Occupational Employment and Wages, May 2018

41-2031 Retail Salespersons

Sell merchandise, such as furniture, motor vehicles, appliances, or apparel to consumers. Excludes "Cashiers" (41-2011).

National estimates for this occupation
Industry profile for this occupation
Geographic profile for this occupation

National estimates for this occupation: Top

Employment estimate and mean wage estimates for this occupation:

Employment (1)	Employment RSE (3)	Mean hourly wage	Mean annual wage (2)	Wage RSE (3)
4,448,120	0.5 %	$13.61	$28,310	0.2 %

Percentile wage estimates for this occupation:

Percentile	10%	25%	50% (Median)	75%	90%
Hourly Wage	$8.85	$10.05	$11.63	$14.59	$19.96
Annual Wage (2)	$18,400	$20,910	$24,200	$30,350	$41,530

Industry profile for this occupation: Top

Industries with the highest published employment and wages for this occupation are provided. For a list of all industries with employment in this occupation, see the Create Customized Tables function.

Industries with the highest levels of employment in this occupation:

Industry	Employment (1)	Percent of industry employment	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
General Merchandise Stores	877,670	27.57	$11.92	$24,800
Clothing Stores	731,220	68.59	$12.48	$25,960
Building Material and Supplies Dealers	433,100	37.40	$14.55	$30,270
Sporting Goods, Hobby, and Musical Instrument Stores	302,190	56.56	$12.04	$25,050
Automobile Dealers	271,060	20.97	$21.21	$44,120

Industries with the highest concentration of employment in this occupation:

Industry	Employment (1)	Percent of industry employment	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
Shoe Stores	148,000	70.92	$11.88	$24,710
Clothing Stores	731,220	68.59	$12.48	$25,960
Jewelry, Luggage, and Leather Goods Stores	84,270	61.47	$14.55	$30,270
Book Stores and News Dealers	44,800	57.03	$11.43	$23,770
Sporting Goods, Hobby, and Musical Instrument Stores	302,190	56.56	$12.04	$25,050

Top paying industries for this occupation:

Industry	Employment (1)	Percent of industry employment	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
Insurance Carriers	(8)	(8)	$36.27	$75,430
Plastics Product Manufacturing	220	0.04	$25.97	$54,020
Building Finishing Contractors	1,890	0.23	$23.20	$48,260
Automotive Equipment Rental and Leasing	2,360	1.10	$22.65	$47,110
Automobile Dealers	271,060	20.97	$21.21	$44,120

Geographic profile for this occupation: Top

States and areas with the highest published employment, location quotients, and wages for this occupation are provided. For a list of all areas with employment in this occupation, see the Create Customized Tables function.

States with the highest employment level in this occupation:

State	Employment (1)	Employment per thousand jobs	Location quotient (9)	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
California	436,300	25.65	0.83	$15.13	$31,460
Texas	396,330	32.72	1.06	$12.90	$26,840
Florida	336,060	39.04	1.27	$12.88	$26,790
New York	301,670	32.14	1.05	$14.47	$30,100
Illinois	168,130	28.06	0.91	$13.80	$28,710

States with the highest concentration of jobs and location quotients in this occupation:

State	Employment (1)	Employment per thousand jobs	Location quotient (9)	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
Florida	336,060	39.04	1.27	$12.88	$26,790
Hawaii	24,560	38.26	1.25	$14.68	$30,530
New Hampshire	24,750	37.90	1.23	$13.75	$28,610
South Dakota	15,970	37.82	1.23	$14.16	$29,450
Idaho	24,670	34.94	1.14	$13.32	$27,710

Top paying States for this occupation:

State	Employment (1)	Employment per thousand jobs	Location quotient (9)	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
District of Columbia	6,450	9.06	0.29	$18.03	$37,510
Washington	103,220	31.67	1.03	$16.59	$34,500
Connecticut	44,710	26.93	0.88	$15.82	$32,910
North Dakota	13,330	32.00	1.04	$15.78	$32,830
Rhode Island	13,620	28.25	0.92	$15.21	$31,630

Metropolitan areas with the highest employment level in this occupation:

Metropolitan area	Employment (1)	Employment per thousand jobs	Location quotient (9)	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA	302,430	31.84	1.04	$14.56	$30,290
Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA	154,970	25.33	0.82	$15.38	$31,990
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN-WI	132,700	28.59	0.93	$13.63	$28,360
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX	120,960	33.90	1.10	$12.80	$26,630
Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL	104,760	40.44	1.32	$13.10	$27,240
Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX	89,300	29.94	0.97	$12.42	$25,840
Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA	86,620	32.28	1.05	$12.68	$26,370
Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD	80,270	28.18	0.92	$14.07	$29,270
Boston-Cambridge-Nashua, MA-NH	73,560	26.67	0.87	$14.50	$30,150
Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV	69,350	22.12	0.72	$14.25	$29,630