Employment & Wages by Occupation

Barnstable County occupations are centered, in large part, in tourism-related industries, many of which undergo seasonal fluctuations between a summer peak and winter off-season. As a result, median annual wages are commonly lower than state median wages for the same occupation, though the gap between wages in the two geographies varies among occupations.

Within Barnstable County, the most common occupations have little overlap with the highest-earning ones. The most common occupations in Barnstable County, as measured by employment count, are management occupations, sales and related occupations, and office and administrative support occupations. The occupations with the highest median annual wages were legal occupations, law enforcement workers including supervisors, and computer and mathematical occupations. Across Cape Cod towns, the most common occupations and occupations with highest median annual wages vary significantly. For example, in Chatham, the highest paying occupations are arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media occupations, although that encompasses only 4.3% of total employment in the town, and in Mashpee, the highest paying occupations are architecture and engineering occupations, although that encompasses only 1.7% of total employment in the town.

Download an Excel file of the Employment & Wages by Occupation Dashboard data.