Wage Trends by Job Category
Updated
Depending on their marketplace demand, different types of workers enjoy better or worse salary offers year to year. How much have employers valued workers with certain skills, knowledge and abilities recently?
See PayScale’s list of job categories ranked by wage trends and see which types of jobs are seeing improvement in wages overall.
| Rank | Job Category | Q1 2021 Year-Over-Year One Year Wage Growth |
| 1 | Transportation Jobs | 4.0% |
| 2 | Retail Jobs | 3.8% |
| 3 | Media and Publishing Jobs | 3.7% |
| 4 | Sales Jobs | 3.3% |
| 5 | Manufacturing and Production Jobs | 3.2% |
| 6 | Installation, Maintenance and Repair Jobs | 3.0% |
| 7 (tie) | Food Service and Restaurant Jobs | 2.9% |
| 7 (tie) | Social Service Jobs | 2.9% |
| 9 (tie) | Construction Jobs | 2.8% |
| 9 (tie) | Marketing and Advertising Jobs | 2.8% |
| 11 (tie) | Administrative and Clerical Jobs | 2.7% |
| 11 (tie) | Information Technology Jobs | 2.7% |
| 11 (tie) | Science and Biotech Jobs | 2.7% |
| 14 (tie) | Accounting and Finance Jobs | 2.5% |
| 14 (tie) | Human Resources Jobs | 2.5% |
| 16 | Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Healthcare Jobs | 2.4% |
| 17 | Art and Design Jobs | 2.3% |
| 18 | Legal Jobs | 1.9% |
| 19 | Architecture and Engineering Jobs | 1.8% |
Methodology for The PayScale Index: Trends in Compensation
The PayScale Index tracks quarterly changes in total cash compensation for full-time, private industry employees and education professionals in the United States. In addition to a national index, it includes separate indices for specific industries, metropolitan areas, job categories, and company sizes. The PayScale Index uses 2006 average total cash compensation as a baseline.