Life, physical, & social science occupations

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Total Workforce

1.45M

Average Age

40.7

Average Salary

$73,401

Average Male Salary

$80,842

Average Female Salary

$64,633

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 $73,401 in 2016. The top 3 most similar occupations to Life, physical, & social science occupations by wage are Healthcare practitioners & technical occupations, Business & financial operations occupations, and Arts, design, entertainment, sports, & media occupations.

Life, physical, & social science occupations are part of the Computer, engineering, & science occupations, along with Computer & mathematical occupations, Architecture & engineering occupations, and Life, physical, & social science occupations.

The top 3 locations that employ the most Life, physical, & social science occupations are Bethesda, Potomac & North Bethesda PUMA, MD, Upper East Side PUMA, NY, and Cambridge City PUMA, MA. The top 3 locations with a relatively high concentration of Life, physical, & social science occupations are Cambridge City PUMA, MA, Bethesda, Potomac & North Bethesda PUMA, MD, and North Central New Mexico PUMA, NM.

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

Information on the businesses and industries that employ Life, physical, & social science occupations and on wages and locations 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 Securities, commodities, funds, trusts & other financial investments. Life, physical, & social science occupations are paid most in Walker, Catoosa, Chattooga & Dade Counties PUMA, GA but are relatively concentrated in Cambridge City PUMA, MA.

Wages

Yearly Wage

$73,401

AVERAGE SALARY

± $1,327

In 2018, Life, physical, & social science occupations earned an average of $73,401, $19,512 more than than the average national salary of $53,888.

Healthcare practitioners & technical occupations make somewhat more than Life, physical, & social science occupations while Arts, design, entertainment, sports, & media occupations make somewhat less. This chart shows the various occupations closest to Life, physical, & social science occupations as measured by average annual salary in the US.

Wage Distribution

0.393

WAGE GINI

In 2018, Life, physical, & social science occupations had a wage GINI coefficient of 0.393, which is lower than than the national average of 0.479. 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).

Wage by Location

HIGHEST PAYING PUMAS

This map shows the Public Use Microdata Areas (PUMAs) in the United States shaded by average annual wage for Life, physical, & social science occupations.

Spatial Concentration

PUMAs with a Relatively High Concentration of Life, physical, & social science occupations

This map displays which Public Use Microdata Areas (PUMAs) in the United States have a relatively high population of Life, physical, & social science occupations.

Industries

Most Common

The most common industries employing Life, physical, & social science occupations, by number of employees, are Scientific research & development services, Colleges, universities & professional schools, including junior colleges, and General medical and surgical hospitals, and specialty (except psychiatric and substance abuse) hospitals.

Highest Paying

The highest paying industries for Life, physical, & social science occupations, by average wage, are Nondepository credit & related activities, Securities, commodities, funds, trusts & other financial investments, Petroleum & petroleum products merchant wholesalers, Computer & peripheral equipment manufacturing, Securities, commodities, funds, trusts & other financial investments, and Banking & related activities.

Industries by Share

1.45M

2018 Workforce

± 29,373

10.3%

1 YEAR GROWTH

± 2.67%

The number of people employed as Life, physical, & social science occupations has been growing at a rate of 10.3%, from 1,310,174 people in 2017 to 1,445,310 people in 2018.

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 14.3%, followed by Colleges, universities & professional schools, including junior colleges with 14.1% and General medical and surgical hospitals, and specialty (except psychiatric and substance abuse) hospitals with 7.04%.

Diversity

Demographic information on Life, physical, & social science occupations in the US. The average age of male Life, physical, & social science occupations in the workforce is 41.3 and of female Life, physical, & social science occupations is 39.9, and the most common race/ethnicity for Life, physical, & social science occupations is White (Non-Hispanic).

Gender Composition

782k

MALE WORKFORCE

± 21,652

663k

FEMALE WORKFORCE

± 19,954

54.1% of Life, physical, & social science occupations are Male, making them the more common gender in the occupation. This chart shows the gender breakdown of Life, physical, & social science occupations.

Race & Ethnicity

Most Common Race or Ethnicity of Life, physical, & social science occupations

White (Non-Hispanic)
Asian (Non-Hispanic)
White (Hispanic)

66.8% of Life, physical, & social science occupations are White (Non-Hispanic), making that the most common race or ethnicity in the occupation. Representing 15.6% of Life, physical, & social science occupations, Asian (Non-Hispanic) is the second most common race or ethnicity in this occupation. This chart shows the racial and ethnic breakdown of Life, physical, & social science occupations.

Age by Gender

41.3

AVERAGE MALE AGE

± 0.389

39.9

AVERAGE FEMALE AGE

± 0.396

The median age of Life, physical, & social science occupations is 40.7, and Male employees are generally 1.41 years older than than their Female counterparts.

Education

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 a relatively high number of Life, physical, & social science occupations hold a major in Physical Sciences.

Majors

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

MOST COMMON MAJORS

MOST SPECIALIZED MAJORS

Skills

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. The revealed comparative advantage (RCA) shows that Life, physical, & social science occupations need more than the average amount of Programming, Science, and Mathematics.