The most disproportionately popular job in every state

Not all jobs have the same concentration across the US.

Take wellhead pumpers for instance. That may not be an occupation you're familiar with unless you live in North Dakota and Texas where it's the most overrepresented job. In Massachusetts, the most disproportionately popular jobs are biochemists and biophysicists. That's based on location-specific data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). We only looked at jobs with at least 1,000 people employed in the state as of May 2021.

As Insider's Andy Kiersz wrote in a previous analysis, "these are not the most common jobs in these states," but are instead those jobs that make up a much higher rate of employment in the state than in the rest of the country.

For example, nearly 14 out of every 10,000 jobs of Iowa's almost 1.5 million employed people worked as "agricultural equipment operators" as of May 2021, compared to about 1.9 out of every 10,000 jobs nationwide. These two figures together — about 14 divided by about 1.9 — give you the location quotient of agricultural equipment operators in Iowa, about 7.4.

You can hover over the above map to see our analysis of each state and DC using May 2021 data.

The New York Times opinion writer Peter Coy also recently looked at location quotients from BLS. One takeaway he noted is that shampooer is the most disproportionately popular job in New Jersey and Pennsylvania even when you only look at jobs with at least 1,000 employed people in the states.

"Some people theorized that the two states don't necessarily do a lot more shampooing, but that employers are just more likely to identify workers as shampooers rather than, say, beauticians," Coy wrote.

Below are the most disproportionately popular job in every state and DC along with the total employment and employment per 1,000 workers for that occupation in that state or DC. The location quotient and average annual wage for these occupations can be found when you hover over the map. The above map and list below use values from the May 2021 Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics program.

ALABAMA: Logging equipment operators

A worker operating equipment and loading timber

Number employed: 2,270

Employment per 1,000 workers: 1.176

ALASKA: Commercial pilots

Number employed: 1,010

Employment per 1,000 workers: 3.402

ARIZONA: Semiconductor processing technicians

a technician is holding and checking a wafer that reflects many different colors with gloves at a semiconductor manufacturing plant

Number employed: 2,270

Employment per 1,000 workers: 0.789

ARKANSAS: Graders and sorters of agricultural products

A man looking at a digital tablet and checking apples at a farm with green trees and red apples

Number employed: 1,490

Employment per 1,000 workers: 1.252

CALIFORNIA: Farmworkers and laborers (crop, nursery, and greenhouse)

Number employed: 186,600

Employment per 1,000 workers: 11.289

COLORADO: Atmospheric and space scientists

Male meteorologist measuring wind outside using anemometer at weather station

Number employed: 1,060

Employment per 1,000 workers: 0.403

CONNECTICUT: Lathe and turning machine tool setters, operators, and tenders (metal and plastic)

An engineer wearing blue is working on a lathe machine

Number employed: 1,300

Employment per 1,000 workers: 0.829

DELAWARE: Meat, poultry, and fish cutters and trimmers

Production line of workers filleting salmon in food factory

Number employed: 4,490

Employment per 1,000 workers: 10.315

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA: Political scientists

Number employed: 3,490

Employment per 1,000 workers: 5.275

FLORIDA: Farm and home management educators

A farmer holding corn and talking to a businessman with a digital tablet outside

Number employed: 3,310

Employment per 1,000 workers: 0.384

GEORGIA: Textile winding, twisting, and drawing out machine setters, operators, and tenders

Number employed: 7,960

Employment per 1,000 workers: 1.818

HAWAII: Healthcare support workers (all other)

Number employed: 1,980

Employment per 1,000 workers: 3.603

IDAHO: Forest and conservation technicians

two people in a forest and measuring a tree trunk

Number employed: 2,030

Employment per 1,000 workers: 2.684

ILLINOIS: Rail car repairers

Number employed: 3,010

Employment per 1,000 workers: 0.536

INDIANA: Engine and other machine assemblers

Professional technical worker working with a machine

Number employed: 8,780

Employment per 1,000 workers: 2.944

IOWA: Agricultural equipment operators

Number employed: 2,050

Employment per 1,000 workers: 1.383

KANSAS: Aircraft structure, surfaces, rigging, and systems assemblers

Aircraft engineer working on a jet engine

Number employed: 5,250

Employment per 1,000 workers: 3.923

KENTUCKY: Sailors and marine oilers

A person wearing orange on a boat and looking at another boat

Number employed: 1,530

Employment per 1,000 workers: 0.834

MAINE: Logging equipment operators

A person operating a machine to pick up logs in a forest

Number employed: 1,080

Employment per 1,000 workers: 1.818

MARYLAND: Healthcare diagnosing or treating practitioners (all other)

Doctor speaking to mother and son in waiting room

Number employed: 5,770

Employment per 1,000 workers: 2.266

MASSACHUSETTS: Biochemists and biophysicists

A scientist, who is wearing blue gloves and a lab coat, looks through a microscope. There are other scientists working next to her.

Number employed: 8,190

Employment per 1,000 workers: 2.413

MICHIGAN: Metal and plastic model makers

A worker working with a green lathe machine

Number employed: 1,190

Employment per 1,000 workers: 0.294

MINNESOTA: Gambling and sports book writers and runners

Gambling chips stacked around roulette wheel on gaming table

Number employed: 1,310

Employment per 1,000 workers: 0.480

MISSISSIPPI: Upholsterers

Man upholstering an antique chair in a workshop

Number employed: 3,300

Employment per 1,000 workers: 2.994

MISSOURI: Cooling and freezing equipment operators and tenders

Cold storage worker using digital tablet to check stock

Number employed: 1,130

Employment per 1,000 workers: 0.415

MONTANA: Forest and conservation technicians

Number employed: 2,050

Employment per 1,000 workers: 4.369

NEBRASKA: Meat, poultry, and fish cutters and trimmers

A worker removes a bone from meat on a conveyor belt

Number employed: 6,700

Employment per 1,000 workers: 6.988

NEVADA: Continuous mining machine operators

Number employed: 3,540

Employment per 1,000 workers: 2.744

NEW HAMPSHIRE: Short order cooks

Shot of a chef preparing food in a commercial kitchen at a restaurant

Number employed: 2,860

Employment per 1,000 workers: 4.501

NEW JERSEY: Shampooers

A woman getting her hair washed in a hair salon

Number employed: 1,620

Employment per 1,000 workers: 0.422

NEW MEXICO: Oil and gas roustabouts

Number employed: 2,400

Employment per 1,000 workers: 3.090

NEW YORK: Fashion designers

A fashion designer working on a green dress

Number employed: 7,650

Employment per 1,000 workers: 0.882

NORTH CAROLINA: Textile bleaching and dyeing machine operators and tenders

Number employed: 1,450

Employment per 1,000 workers: 0.327

NORTH DAKOTA: Wellhead pumpers

Number employed: 1,200

Employment per 1,000 workers: 3.032

OHIO: Engine and other machine assemblers

fixing production line industrial machine

Number employed: 8,010

Employment per 1,000 workers: 1.539

OKLAHOMA: Gambling surveillance officers and gambling investigators

Number employed: 1,770

Employment per 1,000 workers: 1.138

OREGON: Logging workers (all other)

Number employed: 1,160

Employment per 1,000 workers: 0.635

PENNSYLVANIA: Shampooers

Hairdresser washing hair of customer at salon

Number employed: 1,880

Employment per 1,000 workers: 0.337

RHODE ISLAND: School bus monitors

A school bus driver kneels down to greet a student with a high-five.

Number employed: 1,280

Employment per 1,000 workers: 2.804

SOUTH CAROLINA: Tire builders

A row of tires and someone grabbing one of the tires

Number employed: 4,100

Employment per 1,000 workers: 1.984

SOUTH DAKOTA: Residential advisors

residential advisors moving into college

Number employed: 1,650

Employment per 1,000 workers: 3.922

TENNESSEE: Woodworkers (all other)

Woodworker nailing together drawer in cabinet shop

Number employed: 1,470

Employment per 1,000 workers: 0.494

TEXAS: Wellhead pumpers

Number employed: 9,940

Employment per 1,000 workers: 0.813

UTAH: Plasterers and stucco masons

A worker standing on scaffolding and putting cement plaster on wall

Number employed: 1,820

Employment per 1,000 workers: 1.170

VIRGINIA: Marine engineers and naval architects

Number employed: 1,700

Employment per 1,000 workers: 0.452

WASHINGTON: Personal care and service workers (all other)

A barber talking to a client while cutting hair in a barber shop

Number employed: 14,150

Employment per 1,000 workers: 4.414

WEST VIRGINIA: Psychiatric aides

A nurse giving medicine to group of seniors at retirement community

Number employed: 1,590

Employment per 1,000 workers: 2.420

WISCONSIN: Computer numerically controlled tool operators

Engineer operating control CNC Machinery

Number employed: 15,520

Employment per 1,000 workers: 5.632

WYOMING: Oil and gas roustabouts

Number employed: 1,380

Employment per 1,000 workers: 5.301