The median employee tenure in the US is 4.3 years for men and 3.8 years for women. You’ve likely been told before that staying in your current position for at least a few years is important, and many Americans take this to heart.
However, there are many factors that go into the average employee tenure, such as the employee’s age, industry, education, and gender.
To find out more, we’ve gathered data on the most employee tenure in the US. According to our extensive research:
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Those between 16-19 only have an average of 0.7 years of tenure, while those 55+ have an average of 9.8 years of tenure.
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Those in Management occupations have the highest average years of tenure (6.2), while those in Food preparation and serving have the lowest (1.6).
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Employees in the Manufacturing industry have the highest average years of tenure (5.2), while employees in the Leisure and hospitality industry have the lowest (2.0).
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Employees in the Public Sector have an average of 6.7 years of tenure, while those in the Private Sector only have 3.8 years of tenure.
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The average worker with no diploma has 4.5 years of tenure, while the average worker with a Doctoral degree has 5.5 years of tenure.
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31% of US workers 25 and older have over ten years of tenure.
For further analysis, we broke down the data in the following ways:
Age | Occupation | Industry | Sector | Education Level | Percent Of Employees
Median Years Of Employee Tenure By Age
| Age | Average | Men | Women |
|---|---|---|---|
| 16-17 | 0.7 | 0.7 | 0.6 |
| 18-19 | 0.7 | 0.7 | 0.8 |
| 20-24 | 1.2 | 1.3 | 1.1 |
| 25-34 | 2.8 | 2.9 | 2.7 |
| 35-44 | 4.7 | 5.0 | 4.5 |
| 45-54 | 6.9 | 7.5 | 6.3 |
| 55-64 | 9.8 | 10.0 | 9.5 |
| 65+ | 9.9 | 9.7 | 10.0 |
Median Years Of Employee Tenure By Occupation
| Occupation | Median years of tenure |
|---|---|
| Management | 6.2 |
| Business and financial operations | 4.3 |
| Computer and mathematical | 4.2 |
| Architecture and engineering | 5.2 |
| Life, physical, and social science | 4.5 |
| Community and social service | 4.3 |
| Legal | 4.7 |
| Education, training, and library | 5.5 |
| Arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media | 3.5 |
| Healthcare practitioners and technical | 4.6 |
| Healthcare support | 2.9 |
| Protective service | 6.0 |
| Food preparation and serving | 1.6 |
| Building and grounds cleaning and maintenance | 3.6 |
| Personal care and service | 2.7 |
| Sales | 3.4 |
| Office and administrative support | 3.7 |
| Farming, fishing, and forestry | 4.1 |
| Construction and extraction | 3.9 |
| Installation, maintenance, and repair | 4.4 |
| Production | 4.6 |
| Transportation and material moving | 3.1 |
Median Years Of Employee Tenure By Industry
| Industry | Median years of tenure |
|---|---|
| Agriculture and related | 4.7 |
| Mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction | 5.2 |
| Construction | 3.9 |
| Manufacturing | 5.2 |
| Wholesale and retail trade | 3.1 |
| Transportation and utilities | 3.7 |
| Information | 4.2 |
| Financial activities | 4.5 |
| Real estate and rental and leasing | 3.9 |
| Professional and business services | 3.4 |
| Education and health services | 4.0 |
| Leisure and hospitality | 2.0 |
Median Years Of Employee Tenure By Sector
| Sector | Median years of tenure |
|---|---|
| Public | 6.8 |
| Private | 3.7 |
Median Years Of Employee Tenure By Education Level
| Education level | Average | Men | Women |
|---|---|---|---|
| No diploma | 4.5 | 4.5 | 4.3 |
| High school diploma | 4.9 | 5.1 | 4.7 |
| Some college | 4.8 | 5.0 | 4.5 |
| Associate degree | 4.9 | 5.2 | 4.6 |
| Bachelor’s degree | 4.9 | 5.0 | 4.7 |
| Master’s degree | 5.2 | 5.1 | 5.3 |
| Doctoral degree | 5.5 | 6.3 | 4.9 |
Percent Of Employees With Over Ten Years Of Tenure By Age
| Age | Average | Men | Women |
|---|---|---|---|
| 25-29 | 1.7% | 2.4% | 1.1% |
| 30-34 | 9.4% | 10.1% | 8.5% |
| 35-39 | 21% | 23.1% | 18.7% |
| 40-44 | 32.4% | 34.3% | 30.4% |
| 45-49 | 39% | 41.8% | 36.1% |
| 50-54 | 46% | 47.3% | 44.5% |
| 55-59 | 50.2% | 52.5% | 47.7% |
| 60-64 | 53.3% | 53.2% | 53.5% |
| 65+ | 52.4% | 51.5% | 53.4% |
Employee Tenure FAQ
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What is the meaning of employee tenure?
Employee tenure is how long an employee has been employed at a company. It can be measured individually from person to person or as an average of all employees working at a company.
For companies, this measurement can be useful because it provides insight into issues such as turnover or employee satisfaction. For instance, having low employee tenure compared to other companies could indicate high turnover rates and other problems.
On a larger scale, median employee tenure can provide useful insights into how long certain demographics stay in their jobs in the US.
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How do you become a tenured employee?
You can become a tenured employee by working at a company for several years. While the specific number of years can depend on the company, the general consensus is that an employee who’s worked at the same place for less than five years is short-tenured, while an employee who’s worked for over five years is long-tenured.
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What are the benefits of employee tenure?
There are many benefits of employee tenure, the most important of which is stability. To understand why employee tenure provides stability, here are some other key benefits of long-tenured employees:
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Job security
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Reduced hiring and training budget
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Increased motivation
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Improved productivity
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Commitment to the organization
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Conclusion
The average employee tenure in the US can vary greatly depending on an employee’s age, gender, occupation, industry, education level, and more. For example, while the median tenure for public sector employees is 6.7 years, the median for private sector employees is only 3.8 years.
Overall, older male employees in the public sector are far more likely to have longer tenure than younger female employees in the private sector.
While this alone isn’t evidence of anything more than personal preference and statistical likelihood, companies should also make an effort to ensure long-tenure opportunities are available to all employees.
Source:
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BLS – Employee Tenure
Author
Jack Flynn is a writer for Zippia. In his professional career he’s written over 100 research papers, articles and blog posts. Some of his most popular published works include his writing about economic terms and research into job classifications. Jack received his BS from Hampshire College.
