Transportation Economic Trends
Employment in Transportation:
Employment in Transportation Related Occupations by Industry
Employment in transportation and related industries and employment in transportation occupations are two ways to measure the Nation’s transportation workforce. This page looks at the two together; specifically, annual employment in transportation occupations by industry. For monthly employment by industry see the Monthly Employment in the Transportation and Warehousing Sector page.
2023 Year-in-Review
- In 2023, the transportation and warehousing sector employed the largest number of persons in transportation and related occupations (4.0 million).
- The service sector is the largest non-transportation sector to employ transportation workers (2.6 million), followed by the wholesale and retail trade sector (2.3 million).
- Heavy and tractor-trailer truck driver is the largest transportation occupation in the transportation and warehousing sector (1.2 million), earning $57,050 annually. In the transportation and warehousing sector, commercial pilots earn the highest wage of $126,370 but are few in number - only 32,410, or less than 3% of the number of heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers.
- Automotive service technicians and mechanics are the largest transportation occupation in the service sector (265,220) with an annual wage of $49,020. Airline traffic controllers (230) receive the highest wage of $130,470 for a transportation occupation in the service sector.
- Automotive service technicians and mechanics are the largest transportation occupations in the wholesale and retail trade sector (362,060), earning $49,355 annually. Ship engineers earn the highest wage for a transportation occupation ($151,130) with 30 employees.
Persons employed in transportation-related occupations work within both the transportation industry and in non-transportation industries. Non-transportation industries employ persons in transportation-related occupations, such as heavy tractor-trailer truck drivers, to carry out in-house transportation operations. Wages vary by the type of occupation, with similar wages paid across industries for the same occupation.
Data do not include the self-employed nor independent contractors.
Recommended citation
U.S. Department of Transportation, Bureau of Transportation Statistics, Transportation Economic Trends, available at www.bts.gov/product/transportation-economic-trends.
