Across the U.S. there are certain occupations that dominate the workforce, with huge numbers of workers taking on these roles. They may be the first thing that comes to mind when you think of a ‘typical’ job.

In this analysis, we’ve used data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) to put together a list of the most common jobs in America, including the most popular jobs in each state. We’ve also analyzed average salaries, typical responsibilities, and predicted employment changes for these popular occupations.

Contents

Key Statistics

• The most common job in America is retail salesperson, with over 3.76 million people in this role across the U.S.
• Retail salesperson is the most common job in 14 states, with the highest number of these workers (298,000) working in Florida.
• Of the top 20 most common jobs in America, general and operations managers had the highest median salary at $98,100, while fast food and counter workers had the lowest at $27,930.
• Fast food and counter worker is the most common job in nine states, with most workers in this role working in Ohio (136,220).
• The average salary across all 20 of the most popular jobs in the U.S. is $45,309.
• While retail salesperson is the most common job, it comes 16th out of 20 in terms of salary compared to the rest of the most popular jobs ($30,600).
• The role of nurse practitioner is expected to grow the most over the next few years, with a predicted employment increase of 44.5% in this occupation by 2032.
• Data entry keyers are expected to see the largest decline in employment between now and 2032, with a predicted 26% reduction in workers in these roles.
• Retail salesperson has been the top most common job in the U.S. since 1997.

The top 20 most common jobs in the U.S.

The most common job in America is retail salesperson, with 3.76 million people in these jobs. These people work in a variety of retail environments, interacting with customers and demonstrating merchandise.

Other popular jobs include fast food and counter workers, office clerks, and elementary and middle school teachers.

The table below shows the full list of the top 20 most common jobs in America.

RankOccupationNumber of workers 1Retail salespersons3,765,600 2Home health and personal care aides3,715,500 3General and operations managers3,507,800 4Fast food and counter workers3,410,100 5Cashiers3,365,200 6Registered nurses3,172,500 7Laborers and freight, stock, and material movers2,988,500 8Customer service representatives2,982,900 9Stockers and order fillers2,851,600 10Cooks2,729,300 11Office clerks, general2,668,200 12Waiters and waitresses2,194,100 13Elementary and middle school teachers2,061,600 14Secretaries and administrative assistants, except legal, medical, and executive2,030,200 15Bookkeeping, accounting, and auditing clerks1,735,800 16Miscellaneous healthcare support occupations1,661,700 17Maintenance and repair workers, general1,607,200 18First-line supervisors of office and administrative support workers1,567,200 19Accountants and auditors1,538,400 20Miscellaneous assemblers and fabricators1,500,400

Source [1]

Responsibilities of the most popular jobs

We know what the most common job roles in the U.S. are, but what exactly do these jobs entail? And what requirements are there for entering these occupations? Let’s take a look at the responsibilities of the top five jobs in more detail.

Retail salespersons

A retail salesperson’s job involves interacting with customers and demonstrating and explaining merchandise like clothing, electronics, furniture, and motor vehicles. Someone in this role could work in an environment like a retail store or an auto dealership.

Usually, there are no formal education requirements to become a retail salesperson, and most training takes place on the job.

Home health and personal care aides

The role of home health and personal care aides is to help people with disabilities or chronic illnesses by monitoring their conditions and helping them with day-to-day activities. This can include personal care, arranging transportation, organizing appointments, and performing housekeeping tasks. These workers may work in clients’ homes, group homes, or at day service programs.

Someone wanting to work as a home health or personal care aide will usually need a high school diploma or equivalent, and those working in certified agencies may need to complete formal training.

General and operations managers

A person working as a general or operations manager will typically plan, direct, and coordinate the operations of a business, usually overseeing multiple locations or departments. Responsibilities include creating policies, and managing the company’s daily operations but can be much more varied and involve management of other staff members.

Training and qualifications required to be a general or operations manager can vary greatly depending on different industries and employer preferences.

Fast food and counter workers

Responsibilities for fast food and counter workers involve taking orders and serving food and drinks at counters or steam tables, as well as preparing food and drinks for customers. These workers usually work in fast-food restaurants and other eateries, they could also work in school cafeterias or similar establishments.

Most food counter workers will learn their role on the job, and there are typically no requirements for formal education to enter this occupation.

Cashiers

The work of a cashier involves processing payments from customers who are buying goods and services. They will usually work in retail establishments like grocery stores, gas stations, and other stores selling a variety of merchandise.

Cashiers are trained on the job and you generally don’t need any formal qualifications to become a cashier.

Most common jobs by state

The top job in the U.S., retail salesperson, is the most common job in 14 states, with the highest number of these workers (298,000) working in Florida.

Fast food and counter worker is the most popular job in nine states including Washington and Virginia, with most working in Ohio (136,220).

The table below shows the full breakdown of the most common jobs in the U.S. by state.

StateMost common job roleNumber of workers AlabamaRetail salesperson58,770 AlaskaRetail salesperson8,230 ArizonaCustomer service representative106,950 ArkansasFast food and counter worker36,520 CaliforniaHome health and personal care aide773,350 ColoradoRetail salesperson80,000 ConnecticutGeneral and operations manager42,090 DelawareRetail salesperson13,440 Washington DCBusiness operations specialist36,950 FloridaRetail salesperson298,000 GeorgiaRetail salesperson137,880 HawaiiFast food and counter worker20,340 IdahoGeneral and operations manager24,790 IllinoisLaborers and freight, stock and material mover, hand204,710 IndianaLaborers and freight, stock and material mover, hand103,050 IowaCashier47,090 KansasFast food and counter worker34,720 KentuckyLaborers and freight, stock and material mover, hand57,340 LouisianaCashier58,890 MaineRetail salesperson17,420 MarylandGeneral and operations manager78,370 MassachusettsGeneral and operations manager119,850 MichiganMiscellaneous assembler and fabricator118,400 MinnesotaHome health and personal care aides106,640 MississippiCashier33,990 MissouriHome health and personal care aide79,840 MontanaFast food and counter worker15,110 NebraskaFast food and counter worker25,270 NevadaLaborers and freight, stock and material mover, hand42,470 New HampshireRetail salesperson18,730 New JerseyRetail salesperson104,660 New MexicoHome health and personal care aide35,740 New YorkHome health and personal care aide504,160 North CarolinaCashier127,220 North DakotaRetail salesperson11,500 OhioFast food and counter worker136,220 OklahomaRetail salesperson42,410 OregonFast food and counter worker52,490 PennsylvaniaHome health and personal care aide193,930 Rhode IslandRetail salesperson11,800 South CarolinaRetail salesperson63,890 South DakotaRegistered nurse14,360 TennesseeLaborers and freight, stock and material mover, hand91,980 TexasGeneral and operations manager418,050 UtahGeneral and operations manager60,960 VermontGeneral and operations manager8,500 VirginiaFast food and counter worker94,940 WashingtonFast food and counter worker98,870 West VirginiaRegistered nurse21,110 WisconsinHome health and personal care aide76,260 WyomingRetail salesperson8,490

Source [2]

Median salaries of America’s most common jobs

Salaries vary considerably across the top 20 most common jobs. General and operations managers have the highest median salary at $98,100, followed by registered nurses with $81,220. Fast food and counter workers have the lowest median salary across the U.S. at $27,930, followed by cashiers at $28,730, and waiters and waitresses at $29,120.

The average salary across all 20 of the most popular jobs is $45,309.

RankOccupationMedian salary 1General and operations managers$98,100 2Registered nurses$81,220 3Accountants and auditors$78,000 4First-line supervisors of office and administrative support workers$61,370 5Elementary and middle school teachers$61,150 6Bookkeeping, accounting, and auditing clerks$45,860 7Maintenance and repair workers, general$44,980 8Secretaries and administrative assistants, except legal, medical, and executive$41,000 9Office clerks, general$38,040 10Customer service representatives$37,780 11Miscellaneous assemblers and fabricators$37,280 12Laborers and freight, stock, and material movers, hand$36,110 13Stockers and order fillers$34,220 14Miscellaneous healthcare support occupations$33,600 15Cooks$30,910 16Retail salespersons$30,600 17Home health and personal care aides$30,180 18Waiters and waitresses$29,120 19Cashiers$28,730 20Fast food and counter workers$27,930

Source [3]

Job outlooks for America’s most common roles

While these roles make up the list of most popular jobs right now, the employment landscape in the U.S. is ever-changing, with some of these common jobs expected to surge in popularity over the next ten years, while others are predicted to drop.

Of the top 20 jobs, the role of home health and personal care aide is expected to increase the most over the next ten years, with a 21.7% increase in employment in these roles by 2032. On the flip side, secretaries and administrative assistants (not including legal, medical and executive) can expect a decrease in employment of 11.6%.

Job RolePredicted change in employment (2022-2032) Home health and personal care aides21.7% Miscellaneous healthcare support occupations10.4% Cooks6.4% Stockers and order fillers6.3% Registered nurses5.6% Laborers and freight, stock, and material movers, hand5.3% Accountants and auditors4.4% General and operations managers4.2% Maintenance and repair workers, general3.6% Fast food and counter workers1.5% Elementary and middle school teachers0.7% Retail salespersons-2.1% Waiters and waitresses-3.1% First-line supervisors of office and administrative support workers-5.2% Customer service representatives-5.5% Bookkeeping, accounting, and auditing clerks-6.2% Office clerks, general-6.6% Miscellaneous assemblers and fabricators-7.5% Cashiers-10.4% Secretaries and administrative assistants, except legal, medical, and executive-11.6%

Source [1]

Occupations with the largest job growth

We’ve also looked at the jobs that are most popular in the U.S. at the moment, but what about jobs that are expected to grow in popularity in the next few years?

The job expected to grow the most between now and 2032 is nurse practitioners, with a predicted 44.5% increase in workers in this role over this period. That amounts to an additional 118,600 nurse practitioners in the workforce by 2032. This is followed by data scientists (35.2%) and information security analysts (31.5%)

When looking at the increase in employment by the total number of workers, home health and personal care aides come top with an expected 804,600 more workers in these roles by 2032.

OccupationPredicted growth by 2032Additional workers expected by 2032 Nurse practitioners44.5%118,600 Data scientists35.2%59,400 Information security analysts31.5%53,200 Medical and health services managers28.4%144,700 Software developers25.7%410,400 Home health and personal care aides21.7%804,600 Cooks, restaurant20.4%277,600 Substance abuse, behavioral disorder, and mental health counselors18.4%71,500 Financial managers16.0%126,600 Animal caretakers15.5%52,500 Computer and information systems managers15.4%86,000 Industrial machinery mechanics14.9%59,900 Medical assistants13.9%105,900 Market research analysts and marketing specialists13.4%116,600 Light truck drivers11.5%133,800 Management analysts9.7%95,700 Computer systems analysts9.6%51,100 Lawyers7.5%62,400 Stockers and order fillers6.3%178,600 Project management specialists6.2%54,700 Human resources specialists5.9%51,400

Source [1]

Occupations with the largest job decline

The occupation expected to see the largest decline in employment is data entry keyers, with a predicted loss of 26% of workers (or 43,100 workers in total) by 2032. Other roles expecting heavy declines in the coming years are legal secretaries and administrative assistants (-21.8%), and telemarketers (-20.6%).

The role of cashier is expected to lose the most total workers at an estimated reduction of 348,100 from 2022 to 2032.

OccupationPredicted decline by 2032Loss of workers expected by 2032 Data entry keyers-26.0%-43,100 Legal secretaries and administrative assistants-21.8%-35,300 Executive secretaries and executive administrative assistants-21.1%-108,100 Telemarketers-20.6%-20,100 Order clerks-18.2%-24,200 Payroll and timekeeping clerks-16.4%-27,200 Sewing machine operators-15.2%-21,600 Tellers-14.5%-52,900 Cooks, fast food-13.7%-101,600 Secretaries and administrative assistants, except legal, medical, and executive-11.6%-235,900 Cutting, punching, and press machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic-10.9%-20,100 Cashiers-10.4%-348,100 Bill and account collectors-9.6%-20,100 Shipping, receiving, and inventory clerks-8.4%-72,200 Chief executives-8.2%-23,000 Buyers and purchasing agents-7.7%-38,000 Miscellaneous assemblers and fabricators-7.5%-111,800 Correctional officers and jailers-7.5%-28,600 First-line supervisors of retail sales workers-6.7%-94,000 Postal service mail carriers-6.7%-21,000 Office clerks, general-6.6%-175,400

Source [1]

The change in America’s most common jobs over time

The most common jobs in America today have not always been this way. While the retail salesperson has been the top job in the U.S. since at least 1997 (the oldest data available from the BLS), other jobs in the top 10 have changed over time. Cashiers, registered nurses, and waiters and waitresses have all remained in the top 10 most popular jobs during this time, but others have come and gone.

Cashier was the second most common job in America from 1997 until 2017 when it dropped to third. In 2022, cashier was fifth on the list of most popular U.S. occupations.

Largest growing jobs over time

Some jobs, like fast food and counter workers (previously classified as combined food preparation and serving workers) have grown steadily since 1997, with this occupation climbing up the top 10 list. In 2002, there were 2,000,070 people working this job, and this had grown to 3,410,100 in 2022.

The decline in job roles over time

Certain occupations like general office clerk have declined over time, and these roles may have been recategorized or merged into more defined roles like office manager or customer support roles. Others like secretaries may simply have become less common over time due to decreasing demand for these roles, or they may fall lower on the list due to other jobs becoming much more common.

Note: There may be some variation in job titles and roles included in each list as BLS classifications have changed over time.

Sources

[1] Employment by Detailed Occupation: U.S. BLS – https://www.bls.gov/emp/tables/emp-by-detailed-occupation.htm

[2] Charts of the Largest Occupations in Each Area: U.S. BLS – https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/area_emp_chart/area_emp_chart.htm

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What is the most common job in America? The most common job in America is retail sales representative with over four million sales people in the US. Some other common jobs in America include office clerk, registered nurse, and customer service representative.

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What job has the most people in America?

Largest occupations at the national, state, and area levels The largest occupations in the U.S. include retail salespersons, cashiers, and general office clerks. To find the largest occupations in any area, click the chart to the right; select a state, then an area within the state or statewide.