Workers in the Baltimore-Towson Metropolitan Statistical Area had an average (mean) hourly wage of $25.22 in May 2014, 11 percent above the nationwide average of $22.71, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Sheila Watkins, the Bureau’s regional commissioner, noted that, after testing for statistical significance, wages in the local area were significantly higher than their respective national averages in 12 of the 22 major occupational groups, including computer and mathematical; education, training, and library; and management. Two groups—legal and construction and extraction—had wages that were measurably lower than their respective national averages. (See table A and box note at end of release.)

Table A. Occupational employment and wages by major occupational group, United States and the Baltimore-Towson Metropolitan Statistical Area, and measures of statistical significance, May 2014

Major occupational group	Employment share (percent of total)			Average (mean) hourly wage
	United States	Baltimore-Towson	Significant difference (1)	United States	Baltimore-Towson	Significant difference (1)	Percent difference (2)
Total, all occupations	100.0%	100.0%		$22.71	$25.22	Yes	11
Management	5.0	5.3	Yes	54.08	58.42	Yes	8
Business and financial operations	5.1	6.5	Yes	34.81	36.76	Yes	6
Computer and mathematical	2.8	4.4	Yes	40.37	45.77	Yes	13
Architecture and engineering	1.8	2.1	Yes	39.19	41.99	Yes	7
Life, physical, and social science	0.8	1.2	Yes	33.69	34.59	No	3
Community and social service	1.4	1.7	Yes	21.79	22.38	No	3
Legal	0.8	1.1	Yes	48.61	39.81	Yes	-18
Education, training, and library	6.2	6.5	No	25.10	29.97	Yes	19
Arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media	1.3	1.2	No	26.82	26.38	No	-2
Healthcare practitioners and technical	5.8	6.6	No	36.54	37.08	No	1
Healthcare support	2.9	2.8	No	13.86	15.14	Yes	9
Protective service	2.4	3.2	Yes	21.14	21.00	No	-1
Food preparation and serving related	9.1	8.1	Yes	10.57	10.85	Yes	3
Building and grounds cleaning and maintenance	3.2	3.1	No	12.68	12.90	No	2
Personal care and service	3.1	3.0	No	12.01	12.72	Yes	6
Sales and related	10.5	10.1	Yes	18.59	18.43	No	-1
Office and administrative support	16.0	16.1	No	17.08	18.35	Yes	7
Farming, fishing, and forestry	0.3	0.0	Yes	12.09	15.64	Yes	29
Construction and extraction	3.9	4.1	No	22.40	21.88	Yes	-2
Installation, maintenance, and repair	3.9	3.5	Yes	21.74	22.59	Yes	4
Production	6.6	3.3	Yes	17.06	18.24	Yes	7
Transportation and material moving	6.8	6.1	Yes	16.57	17.31	No	4
Footnotes: (1) Statistical significance testing at the 90-percent confidence level. (2) A positive percent difference measures how much the mean wage in Baltimore is above the national mean wage, while a negative difference reflects a lower wage.

When compared to the nationwide distribution, Baltimore employment shares were significantly higher in 8 of the 22 occupational groups including computer and mathematical, business and financial operations, and protective service. Conversely, six groups had employment shares significantly below their national representation; these groups included production, food preparation and serving related, and transportation and material moving.

One occupational group—business and financial operations—was chosen to illustrate the diversity of data available for any of the 22 major occupational categories. Baltimore had 83,630 jobs in business and financial operations, accounting for 6.5 percent of local area employment, significantly above the national share of 5.1 percent. The average hourly wage for this occupational group was $36.76, which was significantly above the national average of $34.81.

With employment of 13,450, accountants and auditors was the largest occupation within the business and financial operations group in the Baltimore area. Among the higher paying jobs were personal financial advisors and management analysts, with mean hourly wages of $50.38 and $48.37, respectively. At the lower end of the wage scale were tax preparers ($18.65) and fundraisers ($23.79). (Detailed occupational data for the business and financial operations group are presented in table 1; for a complete listing of detailed occupations go to www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_12580.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 Baltimore metropolitan area, above-average concentrations of employment were found in several of the detailed occupations within the business and financial operations group. For instance, management analysts were employed at one-and-a-half times the national rate in Baltimore, and budget analysts, at more than twice the U.S. average. On the other hand, market research analysts and marketing specialists had a location quotient of 1.0 in Baltimore, meaning the local employment share in this particular occupation was similar to the national average.

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 Maryland Department of Labor, Licensing, and Regulation.

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. Each year, forms are mailed to two semiannual panels of approximately 200,000 sampled establishments, one panel in May and the other in November. May 2014 estimates are based on responses from six semiannual panels collected over a 3-year period: May 2014, November 2013, May 2013, November 2012, May 2012, and November 2011. The overall national response rate for the six panels is 74.3 percent based on establishments and 70.5 percent based on employment. The sample in the Baltimore-Towson Metropolitan Statistical Area included 6,314 establishments with a response rate of 75 percent. For more information about OES concepts and methodology, go to www.bls.gov/news.release/ocwage.tn.htm.

The OES survey provides estimates of employment and hourly and annual wages for wage and salary workers in 22 major occupational groups and 821 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. OES data by state and metropolitan/nonmetropolitan area are available from www.bls.gov/oes/current/oessrcst.htm and www.bls.gov/oes/current/oessrcma.htm, respectively.

The May 2014 OES estimates are based on the 2010 Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) system and the 2012 North American Industry Classification System (NAICS). Information about the 2010 SOC is available on the BLS website at www.bls.gov/soc and information about the 2012 NAICS is available at www.bls.gov/bls/naics.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 Baltimore-Towson, Md. Metropolitan Statistical Area includes Anne Arundel, Baltimore, Carroll, Harford, Howard, and Queen Anne’s Counties and Baltimore City in Maryland.

Additional information

OES data are available on our regional web page at www.bls.gov/regions/mid-atlantic. 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/current/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, Baltimore-Towson Metropolitan Statistical Area, May 2014

Occupation (1)	Employment (2)		Mean wage
	Level	Location quotient (3)	Hourly	Annual (4)
Business and financial operations occupations	83,630	1.3	$36.76	$76,450
Agents and business managers of artists, performers, and athletes	40	0.3	36.40	75,710
Buyers and purchasing agents, farm products	130	1.2	27.52	57,240
Wholesale and retail buyers, except farm products	940	0.9	27.19	56,560
Purchasing agents, except wholesale, retail, and farm products	2,800	1.0	34.69	72,150
Claims adjusters, examiners, and investigators	4,220	1.7	33.51	69,700
Insurance appraisers, auto damage	140	1.1	32.39	67,370
Compliance officers	3,830	1.6	33.03	68,710
Cost estimators	2,610	1.3	34.07	70,870
Human resources specialists	5,440	1.2	33.19	69,030
Labor relations specialists	770	1.0	26.66	55,450
Logisticians	2,290	1.9	41.07	85,410
Management analysts	8,620	1.5	48.37	100,610
Meeting, convention, and event planners	1,100	1.5	25.85	53,770
Fundraisers	840	1.6	23.79	49,490
Compensation, benefits, and job analysis specialists	950	1.2	30.71	63,890
Training and development specialists	3,700	1.6	30.03	62,450
Market research analysts and marketing specialists	4,610	1.0	31.36	65,220
Business operations specialists, all other	11,420	1.3	38.62	80,320
Accountants and auditors	13,450	1.2	36.86	76,670
Appraisers and assessors of real estate	830	1.4	24.27	50,480
Budget analysts	1,210	2.2	37.75	78,510
Credit analysts	600	0.9	38.84	72,460
Financial analysts	3,400	1.4	42.89	89,200
Personal financial advisors	3,220	1.7	50.38	104,780
Insurance underwriters	670	0.8	34.81	72,400
Financial examiners	220	0.6	41.33	85,980
Credit counselors	210	0.8	21.14	43,980
Loan officers	2,470	0.9	37.13	77,220
Tax examiners and collectors, and revenue agents	450	0.7	27.52	57,250
Tax preparers	370	0.6	18.65	38,800
Financial specialists, all other	2,100	1.6	29.06	60,450
Footnotes: (1) For a complete listing of all detailed occupations in the Baltimore-Towson MSA, see www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_12580.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.