---
title: "Referee"
description: "Officiate at competitive athletic or sporting events. Detect infractions of rules and decide penalties according to established regulations. Includes all…"
canonical: "https://nuecareer.com/careers/referee"
last-updated: "2026-10-09T10:57:55.138Z"
---

# Referee

**Category:** Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media · **SOC code:** 27-2023 · **O\*NET-SOC code:** 27-2023.00

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.

Also advertised as: Basketball Referee; Diving Judge; Dressage Judge; Football Referee; Horse Show Judge; Major League Baseball Umpire (MLB Umpire); Referee; Soccer Referee.

## At a glance

- **Median annual wage:** $40,710 (BLS OEWS, May 2025)
- **Median hourly wage:** Not published by BLS
- **Wage range (10th–90th percentile):** $26,540 to $82,960, with the middle half between $32,260 and $57,160
- **Total US employment:** 15,780
- **Typical entry education:** High school
- **Preparation required:** Little or no preparation — O\*NET rates this "Job Zone 1-2: Very Little to Some Preparation Needed"
- **Projected growth:** +5.2% over 2025–2035 (BLS EP, 2025–2035)
- **Annual job openings:** 4,300 openings a year
- **AI-resilience score:** 41/100 — a NueCareer heuristic over O\*NET work activities and context, not a BLS or O\*NET figure

## Pay

National wage distribution, BLS OEWS, May 2025, across 15,780 US jobs.

| Percentile | Annual wage |
| --- | --- |
| 10th | $26,540 |
| 25th | $32,260 |
| 50th (median) | $40,710 |
| 75th | $57,160 |
| 90th | $82,960 |
| Mean (average) | $53,010 |

### Pay by state

The 15 highest-paying states, by median annual wage. The cost-of-living-adjusted column divides the state median by that state's BEA Regional Price Parity, so the columns answer different questions: the first is what the job pays there, the second is what that pay buys there.

| State | Median annual wage | Cost-of-living adjusted | Employment |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| NJ | $67,600 | $62,129 | 420 |
| ND | $63,920 | $71,853 | 180 |
| SC | $61,290 | $65,377 | 50 |
| WI | $57,000 | $60,577 | 300 |
| OH | $55,040 | $59,327 | 580 |
| LA | $50,080 | $56,776 | 310 |
| IL | $49,070 | $49,091 | 690 |
| MA | $48,400 | $45,765 | 250 |
| WV | $46,490 | $51,946 | 50 |
| AZ | $46,440 | $46,128 | 210 |
| IN | $46,140 | $49,438 | 170 |
| VT | $46,080 | $47,041 | 80 |
| CA | $44,530 | $40,219 | 1,950 |
| CO | $44,230 | $42,920 | 1,120 |
| PA | $44,200 | $45,300 | 320 |

19 more states with published wage data are omitted here. The full table for all 34 states is at https://nuecareer.com/careers/referee/salary-by-state, or as JSON at https://nuecareer.com/api/v1/careers/referee.

## Outlook

BLS projects employment to move from 18,200 in the 2025–2035 base year to 19,200 by the end of the cycle — a gain of 900 jobs, or +5.2%. Faster than average: 5.2% against 3.5% projected for all occupations over the same cycle. About 4,300 openings a year are expected on average, counting openings from growth as well as from workers leaving the occupation permanently. Source: BLS EP, 2025–2035.

## How to get in

- **Typical entry education:** High school diploma or equivalent (BLS Employment Projections).
- **Preparation level:** Little or no preparation — O\*NET's preparation band for this occupation is "Job Zone 1-2: Very Little to Some Preparation Needed".
- **Related work experience typically required:** None.
- **Typical on-the-job training:** Moderate-term on-the-job training.

### Education people in this job actually hold

O\*NET surveys incumbents, so this distribution describes who is in the job today and can differ from the BLS entry requirement above.

| Education level | Share of workers |
| --- | --- |
| High School Diploma or the equivalent (such as a GED) | 42.9% |
| Less than a High School Diploma | 23.8% |
| Bachelor's Degree | 14.3% |
| Post-Secondary Certificate | 9.5% |
| Associate's Degree or other 2-year degree | 4.8% |
| Doctoral Degree | 4.8% |

## What the work involves

- Officiate at sporting events, games, or competitions, to maintain standards of play and to ensure that game rules are observed.
- Confer with other sporting officials, coaches, players, and facility managers to provide information, coordinate activities, and discuss problems.
- Teach and explain the rules and regulations governing a specific sport.
- Signal participants or other officials to make them aware of infractions or to otherwise regulate play or competition.
- Inspect game sites for compliance with regulations or safety requirements.
- Inspect sporting equipment or examine participants to ensure compliance with event and safety regulations.
- Report to regulating organizations regarding sporting activities, complaints made, and actions taken or needed, such as fines or other disciplinary actions.
- Resolve claims of rule infractions or complaints by participants and assess any necessary penalties, according to regulations.

## Skills and knowledge

### Essential skills

- Speaking — importance 3.6 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Critical Thinking — importance 3.4 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Active Listening — importance 3.3 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Monitoring — importance 3.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Reading Comprehension — importance 3.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Active Learning — importance 3.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Learning Strategies — importance 3.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Writing — importance 2.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

### Transferable skills

These are the skills that carry into other occupations, and they drive the related-occupation and career-change rankings on this site.

- Judgment and Decision Making — importance 3.3 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Social Perceptiveness — importance 3.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Coordination — importance 3.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Complex Problem Solving — importance 3.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Instructing — importance 2.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Time Management — importance 2.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Persuasion — importance 2.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Negotiation — importance 2.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

### Knowledge areas

- English Language — importance 3.4 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Education and Training — importance 2.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Administration and Management — importance 2.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Customer and Personal Service — importance 2.7 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Psychology — importance 2.5 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Communications and Media — importance 2.4 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

### Abilities

- Oral Expression — importance 3.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Far Vision — importance 3.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Oral Comprehension — importance 3.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Near Vision — importance 3.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Problem Sensitivity — importance 3.6 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Speech Clarity — importance 3.6 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

## Who it suits

O\*NET rates every occupation on the six Holland (RIASEC) interest areas, on a 1–7 scale. This occupation's strongest areas are Enterprising (E), Conventional (C), Realistic (R).

| Interest area | Score (1–7) |
| --- | --- |
| E — Enterprising | 5.77 |
| C — Conventional | 4.53 |
| R — Realistic | 4.30 |
| S — Social | 3.44 |
| I — Investigative | 1.60 |
| A — Artistic | 1.15 |

### Personality fit

These scores are **derived by NueCareer**, not published by any government agency: they are cosine similarities between a personality type's trait profile and this occupation's O\*NET interest and work-style ratings, expressed 0–100. Treat them as a starting point for exploration, not as evidence that a type belongs in a job.

| Type | Fit score (0–100) |
| --- | --- |
| ESTJ | 86.0 |
| ESFJ | 80.7 |
| ISTJ | 68.9 |
| ISFJ | 68.2 |
| ESTP | 65.2 |

Best-fitting types: ESTJ. The bank also flags this occupation as introvert-friendly, meaning O\*NET work-context ratings put it low on public contact and performing for the public.

## Related occupations

O\*NET's primary related occupations, in its own ranked order.

- [Coach and Scout](https://nuecareer.com/careers/coach-and-scout) — median $47,320
- [Professional Athlete](https://nuecareer.com/careers/professional-athlete) — median $66,710
- [Amusement and Recreation Attendant](https://nuecareer.com/careers/amusement-and-recreation-attendant) — median $32,150
- [First-Line Supervisor of Entertainment and Recreation Workers, Except Gambling Services](https://nuecareer.com/careers/first-line-supervisor-of-entertainment-and-recreation-workers) — median $48,560
- [Exercise Trainer and Group Fitness Instructor](https://nuecareer.com/careers/exercise-trainer-and-group-fitness-instructor) — median $47,160
- [First-Line Supervisor of Police and Detectives](https://nuecareer.com/careers/first-line-supervisor-of-police-and-detectives) — median $106,040
- [Animal Trainer](https://nuecareer.com/careers/animal-trainer) — median $39,990
- [Compliance Officer](https://nuecareer.com/careers/compliance-officer) — median $80,730
- [Self-Enrichment Teacher](https://nuecareer.com/careers/self-enrichment-teacher) — median $46,800
- [Bailiff](https://nuecareer.com/careers/bailiff) — median $56,600

## Sources

- **O\*NET** — O\*NET 31.0 Database, August 2026. https://www.onetcenter.org/database.html
- **BLS OEWS** — BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025. https://www.bls.gov/oes/
- **BLS EP** — BLS Employment Projections, Table 1.2, 2025–2035. https://www.bls.gov/emp/
- **BLS OOH** — BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2025–2035 edition. https://www.bls.gov/ooh/
- **BEA RPP** — BEA Regional Price Parities by State, 2024. https://www.bea.gov/data/prices-inflation/regional-price-parities-state-and-metro-area

---

This bank includes information from the 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 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). O\*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. NueCareer has transformed the data by joining it to BLS wage and projection data and deriving facet, personality-fit and AI-resilience scores. BLS and BEA data are public domain (17 U.S.C. §105).

O\*NET content is used under [CC BY 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). How these figures are sourced and derived: https://nuecareer.com/careers/methodology

JSON representation of this page: https://nuecareer.com/api/v1/careers/referee