Workers in the Fairbanks Metropolitan Statistical Area had an average (mean) hourly wage of $26.40 in May 2014, about 16 percent above the nationwide average of $22.71, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Regional Commissioner Richard J. Holden noted that, after testing for statistical significance, wages in the local area were higher than their respective national averages in 13 of the 22 major occupational groups, including education, training, and library; production; and construction and extraction. Five groups had significantly lower wages than their respective national averages, including management; arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media; and computer and mathematical.

When compared to the nationwide distribution, local employment was more highly concentrated in 8 of the 22 occupational groups, including construction and extraction; education, training, and library; and life, physical, and social science. Conversely, 10 groups had employment shares significantly below their national representation, including production; sales and related; and business and financial operations. (See table A and box note at end of release.)

One occupational group—construction and extraction—was chosen to illustrate the diversity of data available for any of the 22 major occupational categories. Fairbanks had 2,580 jobs in construction and extraction, accounting for 7.2 percent of local area employment, significantly higher than the 3.9-percent share nationally. The average hourly wage for this occupational group locally was $29.73, significantly above the national wage of $22.40.

Some of the largest detailed occupations within the construction and extraction group included operating engineers and other construction equipment operators (420), plumbers, pipefitters, and steamfitters (360), and construction laborers (310). Among the higher paying jobs were hazardous materials removal workers, and construction and building inspectors, with mean hourly wages of $40.90 and $37.01, respectively. At the lower end of the wage scale were construction laborers ($21.95) and construction and maintenance painters ($28.02). (Detailed occupational data for construction and extraction are presented in table 1; for a complete listing of detailed occupations available go to www.bls.gov/oes/2014/may/oes_21820.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 Fairbanks Metropolitan Statistical Area, above-average concentrations of employment were found in many of the occupations within the construction and extraction group. For instance, operating engineers and other construction equipment operators were employed at 4.5 times the national rate in Fairbanks, and plumbers, pipefitters, and steamfitters, at 3.7 times the U.S. average. On the other hand, construction laborers had a location quotient of 1.4 in Fairbanks, 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 Alaska Department of Labor & Workforce Development.

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. May 2014 estimates are based on responses from six semiannual panels collected over a 3-year period: May 2014, November 2013, May 2013, November 2012, May 2012, and November 2011. The overall national response rate for the six panels is 74.3 percent based on establishments and 70.5 percent based on weighted sampled employment. The unweighted employment of sampled establishments across all six semiannual panels represents approximately 57.1 percent of total national employment. (Response rates are slightly lower for these estimates due to the federal shutdown in October 2013.) The sample in the Fairbanks Metropolitan Statistical Area included 660 establishments with a response rate of 84 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 2014 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 Fairbanks, Alaska Metropolitan Statistical Area  includes Fairbanks North Star Borough.

Additional information

OES data are available on our regional web page at www.bls.gov/regions/west. 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/2014/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, Fairbanks Metropolitan Statistical Area, May 2014

Occupation (1)	Employment		Mean wages
	Level (2)	Location quotient (3)	Hourly	Annual (4)
Construction and Extraction Occupations	2,580	1.8	$29.73	$61,840
First-Line Supervisors of Construction Trades and Extraction Workers	230	1.7	36.25	75,390
Carpenters	300	1.8	30.10	62,610
Construction Laborers	310	1.4	21.95	45,660
Operating Engineers and Other Construction Equipment Operators	420	4.5	30.86	64,190
Electricians	240	1.6	35.20	73,210
Glaziers	40	3.8	29.59	61,540
Painters, Construction and Maintenance	50	1.0	28.02	58,290
Plumbers, Pipefitters, and Steamfitters	360	3.7	33.06	68,770
Sheet Metal Workers	80	2.4	28.76	59,830
Construction and Building Inspectors	40	1.9	37.01	76,980
Hazardous Materials Removal Workers	50	4.5	40.90	85,070
Footnotes: (1) For a complete listing of all detailed occupations in Fairbanks, AK, see www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_21820.htm. (2) Estimates for detailed occupations do not sum to the totals because the totals include occupations 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.