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News Release Information

16-1416-KAN
Friday, July 01, 2016

Contacts Technical information: Media contact:
  • (816) 285-7000

Occupational Employment and Wages in St. Louis — May 2015

Workers in the St. Louis Metropolitan Statistical Area had an average (mean) hourly wage of $22.69 in May 2015, below the nationwide average of $23.23, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Regional Commissioner Stanley W. Suchman noted that, after testing for statistical significance, wages in the local area were significantly lower than their respective national averages in 13 of the 22 major occupational groups, including legal; healthcare practitioners and technical; and life, physical, and social science. Four occupational groups had wages that were significantly higher than their respective national averages, including construction and extraction, and production.

When compared to the nationwide distribution, local employment was more highly concentrated in 5 of the 22 occupational groups, including food preparation and serving related; healthcare practitioners and technical; and business and financial operations. Conversely, seven groups had employment shares significantly below their national representation, including transportation and material moving; production; and education, training, and library. (See table A and box note at end of release.)

Table A. Occupational employment and wages by major occupational group, United States and the St. Louis Metropolitan Statistical Area, and measures of statistical significance, May 2015
Major occupational groupPercent of total employmentMean hourly wage
United StatesSt. LouisUnited StatesSt. LouisPercent difference (1)

Total, all occupations

100.0%100.0%$23.23$22.69*-2

Management

5.05.255.3053.46*-3

Business and Financial Operations

5.15.5*35.4834.57*-3

Computer and Mathematical

2.93.3*41.4339.11*-6

Architecture and Engineering

1.81.6*39.8939.47-1

Life, Physical, and Social Science

0.80.6*34.2430.26*-12

Community and Social Services

1.41.322.1919.91*-10

Legal

0.80.749.7443.02*-14

Education, Training, and Library

6.25.7*25.4824.31*-5

Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media

1.31.227.3924.28*-11

Healthcare Practitioner and Technical

5.86.8*37.4032.86*-12

Healthcare Support

2.92.914.1913.29*-6

Protective Service

2.42.1*21.4520.51-4

Food Preparation and Serving Related

9.110.1*10.9810.33*-6

Building and Grounds Cleaning and Maintenance

3.23.313.0212.47*-4

Personal Care and Service

3.13.5*12.3311.25*-9

Sales and Related

10.510.318.9018.900

Office and Administrative Support

15.816.117.4717.470

Farming, Fishing, and Forestry

0.30.1*12.6714.58*15

Construction and Extraction

4.03.922.8827.08*18

Installation, Maintenance, and Repair

3.93.822.1122.61*2

Production

6.66.0*17.4118.52*6

Transportation and Material Moving

6.96.1*16.9016.57-2

Footnotes:
(1) A positive percent difference measures how much the mean wage in St. Louis is above the national mean wage, while a negative difference reflects a lower wage.
* 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.
 

One occupational group—business and financial operations—was chosen to illustrate the diversity of data available for any of the 22 major occupational categories. St. Louis had 72,590 jobs in business and financial operations, accounting for 5.5 percent of local area employment, significantly higher than the 5.1-percent share nationally. The average hourly wage for this occupational group locally was $34.57, significantly below the national wage of $35.48.

Some of the larger detailed occupations within the business and financial operations group included accountants and auditors (12,450), market research analysts and marketing specialists (5,250), and human resources specialists (4,820). Among the higher-paying jobs were personal financial advisors and financial analysts, with mean hourly wages of $54.09 and $44.47, respectively. Occupations at the lower end of the wage scale included meeting, convention, and event planners ($24.68). (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/2015/may/oes_41180.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 St. Louis Metropolitan Statistical Area, above-average concentrations of employment were found in some of the occupations within the business and financial operations group. For instance, claims adjusters, examiners, and investigators were employed at 1.6 times the national rate in St. Louis. On the other hand, human resources specialists had a location quotient of 1.0 in St. Louis, 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 Missouri Department of Economic Development.

Notes on Occupational Employment Statistics Data

With the issuance of data for May 2015, the OES program has incorporated redefined metropolitan area definitions as designated by the Office of Management and Budget. OES data are available for 394 metropolitan areas, 38 metropolitan divisions, and 167 OES-defined nonmetropolitan areas. A listing of the areas and their definitions can be found at www.bls.gov/oes/current/msa_def.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.


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. The OES program produces employment and wage estimates for over 800 occupations for all industries combined in the nation; the 50 states and the District of Columbia; 432 metropolitan areas and divisions; 167 nonmetropolitan areas; and Guam, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. National estimates are also available by industry for NAICS sectors, 3-, 4-, and selected 5- and 6-digit industries, and by ownership across all industries and for schools and hospitals. OES data are available at www.bls.gov/oes/tables.htm.

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 2015 estimates are based on responses from six semiannual panels collected over a 3-year period: May 2015, November 2014, May 2014, November 2013, May 2013, and November 2012. The overall national response rate for the six panels is 73.5 percent based on establishments and 69.6 percent based on weighted sampled employment. The unweighted employment of sampled establishments across all six semiannual panels represents approximately 57.9 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 St. Louis Metropolitan Statistical Area included 8,048 establishments with a response rate of 62 percent. For more information about OES concepts and methodology, go to www.bls.gov/news.release/ocwage.tn.htm.

The May 2015 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.

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 St. Louis, Mo.-Ill. Metropolitan Statistical Area  includes Franklin, Jefferson, Lincoln, St. Charles, St. Louis, St. Louis city, and Warren Counties of Missouri and Bond, Calhoun, Clinton, Jersey, Macoupin, Madison, Monroe, and St. Clair Counties of Illinois.

Additional information

OES data are available on our regional web page at www.bls.gov/regions/mountain-plains. 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/2015/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, St. Louis Metropolitan Statistical Area, May 2015
Occupation (1)EmploymentMean wages
Level (2)Location quotient (3)HourlyAnnual (4)

Business and Financial Operations Occupations

72,5901.1$34.57$71,910

Agents and Business Managers of Artists, Performers, and Athletes

(5)(5)20.7243,100

Buyers and Purchasing Agents, Farm Products

900.8(5)(5)

Wholesale and Retail Buyers, Except Farm Products

1,6601.629.6361,640

Purchasing Agents, Except Wholesale, Retail, and Farm Products

3,3501.233.7570,190

Claims Adjusters, Examiners, and Investigators

4,2501.629.2460,830

Insurance Appraisers, Auto Damage

2101.433.7970,280

Compliance Officers

1,9700.831.1864,860

Cost Estimators

2,9801.433.1368,910

Human Resources Specialists

4,8201.029.5461,450

Labor Relations Specialists

1,1101.529.4861,320

Logisticians

1,6201.336.2375,350

Management Analysts

3,5500.637.2977,570

Meeting, Convention, and Event Planners

8501.024.6851,330

Fundraisers

4700.826.2754,650

Compensation, Benefits, and Job Analysis Specialists

6400.834.1571,020

Training and Development Specialists

2,6801.129.5961,550

Market Research Analysts and Marketing Specialists

5,2501.132.9268,470

Business Operations Specialists, All Other

9,1101.034.3471,420

Accountants and Auditors

12,4501.137.5078,000

Appraisers and Assessors of Real Estate

8901.534.3871,500

Budget Analysts

(5)(5)35.0372,860

Credit Analysts

8901.335.3673,560

Financial Analysts

2,3200.944.4792,510

Personal Financial Advisors

2,3901.354.09112,500

Insurance Underwriters

7000.836.5576,020

Financial Examiners

9702.338.6280,320

Credit Counselors

2700.926.6255,360

Loan Officers

3,2901.135.1273,040

Tax Examiners and Collectors, and Revenue Agents

2300.434.0670,840

Tax Preparers

(5)(5)28.0858,400

Financial Specialists, All Other

(5)(5)32.1266,800

Footnotes:
(1) For a complete listing for all detailed occupations in the St. Louis, MO-IL Metropolitan Statistical Area, see www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_41180.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.
(5) Estimate not released.
 

 

Last Modified Date: Friday, July 01, 2016