Table 37 Summary: Mean hourly earnings(1) and weekly hours for metropolitan, nonmetropolitan, and geographic areas Private industry State and local Civilian workers workers government workers Geographic area(2) Mean Relat- Mean Mean Relat- Mean Mean Relat- Mean hourly ive weekly hourly ive weekly hourly ive weekly earnings error- hours- earnings error- hours- earnings error- hours- (3) (4) (3) (4) (3) (4) All workers........................................................... $19.29 1.2% 35.6 $18.56 1.2% 35.4 $23.99 1.2% 36.6 Metropolitan........................................................ 20.08 .9 35.6 19.36 .9 35.4 24.96 1.2 36.6 Nonmetropolitan..................................................... 15.01 2.7 35.7 14.02 2.9 35.6 19.92 1.7 36.6 Geographic areas Northeast New England....................................................... 22.54 1.5 34.1 21.82 1.7 34.0 27.84 1.9 35.1 Middle Atlantic................................................... 21.64 1.2 34.8 20.68 1.2 34.7 27.72 .9 35.4 South South Atlantic.................................................... 18.00 1.6 35.9 17.48 1.9 35.6 21.33 1.1 38.1 East South Central................................................ 16.53 5.8 37.0 16.03 6.5 37.0 19.63 2.5 37.0 West South Central................................................ 17.12 1.5 36.7 16.62 1.6 36.4 19.93 1.6 38.0 Midwest East North Central................................................ 19.03 1.1 34.9 18.21 1.0 34.7 25.00 3.7 35.8 West North Central................................................ 17.50 1.9 35.1 16.71 1.6 34.9 22.27 2.4 36.7 West Mountain.......................................................... 18.03 3.8 36.0 17.21 3.6 35.9 23.34 3.2 37.0 Pacific........................................................... 21.98 1.2 35.6 21.01 1.6 35.6 27.94 1.0 35.3 1 Earnings are the straight-time hourly wages or salaries paid to employees. They include incentive pay, cost-of-living adjustments, and hazard pay. Excluded are premium pay for overtime, vacations, and holidays; nonproduction bonuses; and tips. The mean is computed by totaling the pay of all workers and dividing by the number of workers, weighed by hours. 2 See appendix C for a list of States comprising the 9 Census divisions. 3 The relative standard error (RSE) is the standard error expressed as a percent of the estimate. It can be used to calculate a "confidence interval" around a sample estimate. For more information about RSEs, see appendix A. 4 Mean weekly hours are the hours an employee is scheduled to work in a week, exclusive of overtime. NOTE: Dashes indicate that data did not meet publication criteria. SOURCE: Bureau of Labor Statistics, National Compensation Survey.