US states by wage and salary jobs (OEWS)
California had the highest wage and salary jobs (OEWS) of 51 states in 2021, at 16,529,810 jobs. Wyoming had the lowest, at 260,530 jobs. The median was 1,825,370 jobs and the figure for the United States was 140,886,310 jobs. Source: the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
All states, 2021
Full ranking
| Rank | States | 2021 | Change on 2020 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | California | 16,529,810 | +0.6% |
| 2 | Texas | 12,226,170 | +1% |
| 3 | New York | 8,669,050 | -0.3% |
| 4 | Florida | 8,605,610 | +1.9% |
| 5 | Illinois | 5,618,830 | -0.2% |
| 6 | Pennsylvania | 5,583,410 | +1.3% |
| 7 | Ohio | 5,201,030 | +1.2% |
| 8 | North Carolina | 4,422,020 | +3.1% |
| 9 | Georgia | 4,378,430 | +1.6% |
| 10 | Michigan | 4,059,670 | +3.5% |
| 11 | New Jersey | 3,850,220 | +1.8% |
| 12 | Virginia | 3,753,230 | +1.4% |
| 13 | Massachusetts | 3,394,470 | +1.3% |
| 14 | Washington | 3,205,930 | +0.3% |
| 15 | Tennessee | 2,986,840 | +2.9% |
| 16 | Indiana | 2,983,410 | +2.2% |
| 17 | Arizona | 2,880,690 | +1.6% |
| 18 | Wisconsin | 2,754,870 | +1.7% |
| 19 | Minnesota | 2,735,060 | +1% |
| 20 | Missouri | 2,728,100 | +1.4% |
| 21 | Colorado | 2,621,340 | +1.7% |
| 22 | Maryland | 2,546,000 | +0.9% |
| 23 | South Carolina | 2,067,330 | +2.6% |
| 24 | Alabama | 1,928,110 | +1.3% |
| 25 | Kentucky | 1,838,410 | +3.1% |
| 26 | Oregon | 1,825,370 | +1% |
| 27 | Louisiana | 1,793,600 | -0.4% |
| 28 | Connecticut | 1,573,560 | +2.1% |
| 29 | Oklahoma | 1,557,810 | -0.3% |
| 30 | Utah | 1,554,670 | +4.4% |
| 31 | Iowa | 1,484,970 | +1% |
| 32 | Kansas | 1,339,170 | +0.5% |
| 33 | Nevada | 1,289,190 | +3.1% |
| 34 | Arkansas | 1,191,000 | +1.1% |
| 35 | Mississippi | 1,101,720 | +2.3% |
| 36 | Nebraska | 958,260 | +1.7% |
| 37 | New Mexico | 776,540 | -1.2% |
| 38 | Idaho | 756,910 | +5.3% |
| 39 | District of Columbia | 661,960 | -3.7% |
| 40 | West Virginia | 657,680 | +1.2% |
| 41 | New Hampshire | 635,220 | +2.5% |
| 42 | Maine | 592,000 | +2.9% |
| 43 | Hawaii | 548,410 | -4.5% |
| 44 | Montana | 470,230 | +3.2% |
| 45 | Rhode Island | 457,720 | +3.3% |
| 46 | Delaware | 435,600 | +2.2% |
| 47 | South Dakota | 421,230 | +2.4% |
| 48 | North Dakota | 395,060 | -1.2% |
| 49 | Alaska | 295,880 | -0.1% |
| 50 | Vermont | 283,990 | +1% |
| 51 | Wyoming | 260,530 | -0.4% |
Other periods
About this ranking
Number of wage and salary jobs in nonfarm establishments, all occupations, in May of each year, from the Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) survey of the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Full-time and part-time jobs count the same.
Counts jobs, not people: someone with two jobs counts twice. Excludes the self-employed, owners and partners of unincorporated firms, farm workers, private household workers and unpaid family workers. It is the base of the OEWS wage estimates, not a monthly payroll count.
Every value in the ranking comes from the same publisher and the same period, so the states are compared on one definition. Equal values share a rank.
How to cite
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May estimates, state cross-industry file: employment, all occupations (00-0000). https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm21st.zip. Retrieved 2026-10-12.Citation styles
APA 7
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. (2026). Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May estimates, state cross-industry file: employment, all occupations (00-0000) (US states by wage and salary jobs (OEWS), 2021) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm21st.zip
MLA 9
Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May estimates, state cross-industry file: employment, all occupations (00-0000), US states by wage and salary jobs (OEWS), 2021. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 15 May 2026, https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm21st.zip. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/wage-and-salary-jobs/us-states?period=2021. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.
Chicago (author-date)
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. 2026. Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May estimates, state cross-industry file: employment, all occupations (00-0000). US states by wage and salary jobs (OEWS), 2021. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm21st.zip. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/wage-and-salary-jobs/us-states?period=2021.
Harvard
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (2026) Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May estimates, state cross-industry file: employment, all occupations (00-0000), US states by wage and salary jobs (OEWS), 2021 [Dataset]. Available at: https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm21st.zip, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/wage-and-salary-jobs/us-states?period=2021 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).
BibTeX
@misc{bureau_us_states_by_wage_2021,
author = {{U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics}},
title = {{Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May estimates, state cross-industry file: employment, all occupations (00-0000): US states by wage and salary jobs (OEWS), 2021}},
year = {2026},
howpublished = {Data set},
url = {https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm21st.zip},
urldate = {2026-10-12},
note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/wage-and-salary-jobs/us-states?period=2021. Publisher attribution: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May estimates, state cross-industry file: employment, all occupations (00-0000). https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm21st.zip. Retrieved 2026-10-12.},
}
RIS
TY - DATA
AU - U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
TI - Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May estimates, state cross-industry file: employment, all occupations (00-0000): US states by wage and salary jobs (OEWS), 2021
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/05/15
PB - U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
DB - Invokely
UR - https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm21st.zip
L2 - https://invokely.ai/rankings/wage-and-salary-jobs/us-states?period=2021
Y2 - 2026/10/12
N1 - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/wage-and-salary-jobs/us-states?period=2021.
N1 - Publisher attribution: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May estimates, state cross-industry file: employment, all occupations (00-0000). https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm21st.zip. Retrieved 2026-10-12.
ER -
Use this data in your AI agent
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Rank US states by wage and salary jobs (OEWS) using official data, and cite the source.
rank_places {"indicator":"oews_employment","level":"region","within":"United States","limit":10}
GET https://invokely.ai/api/v1/rank?indicator=oews_employment&level=region&within=United%20States&limit=10Questions
Which state has the highest wage and salary jobs (OEWS)?
California, with 16,529,810 jobs in 2021, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Which state has the lowest wage and salary jobs (OEWS)?
Wyoming, with 260,530 jobs in 2021.
Where does this ranking come from?
Every value comes from one source and one period, so the places are comparable: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May estimates, state cross-industry file: employment, all occupations (00-0000). Retrieved 2026-10-12.