November 24, 2003 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)

Highest paying occupations in 2002

The highest-paying major groups of occupations in 2002 were management occupations and legal occupations.

Major occupational groups with highest mean hourly wages, 2002
[Chart data—TXT]

Wage and salary workers in management occupations had a mean hourly wage of $37.92, while those in legal occupations had an average wage of $37.18. The next highest paid groups were computer and mathematical science ($29.63), architecture and engineering ($27.89), and healthcare practitioner and technical ($25.96).

The BLS Occupational Employment Statistics program produced these data. Find more information on wages by occupation in 2002 in "Occupational Employment and Wages, 2002" (PDF) (TXT), news release USDL 03-741.

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