Workers in the Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington Metropolitan Statistical Area had an average (mean) hourly wage of $27.69 in May 2019, 8 percent above the nationwide average of $25.72, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Sheila Watkins, the Bureau’s regional commissioner, noted that after testing for statistical significance, 14 of the 22 major occupational groups had average wages in the local area that were significantly higher than their respective national averages, including construction and extraction; management; and life, physical, and social science. Three groups had significantly lower wages than their respective national averages: arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media; transportation and material moving; and healthcare support.

When compared to the nationwide distribution, Philadelphia area employment was more highly concentrated in 11 of the 22 occupational groups, including healthcare support and office and administrative support. The other eleven groups had employment shares significantly below their national representation, including food preparation and serving related and construction and extraction. (See table A and box note at end of release.)

Table A. Occupational employment and wages by major occupational group, United States and the Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD Metropolitan Statistical Area, and measures of statistical significance, May 2019

Major occupational group	Percent of total employment			Mean hourly wage
	United States	Philadelphia		United States	Philadelphia		Percent difference (1)
Total, all occupations	100	100		$25.72	$27.69	*	8
Management	5.5	5.1	*	58.88	68.13	*	16
Business and financial operations	5.6	6.3	*	37.56	39.88	*	6
Computer and mathematical	3.1	3.5	*	45.08	45.26		0
Architecture and engineering	1.8	1.7	*	42.69	44.13	*	3
Life, physical, and social science	0.9	1.1	*	37.28	42.33	*	14
Community and social service	1.5	1.9	*	24.27	24.11		-1
Legal	0.8	1.1	*	52.71	56.89	*	8
Educational instruction and library	6.1	6.5	*	27.75	30.55	*	10
Arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media	1.4	1.2	*	29.79	28.24	*	-5
Healthcare practitioners and technical	5.9	6.8	*	40.21	41.87	*	4
Healthcare support	4.4	5.9	*	14.91	14.54	*	-2
Protective service	2.4	2.5	*	23.98	23.76		-1
Food preparation and serving related	9.2	8.3	*	12.82	12.89		1
Building and grounds cleaning and maintenance	3.0	2.9	*	15.03	15.91	*	6
Personal care and service	2.2	2.6	*	15.03	14.78		-2
Sales and related	9.8	9.3	*	20.70	22.91	*	11
Office and administrative support	13.3	14.5	*	19.73	20.97	*	6
Farming, fishing, and forestry	0.3	0.1	*	15.07	16.01	*	6
Construction and extraction	4.2	3.1	*	25.28	30.12	*	19
Installation, maintenance, and repair	3.9	3.4	*	24.10	25.97	*	8
Production	6.2	4.1	*	19.30	20.82	*	8
Transportation and material moving	8.5	8.2	*	18.23	17.56	*	-4
Footnotes: (1) A positive percent difference measures how much the mean wage in the Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD Metropolitan Statistical Area is above the national mean wage, while a negative difference reflects a lower wage. * The mean hourly wage or percent share of employment is significantly different from the national average of all areas at the 90-percent confidence level.

One occupational group—architecture and engineering—was chosen to illustrate the diversity of data available for any of the 22 major occupational categories. Philadelphia had 47,740 jobs in architecture and engineering occupations, accounting for 1.7 percent of local area employment, significantly lower than the 1.8-percent share nationally. The average hourly wage for this occupational group locally was $44.13, significantly higher than the national wage of $42.69.

Mechanical engineers (6,420), civil engineers (4,990), and industrial engineers (4,200) were some of the larger occupations within the architecture and engineering group. Among the higher-paying jobs in this group were computer hardware engineers ($59.88) and chemical engineers ($59.67). At the lower end of the wage scale were architectural and civil drafters ($27.93) and civil engineering technologists and technicians ($27.52). (Detailed data for healthcare support occupations are presented in table 1; for a complete listing of detailed occupations available go to www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_37980.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 as it does nationally. In the Philadelphia area, above-average concentrations of employment were found in several of the occupations within the architecture and engineering group. For instance, chemical engineers were employed at 2.3 times the national rate in Philadelphia, and aerospace engineers at 2.5 times the national rate. On the other hand, environmental engineers had a location quotient of 1.1 in Philadelphia, 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 Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry.

Technical Note

The Occupational Employment Statistics (OES) survey is a semiannual survey measuring occupational employment and wage rates for wage and salary workers in nonfarm establishments in the United States. The OES data available from BLS include cross-industry occupational employment and wage estimates for the nation; over 580 areas, including states and the District of Columbia, metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs), nonmetropolitan areas, and territories; national industry-specific estimates at the NAICS sector, 3-digit, most 4-digit, and selected 5- and 6-digit industry levels, and national estimates by ownership across all industries and for schools and hospitals. OES data are available at www.bls.gov/oes/tables.htm.

The OES survey is a cooperative effort between BLS and the State Workforce Agencies (SWAs). BLS funds the survey and provides the procedures and technical support, while the State Workforce Agencies collect most of the data. OES estimates are constructed from a sample of about 1.1 million establishments. Each year, two semiannual panels of approximately 180,000 to 200,000 sampled establishments are contacted, one panel in May and the other in November. Responses are obtained by mail, Internet or other electronic means, email, telephone, or personal visit. The May 2019 estimates are based on responses from six semiannual panels collected over a 3-year period: May 2019, November 2018, May 2018, November 2017, May 2017, and November 2016. The unweighted sampled employment of 83 million across all six semiannual panels represents approximately 57 percent of total national employment. The overall national response rate for the six panels, based on the 50 states and the District of Columbia, is 71 percent based on establishments and 68 percent based on weighted sampled employment. The sample in the Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington Metropolitan Statistical Area included 14,923 establishments with a response rate of 65 percent. For more information about OES concepts and methodology, go to www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_tec.htm.

A value that is statistically different from another does not necessarily mean that the difference has economic or practical significance. Statistical significance is concerned with the ability to make confident statements about a universe based on sample. It is entirely possible that a large difference between two values is not significantly different statistically, while a small difference is, since both the size and heterogeneity of the sample affect the relative error of the data being tested.

The May 2019 OES estimates are the first set of OES estimates to be based in part on survey data collected using the 2018 SOC. These estimates use a hybrid of the 2010 and 2018 SOC systems. More information on the hybrid classification system is available at www.bls.gov/oes/soc_2018.htm.

The May 2019 OES estimates are based on the 2017 North American Industry Classification System (NAICS). More information about the 2017 NAICS is available at www.bls.gov/bls/naics.htm.

Metropolitan 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 Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD Metropolitan Statistical Area includes Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Montgomery, and Philadelphia Counties in Pennsylvania; Burlington, Camden, Gloucester, and Salem Counties in New Jersey; New Castle County in Delaware; and Cecil County in Maryland.

Additional information

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 at www.bls.gov/oes/oes_doc.htm.

Information in this release will be made available to sensory impaired individuals upon request. Voice phone: (202) 691-5200; Federal Relay Service: (800) 877-8339.

Table 1. Employment and wage data from the Occupational Employment Statistics survey, by occupation, Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD Metropolitan Statistical Area, May 2019

Occupation(1)	Employment(2)		Mean wage
	Level	Location quotient(3)	Hourly	Annual(4)
Architecture and engineering occupations	47,740	0.9	$44.13	$91,790
Architects, except landscape and naval	2,630	1.3	40.24	83,690
Landscape architects	560	1.4	33.37	69,400
Cartographers and photogrammetrists	60	0.3	29.55	61,460
Surveyors	600	0.7	33.03	68,710
Aerospace engineers	3,040	2.5	56.21	116,920
Bioengineers and biomedical engineers	(5)	(5)	36.49	75,910
Chemical engineers	1,370	2.3	59.67	124,120
Civil engineers	4,990	0.8	45.82	95,310
Computer hardware engineers	910	0.7	59.88	124,550
Electrical engineers	4,050	1.1	51.43	106,970
Electronics engineers, except computer	1,950	0.8	50.45	104,930
Environmental engineers	1,150	1.1	47.31	98,400
Health and safety engineers, except mining safety engineers and inspectors	920	1.8	53.87	112,040
Industrial engineers	4,200	0.7	44.70	92,970
Marine engineers and naval architects	70	0.3	41.88	87,120
Materials engineers	440	0.8	49.99	103,980
Mechanical engineers	6,420	1.1	44.27	92,090
Nuclear engineers	(5)	(5)	56.57	117,650
Petroleum engineers	210	0.3	70.58	146,810
Engineers, all other	3,040	1.0	50.10	104,210
Architectural and civil drafters	1,840	1.0	27.93	58,090
Electrical and electronics drafters	450	1.0	33.70	70,100
Mechanical drafters	930	0.9	29.30	60,950
Drafters, all other	130	0.5	26.31	54,720
Aerospace engineering and operations technologists and technicians	90	0.4	33.23	69,120
Civil engineering technologists and technicians	900	0.7	27.52	57,240
Electrical and electronic engineering technologists and technicians	1,660	0.7	29.66	61,690
Electro-mechanical and mechatronics technologists and technicians	100	0.4	27.92	58,080
Environmental engineering technologists and technicians	310	0.9	25.31	52,640
Industrial engineering technologists and technicians	810	0.6	33.84	70,380
Mechanical engineering technologists and technicians	760	0.9	24.24	50,410
Surveying and mapping technicians	280	0.3	24.62	51,220
Calibration technologists and technicians and engineering technologists and technicians, except drafters, all other	1,590	0.9	37.20	77,370
Footnotes: (1) For a complete listing of all detailed occupations in the Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington Metropolitan Statistical Area, see www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_37980.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) Estimates not available.