Salaries for Umpires in Softball
Softball, like all other sports, can be fiercely competitive, the will to win so strong that players can contravene the rules. Softball umpires are there to adjudicate when the rules have been broken and to determine, according to the rules of the game, the correct penalty. They also check that the pitch meets regulations prior to play commencing and make reports at the end of each game detailing the score and any major incidences. Salary levels for the role are comparable with those for officials in other sports.
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Average Salary
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For the purposes of its national employment survey conducted in May 2010, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics classified softball umpires alongside their fellow umpires and referees working in other sports. It concluded that the mean annual salary across the profession was $28,900. Those in the top 10 percent of earners received in excess of $50,350 while their counterparts in the bottom 10 percent earned less than $16,310 per annum.
Salary by Industry
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Of the industry sectors detailed in the bureau's survey, softball umpires are most likely to work within elementary and secondary schools and civic and social organizations. The BLS listed the mean yearly wages within these sectors as $36,320 and $26,260, respectively. Those employed within spectator sports earned a mean of $27,050 while positions in other amusement and recreation industries paid $23,640.
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Salary by Location
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Location can also play a part in determining an umpire's salary. The BLS reported that across all industry sectors, an umpire was likely to earn the highest wages in Michigan, which had a mean of $59,470. New York and Oklahoma were listed with very similar pay rates -- $41,900 and $41,770 -- as were Missouri and Colorado, at $28,890 and $28,530, respectively. Among the states with the lowest salaries were Kansas at $24,840 and Utah at just $21,730 per annum.
Outlook
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The BLS predicts that employment opportunities across the sporting industry -- for umpires, including those working within softball as well as for athletes and coaches -- will increase by approximately 23 percent over the decade from 2008 to 2018. This exceeds the growth rate posited for the country as a whole across all occupations, which is at somewhere between 7 and 13 percent for the same period. As the population increases, so will participation in sporting activities, thus spurring the need for officials. As a result, wage levels for the profession should remain competitive.
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