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News Release Information

22-1439-BOS
Thursday, June 30, 2022

Contacts Technical information: Media contact:
  • (617) 565-4141

Occupational Employment and Wages in Providence-Warwick — May 2021

Workers in the Providence-Warwick, RI-MA Metropolitan New England City and Town Area had an average (mean) hourly wage of $29.10 in May 2021, 4 percent above the nationwide average of $28.01, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Regional Commissioner William J. Sibley noted that, after testing for statistical significance, wages in the local area were higher than their respective national averages in 18 of the 22 major occupational groups, including healthcare practitioners and technical, educational instruction and library, and management. Wages in the local area for computer and mathematical and transportation and material moving occupational groups were lower than their respective national averages.

When compared to the nationwide distribution, Providence area employment was more highly concentrated in 11 of the 22 occupational groups, including food preparation and serving related, educational instruction and library, and healthcare practitioners and technical. Nine groups had employment shares significantly below their national representation, including transportation and material moving; management, and installation, maintenance, and repair. (See table A.)

Table A. Occupational employment and wages by major occupational group, United States and the Providence metropolitan area, and measures of statistical significance, May 2021
Major occupational group Percent of total employment Mean hourly wage
United States Providence United States Providence Percent difference (1)

Total, all occupations

100.0 100.0 $28.01 $29.10* 4

Management

6.3 4.8* 59.31 62.55* 5

Business and financial operations

6.4 6.9* 39.72 41.57* 5

Computer and mathematical

3.3 2.7* 48.01 46.30* -4

Architecture and engineering

1.7 1.7* 44.10 46.72* 6

Life, physical, and social science

0.9 0.7* 38.81 42.04* 8

Community and social service

1.6 2.2* 25.94 26.74* 3

Legal

0.8 0.9* 54.38 54.49 0

Educational instruction and library

5.8 6.8* 29.88 33.67* 13

Arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media

1.3 1.2* 31.78 33.56* 6

Healthcare practitioners and technical

6.2 7.1* 43.80 48.05* 10

Healthcare support

4.7 5.4* 16.02 17.33* 8

Protective service

2.4 2.6* 25.68 27.39* 7

Food preparation and serving related

8.0 9.2* 14.16 15.51* 10

Building and grounds cleaning and maintenance

2.9 3.1* 16.23 18.56* 14

Personal care and service

1.8 2.0* 16.17 17.59* 9

Sales and related

9.4 9.7* 22.15 22.58* 2

Office and administrative support

13.0 12.6* 20.88 22.19* 6

Farming, fishing, and forestry

0.3 0.1* 16.70 16.40 -2

Construction and extraction

4.2 4.0* 26.87 29.47* 10

Installation, maintenance, and repair

4.0 3.3* 25.66 27.27* 6

Production

6.0 6.1 20.71 21.76* 5

Transportation and material moving

9.0 7.1* 19.88 19.62* -1

Footnotes:
(1) A positive percent difference measures how much the mean wage in the Providence-Warwick, RI-MA Metropolitan New England City and Town Area is above the national mean wage, while a negative difference reflects a lower wage.
* The mean hourly wage or percent share of employment is significantly different from the national average of all areas at the 90-percent confidence level.

One occupational group—educational instruction and library—was chosen to illustrate the diversity of data available for any of the 22 major occupational categories. Providence had 36,170 jobs in educational instruction and library, accounting for 6.8 percent of local area employment, significantly higher than the 5.8-percent share nationally. The average hourly wage for this occupational group locally was $33.67, significantly above the national wage of $29.88.

Some of the larger detailed occupations within the educational instruction and library group included secondary school teachers, except special and career/technical education (5,810), elementary school teachers, except special education (4,750), and teaching assistants, except postsecondary (4,560). Among the higher-paying jobs in this group were archivists and curators, with mean hourly wages of $34.42 and $34.29, respectively. (See chart 1.) At the lower end of the wage scale were preschool teachers, except special education ($17.44) and substitute teachers, short-term ($18.40). (Detailed data for the healthcare practitioners and technical occupations are presented in table 1; for a complete listing of detailed occupations go to https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_77200.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 Providence area, above-average concentrations of employment were found in many of the occupations within the educational instruction and library group. For instance, instructional coordinators were employed at 1.7 times the national rate in Providence, and education teachers, postsecondary, at 1.6 times the U.S. average. Nursing instructors and teachers, postsecondary had a location quotient of 1.0 in Providence, indicating that this particular occupation’s local and national employment shares were similar.

These statistics are from the Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) survey, a federal-state cooperative program between BLS and State Workforce Agencies, in this case, the Rhode Island Department of Labor and Training, and the Massachusetts Department of Economic Research.

Changes to the Occupational Employment Statistics (OES) Data

With the May 2021 estimates release, the Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) program has implemented a new model-based (MB3) estimation method. For more information, see the May 2021 Survey Methods and Reliability Statement at www.bls.gov/oes/methods_21.pdf and the Monthly Labor Review article at www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/2019/article/model-based-estimates-for-the-occupational-employment-statistics-program.htm. OEWS estimates for the years 2015-19 were recalculated using the new estimation method and are available as research estimates at www.bls.gov/oes/oes-mb3-methods.htm.

The May 2021 OEWS estimates are also the first estimates based entirely on survey data collected using the 2018 Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) system. To improve data quality, the OEWS program aggregates some occupations to the SOC broad occupation level or as OEWS-specific combinations of 2018 SOC detailed occupations.


Technical Note

The Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) survey is a semiannual survey measuring occupational employment and wage rates for wage and salary workers in nonfarm establishments in the United States. The OEWS data available from BLS include cross-industry occupational employment and wage estimates for the nation; over 580 areas, including states and the District of Columbia, metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs), nonmetropolitan areas, and territories; national industry-specific estimates at the NAICS sector, 3-digit, most 4-digit, and selected 5- and 6-digit industry levels; and national estimates by ownership across all industries and for schools and hospitals. OEWS data are available at www.bls.gov/oes/tables.htm.

The OEWS survey is a cooperative effort between BLS and the State Workforce Agencies (SWAs). BLS funds the survey and provides the procedures and technical support, while the State Workforce Agencies collect most of the data. OEWS estimates are constructed from a sample of about 1.1 million establishments. Each year, two semiannual panels of approximately 179,000 to 187,000 sampled establishments are contacted, one panel in May and the other in November. Responses are obtained by Internet or other electronic means, mail, email, telephone, or personal visit. The May 2021 estimates are based on responses from six semiannual panels collected over a 3-year period: May 2021, November 2020, May 2020, November 2019, May 2019, and November 2018. The unweighted sampled employment of 82 million across all six semiannual panels represents approximately 62 percent of total national employment. The overall national response rate for the six panels, based on the 50 states and the District of Columbia, is 67.2 percent based on establishments and 64.5 percent based on weighted sampled employment. The sample in the Providence-Warwick, RI-MA Metropolitan New England City and Town Area included 4,700 establishments with a response rate of 74 percent. For more information about OEWS concepts and methodology, go to www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_tec.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.

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 Providence-Warwick, RI-MA Metropolitan New England City and Town Area includes Attleboro city, MA; Bellingham town, MA; Blackstone town, MA; Fall River city, MA; Millville town, MA; North Attleborough town, MA; Plainville town, MA; Rehoboth town, MA; Seekonk town, MA; Somerset town, MA; Swansea town, MA; Westport town, MA; Barrington town, RI; Bristol town, RI; Burrillville town, RI; Central Falls city, RI; Charlestown town, RI; Coventry town, RI; Cranston city, RI; Cumberland town, RI; East Greenwich town, RI; East Providence city, RI; Exeter town, RI; Foster town, RI; Glocester town, RI; Jamestown town, RI; Johnston town, RI; Lincoln town, RI; Little Compton town, RI; Middletown town, RI; Narragansett town, RI; Newport city, RI; North Kingstown town, RI; North Providence town, RI; North Smithfield town, RI; Pawtucket city, RI; Portsmouth town, RI; Providence city, RI; Richmond town, RI; Scituate town, RI; Smithfield town, RI; South Kingstown town, RI; Tiverton town, RI; Warren town, RI; Warwick city, RI; West Greenwich town, RI; West Warwick town, RI; and Woonsocket city, RI.

For more information

Answers to frequently asked questions about the OEWS data are available at www.bls.gov/oes/oes_ques.htm. Detailed information about the OEWS program is available at www.bls.gov/oes/oes_doc.htm.

Information in this release will be made available to individuals with sensory impairments upon request. Voice phone: (202) 691-5200; Telecommunications Relay Service: 7-1-1.

Table 1. Employment and wage data for educational instruction and library occupations, Providence metropolitan area, May 2021
Occupation (1) Employment Mean wages
Level (2) Location quotient (3) Hourly Annual (4)

Educational instruction and library occupations

36,170 1.2 $33.67 $70,020

Business teachers, postsecondary

450 1.5 (6) 123,650

Computer science teachers, postsecondary

200 1.4 (6) 98,160

Mathematical science teachers, postsecondary

250 1.5 (6) 108,060

Architecture teachers, postsecondary

70 3.1 (6) 122,110

Engineering teachers, postsecondary

210 1.6 (6) 130,000

Biological science teachers, postsecondary

190 1.1 (6) 106,470

Chemistry teachers, postsecondary

80 1.1 (6) 114,650

Economics teachers, postsecondary

120 2.6 (5) (5)

Political science teachers, postsecondary

100 2.0 (5) (5)

Psychology teachers, postsecondary

150 1.1 (6) 91,750

Social sciences teachers, postsecondary, all other

150 2.4 (6) 88,970

Health specialties teachers, postsecondary

380 0.5 (6) 128,240

Nursing instructors and teachers, postsecondary

260 1.0 (6) 86,560

Education teachers, postsecondary

360 1.6 (6) 80,630

Library science teachers, postsecondary

30 2.1 (6) 98,100

Criminal justice and law enforcement teachers, postsecondary

70 1.3 (6) 68,790

Social work teachers, postsecondary

70 1.5 (6) 81,360

Art, drama, and music teachers, postsecondary

370 1.0 (6) 90,900

Communications teachers, postsecondary

80 0.8 (5) (5)

English language and literature teachers, postsecondary

290 1.3 (6) 99,640

Foreign language and literature teachers, postsecondary

150 2.1 (6) 92,920

History teachers, postsecondary

200 2.9 (6) 115,860

Philosophy and religion teachers, postsecondary

160 2.0 (6) 116,300

Career/technical education teachers, postsecondary

370 0.9 25.45 52,930

Postsecondary teachers, all other

730 1.0 (6) 94,860

Preschool teachers, except special education

1,820 1.2 17.44 36,270

Kindergarten teachers, except special education

480 1.1 (6) 79,620

Elementary school teachers, except special education

4,750 0.9 (6) 74,210

Middle school teachers, except special and career/technical education

2,560 1.1 (6) 76,730

Secondary school teachers, except special and career/technical education

5,810 1.5 (6) 73,590

Career/technical education teachers, secondary school

250 0.8 (6) 85,110

Special education teachers, kindergarten and elementary school

1,000 1.4 (6) 75,530

Special education teachers, middle school

400 1.3 (6) 81,020

Special education teachers, secondary school

750 1.4 (6) 78,060

Special education teachers, all other

210 1.5 (6) 76,340

Adult basic education, adult secondary education, and english as a second language instructors

90 0.6 28.55 59,380

Self-enrichment teachers

960 1.2 20.37 42,360

Substitute teachers, short-term

1,340 0.9 18.40 38,260

Tutors

170 0.3 25.21 52,430

Teachers and instructors, all other

1,360 2.2 (6) 92,300

Archivists

40 1.7 34.42 71,600

Curators

70 1.8 34.29 71,320

Museum technicians and conservators

160 3.9 23.31 48,480

Librarians and media collections specialists

750 1.6 33.31 69,280

Library technicians

140 0.5 24.26 50,460

Instructional coordinators

1,160 1.7 32.30 67,190

Teaching assistants, postsecondary

60 0.1 (6) 47,150

Teaching assistants, except postsecondary

4,560 1.0 (6) 35,800

Educational instruction and library workers, all other

970 1.6 28.57 59,430

Footnotes:
(1) For a complete listing of all detailed occupations in the Providence-Warwick, RI-MA Metropolitan New England City and Town Area, see www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_77200.htm.
(2) Estimates for detailed occupations may not sum to the totals due to rounding, and because the totals may include occupations that are 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.

 

Last Modified Date: Thursday, June 30, 2022