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News Release Information

14-1519-DAL
Tuesday, August 26, 2014

Contacts Technical information: Media contact:
  • (972) 850-4800

Occupational Employment and Wages in Corpus Christi, May 2013

Workers in the Corpus Christi Metropolitan Statistical Area had an average (mean) hourly wage of $18.51 in May 2013, 17 percent below the nationwide average of $22.33, 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 higher than their respective national averages in 2 of the 22 major occupational groups, including production, while sixteen groups had significantly lower wages  including legal; computer and mathematical; and sales and related occupations.

When compared to the nationwide distribution, local employment was more highly concentrated in 5 of the 22 occupational groups, including healthcare support; construction and extraction; and installation, maintenance, and repair. Conversely, twelve groups had employment shares significantly below their national representation, including business and financial operations; computer and mathematical; and production. (See table A and box note at end of release.)

Table A. Occupational employment and wages by major occupational group, United States and the Corpus Christi Metropolitan Statistical Area, and measures of statistical significance, May 2013
Major occupational groupPercent of total employmentMean hourly wage
United StatesCorpus ChristiUnited StatesCorpus ChristiPercent difference(1)

Total, all occupations

100.00%100.00% $22.33$18.51*-17

Management

4.93.7*53.1544.00*-17

Business and financial operations

5.03.0*34.1429.99*-12

Computer and mathematical

2.80.9*39.4331.22*-21

Architecture and engineering

1.81.4*38.5137.61 -2

Life, physical, and social science

0.90.6*33.3730.50*-9

Community and social service

1.41.0*21.5020.29 -6

Legal

0.80.5*47.8938.71*-19

Education, training, and library

6.35.8*24.7623.08*-7

Arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media

1.30.6*26.7217.47*-35

Healthcare practitioners and technical

5.85.4 35.9332.76*-9

Healthcare support

3.04.2*13.6110.75*-21

Protective service

2.52.3 20.9220.39 -3

Food preparation and serving related

9.010.9*10.389.50*-8

Building and grounds cleaning and maintenance

3.23.4 12.5110.22*-18

Personal care and service

3.04.0*11.889.03*-24

Sales and related

10.610.2 18.3715.18*-17

Office and administrative support

16.215.0*16.7814.33*-15

Farming, fishing, and forestry

0.30.2*11.7015.05*29

Construction and extraction

3.88.5*21.9418.37*-16

Installation, maintenance, and repair

3.96.5*21.3520.62 -3

Production

6.65.3*16.7920.22*20

Transportation and material moving

6.86.6 16.2815.37*-6

(1) A positive percent difference measures how much the mean wage in Corpus Christi 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–construction and extraction–was chosen to illustrate the diversity of data available for any of the 22 major occupational categories. Corpus Christi had 15,780 jobs in construction and extraction, accounting for 8.5 percent of local area employment, more than double the national share of 3.8 percent. However, the local wage for this occupational group was significantly below the U.S. average. At $18.37 an hour, the mean wage for Corpus Christi construction and extraction workers was 16 percent below the $21.94 national average.

With employment of 2,800, construction laborers was among the largest occupations within the construction and extraction group, as were first-line supervisors of construction trades and extraction workers (1,550), and oil and gas roustabouts (1,470). Among the higher paying jobs were oil and gas rotary drill operators, as well as sheet metal workers, with mean hourly wages of $26.54 and $24.70, respectively. At the lower end of the wage scale were construction laborers ($13.03) and carpenters ($16.34). (Detailed occupational data for construction and extraction are presented in table 1; for a complete listing of all detailed occupations, see www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_18580.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 Corpus Christi metropolitan area, above average concentrations of employment were found in many of the occupations within the construction and extraction group. For instance, oil and gas roustabouts were employed at 15.4 times the national rate in Corpus Christi, and oil, gas, and mining service unit operators, at 12.8 times the U.S. average. On the other hand, carpenters had a location quotient of 1.0 in Corpus Christi, indicating the local employment share in this particular occupation matched the national average.

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 Texas Workforce Commission.

Note

OES wage and employment data for the 22 major occupational groups in the Corpus Christi 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 Corpus Christi Metropolitan Statistical Area included 1,954 establishments with a response rate of 69 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 Corpus Christi Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) includes Aransas, Nueces and San Patricio Counties in Texas.

Additional information

OES data are available on our regional web page at www.bls.gov/regions/southwest/home.htm. 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: 1-800-877-8339.

 

Table 1. Employment and wage data from the Occupational Employment Statistics survey, by occupation, Corpus Christi Metropolitan Statistical Area, May 2013
Occupation(1)EmploymentMean wages
Level(2)Location
quotient(3)
HourlyAnnual(4)

Construction and extraction occupations

15,7802.2$18.37$38,210

First-line supervisors of construction trades and extraction workers

1,5502.426.0454,160

Boilermakers

1305.624.9251,840

Carpenters

7701.016.3433,990

Cement masons and concrete finishers

2701.315.1131,430

Construction laborers

2,8002.413.0327,100

Operating engineers and other construction equipment operators

9702.017.3736,120

Electricians

1,1401.520.8543,370

Insulation workers, floor, ceiling, and wall

1003.114.0829,280

Painters, construction and maintenance

6302.318.5038,490

Pipelayers

400.714.8930,970

Plumbers, pipefitters, and steamfitters

6301.320.7043,050

Reinforcing iron and rebar workers

(5)(5)18.8539,200

Roofers

700.512.8726,780

Sheet metal workers

7103.824.7051,370

Structural iron and steel workers

(5)(5)20.6142,860

Helpers-carpenters

1102.213.2327,510

Helpers-electricians

2502.813.4527,980

Helpers-painters, paperhangers, plasterers, and stucco masons

1408.412.2925,560

Helpers-pipelayers, plumbers, pipefitters, and steamfitters

1201.812.9827,000

Helpers, construction trades, all other

1706.614.2329,600

Construction and building inspectors

1901.626.4455,000

Hazardous materials removal workers

500.919.4840,510

Highway maintenance workers

1700.915.5332,310

Septic tank servicers and sewer pipe cleaners

401.112.3125,600

Derrick operators, oil and gas

2106.722.7947,410

Rotary drill operators, oil and gas

3709.726.5455,210

Service unit operators, oil, gas, and mining

1,06012.817.9237,270

Roustabouts, oil and gas

1,47015.416.7734,880

Helpers-extraction workers

32010.017.7736,960

(1) For a complete listing of all detailed occupations in the Corpus Christi MSA, see www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_18580.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) Estimates not released.

 

Last Modified Date: Tuesday, August 26, 2014