry $37,870
22. Food $32,130

[Paladin2]

Looking at a 1.000 would be better.

The USA economy is complex.

[Hieronymus]

Fascinating

Manufacturing, Construction and Extraction, Mechanics and Installation, and Farming et al. together total 15.

Those guys (with the support of 9 people in transport) keep the other 85 housed, fed, and equipped.

Although how many Chinese are we keeping employed in manufacturing?

[Paladin2]

US and State gov’t don’t get a bin?

Sick analysis.

[Harmless Teddy Bear]

And only a fraction of one is keep all the other 99 fed.

[rellic]

Interesting I qualify under both Engineeering (EE) and Software engineer(BS in computer science or does that make me a scientist also.
I know how to design and make systems that will put a lot of people out of work. Lucky for them I’m retied, but there are young guys out there that can do just as many “amazing” things as I did.
Question is what will society do will all the people we made redundant? even “coders” are going to become obsolete soon.
Not everyone can be a doctor, engineer, carpenter, plumber,
et al.

[doorgunner69]

19. Science 1 All scientists (not engineers).

So, where are engineers listed? You know those guys that actually design stuff like ariplanes and all..

[swingdoc]

Yeah, this is an interesting view. It it’s a funny breakdown because on the one hand there is an industry division, and on the other is a job description division. For example, for the top category of “Office and Admin”, how is that not an overlap of the industry categories of health, legal, food etc ?
I like the concept, but the execution is sloppy. Stick with either an industry or a job description, but it can’t be both simultaneously.
Also, I agree with another post, where is government as a category?
Finally, if true, I find it remarkable that we have a ‘somewhat’ civil society with only 2% of the job population connected to law enforcement.
I like this, I want it to be better.

[ChicagahAl]

16.Architecture & Engineering 2 All engineers and architects

[SandwicheGuy]

Indentured servants?

[maddog55]

Any numbers coming out of government are nothing but lies.

[octex]

Very interesting regarding the trends. Thanks.

[spintreebob]

Previously Sole Proprietor/self employed was a major category. Why is it not this list? Is our experience that there is a surge of entrepreneurs on the internet not statistically valid?

[spintreebob]

If you haven’t noticed, since Trump grew the economy in 2017 there has been a shortage of workers.

Here in Atlanta there is a shortage of construction workers, a shortage of IT workers. The economy would be bigger with more spending at restaurants if there were more workers.

Housing costs are high because there is a shortage of construction workers. Where are we going to find more?

[zeugma]

It would be really interesting to include the “unemployed” into those categories. That’s 40% of the total, which totally skews the results. I wonder how high up “welfare” would be as a category.

[rellic]

I guess you did not read my comment carefully,
“Not everyone can be a doctor, engineer, carpenter, plumber,
et al.”
I was postulating that many lower skill jobs
could be eliminated with ease and that is where the highest
number of jobs are at.
Indeed you are correct that there are shortages of skilled workers. Especially in areas that are not desirable to live in. Undesirable in costs, political environment, climate, crowding et al. In other words quality of life.
Who in their right mind wants to live in Atlanta if you could get a job at Barking sands missile test range on Kauai? Or Cape Canaveral space Center? Or Tampa?
There isn’t a shortage of workers in places with a high quality of life.

[spintreebob]

Low income workers go where the jobs are, not for “quality of life”. The fact is that the us has a shortage of workers, a shortage of unskilled construction laborers.

Midle income workers (like from IL to GA?) also look for work, not “quality of life”.

Of course there are other factors:
1) Government regualation forces employers into inefficient positions thus there is a shortage for workers where they could be productive.
2) Nationwide HR is not logical. Logical, productive people take jobs that are productive. College grads who majored in Gender Studies and soft courses now are concentrated in HR (and PR).
3) Other factors. Shortage of workers exists in a comples society.

[rellic]

You missed my main point is that most those low paying jobs will be eliminated, by automation and robots.
For us more rare STEM types we can get a job anywhere, so we pick quality of life. I’d rather make 120,000 per year in the Seattle area than 150,000 per year in Atlanta.
Yes lower skilled people go where the jobs are. But if they do the political thing and demand wages in excess of what they are worth, such as a $15 per minimum wage, for job that isn’t worth that much in a competitive market that is very price sensitive such as fast foods, with today’s technology they will be replaced by machines that aren’t a constant pain in the butt. That is another point I tried to make. For example Longshoremen are being replaced, “coders” are starting to be replaced, farm workers soon will be mostly replaced, The jobs simply won’t be available anymore. Sure you need a small group of highly trained Technicians to maintain the automation, but not everybody can be trained to do that work and you don’t need nearly as many people.