Office & Administrative Support Occupations

Minor Occupation Group

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2020 Workforce

17.2M

Average Age

42.6

Average Salary

$38,864

Average Male Salary

$46,371

Average Female Salary

$36,267

About

Office & Administrative Support Occupations are most often employed by the General medical and surgical hospitals, and specialty (except psychiatric and substance abuse) hospitals industry. The average yearly wage for Office & Administrative Support Occupations was $38,864 in 2016. The top 3 most similar occupations to Office & Administrative Support Occupations by wage are Transportation & Material Moving Occupations, Production Occupations, and Construction & Extraction Occupations.

Office & Administrative Support Occupations are part of the Sales & Office Occupations, along with Sales & related occupations and Office & Administrative Support Occupations.

The top 3 locations that employ the most Office & Administrative Support Occupations are Norman, Oklahoma City (South) & Moore Cities PUMA, OK, Cedar Rapids City PUMA, IA, and Jamaica, Hollis & St. Albans PUMA, NY. The top 3 locations with a relatively high concentration of Office & Administrative Support Occupations are San Juan Municipio (Este) PUMA, PR, West Valley City (Central), Salt Lake City (South Central) & Kearns PUMA, UT, and Bedford, Garfield Heights & Maple Heights Cities PUMA, OH.

Photo by Chung Ho Leung

Information on the businesses and industries that employ Office & Administrative Support Occupations and on wages and locations for those in the field. General medical and surgical hospitals, and specialty (except psychiatric and substance abuse) hospitals is the industry that employs the most Office & Administrative Support Occupations, both by share and by number, though the highest paid industry for Office & Administrative Support Occupations, by average wage, is Software publishing. Office & Administrative Support Occupations are paid most in Battery Park City, Greenwich Village & Soho PUMA, NY but are relatively concentrated in San Juan Municipio (Este) PUMA, PR.

Yearly Wage

$38,864

AVERAGE SALARY

± $209

In 2020, Office & Administrative Support Occupations earned an average of $38,864, $17,090 less than than the average national salary of $55,954.

Production Occupations make somewhat more than Office & Administrative Support Occupations while Transportation & Material Moving Occupations make somewhat less. This chart shows the various occupations closest to Office & Administrative Support Occupations as measured by average annual salary in the US.

Wage Distribution

0.378

WAGE GINI

In 2015, Office & Administrative Support Occupations had a wage GINI coefficient of 0.378, which is lower than than the national average of 0.478. In other words, wages are distributed more evenly for Office & Administrative Support 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 Office & Administrative Support Occupations.

Spatial Concentration

PUMAs with a Relatively High Concentration of Office & Administrative Support Occupations

This map displays which Public Use Microdata Areas (PUMAs) in the United States have a relatively high population of Office & Administrative Support Occupations.

Most Common

The most common industries employing Office & Administrative Support Occupations, by number of employees, are General medical and surgical hospitals, and specialty (except psychiatric and substance abuse) hospitals, Banking & related activities, Colleges, universities & professional schools, including junior colleges, Postal Service, Construction, Elementary & secondary schools, Insurance carriers, Offices of physicians, Business support services, Justice, public order, & safety activities , and Executive offices & legislative bodies.

Highest Paying

The highest paying industries for Office & Administrative Support Occupations, by average wage, are Software publishing, Petroleum refining, and Oil & gas extraction.

Industries by Share

17.2M

2020 Workforce

± 95,761

−0.923%

1 YEAR GROWTH

± 0.792%

The number of people employed as Office & Administrative Support Occupations has been declining at a rate of −0.923%, from 17,372,430 people in 2019 to 17,212,043 people in 2020.

This graphic shows the share of Office & Administrative Support Occupations employed by various industries. General medical and surgical hospitals, and specialty (except psychiatric and substance abuse) hospitals employs the largest share of Office & Administrative Support Occupations at 4.76%, followed by Banking & related activities with 3.83% and Colleges, universities & professional schools, including junior colleges with 3.27%.

Diversity

Demographic information on Office & Administrative Support Occupations in the US. The average age of male Office & Administrative Support Occupations in the workforce is 39.8 and of female Office & Administrative Support Occupations is 43.6, and the most common race/ethnicity for Office & Administrative Support Occupations is White (Non-Hispanic).

Composition by Sex

4.42M

MALE WORKFORCE

± 50,861

12.8M

FEMALE WORKFORCE

± 83,925

74.3% of Office & Administrative Support Occupations are Female, making them the more common sex in the occupation. This chart shows the sex breakdown of Office & Administrative Support Occupations.

Race & Ethnicity

Most Common Race or Ethnicity of Office & Administrative Support Occupations

White (Non-Hispanic)
Black (Non-Hispanic)
White (Hispanic)

62.3% of Office & Administrative Support Occupations are White (Non-Hispanic), making that the most common race or ethnicity in the occupation. Representing 13.4% of Office & Administrative Support Occupations, Black (Non-Hispanic) is the second most common race or ethnicity in this occupation. This chart shows the racial and ethnic breakdown of Office & Administrative Support Occupations.

Age by Sex

39.8

AVERAGE MALE AGE

± 0.173

43.6

AVERAGE FEMALE AGE

± 0.101

The median age of Office & Administrative Support Occupations is 42.6, and Male employees are generally 3.81 years younger than than their Female counterparts.

Education

Data on higher education choices for Office & Administrative Support Occupations from The Department of Education and Census Bureau. The most common major for Office & Administrative Support Occupations is Business but a relatively high number of Office & Administrative Support Occupations hold a major in Legal.

Majors

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

MOST COMMON MAJORS

MOST SPECIALIZED MAJORS

Skills

Data on the critical and distinctive skills necessary for Office & Administrative Support Occupations from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Office & Administrative Support Occupations need many skills, but most especially Reading Comprehension and Speaking. The revealed comparative advantage (RCA) shows that Office & Administrative Support Occupations need more than the average amount of Active Listening, Speaking, and Service Orientation.