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 | Q4 2024 Year-Over-Year One Year Wage Growth |
| 1 | Media and Publishing Jobs | 6.3% |
| 2 | Construction Jobs | 5.8% |
| 3 | Science and Biotech Jobs | 5.2% |
| 4 | Transportation Jobs | 4.8% |
| 5 | Installation, Maintenance and Repair Jobs | 4.7% |
| 6 | Legal Jobs | 4.2% |
| 7 | Social Service Jobs | 4.1% |
| 8 (tie) | Accounting and Finance Jobs | 3.9% |
| 8 (tie) | Manufacturing and Production Jobs | 3.9% |
| 10 (tie) | Administrative and Clerical Jobs | 3.8% |
| 10 (tie) | Marketing and Advertising Jobs | 3.8% |
| 12 | Information Technology Jobs | 3.7% |
| 13 | Food Service and Restaurant Jobs | 3.6% |
| 14 | Human Resources Jobs | 3.5% |
| 15 | Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Healthcare Jobs | 3.3% |
| 16 | Sales Jobs | 3.2% |
| 17 | Art and Design Jobs | 3.1% |
| 18 | Retail Jobs | 3.0% |
| 19 | Architecture and Engineering Jobs | 2.7% |
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.