Workers in the Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos Metropolitan Statistical Area had an average (mean) hourly wage of $22.64 in May 2012, about 3 percent above the nationwide average of $22.01, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Regional Commissioner Stanley W. Suchman noted that, after testing for statistical significance, wages in the local area were significantly higher than their respective national averages in 4 of the 22 major occupational groups, including computer and mathematical, sales and related, and healthcare support. Ten groups had significantly lower wages than their respective national averages, including legal; construction and extraction; and life, physical, and social science.

When compared to the nationwide distribution, local employment was more highly concentrated in 9 of the 22 occupational groups, including computer and mathematical, office and administrative support, and food preparation and serving related. Conversely, nine groups had employment shares significantly below their national representation, including transportation and material moving, production, and healthcare practitioners and technical. (See table A and box note at end of release.)

One occupational group–computer and mathematical–illustrates the diversity of data available for any of the 22 major occupational categories. Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos had 45,910 jobs in computer and mathematical, accounting for 5.6 percent of local area employment, more than double the 2.7-percent national share. The average hourly wage for this occupational group locally was $40.44, measurably above the national wage of $38.55.

With employment of 9,310, applications software developers was the largest occupation within the computer and mathematical group, followed by systems software developers (7,240) and computer systems analysts (7,180). Among the higher paying jobs were computer network architects and systems software developers, with mean hourly wages of $50.93 and $48.68, respectively. At the lower end of the wage scale were computer user support specialists ($24.29) and web developers ($27.66). (Detailed occupational data for computer and mathematical are presented in table 1; for a complete listing of detailed occupations available go to www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_12420.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 Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos metropolitan area, above average concentrations of employment were found in many of the occupations within the computer and mathematical group. For instance, applications software developers were employed at 2.6 times the national rate in Austin, and systems software developers at 3.0 times the U.S. average. On the other hand, actuaries had a location quotient of 1.1 in Austin, 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 Texas Workforce Commission.

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 Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos Metropolitan Statistical Area included 4,826 establishments with a response rate of 59 percent. For more information about OES concepts and methodology, go to www.bls.gov/news.release/ocwage.tn.htm.

The substate area data published in this release reflect the standards and definitions established by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget.

The Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, Texas, Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) includes Bastrop, Caldwell, Hays, Travis, and Williamson Counties in Texas.

OES data are available on our regional web page at www.bls.gov/ro6. 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.

Last Modified Date: May 7, 2013