# Same pay, different telework ability: what BLS data shows for 208 occupations

Across 208 U.S. occupations, higher-paying jobs tend to have more workers with the ability to telework, but occupations with nearly the same median pay can differ by 50 percentage points or more.

## Findings
- Across 208 U.S. occupations, those with higher median pay tend to have a larger share of workers with the ability to telework: the Spearman rank correlation is 0.60 (95% bootstrap interval 0.52 to 0.69), based on BLS Occupational Requirements Survey 2025 preliminary estimates and OEWS May 2025 wages.
- The relationship holds however the published ranges are treated: placing every BLS range at its upper bound, its midpoint or zero gives a rank correlation of 0.57 to 0.61 across the same 208 occupations (ORS 2025 preliminary, OEWS May 2025).
- In 51 of the 52 occupations with a national median wage under $40,000 in May 2025, BLS estimates that fewer than 5% of workers had the ability to telework (ORS 2025 preliminary).

## Method
208 BLS detailed occupations, at least 10,000 jobs each. Spearman rank correlation, 1,000-draw bootstrap interval. Telework ability is what a job permits, not who works from home. Observational only.

Data, chart and full method: https://tryhired.co/careers/data/same-pay-different-telework/ · CSV: https://tryhired.co/careers/data/same-pay-different-telework/same-pay-different-telework.csv

Free to reuse with attribution to TryHired and the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.