Rail transportation

Industry Group

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Workforce Population

243k

2020

Average Employee Age

43.4

2020

Estimated Job Growth

−4.53%

10-Year Projection

Average Salary

$78,583

2020

Average Male Salary

$79,000

2020

Average Female Salary

$74,620

2020

About

The top three occupations in the Rail transportation Industry Group are railroad conductors & yardmasters, locomotive engineers & operators, and heavy vehicle & mobile equipment service technicians & mechanics. On average, full-time employees in the Rail transportation Industry Group work 47.2 hours per week and have an average annual salary of $79,881. Part-time employees in the same industry work 22 hours and earn an average annual salary of $35,950.

The locations with the highest concentration of employees in the Rail transportation Industry Group are Southwest Nebraska PUMA, NE, North Central & Northwest Nebraska PUMA, NE, and Shawnee (Outside Topeka City), Osage, Jackson, Brown & Wabaunsee Counties PUMA, KS.

The workforce of Rail transportation Industry Group in 2020 was 242,659 people, with 9.51% woman, and 90.5% men.

In 2020, 78.1% of the workforce in the Rail transportation Industry Group was White (189,596 people), of which 8.42% were women and 91.6% men.

Transportation & Warehousing Transportation & Warehousing, and Utilities

Employment & Salaries

A snapshot of workforce, wages, and opportunities in the Rail transportation Industry Group.

The workforce in Rail transportation Industry Group was 242,659 people and is concentrated in Texas (21,216 workers). The average annual salary was $78,583, being $22,629 more than the national average salary, which was $55,954.

Monthly Employment

Start Year

Y-Axis

1.77%

Year-over-year growth

Employment change between February 2022 and February 2023

As of February 2023, there are 11.5k people employed in the Rail Transportation industry. This represents a 1.77% increase in employment when compared to February 2022.

This chart shows monthly employment numbers for Rail Transportation over time (non-seasonally adjusted).

Employment by Location

The states that concentrated the largest workforce in 2020 were Texas (21.2k), Illinois (19.4k), and New York (16.5k).

This map shows the states in the United States shaded by workforce for Rail transportation Industry Group.

Yearly Wage Ranking

In 2020, Rail transportation Industry Group had an average annual wage of $78,583, $22,629 more than the average national salary of $55,954.

The graph shows the position of Rail transportation Industry Group in the ranking of industries by average annual wage.

Wage Distribution

0.263

WAGE GINI

Rail transportation has a wage GINI of 0.263, which is less than than the national average of 0.478. In other words, wages are distributed more evenly in Rail transportation (shown in red) in comparison to the national average for those wage buckets (shown in gray).

The graphic shows the distribution of average salaries by buckets for Rail transportation Industry Group workers compared to the entire workforce in the country.

Occupations

A review of jobs and wages in the Rail transportation Industry Group.

Railroad conductors & yardmasters are the most common position with 42,510 workers, but the Rail transportation Industry Group employs a relatively high number of Locomotive engineers & operators and Heavy vehicle & mobile equipment service technicians & mechanics.

The highest average salary in Rail transportation goes to Chief executives & legislators.

Occupations Distribution

The graph shows the distribution of employees in the Rail transportation Industry Group according to occupations. In 2020, the occupations that concentrated the largest number of employees in this industry were railroad conductors & yardmasters (42,510 people), locomotive engineers & operators (41,115 people), and heavy vehicle & mobile equipment service technicians & mechanics (13,927 people)

Wage by Sex in Common Jobs

$79,000

AVERAGE MALE SALARY

±$2,294

$74,620

AVERAGE FEMALE SALARY

±$9,505

On average, Male workers in the Rail transportation Industry Group make 1.06 times more than their Female counterparts. This chart shows the sex-based wage disparity in the 5 most common occupations in the Rail transportation Industry Group.

Business

Estimates of the sources of the costs and the purchasers of the products in the Rail transportation Industry Group. Based on estimates from the Bureau of Economic Analysis, this section indicates the amount of money spent by a specific industry in other industries.

The industrial flow illustrates the intermediate inputs and the use of outputs of the Rail transportation Industry Group.

The Rail transportation Industry Group gets the most input, by its share of the cost of all intermediate inputs, from the Transportation and warehousing Industry.

Industrial Flow

The closest comparable data for Rail transportation is from Transportation & Warehousing, and Utilities.

Transportation and warehousing has the highest single input, by dollars, to the Rail transportation Industry Group, and the largest industry purchasing services from the Rail transportation Industry Group is Manufacturing.

In this flow diagram, all of the industries listed to the left are those places from which the highlighted industry has made purchases. They are the intermediate inputs to the highlighted industry. All those industries listed on the right side are those industries that have made purchases from the highlighted industry. They are the use of outputs of the highlighted industry. The visualizations below offer alternative ways to see and understand this data.

Intermediate Inputs

The closest comparable data for Rail transportation is from Transportation & Warehousing, and Utilities.

HIGHEST INPUT INDUSTRY

The Rail transportation Industry Group gets the most input, by its share of the cost of all intermediate inputs, from the Transportation and warehousing Industry. This visualization does not include labor and capital costs.

Use of Output by Other Industries

The closest comparable data for Rail transportation is from Transportation & Warehousing, and Utilities.

LARGEST PURCHASING INDUSTRY

The Manufacturing Industry purchases the greatest share of products and services from the Rail transportation Industry Group in order to produce other goods and services. Purchases of the Rail transportation Industry Group for final consumption by consumers, businesses, or government are not included here.

Diversity

Demographic information on the Rail transportation Industry Group in the US.

Of the total workforce, 9.51% corresponds to women and 90.5% men. Male employees tend to earn more than Female employees, with average respective salaries of $79,000 and $74,620.

81.2% of workers have a high school or equivalent, some college or bachelors degree.

Gender and Age

23,085

Women

9.51%

219,574

Men

90.5%

The workforce of Rail transportation industry in 2020 was 242,659 people, with 9.51% woman, and 90.5% men.

The visualization shows the distribution of the workforce by gender and age in Rail transportation industry.

Races

In 2020, 78.1% of the workforce in the Rail transportation industry was White (189,596 people), of which 8.42% were women and 91.6% men.

Other races that concentrated a significant number of workers were Black and Other.

Educational Levels

The main educational levels achieved by the Rail transportation workers in 2020 were high school or equivalent (89,812 people), some college (75,135 people), and bachelors degree (32,143 people).

The chart shows the Rail transportation workforce by gender and educational level.

Projections

Growth projections of the Rail transportation industry, both by number of employees and output, from the Bureau of Labor and Statistics. The national workforce is projected to grow 7.66% in the next ten years. The Rail transportation industry has a lower projected workforce growth at −4.53%. Its projected 10-year growth in output (13.9%) is lower than the projected national growth in output (24.2%).

Job Growth

−4.53%

Estimated Job Growth

10-year Projection

7.66%

National Growth

10-year Projection

This line chart shows the projected 10-year growth in the number of jobs for Rail transportation. This industry is expected to grow less than than 7.66%, the average rate of national job growth.