Workers in the Durham-Chapel Hill Metropolitan Statistical Area had an average (mean) hourly wage of $27.81 in May 2016, about 17 percent above the nationwide average of $23.86, 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 higher than their respective national averages in 5 of the 22 major occupational groups, including education, training, and library; management; and life, physical, and social science. Seven groups had significantly lower wages than their respective national averages, including construction and extraction; transportation and material moving; and healthcare support.

When compared to the nationwide distribution, local employment was more highly concentrated in 8 of the 22 occupational groups, including healthcare practitioners and technical; education, training, and library; and computer and mathematical. Conversely, 12 groups had employment shares significantly below their national representation, including transportation and material moving; sales and related; and office and administrative support. (See table A and box note at end of release.)

One occupational group—healthcare practitioners and technical—was chosen to illustrate the diversity of data available for any of the 22 major occupational categories. Durham-Chapel Hill had 29,160 jobs in healthcare practitioners and technical, accounting for 10.0 percent of local area employment, significantly higher than the 5.9-percent share nationally. The average hourly wage for this occupational group locally was $34.91, significantly below the national wage of $38.06.

Some of the larger detailed occupations within the healthcare practitioners and technical group included registered nurses (13,070), medical and clinical laboratory technologists (1,280), and pharmacy technicians (1,180). Among the higher paying jobs were general pediatricians and nurse anesthetists, with mean hourly wages of $82.54 and $72.93, respectively. At the lower end of the wage scale were pharmacy technicians ($15.08) and emergency medical technicians and paramedics ($18.02). (Detailed occupational data for healthcare practitioners and technical are presented in table 1; for a complete listing of detailed occupations available go to www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_20500.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 Durham-Chapel Hill Metropolitan Statistical Area, above-average concentrations of employment were found in many of the occupations within the healthcare practitioners and technical group. For instance, medical and clinical laboratory technologists were employed at 3.7 times the national rate in Durham, and nurse practitioners, at 2.7 times the U.S. average. On the other hand, speech-language pathologists had a location quotient of 1.0 in Durham, 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 North Carolina Department of Commerce.

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 data available from BLS include cross-industry occupational employment and wage estimates for the nation; over 650 areas, including states and the District of Columbia, metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs), metropolitan divisions, nonmetropolitan areas, and territories; national industry-specific estimates at the NAICS sector, 3-, 4-, and selected 5- and 6-digit industry levels, and national estimates 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. Each year, two semiannual panels of approximately 200,000 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 2016 estimates are based on responses from six semiannual panels collected over a 3-year period: May 2016, November 2015, May 2015, November 2014, May 2014, and November 2013. The overall national response rate for the six panels, based on the 50 states and the District of Columbia, is 73 percent based on establishments and 69 percent based on weighted sampled employment. The unweighted employment of sampled establishments across all six semiannual panels represents approximately 58 percent of total national employment. The sample in the Durham-Chapel Hill Metropolitan Statistical Area included 2,279 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 May 2016 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 Durham-Chapel Hill, N.C. Metropolitan Statistical Area includes Chatham, Durham, Orange, and Person 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/current/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, Durham-Chapel Hill Metropolitan Statistical Area, May 2016

Occupation (1)	Employment		Mean wages
	Level (2)	Location quotient (3)	Hourly	Annual (4)
Healthcare practitioners and technical occupations	29,160	1.7	$34.91	$72,610
Dentists, general	90	0.4	122.16	254,100
Dietitians and nutritionists	260	2.0	28.58	59,450
Optometrists	30	0.5	65.71	136,680
Pharmacists	930	1.5	59.03	122,790
Family and general practitioners	70	0.3	66.10	137,480
Pediatricians, general	(5)	(5)	82.54	171,690
Physicians and surgeons, all other	2,290	3.2	55.33	115,080
Physician assistants	460	2.1	44.82	93,230
Occupational therapists	280	1.2	37.76	78,550
Physical therapists	610	1.3	38.70	80,500
Radiation therapists	80	2.3	37.52	78,050
Recreational therapists	40	1.2	25.28	52,580
Respiratory therapists	460	1.7	26.36	54,830
Speech-language pathologists	270	1.0	36.59	76,100
Veterinarians	200	1.4	58.09	120,830
Registered nurses	13,070	2.2	32.00	66,550
Nurse anesthetists	290	3.5	72.93	151,700
Nurse practitioners	850	2.7	56.22	116,930
Audiologists	30	1.2	33.13	68,920
Health diagnosing and treating practitioners, all other	270	3.5	48.25	100,350
Medical and clinical laboratory technologists	1,280	3.7	27.70	57,610
Medical and clinical laboratory technicians	750	2.3	19.20	39,930
Dental hygienists	(5)	(5)	34.43	71,620
Cardiovascular technologists and technicians	210	1.9	27.31	56,810
Diagnostic medical sonographers	170	1.3	33.77	70,230
Nuclear medicine technologists	60	1.5	35.28	73,390
Radiologic technologists	760	1.8	30.11	62,620
Magnetic resonance imaging technologists	100	1.3	34.40	71,550
Emergency medical technicians and paramedics	400	0.8	18.02	37,480
Pharmacy technicians	1,180	1.4	15.08	31,360
Surgical technologists	250	1.2	22.15	46,070
Veterinary technologists and technicians	130	0.6	17.49	36,370
Ophthalmic medical technicians	120	1.3	20.09	41,790
Licensed practical and licensed vocational nurses	860	0.6	22.13	46,040
Medical records and health information technicians	360	0.9	18.20	37,850
Opticians, dispensing	90	0.6	20.01	41,630
Orthotists and prosthetists	(5)	(5)	36.17	75,230
Health technologists and technicians, all other	610	2.4	20.75	43,150
Occupational health and safety specialists	180	1.1	40.53	84,310
Occupational health and safety technicians	50	1.5	27.76	57,740
Athletic trainers	30	0.7	(6)	52,670
Genetic counselors	40	7.3	30.96	64,390
Healthcare practitioners and technical workers, all other	90	1.3	24.89	51,780
Footnotes: (1) For a complete listing of all detailed occupations in the Durham-Chapel Hill, NC Metropolitan Statistical Area, see www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_20500.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. (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.