Workers in the Chicago-Joliet-Naperville Metropolitan Division had an average (mean) hourly wage of $23.95 in May 2013, about 7 percent above the nationwide average of $22.33, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Regional Commissioner Charlene Peiffer noted that, after testing for statistical significance, wages in the local area were significantly higher than their respective national averages in 10 of the 22 major occupational groups, including construction and extraction; sales and related; and installation, maintenance, and repair.

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

One occupational group—business and financial operations—was chosen to illustrate the diversity of data available for any of the 22 major occupational categories. Chicago-Joliet-Naperville had 208,350 jobs in business and financial operations, accounting for 5.6 percent of local area employment, significantly higher than the 5.0-percent share nationally. The average hourly wage for this occupational group locally was $35.94, measurably above the national wage of $34.14.

With employment of 31,340, accountants and auditors was one of the largest occupations within the business and financial operations group, as were management analysts (20,300) and market research analysts and marketing specialists (11,950). Among the higher paying jobs were management analysts and financial examiners, with mean hourly wages of $51.24 and $44.13, respectively. At the lower end of the wage scale were labor relations specialists ($21.98) and credit counselors ($23.25). (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/2013/may/oes_16974.htm.)

Location quotients allow for the exploration of an area’s occupational make-up 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 Chicago-Joliet-Naperville Metropolitan Division, above average concentrations of employment were found in some of the occupations within the business and financial operations group. For instance, insurance underwriters were employed at 1.9 times the national rate in Chicago, and personal financial advisors, at 1.9 times the U.S. average. On the other hand, market research analysts and marketing specialists had a location quotient of 1.0 in Chicago, 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 Illinois Department of Employment Security.

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 Chicago-Joliet-Naperville Metropolitan Division included 11,690 establishments with a response rate of 68 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 Chicago-Joliet-Naperville, Ill. Metropolitan Division includes Cook, DeKalb, DuPage, Grundy, Kane, Kendall, McHenry, and Will Counties.

Additional information

OES data are available on our regional web page at www.bls.gov/regions/midwest.  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, Chicago-Joliet-Naperville Metropolitan Division, May 2013

Occupation (1)	Employment		Mean wages
	Level (2)	Location quotient (3)	Hourly	Annual(4)
Business and Financial Operations Occupations	208,350	1.1	$35.94	$74,750
Agents and Business Managers of Artists, Performers, and Athletes	340	1.0	34.76	72,310
Buyers and Purchasing Agents, Farm Products	410	1.3	27.06	56,290
Wholesale and Retail Buyers, Except Farm Products	4,280	1.4	25.75	53,570
Purchasing Agents, Except Wholesale, Retail, and Farm Products	5,340	0.7	30.20	62,820
Claims Adjusters, Examiners, and Investigators	10,340	1.3	30.39	63,210
Insurance Appraisers, Auto Damage	670	1.8	28.80	59,900
Compliance Officers	4,440	0.7	36.21	75,310
Cost Estimators	3,970	0.7	33.60	69,890
Human Resources Specialists	10,220	0.9	30.16	62,740
Labor Relations Specialists	2,770	1.3	21.98	45,710
Logisticians	2,040	0.6	33.04	68,720
Management Analysts	20,300	1.3	51.24	106,590
Meeting, Convention, and Event Planners	1,860	0.9	23.65	49,190
Fundraisers	770	0.6	25.53	53,110
Compensation, Benefits, and Job Analysis Specialists	1,450	0.6	29.60	61,570
Training and Development Specialists	4,020	0.6	29.48	61,320
Market Research Analysts and Marketing Specialists	11,950	1.0	31.02	64,520
Business Operations Specialists, All Other	38,340	1.5	34.14	71,010
Accountants and Auditors	31,340	1.0	35.80	74,460
Appraisers and Assessors of Real Estate	1,020	0.6	28.22	58,690
Budget Analysts	1,030	0.6	36.89	76,740
Credit Analysts	2,450	1.3	37.48	77,950
Financial Analysts	9,140	1.3	39.69	82,550
Personal Financial Advisors	9,600	1.9	43.45	90,370
Insurance Underwriters	4,980	1.9	33.19	69,040
Financial Examiners	2,180	2.6	44.13	91,780
Credit Counselors	180	0.2	23.25	48,370
Loan Officers	10,170	1.2	40.17	83,560
Tax Examiners and Collectors, and Revenue Agents	970	0.5	38.42	79,920
Tax Preparers	2,520	1.3	29.58	61,520
Financial Specialists, All Other	9,230	2.3	36.53	75,970
Footnotes: (1) For a complete listing of all detailed occupations in Chicago-Joliet-Naperville, IL Metropolitan Division, see www.bls.gov/oes/tables.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.