Life, physical, & social science occupations

Broad Occupation

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2021 Workforce

1.59M

Average Age

40.9

Average Salary

$81,188

Average Male Salary

$89,597

Average Female Salary

$71,813

About

Life, physical, & social science occupations are most often employed by the Scientific research & development services industry. The average yearly wage for Life, physical, & social science occupations was $81,188 in 2021.

The locations that employ the most Life, physical, & social science occupations are Bethesda, Potomac & North Bethesda PUMA, MD, Cambridge City PUMA, MA, and Rockville, Gaithersburg Cities & North Potomac PUMA, MD. The locations with a relatively high concentration of Life, physical, & social science occupations are Cambridge City PUMA, MA, Bethesda, Potomac & North Bethesda PUMA, MD, and Newton City & Brookline Town PUMA, MA.

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Management, business, science, & arts occupations Computer, engineering, & science occupations

Employment

Employment and salary information for the Life, physical, & social science occupations workforce. Life, physical, & social science occupations workforce in 2021 was 1,588,508 people, of which 47.3% were women and 52.7% were men. Life, physical, & social science occupations are paid most in Phoenixville Borough PUMA, PA but are relatively concentrated in Cambridge City PUMA, MA.

Employment Over Time

Metric

Grouping

837,416

Male Workforce

± 22.4k

751,092

Female Workforce

± 21.2k

The Life, physical, & social science occupations workforce in 2021 was 1,588,508 people (47.3% women and 52.7% men). This implies an average annual growth of 33.2% between 2014 (1,192,493) and 2021 (1,588,508).

Employment by Location

Level

Metric

This map shows the states in the United States shaded by average wage for Life, physical, & social science occupations.

During 2021, the states that concentrated the best average annual wage were District of Columbia ($109,940), New Jersey ($99,099), and Maryland ($97,542).

Yearly Wage Ranking

$81,188

AVERAGE WAGE

#7 in the ranking (2021)

$59,596

NATIONAL AVERAGE WAGE

For all occupations across the US

In 2021, Life, physical, & social science occupations earned an average of $81,188, $21,593 more than the average national salary of $59,596

The graph shows the ranking of Life, physical, & social science occupations in relation to all Broad Occupation in 2021.

Wage Distribution

Gender

0.39

WAGE GINI

In 2021, Life, physical, & social science occupations had a wage GINI coefficient of 0.39, which is lower than the national average of 0.478. In other words, wages are distributed more evenly for Life, physical, & social science occupations (shown in red) than for the overall labor force (shown in gray).

The graphic shows the distribution of average salaries by buckets for Life, physical, & social science occupations compared to the entire workforce in the country.

Industry

Information on the industries that employ Life, physical, & social science occupations and on wages for those in the field. Scientific research & development services is the industry that employs the most Life, physical, & social science occupations, both by share and by number, though the highest paid industry for Life, physical, & social science occupations, by average wage, is Internet publishing, broadcasting & web search portals ($271,739).

Occupations by Industries

Metric

Value

1.59M

2021 Workforce

± 30,779

6.32%

1 YEAR GROWTH

± 2.62%

This graphic shows the share of Life, physical, & social science occupations employed by various industries. Scientific research & development services employs the largest share of Life, physical, & social science occupations at 43.3%, followed by Colleges, universities & professional schools, including junior colleges with 37.2% and General medical and surgical hospitals, and specialty (except psychiatric and substance abuse) hospitals with 19.4%.

Diversity

Demographic information on Life, physical, & social science occupations in the US. The workforce of Life, physical, & social science occupations in 2021 was 1,588,508 people, with 47.3% woman, and 52.7% men. The average age of male Life, physical, & social science occupations in the workforce is 41.9 and of female Life, physical, & social science occupations is 39.7, and the most common race/ethnicity for Life, physical, & social science occupations is White.

Gender and Age

Metric

The workforce of Life, physical, & social science occupations in 2021 was 1,588,508 people, with 47.3% woman, and 52.7% men.

The age ranges that concentrated the largest workforce were 30 to 34 years (241,921 people), 25 to 29 years (230,793 people), and 35 to 39 years (206,740 people). Among them they concentrated 42.8% of the total workforce.

Ethnicity

Gender

In 2021, 9.55% of Life, physical, & social science occupations workers were Hispanic and 90.4% non-Hispanic.

The treemap shows the distribution of Hispanic workers according to their origin, highlighting Mexican (74.2%), Puerto Rican (16.1)%, and All Other Spanish/Hispanic/Latino (9.68)%

You can review this information by gender using the selectors above.

Races

In 2021, 70.4% of the Life, physical, & social science occupations workforce were White, of which 46.3% were women and 53.7% men. Other races that concentrated a significant number of workers were Asian (14.7%) and Black (6.69%).

Education & Skills

Data on higher education choices for Life, physical, & social science occupations from The Department of Education and Census Bureau. The most common major for Life, physical, & social science occupations is Biology but the most specialized major according to RCA in 2021 were Physical Sciences.

Among the necessary skills for Life, physical, & social science occupations, Reading Comprehension stands, but the revealed comparative advantage (RCA) shows that Life, physical, & social science occupations need more than the average amount of Science.

Majors

ACS PUMS data only shows the major for bachelor's degrees. However, we can filter the data based on highest degree obtained.

Type of Majors

Degree

The most common majors achieved by Life, physical, & social science occupations in 2021 (counting all academic degrees) were Biology (312,901 people), Physical Sciences (202,860 people), and Psychology (147,737 people).

You can review this information for different academic grades by modifying the option selected in the selector above.

Education Levels

Metric

The main educational levels achieved by the Life, physical, & social science occupations workers were Graduate Degree (767,604 people), Bachelors Degree (536,066 people), and Some college (120,903 people).

The graphic shows the Life, physical, & social science occupations workforce by gender and educational level.

Skills

Chart

Value

Data on the critical and distinctive skills necessary for Life, physical, & social science occupations from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Life, physical, & social science occupations need many skills, but most especially Reading Comprehension, Critical Thinking, Active Listening.