SOC 27-2023.00Bright outlook

    Umpires, Referees, and Other Sports Officials

    Officiate at competitive athletic or sporting events.

    Median pay
    $40,710
    Growth
    +5.2%
    Faster than average
    Openings a year
    4,300
    Typical education
    High school diploma

    Data verified Nov 2026 · CollegesRef 2026–27 edition

    Source: BLS 2025 wages · 2025–35 projections

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    Annual pay range

    Lowest 10% earn less than
    $26,540
    Median
    $40,710
    Highest 10% earn more than
    $82,960
    National wages for all workers in this occupation. BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025.

    15,780 people work in this occupation.

    What umpires, referees, and other sports officials do

    Job Zone 2: Some preparation

    Officiate at competitive athletic or sporting events. Detect infractions of rules and decide penalties according to established regulations. Includes all sporting officials, referees, and competition judges.

    Usually a high school diploma; some on-the-job training or experience.

    Interest profile

    Realistic (R)
    55 / 100
    Investigative (I)
    10 / 100
    Artistic (A)
    2 / 100
    Social (S)
    41 / 100
    Enterprising (E) · strongest
    80 / 100
    Conventional (C)
    59 / 100
    How strongly each interest area describes the work, from O*NET (scores rescaled to 0–100). The interest code lists the strongest areas in order.

    Interest code ECR. Compare it with yours

    What you'd do

    Getting Information
    76
    Making Decisions and Solving Problems
    75
    Updating and Using Relevant Knowledge
    72
    Identifying Objects, Actions, and Events
    71
    Communicating with Supervisors, Peers, or Subordinates
    71
    Establishing and Maintaining Interpersonal Relationships
    66
    Evaluating Information to Determine Compliance with Standards
    66
    Resolving Conflicts and Negotiating with Others
    62
    Judging the Qualities of Objects, Services, or People
    61
    Performing General Physical Activities
    60
    Work activities rated by importance for this occupation, O*NET (0–100).

    Skills and strengths

    Skills

    • Speaking
    • Critical Thinking
    • Active Listening
    • Judgment and Decision Making
    • Monitoring
    • Active Learning
    • Complex Problem Solving
    • Coordination
    • Learning Strategies
    • Reading Comprehension

    Knowledge

    • English Language
    • Education and Training
    • Administration and Management
    • Customer and Personal Service
    • Psychology
    • Communications and Media
    • Mathematics
    • Computers and Electronics
    • Transportation
    • Administrative

    Abilities

    • Far Vision
    • Oral Expression
    • Near Vision
    • Oral Comprehension
    • Problem Sensitivity
    • Speech Clarity
    • Deductive Reasoning
    • Speech Recognition
    • Flexibility of Closure
    • Perceptual Speed

    Work styles

    • Integrity
    • Self-Control
    • Dependability
    • Stress Tolerance
    • Self-Confidence
    • Attention to Detail
    • Cautiousness
    • Leadership Orientation
    • Perseverance
    • Sincerity

    Also called

    Athletic Events Scorer · Baseball Coach · Baseball Umpire · Basketball Manager · Basketball Referee · Basketball Scorekeeper · Clerk of Scales · Clocker · Dance Critic · Diving Judge

    CareerOneStop

    Certifications, licenses and pay by state

    What umpires, referees, and other sports officials may need beyond a degree, where a license is required, and what the work pays in each state.

    Licenses by state

    34 states list a license for this work. Open your state for the license and the agency that issues it.

    Check license requirements on CareerOneStop

    Data from CareerOneStop, sponsored by the U.S. Department of Labor (Employment and Training Administration, with the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development). Retrieved November 6, 2026.

    Your plan

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    Sources and attribution

    Every figure on this page comes from these public datasets. Missing values are shown as not reported, never estimated.

    O*NET 31.0 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license. CollegesRef has modified all or some of this information.

    Data from CareerOneStop, sponsored by the U.S. Department of Labor (Employment and Training Administration, with the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development). Retrieved November 6, 2026.

    Page data updated November 5, 2026.