Occupational Employment and Wages, May 2003

13-1051 Cost Estimators

Prepare cost estimates for product manufacturing, construction projects, or services to aid management in bidding on or determining price of product or service. May specialize according to particular service performed or type of product manufactured.

National estimates for this occupation
Industry profile for this occupation
State profile for this occupation
Metropolitan area profile for this occupation

National estimates for this occupation: Top

Employment estimate and mean wage estimates for this occupation:

Employment (1) Employment
RSE (3)
Mean hourly
wage
Mean annual
wage (2)
Wage RSE (3)
184,620 1.1 % $25.03 $52,050 0.5 %

Percentile wage estimates for this occupation:

Percentile 10% 25% 50%
(Median)
75% 90%
Hourly Wage $13.95 $17.77 $23.22 $30.45 $39.29
Annual Wage (2) $29,020 $36,950 $48,290 $63,340 $81,720

Industry profile for this occupation: Top

Industries with the highest levels of employment in this occupation:

Industry Employment Hourly mean wage Annual mean wage Employment rank Wage rank
Building equipment contractors 26,690 $26.46 $55,050 1 34
Nonresidential building construction 16,900 $28.49 $59,250 2 14
Building finishing contractors 13,820 $24.46 $50,880 3 76
Building foundation and exterior contractors 13,670 $24.84 $51,680 4 68
Residential building construction 13,290 $25.15 $52,320 5 61

Top paying industries for this occupation:

Industry Employment Hourly mean wage Annual mean wage Employment rank Wage rank
Software publishers 60 $34.06 $70,850 125 1
Other transportation equipment manufacturing 60 $33.41 $69,490 130 2
Other financial investment activities 30 $32.61 $67,830 145 3
Other support activities for transportation (6) $31.80 $66,140 (6) 4
Support activities for mining 170 $30.17 $62,750 78 5

State profile for this occupation: Top

States with the highest concentration of workers in this occupation:

State Employment Hourly mean wage Annual mean wage Percent of State employment Wage rank within State
Colorado 4,020 $25.56 $53,170 0.190% 142
Washington 4,800 $26.43 $54,980 0.187% 170
Vermont 540 $22.73 $47,280 0.186% 126
Ohio 9,520 $22.75 $47,330 0.178% 198
Minnesota 4,550 $24.06 $50,030 0.175% 186

Top paying States for this occupation:

State Employment Hourly mean wage Annual mean wage Percent of State employment Wage rank within State
Massachusetts 4,570 $29.96 $62,320 0.144% 121
District of Columbia 200 $29.13 $60,580 0.034% 117
Connecticut 2,450 $28.70 $59,700 0.149% 134
California 23,740 $27.89 $58,010 0.164% 190
Alaska 310 $27.87 $57,980 0.106% 97

Metropolitan area profile for this occupation: Top

Metropolitan areas with the highest concentration of workers in this occupation:

MSA Employment Hourly mean wage Annual mean wage Percent of MSA employment
Lake Charles, LA MSA 270 $24.75 $51,490 0.331%
Elkhart-Goshen, IN MSA 350 $18.09 $37,630 0.303%
Augusta-Aiken, GA-SC MSA 570 $26.41 $54,940 0.290%
Naples, FL MSA 320 $27.50 $57,200 0.282%
West Palm Beach-Boca Raton, FL MSA 1,450 $20.17 $41,960 0.279%

Top paying Metropolitan areas for this occupation:

MSA Employment Hourly mean wage Annual mean wage Percent of MSA employment
San Francisco, CA PMSA 1,960 $35.79 $74,430 0.201%
San Jose, CA PMSA 1,420 $35.18 $73,170 0.162%
Stamford-Norwalk, CT PMSA 190 $32.87 $68,380 0.095%
Boston, MA-NH PMSA 2,870 $31.90 $66,350 0.149%
Oakland, CA PMSA 1,610 $31.86 $66,260 0.158%

About May 2003 National, State, and Metropolitan Area Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates

To see profiles of other occupations, select from the major groups below:

These estimates are calculated with data collected from employers in all industry sectors in metropolitan and non-metropolitan areas in every State and the District of Columbia. The top five employment and wage figures are provided above. The complete list is available in the downloadable Excel files(XLS).

Percentile wage estimates show the percentage of workers in an occupation that earn less than a given wage and the percentage that earn more. The median wage is the 50th percentile wage estimate—50 percent of workers earn less than the median and 50 percent of workers earn more than the median. More about percentile wages.


(1) Estimates for detailed occupations do not sum to the totals because the totals include occupations not shown separately. Estimates do not include self-employed workers.

(2) Annual wages have been calculated by multiplying the hourly mean wage by a "year-round, full-time" hours figure of 2,080 hours; for those occupations where there is not an hourly mean wage published, the annual wage has been directly calculated from the reported survey data.

(3) The relative standard error (RSE) is a measure of the reliability of a survey statistic. The smaller the relative standard error, the more precise the estimate.

(6) Estimates not released.

All Business and Financial Operations Occupations

2003 May National Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates

2003 May State Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates

2003 May Metropolitan Area Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates

2003 May National Industry-Specific Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates

List of Occupations in SOC Code Number Order

List of Occupations in Alphabetical Order

Download May 2003 Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates in Zipped Excel files

Technical notes

 

Last Modified Date: May 7, 2004