Workers in the Memphis, TN-MS-AR Metropolitan Statistical Area had an average (mean) hourly wage of $22.58 in May 2020, about 17 percent below the nationwide average of $27.07, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Regional Commissioner Janet S. Rankin noted that, after testing for statistical significance, wages in the local area were lower than their respective national averages in 19 of the 22 major occupational groups, including computer and mathematical, business and financial operations, and construction and extraction. Three groups had wages that were not significantly different from their respective national averages.

When compared to the nationwide distribution, Memphis area employment was more highly concentrated in 3 of the 22 occupational groups—transportation and material moving, protective service, and healthcare practitioners and technical. Thirteen groups had employment shares significantly below their national representation, including business and financial operations, computer and mathematical, and construction and extraction. (See table A.)

One occupational group—transportation and material moving—was chosen to illustrate the diversity of data available for any of the 22 major occupational categories. Memphis had 103,860 jobs in transportation and material moving occupations, accounting for 17.1 percent of local area employment, significantly higher than the 8.7-percent national share. The local average hourly wage for this occupational group was $17.99, significantly lower than the national average of $19.08.

Some of the larger detailed occupations within the transportation and material moving group included hand laborers and freight, stock, and material movers (36,540); heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers (15,270); and stockers and order fillers (14,400). Among the higher-paying jobs in this group were transportation inspectors and ship engineers, with mean hourly wages of $47.04 and $43.25, respectively. At the lower end of the wage scale were parking attendants ($12.11) and passenger vehicle drivers, except transit and intercity bus drivers ($12.28). (Detailed data for the transportation and material moving occupations are presented in table 1; for a complete listing of detailed occupations, go to www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_32820.htm.)

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 Memphis area, above-average concentrations of employment were found in many of the occupations within the transportation and material moving group. For instance, hand laborers and freight, stock, and material movers were employed at 3.0 times the national rate in Memphis, and industrial truck and tractor operators, at 2.2 times the U.S. average. Driver/sales workers had a location quotient of 0.8 in Memphis, indicating that this particular occupation’s local and national employment shares were similar.

These statistics are from the Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) survey, a federal-state cooperative program between BLS and State Workforce Agencies, in this case, the Tennessee Department of Labor & Workforce Development, Mississippi Department of Employment Security, and Arkansas Division of Workforce Services.

Technical Note

The Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) survey is a semiannual survey measuring occupational employment and wage rates for wage and salary workers in nonfarm establishments in the United States. The OEWS data available from BLS include cross-industry occupational employment and wage estimates for the nation; over 580 areas, including states and the District of Columbia, metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs), nonmetropolitan areas, and territories; national industry-specific estimates at the NAICS sector, 3-digit, most 4-digit, and selected 5- and 6-digit industry levels, and national estimates by ownership across all industries and for schools and hospitals. OEWS data are available at www.bls.gov/oes/tables.htm.

The OEWS survey is a cooperative effort between BLS and the State Workforce Agencies (SWAs). BLS funds the survey and provides the procedures and technical support, while the State Workforce Agencies collect most of the data. OEWS estimates are constructed from a sample of about 1.1 million establishments. Each year, two semiannual panels of approximately 180,000 to 185,000 sampled establishments are contacted, one panel in May and the other in November. Responses are obtained by mail, Internet or other electronic means, email, telephone, or personal visit. The May 2020 estimates are based on responses from six semiannual panels collected over a 3-year period: May 2020, November 2019, May 2019, November 2018, May 2018, and November 2017. The unweighted sample employment of 83 million across all six semiannual panels represents approximately 56 percent of total national employment. The overall national response rate for the six panels, based on the 50 states and the District of Columbia, is 69 percent based on establishments and 66 percent based on weighted sampled employment. The sample in the Memphis, TN-MS-AR Metropolitan Statistical Area included 4,471 establishments with a response rate of 69 percent. For more information about OEWS concepts and methodology, go to www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_tec.htm.

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.

Metropolitan 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 Memphis, TN-MS-AR Metropolitan Statistical Area includes Fayette, Shelby, and Tipton Counties of Tennessee; Benton, DeSoto, Marshall, Tate, and Tunica Counties of Mississippi; and Crittenden County, Arkansas.

For more information

Answers to frequently asked questions about the OEWS data are available at www.bls.gov/oes/oes_ques.htm. Detailed information about the OEWS program is available at www.bls.gov/oes/oes_doc.htm.

Information in this release will be made available to individuals with sensory impairments upon request. Voice phone: (202) 691-5200; Federal Relay Service: (800) 877-8339.

Table 1. Employment and wage data for transportation and material moving occupations, Memphis metropolitan area, May 2020

Occupation (1)	Employment		Mean wages
	Level (2)	Location quotient (3)	Hourly	Annual (4)
Transportation and material moving occupations	103,860	2.0	$17.99	$37,420
Aircraft cargo handling supervisors	(5)	(5)	25.36	52,750
First-line supervisors of transportation and material moving workers, except aircraft cargo handling supervisors	5,480	2.6	29.19	60,720
Airline pilots, copilots, and flight engineers	80	0.2	(6)	89,810
Commercial pilots	(5)	(5)	(6)	101,420
Ambulance drivers and attendants, except emergency medical technicians	400	6.5	12.67	26,340
Driver/sales workers	1,550	0.8	14.50	30,170
Heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers	15,270	1.9	22.93	47,700
Light truck drivers	8,840	2.2	19.09	39,710
Bus drivers, transit and intercity	450	0.6	19.68	40,930
Passenger vehicle drivers, except bus drivers, transit and intercity	2,050	0.8	12.28	25,550
Motor vehicle operators, all other	240	1.1	15.49	32,220
Sailors and marine oilers	40	0.4	19.75	41,070
Captains, mates, and pilots of water vessels	1,130	9.4	33.24	69,140
Ship engineers	190	5.7	43.25	89,960
Parking attendants	300	0.6	12.11	25,190
Automotive and watercraft service attendants	620	1.3	12.51	26,020
Traffic technicians	80	2.4	22.51	46,810
Transportation inspectors	120	1.0	47.04	97,850
Aircraft service attendants and transportation workers, all other	310	2.1	21.60	44,930
Conveyor operators and tenders	160	1.6	19.09	39,700
Industrial truck and tractor operators	6,170	2.2	16.83	35,010
Cleaners of vehicles and equipment	1,240	0.8	13.68	28,460
Laborers and freight, stock, and material movers, hand	36,540	3.0	15.11	31,420
Machine feeders and offbearers	90	0.3	15.22	31,650
Packers and packagers, hand	4,360	1.7	12.61	26,230
Stockers and order fillers	14,400	1.5	14.83	30,850
Refuse and recyclable material collectors	630	1.2	18.01	37,460
Tank car, truck, and ship loaders	300	5.4	27.48	57,170
Material moving workers, all other	(5)	(5)	14.98	31,160
Footnotes: (1) For a complete listing of all detailed occupations in the Memphis, TN-MS-AR Metropolitan Statistical Area, see www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_32820.htm. (2) Estimates for detailed occupations may not sum to the totals due to rounding, and because the totals may include occupations that are not shown separately. 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. (5) Estimate not released. (6) Wages for some occupations that do not generally work year-round, full time, are reported either as hourly wages or annual salaries depending on how they are typically paid.