Nearly all H-2B workers are employed in a small number of occupations: Top 10 H-2B occupations by number of USCIS-approved petitions, fiscal year 2021
| H-2B Rank | Major group SOC code | Occupation | Initial approval | Continuing approval | Total approvals | Share of total H-2B approvals |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 37 | Building and Grounds Cleaning and Maintenance Occupations | 56,388 | 6,960 | 63,348 | 48.0% |
| 2 | 51 | Production Occupations | 13,087 | 2,674 | 15,761 | 11.9% |
| 3 | 45 | Farming, Fishing, and Forestry Occupations | 10,692 | 2,057 | 12,749 | 9.7% |
| 4 | 35 | Food Preparation and Serving Related Occupations | 6,744 | 3,262 | 10,006 | 7.6% |
| 5 | 39 | Personal Care and Service Occupations | 8,785 | 1,149 | 9,934 | 7.5% |
| 6 | 47 | Construction and Extraction Occupations | 7,270 | 1,052 | 8,322 | 6.3% |
| 7 | 53 | Transportation and Material-Moving Occupations | 4,512 | 576 | 5,088 | 3.9% |
| 8 | N/A | N/A | 3,191 | 1,424 | 4,615 | 3.5% |
| 9 | 49 | Installation, Maintenance, and Repair Occupations | 512 | 101 | 613 | 0.5% |
| 10 | 27 | Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media Occupations | 520 | 22 | 542 | 0.4% |
| Totals for the top 10 | 111,701 | 19,277 | 130,978 | 99.1% | ||
| Totals for top 10 occupations excluding N/A | 108,510 | 17,853 | 126,363 | 95.7% | ||
| Total H-2B approvals, all occupations | 112,546 | 19,555 | 132,101 | 100% | ||
Note: SOC stands for Standard Occupational Classification, which is a system of job classification created by the U.S. Department of Labor, see https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_stru.htm#47-0000. N/A stands for not available; these were individual records in the H-2B Employer Data Hub that had blank fields for the column listing the occupation in an H-2B petition.
Source: United States Citizenship and Immigration Services, U.S. Department of Homeland Security, H-2B Employer Data Hub, fiscal year 2021 data file.