Workers in the Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville, FL Metropolitan Statistical Area had an average (mean) hourly wage of $29.74 in May 2023, compared to the nationwide average of $31.48, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Regional Commissioner Victoria G. Lee noted that higher paying major occupational groups included management ($63.02), computer and mathematical ($50.99), architecture and engineering ($48.54), and legal ($46.56). Lower paying occupations included food preparation and serving related ($15.64), building and grounds cleaning and maintenance ($16.71), personal care and service ($17.31), and healthcare support ($18.06). (See table A.)

Occupational groups with the highest employment in the Palm Bay area included office and administrative support (12.2 percent), food preparation and serving related (10.5 percent), and sales and related (9.4 percent). Major occupational groups on the lower end of local employment included legal and life, physical, and social science (0.7 percent each). (See table A.)

One occupational group—architecture and engineering—was chosen to illustrate the diversity of data available for any of the 22 major occupational categories. Palm Bay had 12,610 jobs in architecture and engineering, accounting for 5.3 percent of local area employment, compared to the 1.7-percent share nationally. The average hourly wage for this occupational group locally was $48.54, compared to the national wage of $47.64.

Some of the larger detailed occupations within the architecture and engineering group included industrial engineers (1,820), aerospace engineers (1,250), mechanical engineers (1,150), and aerospace engineering and operations technologists and technicians (1,130). Among the higher-paying jobs in this group were computer hardware engineers and aerospace engineers, with mean hourly wages of $65.31 and $62.27, respectively. At the lower end of the wage scale were surveying and mapping technicians ($23.72) and architectural and civil drafters ($25.88). (Detailed data for the architecture and engineering occupations are presented in table 1; for a complete listing of detailed occupations available, go to www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_37340.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 Palm Bay area, above-average concentrations of employment were found in many of the occupations within the architecture and engineering group. For instance, aerospace engineering and operations technologists and technicians were employed at 67.9 times the national rate in Palm Bay, and aerospace engineers, at 12.0 times the U.S. average. Mechanical drafters had a location quotient of 1.0 in Palm Bay, indicating that this particular occupation’s local and national employment shares were similar.

The statistics in this release are from the Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) survey, a cooperative effort between BLS and the State Workforce Agencies (SWAs). BLS funds the survey and provides the procedures and technical support. State Workforce Agencies collect most of the data: in this case, the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity.

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. Full OEWS data tables are available online.

Additional information about the OEWS estimates and methodology are available in the national Technical Notes. The overall national response rate for the six panels, based on the 50 states and the District of Columbia, is 65.8 percent based on establishments and 64.3 percent based on weighted sampled employment. The sample in the Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville, FL Metropolitan Statistical Area included 2,174 establishments with a response rate of 68 percent.

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 Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville, FL Metropolitan Statistical Area includes Brevard County.

For more information

Answers to frequently asked questions about the OEWS data, as well as general program documentation, are available on the OEWS website.

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 architecture and engineering occupations, Palm Bay metropolitan area, May 2023

Occupation (1)	Employment		Mean wages ($)
	Level (2)	Location quotient (3)	Hourly	Annual (4)
Architecture and engineering occupations	12,610	3.2	48.54	100,960
Architects, except landscape and naval	110	0.7	55.98	116,440
Landscape architects	40	1.2	41.79	86,920
Surveyors	120	1.6	33.12	68,890
Aerospace engineers	1,250	12.0	62.27	129,520
Civil engineers	810	1.6	48.09	100,030
Computer hardware engineers	470	3.7	65.31	135,840
Electrical engineers	790	2.7	55.45	115,330
Electronics engineers, except computer	1,010	6.7	57.31	119,200
Environmental engineers	50	0.8	35.23	73,280
Health and safety engineers, except mining safety engineers and inspectors	130	3.7	50.56	105,170
Industrial engineers	1,820	3.5	48.33	100,520
Marine engineers and naval architects	(5)	(5)	46.26	96,220
Materials engineers	90	2.3	55.31	115,030
Mechanical engineers	1,150	2.6	49.37	102,680
Engineers, all other	1,070	4.6	61.24	127,380
Architectural and civil drafters	390	2.3	25.88	53,830
Mechanical drafters	70	1.0	32.88	68,390
Drafters, all other	30	1.2	29.22	60,790
Aerospace engineering and operations technologists and technicians	1,130	67.9	41.87	87,100
Civil engineering technologists and technicians	90	0.9	26.75	55,630
Electrical and electronic engineering technologists and technicians	960	6.3	29.73	61,840
Industrial engineering technologists and technicians	190	1.7	30.48	63,410
Mechanical engineering technologists and technicians	90	1.5	31.87	66,290
Engineering technologists and technicians, except drafters, all other	210	2.0	38.69	80,460
Surveying and mapping technicians	170	1.9	23.72	49,330
Footnotes: (1) For a complete listing of all detailed occupations in the Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville, FL Metropolitan Statistical Area, see www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_37340.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.