Workers in the Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Marietta Metropolitan Statistical Area had an average (mean) hourly wage of $23.21 in May 2013, about 4 percent above the nationwide average of $22.33, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Regional Commissioner Janet S. Rankin noted that, after testing for statistical significance, wages in the local area were significantly higher than their respective national averages in 4 of the 22 major occupational groups, including sales and related, and management. Ten groups had significantly lower wages than their respective national averages, including construction and extraction; education, training, and library; and production.

When compared to the nationwide distribution, local employment was more highly concentrated in 7 of the 22 occupational groups, including business and financial operations, management, and transportation and material moving. Conversely, 12 groups had employment shares significantly below their national representation, including production, healthcare practitioners and technical, and healthcare support. (See table A and box note at end of release.)

One occupational group—business and financial operations—was chosen to illustrate the diversity of data available for any of the 22 major occupational categories. Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Marietta had 157,510 jobs in business and financial operations, accounting for 6.8 percent of local area employment, significantly higher than the 5.0-percent share nationally. The average hourly wage for this occupational group locally was $35.24, measurably above the national wage of $34.14.

With employment of 28,460, accountants and auditors was the largest occupation within the business and financial operations group, followed by management analysts (21,260) and market research analysts and marketing specialists (10,620). Among the higher paying jobs were personal financial advisors and management analysts, with mean hourly wages of $57.36 and $43.90, respectively. At the lower end of the wage scale were meeting, convention, and event planners ($23.63) and tax examiners and collectors, and revenue agents ($23.94). (Detailed occupational data for business and financial operations are presented in table 1; for a complete listing of detailed occupations available go to www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_12060.htm.)

Table A. Occupational employment and wages by major occupational group, United States and the Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Marietta Metropolitan Statistical Area, and measures of statistical significance, May 2013

Major occupational group	Percent of total employment		Mean hourly wage
	United States	Atlanta	United States	Atlanta	Percent difference (1)
Total, all occupations	100.0%	100.0%	$22.33	$23.21*	4
Management	4.9	6.3*	53.15	55.55*	5
Business and financial operations	5.0	6.8*	34.14	35.24*	3
Computer and mathematical	2.8	4.0*	39.43	38.67	-2
Architecture and engineering	1.8	1.5*	38.51	37.02*	-4
Life, physical, and social science	0.9	0.5*	33.37	30.93*	-7
Community and social services	1.4	1.0*	21.50	21.91	2
Legal	0.8	0.9*	47.89	51.63	8
Education, training, and library	6.3	6.1*	24.76	22.65*	-9
Arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media	1.3	1.3	26.72	24.55*	-8
Healthcare practitioner and technical	5.8	4.9*	35.93	36.79	2
Healthcare support	3.0	2.1*	13.61	13.42	-1
Protective service	2.5	2.3	20.92	16.42*	-22
Food preparation and serving related	9.0	8.8*	10.38	9.70*	-7
Building and grounds cleaning and maintenance	3.2	2.7*	12.51	12.14*	-3
Personal care and service	3.0	2.2*	11.88	11.43*	-4
Sales and related	10.6	11.2*	18.37	19.44*	6
Office and administrative support	16.2	17.0*	16.78	16.89	1
Farming, fishing, and forestry	0.3	0.1*	11.70	13.77*	18
Construction and extraction	3.8	3.0*	21.94	19.28*	-12
Installation, maintenance, and repair	3.9	3.9	21.35	21.19	-1
Production	6.6	5.3*	16.79	15.44*	-8
Transportation and material moving	6.8	8.0*	16.28	17.99	11
* The percent share of employment or mean hourly wage for this area is significantly different from the national average of all areas at the 90-percent confidence level. 1 A positive percent difference measures how much the mean wage in Atlanta is above the national mean wage, while a negative difference reflects a lower wage.

Location quotients allow us to explore the occupational make-up of a metropolitan area by comparing the composition of jobs in an area relative to the national average. (See table 1.) For example, a location quotient of 2.0 indicates that an occupation accounts for twice the share of employment in the area than it does nationally. In the Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Marietta Metropolitan Statistical Area, above average concentrations of employment were found in some of the occupations within the business and financial operations group. For instance, insurance underwriters were employed at 2.4 times the national rate in Atlanta, and management analysts, at 2.2 times the U.S. average. On the other hand, purchasing agents, except wholesale, retail, and farm products had a location quotient of 1.0 in Atlanta, indicating that this particular occupation’s local and national employment shares were similar.

These statistics are from the Occupational Employment Statistics (OES) survey, a federal-state cooperative program between BLS and State Workforce Agencies, in this case, the Georgia Department of Labor.

OES wage and employment data for the 22 major occupational groups in the Atlanta Metropolitan Statistical Area were compared to their respective national averages based on statistical significance testing. Only those occupations with wages or employment shares above or below the national wage or share after testing for significance at the 90-percent confidence level meet the criteria.

NOTE: A value that is statistically different from another does not necessarily mean that the difference has economic or practical significance. Statistical significance is concerned with the ability to make confident statements about a universe based on a sample. It is entirely possible that a large difference between two values is not significantly different statistically, while a small difference is, since both the size and heterogeneity of the sample affect the relative error of the data being tested.

Technical Note

The Occupational Employment Statistics (OES) survey is a semiannual mail survey measuring occupational employment and wage rates for wage and salary workers in nonfarm establishments in the United States. Guam, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands are also surveyed, but their data are not included in the national estimates. OES estimates are constructed from a sample of about 1.2 million establishments. Forms are mailed to approximately 200,000 sampled establishments in May and November each year for a 3-year period. May 2013 estimates are based on responses from six semiannual panels collected in May 2013, November 2012, May 2012, November 2011, May 2011, and November 2010. The overall national response rate for the six panels is 75.3 percent based on establishments and 71.6 percent based on employment. The sample in the Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Marietta Metropolitan Statistical Area included 9,033 establishments with a response rate of 77 percent. For more information about OES concepts and methodology, go to www.bls.gov/news.release/ocwage.tn.htm.

The OES survey provides estimates of employment and hourly and annual wages for wage and salary workers in 22 major occupational groups and 821 detailed occupations for the nation, states, metropolitan statistical areas, metropolitan divisions, and nonmetropolitan areas. In addition, employment and wage estimates for 94 minor groups and 458 broad occupations are available in the national data. OES data by state and metropolitan/nonmetropolitan area are available from www.bls.gov/oes/current/oessrcst.htm and www.bls.gov/oes/current/oessrcma.htm, respectively.

The May 2013 OES estimates are based on the 2010 Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) system and the 2012 North American Industry Classification System (NAICS). Information about the 2010 SOC is available on the BLS website at www.bls.gov/soc and information about the 2012 NAICS is available at www.bls.gov/bls/naics.htm.

Area definitions

The substate area data published in this release reflect the standards and definitions established by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget.

The Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Marietta, Ga. Metropolitan Statistical Area includes Barrow, Bartow, Butts, Carroll, Cherokee, Clayton, Cobb, Coweta, Dawson, DeKalb, Douglas, Fayette, Forsyth, Fulton, Gwinnett, Haralson, Heard, Henry, Jasper, Lamar, Meriwether, Newton, Paulding, Pickens, Pike, Rockdale, Spalding, and Walton Counties.

Additional information

OES data are available on our regional web page at www.bls.gov/regions/southeast. Answers to frequently asked questions about the OES data are available at www.bls.gov/oes/oes_ques.htm. Detailed technical information about the OES survey is available in our Survey Methods and Reliability Statement on the BLS website at www.bls.gov/oes/2013/may/methods_statement.pdf. Information in this release will be made available to sensory impaired individuals upon request – Voice phone: 202-691-5200; Federal Relay Service: 800-877-8339.

Table 1. Employment and wage data from the Occupational Employment Statistics survey, by occupation, Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Marietta Metropolitan Statistical Area, May 2013

Occupation (1)	Employment		Mean wages
	Level (2)	Location quotient (3)	Hourly	Annual (4)
Business and Financial Operations Occupations	157,510	1.4	$35.24	$73,290
Agents and Business Managers of Artists, Performers, and Athletes	360	1.8	21.98	45,720
Buyers and Purchasing Agents, Farm Products	340	1.7	29.38	61,110
Wholesale and Retail Buyers, Except Farm Products	1,760	0.9	34.83	72,450
Purchasing Agents, Except Wholesale, Retail, and Farm Products	5,080	1.0	30.30	63,020
Claims Adjusters, Examiners, and Investigators	5,750	1.2	31.37	65,240
Insurance Appraisers, Auto Damage	340	1.5	32.60	67,810
Compliance Officers	4,740	1.2	28.58	59,450
Cost Estimators	3,530	1.0	30.54	63,520
Human Resources Specialists	9,480	1.3	28.13	58,500
Labor Relations Specialists	580	0.4	28.30	58,860
Logisticians	1,750	0.8	32.18	66,930
Management Analysts	21,260	2.2	43.90	91,310
Meeting, Convention, and Event Planners	1,770	1.4	23.63	49,150
Fundraisers	280	0.3	26.80	55,750
Compensation, Benefits, and Job Analysis Specialists	1,510	1.1	32.37	67,330
Training and Development Specialists	5,580	1.4	30.34	63,100
Market Research Analysts and Marketing Specialists	10,620	1.4	31.30	65,100
Business Operations Specialists, All Other	23,600	1.4	35.11	73,020
Accountants and Auditors	28,460	1.4	36.56	76,040
Appraisers and Assessors of Real Estate	1,280	1.2	22.79	47,410
Budget Analysts	1,310	1.3	34.17	71,060
Credit Analysts	1,970	1.7	33.31	69,290
Financial Analysts	5,740	1.3	40.42	84,070
Personal Financial Advisors	4,150	1.3	57.36	119,300
Insurance Underwriters	3,830	2.4	35.54	73,920
Financial Examiners	620	1.2	48.28	100,430
Credit Counselors	270	0.6	20.65	42,950
Loan Officers	5,020	1.0	38.64	80,360
Tax Examiners and Collectors, and Revenue Agents	1,830	1.6	23.94	49,800
Tax Preparers	1,930	1.6	22.01	45,770
Financial Specialists, All Other	2,780	1.1	28.56	59,410
(1) For a complete listing of all detailed occupations in Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Marietta see www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_12060.htm. (2) Estimates do not include self-employed workers. (3) The location quotient is the ratio of the area concentration of occupational employment to the national average concentration. A location quotient greater than one indicates the occupation has a higher share of employment than average, and a location quotient less than one indicates the occupation is less prevalent in the area than average. (4) Annual wages have been calculated by multiplying the hourly mean wage by a ‘year-round, full-time’ hours figure of 2,080 hours; for those occupations where there is not an hourly mean wage published, the annual wage has been directly calculated from the reported survey data.