These are the rarest and most common jobs in Missouri. Is your profession on the list?
Missouri had almost 2.9 million workers in 2023. That includes a large variety of professions, from common to unusual. But which ones are the rarest?
The federal government sorts workers into 867 occupational categories, ranging from animal control workers and crematory operators to radiologists and paralegals.
Employers receive a survey twice a year from the federal government to estimate the number of workers in different professions. A state agency, the Missouri Economic Research and Information Center, collected the 2023 data into the Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates.
The average mean wage of all Missouri workers is $57,580. In July, unemployment increased in Missouri compared to the year before, but the 3.8% unemployment rate is still lower than the rest of the nation, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Missouri’s rarest jobs
Here are some of the least common professions in Missouri, according to the most recent data from the Missouri Economic Research and Information Center.
Faller, works in the logging industry
- Number of workers: 30
- Mean wage: $45,940 a year
Example job titles: lumberjack, pulpwood cutter, timber cutter
Geographer, a social scientist
- Number of workers: 30
- Mean wage: $89,100 a year
Example job titles: GIS geographer, political geographer
Correspondence clerk, an administrator
Number of workers: 30
Mean wage: $39,380 a year
- Example job titles: fan mail editor, Medicare correspondence representative
Bridge and lock tender, watches over bridges and canals
- Number of workers: 40
- Mean wage: $66,160 a year
- Example job titles: lighthouse keeper, lock and dam operator
Lighting technician on TV, film and live productions
- Number of workers: 40
- Mean wage: $66,890 a year
- Example job titles: gaffer, lamp operator
Motorboat operator, specifically of small, motor-operated boats
- Number of workers: 40
- Mean wage: $64,360 a year
- Example job titles: launch operator, speedboat operator, water taxi operator
Missouri’s most popular jobs
Here are the most common professions in Missouri, from the Missouri Economic Research and Information Center.
General and operations manager, a supervisor of supervisors
- Number of workers: 95,120
- Mean wage: $98,520 a year
- Example job titles: department store manager, general superintendent, operational risk manager, radio station manager
Registered nurse
- Number of workers: 73,190
- Mean wage: $77,590 a year
- Example job titles: coronary care unit nurse, hospice registered nurse, psychiatric nurse
Cashier
- Number of workers: 71,100
- Mean wage: $29,380 a year
- Example job titles: cash register operator, grocery checker, toll collector
Stocker and order filler
- Number of workers: 63,280
- Mean wage: $37,820 a year
- Example job titles: night stocker, store stocker, warehouse stocker
Retail salesperson
- Number of workers: 60,650
- Mean wage: $35,700 a year
- Example job titles: used car salesperson, women’s apparel salesperson
Have more questions about jobs in Missouri? Ask the Service Journalism team at kcq@kcstar.com.
