As the region’s economic engine, New York City provides employment opportunities for workers with a diverse mix of skills spanning all industries. This info brief analyzes workers’ occupations, or function within the workplace, and earnings over time. The research finds that in the recent economic environment, the highest and lowest skill occupations have led employment growth.

NYC Planning | April 2019 | Occupation Info Brief

Info Brief

Occupations of New York City Workers

Source: IPUMS USA, University of Minnesota, www.ipums.org: 2000 5% sample, 2008, 2010, 2014, and 2017 ACS 1-year samples. 2-digit 2010 Standard Occupational Classification codes. Occupations with fewer than 10,000 workers are not shown (ie., military; farming, fishing, and forestry occupations).

100k0 200k 300k 400k 500k 600k

Management

Business and financial operations

Education, training, and library

Healthcare practitioners and technical

Arts, design, entertainment, sports, media

Computer and mathematical

Legal

Community and social service

Architecture and engineering

Life, physical, and social science

Office & administrative support

Sales and related

Food preparation and serving related

Personal care and service

Healthcare support

Building, grounds cleaning, maintenance

Protective service

Construction and extraction

Installation, maintenance, and repair

Transportation and material moving

Production

20%

26%

17%

23%

23%

33%

1%

7%

0%

-10%

-12%

-6%

18%

11%

23%

-2%

-10%

6%

1%

12%

-22%

12%

7%

6%

6%

5%

3%

2%

2%

1%

1%

11%

9%

5%

4%

4%

4%

3%

5%

2%

6%

2%

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CC

S.

SE

RV

ICE

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CU

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SIN

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STR

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TOTAL WORKERS, BY YEAR

• Nearly half (45%) of all workers in NYC today hold professional occupations. These occupations grew by 19% since the last economic peak in 2008, far outpacing the overall economy which grew by 7%. The fastest growing of these occupations are typically located in office buildings or institutional settings.

• Office support and sales continues to be the largest occupation group for lower-skill workers. However, these occupations are declining, losing 12% of workers since 2008.

2008 -2017

CHANGE2017

SHARE

2000

2008

2010

2014

2017

Occupations of NYC Workers

• Service occupations are held by 20% of workers and growing, particularly healthcare support and food service. Service occupations are outpacing office and industrial occupations among non-professional workers.

• Industrial occupations account for only 14% of workers. Strong growth has occurred in transportation and construction occupations, while production occupations are declining but at a slower rate than in earlier decades.

Total workers 4,803,000 (in 2017) 7% 100%

Source: IPUMS USA, University of Minnesota, www.ipums.org: 2008 and 2017 ACS 1-year samples. 2-digit 2010 Standard Occupational Classification codes. Earnings are in constant 2017 US dollars and include income earned from wages or a person's own business for the previous year.

About the Department of City Planning

The Department of City Planning (DCP) plans for the strategic growth and development of the City through ground-up planning with communities, the development of land use policies and zoning regulations, and its contribution to the preparation of the City’s 10-year Capital Strategy. For more information, go to: nyc.gov/data-insights

NYC Planning | April 2019 | Occupation Info Brief

Management

Business andfinancial operations

Education, training, and library

Healthcare practitionersand technical occupations

Computer andmathematical

Legal Community andsocial service

Architecture and engineering

Life, physical,and social science

Office & administrative support

Sales and related

Food preparationand serving related

Personal careand service

Healthcare support

Building, groundscleaning, maintenance

Protective serviceConstruction andextraction

Installation,maintenance, and repair

Transportation andmaterial moving

Production

-30%

-20%

-10%

0%

10%

20%

30%

-20% -10% 0% 10% 20% 30% 40%

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SE

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LOSS OF WORKERS GAIN IN WORKERS

$120k$75k

$50k$20k

Professional and related occupationsSales and office occupationsService occupationsIndustrial occupations

Dot width is proportional to 2017median earnings by occupation:

Dot color indicates occupation group:Change in Total Workers and Median Earnings by Occupation, 2008 - 2017

• Wages are increasing overall since the 2008 economic peak, but primarily in high-skill profes-sional occupations.

• Computer and mathematical occupations have the highest growth rate and have seen earnings increase as well.

• Median earnings for workers in sales and office occupations have declined to $36k annually. Despite this loss, these occupations still provide more middle-income jobs for lower-skill workers than industrial or service occupations.

• Installation, maintenance, and repair occupations employ the fewest workers, yet have the highest earnings among industrial workers. Transportation and construction jobs have grown, likely a reflection

of increased ride-hailing services and real estate development.

• Production workers are on the decline while earnings have increased, suggesting that the remaining production jobs in NYC increasingly require more highly skilled workers.

• Service occupations are growing the fastest of non-professional occupations, but have seen already low wages falling even further. Earnings among the rapidly expanding healthcare support occupations are particularly low. However, these results do not reflect recent increases to NYC’s minimum wage, now $15/hr.• The rapid growth of both high-paying professional occupations and low-wage service occupations highlights the importance of training workers for jobs in higher-skilled, higher-earning occupations.

Arts, design, entertainment, sports, media

Wage Trends of Occupations in New York City