Posted on 05/22/2025 8:41:32 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
The U.S. is one of the highest-paying countries globally, but the average earnings differ significantly between industries.
This infographic, via Visual Capitalist's Niccolo Conte, ranks average annual salaries across major U.S. industries using data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics as of March 2025. The data covers private industries, and annual salary figures are estimated by multiplying average weekly earnings by 52.
The average annual salary across all U.S. industries (ex. government employees) is around $64,000. In the utilities sector, the highest-paying industry, the average employee makes nearly $114,000 annually.
Here’s a look at the highest and lowest-paying industries in America:
The BLS updates earnings data on a monthly basis. The above figures are based on data from the March 2025 release.
The utilities sector includes occupations related to electric power generation, including wind turbine technicians and solar photovoltaic installers—the two fastest-growing jobs of the next decade.
The information industry, which includes all types of software and computer-related jobs, ranks second with nearly $100,000 in average annual earnings. It’s also among the most profitable industries for companies in America.
Mining/logging and financial activities have nearly equivalent average pay of just over $92,000 per year. Other well-paying industries include professional services, construction, wholesale trade, and manufacturing—each paying more than the $64,000 average across all industries.
On the other end of the wage spectrum, the leisure and hospitality sector has the lowest average salary of around $30,000 per year. The retail trade industry, the second-biggest by number of employees, is also among the lowest-paying with around $39,000 in average annual salary.
Over the 12 months ended April 2025, the private education and health services industry added 894,000 jobs, with about 70% of these additions being in the healthcare segment.
The leisure and hospitality sector followed with 225,000 new jobs, followed by transportation and warehousing (151,000) and construction (143,000).
Employment in the public sector also increased by 322,000 employees, although the Federal government shed 6,000 jobs.
If you enjoyed this infographic, check out The Biggest Industries of 2040, on the Voronoi app.
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I used to work in the CATV business. The guys working on the lines got paid very well. But most of them had horrible knees by the time they retired. Climbing poles is hard work. Climbing poles in a freezing rain in March is not fun at all.
Transmission line workers are even higher paid. Especially those willing to be dropped from a helicopter over a high voltage transmission line.
LOL
RE: Transmission line workers are even higher paid. Especially those willing to be dropped from a helicopter over a high voltage transmission line.
Reminds me of the Glen Campbell Song: “Wichita Lineman”. But the question then becomes — How long will their careers be? Would it not be the same as an athlete? Can you still be doing the same job after you’re 50?
That could be said for almost ANY construction/outdoor labor job.
Drywall, roofing, framers, concrete, landscaping, etc.
They all have back, hip, neck problems by the time they are 50.
In construction you want to be the heavy equipment operator. The guy in the crane or excavator.
That reminds me of an interesting event circa 1993. I had just moved and was going to order cable. I had heard that a lot of cable installers did what the called “Coffee shop disconnects.” They had figured that when they got a disconnect order for an apartment that it would not be long before they got a connect order for the new tenant. They would sit in a restaurant and do the respective paperwork when the orders came in but never touch the physical cables. I hooked up my TV and it worked. Never ordered it and enjoyed free basic cable for 5-6 years. This was from South Bay Cablevision before the big roll up of cable providers.
And even more interesting was that 7% of our disconnects had a reconnect order on the same day. Our techs would get the two orders, and just not do either of them. It was infuriating. We stopped that pretty quickly.
We started our own version of DOGE back in the day to pick up on stuff like that. I saved the company, throughout our region, $3 million in the first year.
When you are in a fast growing industry those types of things slide by because you are moving so fast trying to keep up.
My understanding is the CATV industry is not moving “that fast” any more.
Those guys are nuts.
I was never a tech, but I learned how to climb a pole because i managed them. Climbing a telephone pole was as high off the ground I ever wanted to get.
The “hum” of the power lines was a real turnoff to me. LOL.
Beurocrat is the most profitable. No work required, you get to torment countless people, you are never held accountable, you can never be fired, and you can use your power to massively profit at the expense of others.
RE: you can never be fired …
That was BEFORE DOGE came along.
Yes, similar to the Seneca Indian Union Iron Workers from NYS that build the skyscrapers down in NYC.
Guys that are willing to walk out on a 10” wide steel I beam 70 stories up in the air. No thanks.
Get a job with California local gov’t.
From Grok:
The average salary for Los Angeles County employees in 2023 was $144,630, with a median of $125,441, based on data from 108,436 employees. In contrast, the average salary for private sector employees in Los Angeles, CA, as of April 2025, is approximately $68,371 annually ($32.87/hour), with a broader range between $50,348 (25th percentile) and $84,900 (75th percentile).
My addition: they also get better benefits, time off, and the state pension system
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