Workers in the Norwich-New London-Westerly, CT-RI Metropolitan New England City and Town Area had an average (mean) hourly wage of $30.70 in May 2022, 3 percent above the nationwide average of $29.76, 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 11 of the 20 major occupational groups for which hourly wage data were available, including life, physical, and social science; production; and construction and extraction. Four groups had significantly lower wages than their respective national averages, including arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media; computer and mathematical; and sales and related.

When compared to the nationwide distribution, Norwich area employment was more highly concentrated in 7 of the 20 occupational groups for which employment data were available, including food preparation and serving related, personal care and service, and building and grounds cleaning and maintenance. Twelve groups had employment shares significantly below their national representation, including transportation and material moving, business and financial operations, and production. (See table A.)

One occupational group—educational instruction and library—was chosen to illustrate the diversity of data available for any of the 22 major occupational categories. Norwich had 7,700 jobs in educational instruction and library, accounting for 6.4 percent of local area employment, significantly higher than the 5.7-percent share nationally. The average annual wage of $68,400 for this occupational group locally was significantly above the national wage of $63,240.

Some of the larger detailed occupations within the educational instruction and library group included teaching assistants, except postsecondary (1,780); elementary school teachers, except special education (1,110); and secondary school teachers, except special and career/technical education (1,070). Among the higher-paying jobs in this group were secondary school special education teachers and middle school special education teachers, with mean annual wages of $93,980 and $88,840, respectively. At the lower end of the wage scale were teaching assistants, except postsecondary ($36,990), and preschool teachers, except special education ($41,330). (Detailed data for the educational instruction and library occupations are presented in table 1; for a complete listing of detailed occupations available go to www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_76450.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 Norwich area, above-average concentrations of employment were found in some of the occupations within the educational instruction and library group. For instance, career/technical education teachers, secondary school, were employed at 2.6 times the national rate in Norwich, and teaching assistants, except postsecondary, at 1.8 times the U.S. average. Elementary school teachers, except special education, had a location quotient of 1.0 in Norwich, 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 Connecticut Department of Labor, and the Rhode Island Labor Market Information Division.

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 2022 estimates are based on responses from six semiannual panels collected over a 3-year period: May 2022, November 2021, May 2021, November 2020, May 2020, and November 2019. The unweighted sampled employment of 80 million across all six semiannual panels represents approximately 57 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 65.4 percent based on establishments and 62.5 percent based on weighted sampled employment. The sample in the Norwich-New London-Westerly, CT-RI Metropolitan New England City and Town Area included 1,654 establishments with a response rate of 61 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 Norwich-New London-Westerly, CT-RI Metropolitan New England City and Town Area includes Bozrah town, CT; Canterbury town, CT; East Lyme town, CT; Franklin town, CT; Griswold town, CT; Groton town, CT; Ledyard town, CT; Lisbon town, CT; Lyme town, CT; Montville town, CT; New London city, CT; North Stonington town, CT; Norwich city, CT; Old Lyme town, CT; Preston town, CT; Salem town, CT; Sprague town, CT; Stonington town, CT; Voluntown town, CT; Waterford town, CT; Hopkinton town, RI; and Westerly town, 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.