Management and professional occupations, explained

What it measures

The percentage of the civilian employed population 16 and older whose occupation falls into the "management, business, science, and arts" category. The Census occupation classification has five top-level groups; this is the highest-earning of the five and includes managers of all kinds, financial analysts, engineers, software developers, scientists, doctors and other health professionals, lawyers, teachers (above the K-12 floor), social scientists, designers, journalists, and artists.

This metric is the cleanest single proxy for the "professional-class share" of a local labor market. It is closely related to bachelor's-degree share but is not identical, many management occupations don't require a four-year degree, and many bachelor's-degree holders work in service or sales occupations.

Why it matters

Management-and-professional share is one of the best predictors of a metro's resilience to economic shocks. The 2008 recession, the COVID-19 pandemic, and the 2022-2023 tech-led correction all hit metros below 35% professional-share much harder than metros above 45%. Professional employment generates more local multiplier activity, every high-wage professional job supports about 5 additional local-service jobs, than manufacturing or warehouse employment. Real-estate developers and corporate site selectors use professional share as a primary screen for where to put new high-end office, retail, and housing investment.

How the Census measures it

ACS Table B24010, Sex by Occupation for the Civilian Employed Population 16+. CensusEasy sums the four "management, business, science, and arts" cells (male and female totals at the top of that category) and divides by the civilian employed population. Census occupation classification follows the SOC (Standard Occupational Classification) hierarchy.

How to read the numbers

The US professional-share is about 40%. Knowledge-economy metros (San Jose, Washington DC, Boulder, Boston, Seattle) exceed 55%; manufacturing and warehouse metros, agricultural regions, and resort economies sit closer to 30%. State-level rates range from about 32% in Nevada to about 47% in Massachusetts and Maryland. A professional-share above 50% in a city usually means a major university, federal-government installation, tech cluster, or financial-services center is anchoring the labor market.

Caveats and limitations

The category is broad and groups together very different occupations, a kindergarten teacher and a private-equity managing director both count as "management, business, science, and arts." Pair the metric with median household income to disambiguate between high-paying professional metros and lower-paying education-and-healthcare professional metros. The Census occupation classification is updated periodically; comparisons before 2010 should account for the 2010 SOC revision.