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News Release Information

15-2066-NEW
Thursday, October 22, 2015

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

Occupational Employment and Wages for Emergency Responders in Selected Metropolitan Areas in New York and New Jersey – May 2014

A total of 72,260 police officers were employed in New York and New Jersey in 2014, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Firefighters and emergency medical technicians and paramedics held over 40,000 additional jobs in the two states. Chief Regional Economist Martin Kohli noted that the six metropolitan areas covered in this release had above-average wages for police and sheriff’s patrol officers and firefighters. The New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island, N.Y.-N.J.-Pa., Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) and the Trenton-Ewing, N.J., MSA also had above-average wages for emergency medical technicians and paramedics. (See table A. For comprehensive definitions of the selected metropolitan areas, please see Technical Note. Data in this release exclude unpaid volunteers.)

Table A. Average (mean) annual wages for emergency responders in the United States and selected areas in New Jersey and New York, May 2014
Area Police and Sheriff's Patrol Officers Firefighters Emergency Medical Technicians and Paramedics

United States

$59,560 $48,750 $35,110

New Jersey

88,530* 77,550* 35,340

New York

72,310* 73,200* 39,780*

Albany-Schenectady-Troy

67,780* 52,930* 34,250

Buffalo-Niagara Falls

64,850* 53,930* 33,650

New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island

80,190* 81,210* 40,890*

Edison-New Brunswick MD

94,350* 68,050* 33,830

Nassau-Suffolk MD

96,570* 66,450* 43,830*

Newark-Union MD

86,290* 83,090* 36,120

New York-White Plains-Wayne MD

75,320* 82,410* 42,720*

Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington

65,970* 50,820* 36,600

Camden MD

76,050* 65,750* 35,350

Rochester

66,300* 64,760* 35,580

Trenton-Ewing

87,900* 78,070* 44,120*

Note: An asterisk indicates that the mean annual wage for this area is significantly different from the national average of all areas at the 90-percent confidence level. Data exclude unpaid volunteers.
 

Employment of emergency responders in selected areas in New York and New Jersey

The New York Metropolitan Statistical Area had 76,730 jobs in the three emergency response occupations. Seventy percent of the emergency responders in the MSA were located in the New York-White Plains-Wayne Metropolitan Division (MD), with employment of 53,760 in the three occupations. The other four divisions of the New York MSA each had between 8,000 and 7,500 emergency responders. As a whole, the New York MSA had the highest employment among the selected areas in New York or New Jersey for police and sheriff’s patrol officers (51,250), emergency medical technicians and paramedics (13,990), and firefighters (11,490).

The Trenton MSA was the only other area in New York and New Jersey with over 3,000 jobs in any of these three emergency response occupations, with 3,510 police and sheriff’s patrol officers. In the other selected areas, employment in this occupation ranged from 2,440 in Buffalo-Niagara Falls, N.Y., to 1,520 in Rochester, N.Y. (See table B.)

More than 1,000 emergency medical technicians and paramedics worked in two of the selected areas outside the New York MSA—1,390 in the Camden, N.J. MD (part of the Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, Pa.-N.J.-Del.-Md. MSA) and 1,140 in Rochester. (The Philadelphia area also includes metropolitan divisions which are located outside of New Jersey, and they are not included in this release.)

Firefighters held 1,320 jobs in Buffalo. Firefighter employment in the four remaining areas outside the New York MSA ranged from 730 in Rochester to 410 in Albany-Schenectady-Troy, N.Y.

Table B. Employment of emergency responders in the United States and selected metropolitan areas in New Jersey and New York, May 2014
Area Police and Sheriff's Patrol Officers Firefighters Emergency Medical Technicians and Paramedics
Employment Percent of total employment Employment Percent of total employment Employment Percent of total employment

United States

638,810 0.5% 308,790 0.2% 235,760 0.2%

New York

50,060 0.6* 12,140 0.1* 15,410 0.2

New Jersey

22,200 0.6* 5,060 0.1* 7,670 0.2*

Albany-Schenectady-Troy

1,810 0.4* 410 0.1* 970 0.2*

Buffalo-Niagara Falls

2,440 0.5 1,320 0.2 (1) (1)

New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island

51,250 0.6* 11,490 0.1* 13,990 0.2

Edison-New Brunswick MD

4,500 0.4 900 0.1* 2,130 0.2*

Nassau-Suffolk MD

5,190 0.4* 120 0.0* 2,430 0.2

Newark-Union MD

4,880 0.5* 1,410 0.1* 1,420 0.1

New York-White Plains-Wayne MD

36,680 0.7* 9,060 0.2* 8,020 0.1

Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington

15,300 0.6* 3,240 0.1* 5,110 0.2

Camden MD

2,280 0.4 610 0.1* 1,390 0.3*

Rochester

1,520 0.3* 730 0.1* 1,140 0.2*

Trenton-Ewing

3,510 1.6* 510 0.2 200 0.1*

Footnotes:
(1) Data not available.
 

Note: An asterisk indicates that the employment share for this area is significantly different from the national average of all areas at the 90-percent confidence level. Data exclude unpaid volunteers.
 

Wages for emergency responders in selected areas in New York and New Jersey

In all of the selected New York and New Jersey areas, wages for police and sheriff’s patrol officers were significantly above the national average of $59,560. The areas’ mean wages for this occupation ranged from $87,900 in Trenton to $64,850 in Buffalo. While the New York metropolitan area had an average wage of $80,190 for police and sheriff’s patrol officers, two of its divisions—Nassau-Suffolk, N.Y., and Edison-New Brunswick, N.J.—had average wages of $96,570 and $94,350 per year, respectively.

All of the selected areas had average wages for firefighters significantly above the national average of $48,750. Metropolitan area wages ranged from $81,210 in the New York MSA to $52,930 in the Albany MSA. Within the New York MSA, the Newark-Union, N.J., and New York MDs had mean annual wages of $83,090 and $82,410, respectively.

Emergency medical technicians and paramedics in the Trenton and New York MSAs had wages that were significantly higher than the $35,110 national average, at $44,120 and $40,890, respectively. In addition, two metropolitan divisions of the New York MSA posted above-average wages for these occupations: Nassau-Suffolk ($43,830) and New York ($42,720). Emergency medical technicians and paramedics in the other selected areas earned wages that were not measurably different from the U.S. 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 New York State Department of Labor and the New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development.

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. May 2014 estimates are based on responses from six semiannual panels collected over a 3-year period: May 2014, November 2013, May 2013, November 2012, May 2012, and November 2011. The overall national response rate for the six panels is 74.3 percent based on establishments and 70.5 percent based on weighted sampled employment. The unweighted employment of sampled establishments across all six semiannual panels represents approximately 57.1 percent of total national employment. (Response rates are slightly lower for these estimates due to the federal shutdown in October 2013.) 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 2014 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.

  • Albany-Schenectady-Troy, N.Y. Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) includes Albany, Rensselaer, Saratoga, Schenectady, and Schoharie Counties in New York.
  • Buffalo-Niagara Falls, N.Y. MSA includes Erie and Niagara Counties in New York.
  • New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island, N.Y.-N.J.-Pa. MSA includes the following:
  • Edison-New Brunswick, N.J. Metropolitan Division (MD) includes Middlesex, Monmouth, Ocean, and Somerset Counties in New Jersey.
  • Nassau-Suffolk, N.Y. MD includes Nassau and Suffolk Counties in New York.
  • Newark-Union, N.J.-Pa. MD includes Essex, Hunterdon, Morris, Sussex, and Union Counties in New Jersey and Pike County in Pennsylvania.
  • New York-White Plains-Wayne, N.Y.-N.J. MD includes Bergen, Hudson, and Passaic Counties in New Jersey; and Bronx, Kings, New York, Putnam, Queens, Richmond, Rockland, and Westchester Counties in New York.
  • Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, Pa.-N.J.-Del.-Md. MSA includes the following:
    • Camden, N.J. MD includes Burlington, Camden, and Gloucester Counties in New Jersey
    • Philadelphia, Pa. MD includes Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Montgomery, and Philadelphia Counties in Pennsylvania.
    • Wilmington, Del.-Md.-N.J. MD includes New Castle County in Delaware, Cecil County in Maryland and Salem County in New Jersey.
  • Rochester, N.Y. MSA includes Livingston, Monroe, Ontario, Orleans, and Wayne Counties in New York.
  • Trenton-Ewing, N.J. MSA includes Mercer County in New Jersey.

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.

 

Last Modified Date: Thursday, October 22, 2015