Workers in the Oakland-Hayward-Berkeley Metropolitan Division had an average (mean) hourly wage of $30.17 in May 2016, about 26 percent above the nationwide average of $23.86, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Assistant Commissioner for Regional Operations Richard Holden noted that, after testing for statistical significance, wages in the local area were higher than their respective national averages in 21 of the 22 major occupational groups, including healthcare practitioners and technical; management; and computer and mathematical. No group had an hourly wage significantly lower than its respective national average.

When compared to the nationwide distribution, local employment was more highly concentrated in 8 of the 22 occupational groups, including management; business and financial operations; and computer and mathematical. Conversely, 10 groups had employment shares significantly below their national representation, including transportation and material moving; food preparation and serving related; and healthcare practitioners and technical. (See table A and box note at end of release.)

One occupational group—management—was chosen to illustrate the diversity of data available for any of the 22 major occupational categories. Oakland-Hayward-Berkeley had 70,060 jobs in management, accounting for 6.5 percent of local area employment, significantly higher than the 5.1-percent share nationally. The average hourly wage for this occupational group locally was $66.99, significantly above the national wage of $56.74.

Some of the larger detailed occupations within the management group included general and operations managers (18,910), financial managers (5,420), and sales managers (4,870). Among the higher paying jobs were chief executives and architectural and engineering managers, with mean hourly wages of $109.48 and $85.37, respectively. At the lower end of the wage scale were food service managers ($23.68) and education administrators, preschool and childcare center/program ($25.22). (Detailed occupational data for management are presented in table 1; for a complete listing of detailed occupations available go to www.bls.gov/oes/2016/may/oes_36084.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 Oakland-Hayward-Berkeley Metropolitan Division, above-average concentrations of employment were found in some of the occupations within the management group. For instance, architectural and engineering managers were employed at 1.9 times the national rate in Oakland, and social and community service managers, at 1.8 times the U.S. average. On the other hand, medical and health services managers had a location quotient of 1.1 in Oakland, 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 California Employment Development Department.

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 Oakland-Hayward-Berkeley Metropolitan Division included 5,820 establishments with a response rate of 60 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 Oakland-Hayward-Berkeley, Calif. Metropolitan Division  includes Alameda and Contra Costa Counties.

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/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, Oakland-Hayward-Berkeley Metropolitan Division, May 2016

Occupation (1)	Employment		Mean wages
	Level (2)	Location quotient (3)	Hourly	Annual (4)
Management occupations	70,060	1.3	$66.99	$139,330
Chief executives	2,220	1.3	109.48	227,710
General and operations managers	18,910	1.1	69.38	144,320
Legislators	110	0.3	(5)	62,580
Advertising and promotions managers	200	0.9	50.20	104,420
Marketing managers	2,780	1.8	81.51	169,530
Sales managers	4,870	1.7	74.22	154,380
Public relations and fundraising managers	630	1.3	66.33	137,960
Administrative services managers	2,900	1.4	52.02	108,210
Computer and information systems managers	3,750	1.4	79.31	164,960
Financial managers	5,420	1.3	76.70	159,540
Industrial production managers	1,570	1.2	53.26	110,790
Purchasing managers	640	1.2	59.14	123,000
Transportation, storage, and distribution managers	1,200	1.4	59.26	123,250
Compensation and benefits managers	140	1.2	73.81	153,520
Human resources managers	1,340	1.3	68.77	143,040
Training and development managers	300	1.2	70.07	145,750
Construction managers	2,710	1.4	60.37	125,570
Education administrators, preschool and childcare center/program	900	2.4	25.22	52,470
Education administrators, elementary and secondary school	1,510	0.8	(5)	117,360
Education administrators, postsecondary	730	0.7	61.10	127,080
Education administrators, all other	420	1.6	42.71	88,830
Architectural and engineering managers	2,650	1.9	85.37	177,570
Food service managers	2,600	1.7	23.68	49,240
Lodging managers	160	0.6	33.36	69,390
Medical and health services managers	2,720	1.1	63.44	131,960
Natural sciences managers	(5)	(5)	80.38	167,200
Postmasters and mail superintendents	40	0.3	41.54	86,410
Property, real estate, and community association managers	1,850	1.3	48.26	100,380
Social and community service managers	1,770	1.8	36.85	76,640
Emergency management directors	70	0.9	59.64	124,040
Managers, all other	3,730	1.2	69.29	144,130
Footnotes: (1) For a complete listing of all detailed occupations in the Oakland-Hayward-Berkeley, CA Metropolitan Division, see www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_36084.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.