Workers in the Indianapolis-Carmel Metropolitan Statistical Area had an average (mean) hourly wage of $21.33 in May 2012, about 3 percent below the nationwide average of $22.01, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. 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 2 of the 22 major occupational groups: construction and extraction; and sales and related. Eleven groups had significantly lower wages than their respective national averages, including legal; management; and arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media.

When compared to the nationwide distribution, local employment was more highly concentrated in 3 of the 22 occupational groups: transportation and material moving; healthcare practitioners and technical; and management. Conversely, eight groups had employment shares significantly below their national representation, including education, training, and library; office and administrative support; and personal care and service. (See table A and box note at end of release.)

 

One occupational group—transportation and material moving—was chosen to illustrate the diversity of data available for any of the 22 major occupational categories. Indianapolis-Carmel had 83,690 jobs in transportation and material moving, accounting for 9.4 percent of local area employment, significantly higher than the 6.7-percent share nationally. The average hourly wage for this occupational group locally was $15.78, compared to the national wage of $16.15.

With employment of 26,720, laborers and freight, stock, and material movers by hand was the largest occupation within the transportation and material moving group, followed by heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers (14,440) and industrial truck and tractor operators (7,970). Among the higher paying jobs were transportation inspectors and first-line supervisors of transportation and material-moving machine and vehicle operators, with mean hourly wages of $31.47 and $29.48, respectively. At the lower end of the wage scale were parking lot attendants ($9.27) and automotive and watercraft service attendants ($10.08). Detailed occupational data for transportation and material moving are presented in table 1; for a complete listing of detailed occupations available go to www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_26900.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 Indianapolis-Carmel Metropolitan Statistical Area, above average concentrations of employment were found in some of the occupations within the transportation and material moving group. For instance, industrial truck and tractor operators were employed at 2.4 times the national rate in Indianapolis, and laborers and freight, stock, and material movers by hand, at 1.8 times the U.S. average. On the other hand, bus drivers, school or special client had a location quotient of 1.1 in Indianapolis, 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 Indiana Department of Workforce Development.

With the release of the May 2012 estimates, OES data are based on the 2010 Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) system for the first time. The OES survey provides estimates of employment and hourly and annual wages for wage and salary workers in 22 major occupational groups and more than 800 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 for the first time. Information about the 2010 SOC is available on the BLS website at www.bls.gov/soc.

The May 2012 OES estimates are the first to be produced using the 2012 North American Industry Classification System (NAICS). Information about the 2012 NAICS is available on the BLS website at www.bls.gov/bls/naics.htm .

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 2012 estimates are based on responses from six semiannual panels collected in May 2012, November 2011, May 2011, November 2010, May 2010, and November 2009. The overall national response rate for the six panels is 76.6 percent based on establishments and 72.9 percent based on employment. The sample in the Indianapolis-Carmel Metropolitan Statistical Area included 5,003 establishments with a response rate of 76 percent. For more information about OES concepts and methodology, go to www.bls.gov/news.release/ocwage.tn.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 Indianapolis-Carmel, Ind. Metropolitan Statistical Area  includes Boone, Brown, Hamilton, Hancock, Hendricks, Johnson, Marion, Morgan, Putnam, and Shelby Counties.

Additional information

OES data are available on our regional web page at www.bls.gov/ro5/home.htm. 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/2012/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, Indianapolis-Carmel Metropolitan Statistical Area, May 2012

Occupation (1)	Employment		Mean wages
	Level (2)	Location quotient (3)	Hourly	Annual(4)
Transportation and Material Moving Occupations	83,690	1.4	$15.78	$32,820
First-Line Supervisors of Helpers, Laborers, and Material Movers, Hand	1,950	1.7	22.89	47,610
First-Line Supervisors of Transportation and Material-Moving Machine and Vehicle Operators	1,640	1.2	29.48	61,320
Airline Pilots, Copilots, and Flight Engineers	920	2.0	(5)	109,420
Commercial Pilots	170	0.7	(5)	62,320
Ambulance Drivers and Attendants, Except Emergency Medical Technicians	(5)	(5)	11.47	23,860
Bus Drivers, Transit and Intercity	400	0.4	12.93	26,890
Bus Drivers, School or Special Client	3,500	1.1	14.23	29,590
Driver/Sales Workers	1,610	0.6	16.00	33,270
Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers	14,440	1.4	19.34	40,230
Light Truck or Delivery Services Drivers	6,300	1.2	16.81	34,960
Taxi Drivers and Chauffeurs	930	0.8	10.97	22,820
Motor Vehicle Operators, All Other	1,040	2.5	10.10	21,000
Parking Lot Attendants	760	0.9	9.27	19,270
Automotive and Watercraft Service Attendants	1,300	1.8	10.08	20,960
Transportation Inspectors	200	1.2	31.47	65,470
Transportation Workers, All Other	240	1.0	14.35	29,840
Crane and Tower Operators	620	2.1	24.83	51,650
Excavating and Loading Machine and Dragline Operators	160	0.5	16.32	33,940
Industrial Truck and Tractor Operators	7,970	2.4	15.14	31,490
Cleaners of Vehicles and Equipment	2,660	1.3	10.19	21,190
Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand	26,720	1.8	12.31	25,600
Machine Feeders and Offbearers	1,300	1.8	12.46	25,910
Packers and Packagers, Hand	4,290	1.0	11.33	23,570
Refuse and Recyclable Material Collectors	550	0.7	14.53	30,220
Tank Car, Truck, and Ship Loaders	(5)	(5)	14.60	30,360
Footnotes: (1) For a complete listing of all detailed occupations in Indianapolis-Carmel, IN, see www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_26900.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. (5) Estimate not released.