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For release 10:00 A.M. (EDT) USDL-11-0761 WEDNESDAY, MAY 25, 2011 Technical information: (202) 691-6199 NCSinfo@bls.gov http://www.bls.gov/ncs Media contact: (202) 691-5902 PressOffice@bls.gov OCCUPATIONAL PAY COMPARISONS AMONG METROPOLITAN AREAS, 2010 Average pay for civilian workers in the San Jose-San Francisco-Oakland, CA metropolitan area was 20 percent above the national average in 2010, one of 77 metropolitan areas studied by the National Compensation Survey (NCS), the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. The Brownsville-Harlingen, TX metropolitan area had a pay relative of 80, meaning workers earned an average of 80 cents for every dollar earned by workers nationwide. Using data from the NCS, pay relatives—a means of assessing pay differences—are available for each of the nine major occupational groups within surveyed metropolitan areas, as well as averaged across all occupations for each area. The average pay relative nationally for all occupations and for each occupational group equals 100. (See table 1.) A pay relative is a calculation of pay—wages, salaries, commissions, and production bonuses—for a given metropolitan area relative to the nation as a whole. The calculation controls for differences among areas in occupational composition, establishment and occupational characteristics, and the fact that data are collected for areas at different times during the year. Simple pay comparisons calculating the ratio of the average pay for an area to the entire United States in percentage terms would not control for interarea differences in occupational composition and other factors, which may impact pay relatives. Chart 1 above lists selected metropolitan area pay relatives compared to average pay nationally among those studied in the NCS. Table A provides selected metropolitan area pay relatives for each of five major occupational groups. In addition, area-to-area comparisons have been calculated for all 77 metropolitan areas and are available on the BLS website at http://www.bls.gov/ncs/ocs/payrel.htm. Table A. Selected metropolitan area-to-national pay relatives and major occupational groups, July 2010 (of 77 metropolitan areas surveyed) Major Occupational Group Metropolitan Area Pay Relative Management, business, and financial New York-Newark-Bridgeport, NY-NJ-CT-PA 120 Los Angeles-Long Beach-Riverside, CA 108 Reno-Sparks, NV 108 Salinas, CA 108 San Jose-San Francisco-Oakland, CA 108 Office and administrative support San Jose-San Francisco-Oakland, CA 120 New York-Newark-Bridgeport, NY-NJ-CT-PA 115 Boston-Worcester-Manchester, MA-NH 114 Hartford-West Hartford-Willimantic, CT 114 Washington-Baltimore-Northern Virginia, 112 DC-MD-VA-WV Service San Jose-San Francisco-Oakland, CA 126 Salinas, CA 123 Seattle-Tacoma-Olympia, WA 123 Hartford-West Hartford-Willimantic, CT 119 Minneapolis-St. Paul-St. Cloud, MN-WI 115 San Diego-Carlsbad-San Marcos, CA 115 Production Detroit-Warren-Flint, MI 117 Sacramento-Arden-Arcade-Truckee, CA-NV 117 Bloomington-Normal, IL 116 Seattle-Tacoma-Olympia, WA 115 Providence-New Bedford-Fall River, RI-MA 113 Transportation and material moving Seattle-Tacoma-Olympia, WA 117 Minneapolis-St. Paul-St. Cloud, MN-WI 114 Boston-Worcester-Manchester, MA-NH 111 Kansas City, MO-KS 110 Salinas, CA 109 San Jose-San Francisco-Oakland, CA 109 The pay relative for production occupations in the Detroit-Warren-Flint, MI and Sacramento-Arden-Arcade-Truckee, CA-NV areas was 117, meaning the pay in these two metropolitan areas averaged 17 percent more than the national average pay for that occupational group. By contrast, the pay relative for production workers in the Brownsville-Harlingen, Texas area was 80, meaning pay for workers in those occupations averaged 20 percent less than the national average. (See table 1.) Statistical significance measures are not available for news release and area-to-area comparison tables. ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ NOTICE OF FINAL NEWS RELEASE This is the final Occupational Pay Comparisons Among Metropolitan Areas news release. Funding for the Locality Pay Survey program is ending. However, the other programs of the National Compensation Survey, such as the Employment Cost Index, Employer Costs for Employee Compensation, and benefit publications will continue to be produced. ______________________________________________________________________________________________________