Workers in the Pittsburgh, PA Metropolitan Statistical Area had an average (mean) hourly wage of $26.11 in May 2020, about 4 percent below the nationwide average of $27.07, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Regional Commissioner Alexandra Hall Bovee noted that, after testing for statistical significance, wages in the local area were higher than their respective national averages in 4 of the 22 major occupational groups, including educational instruction and library, and production. Fourteen groups had significantly lower wages than their respective national averages, including healthcare practitioners and technical, legal, and computer and mathematical..

When compared to the nationwide distribution, Pittsburgh area employment was more highly concentrated in 6 of the 22 occupational groups, including healthcare practitioners and technical, healthcare support, and office and administrative support. Eleven groups had employment shares significantly below their national representation, including production, transportation and material moving, and management. (See table A.)

One occupational group—healthcare practitioners and technical—was chosen to illustrate the diversity of data available for any of the 22 major occupational categories. Pittsburgh had 87,180 jobs in healthcare practitioners and technical, accounting for 8.2 percent of local area employment, significantly higher than the 6.2-percent share nationally. The average hourly wage for this occupational group locally was $34.75, significantly below the national wage of $41.30.

Some of the larger detailed occupations within the healthcare practitioners and technical group included registered nurses (33,190), licensed practical and licensed vocational nurses (5,700), and all other physicians and ophthalmologists, except pediatric (5,050). Among the higher-paying jobs in this group were general internal medicine physicians and psychiatrists, with mean hourly wages of $126.13 and $123.99, respectively. At the lower end of the wage scale were pharmacy technicians ($14.95) and psychiatric technicians ($15.83). (Detailed data for the healthcare practitioners and technical occupations are presented in table 1; for a complete listing of detailed occupations available go to www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_38300.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 Pittsburgh area, above-average concentrations of employment were found in many of the occupations within the healthcare practitioners and technical group. For instance, optometrists were employed at 2.6 times the national rate in Pittsburgh, and cardiovascular technologists and technicians, at 2.4 times the U.S. average. Dental hygienists had a location quotient of 0.9 in Pittsburgh, indicating that this particular occupation’s local and national employment shares were similar.

These statistics are from the Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) 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 and Wage Statistics (OEWS) survey is a semiannual survey measuring occupational employment and wage rates for wage and salary workers in nonfarm establishments in the United States. The OEWS 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. OEWS data are available at www.bls.gov/oes/tables.htm.

The OEWS 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. OEWS estimates are constructed from a sample of about 1.1 million establishments. Each year, two semiannual panels of approximately 180,000 to 185,000 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 2020 estimates are based on responses from six semiannual panels collected over a 3-year period: May 2020, November 2019, May 2019, November 2018, May 2018, and November 2017. The unweighted sample employment of 83 million across all six semiannual panels represents approximately 56 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 69 percent based on establishments and 66 percent based on weighted sampled employment. The sample in the Pittsburgh, PA Metropolitan Statistical Area included 5,448 establishments with a response rate of 57 percent. For more information about OEWS 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 a 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.

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 Pittsburgh, PA Metropolitan Statistical Area includes Allegheny, Armstrong, Beaver, Butler, Fayette, Washington, and Westmoreland Counties in Pennsylvania.

For more information

Answers to frequently asked questions about the OEWS data are available at www.bls.gov/oes/oes_ques.htm. Detailed information about the OEWS program is available at www.bls.gov/oes/oes_doc.htm.

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

Table 1. Employment and wage data for healthcare practitioners and technical occupations, Pittsburgh area, May 2020

Occupation (1)	Employment		Mean wages
	Level (2)	Location quotient (3)	Hourly	Annual (4)
Healthcare practitioners and technical occupations	87,180	1.3	$34.75	$72,270
Chiropractors	440	1.7	35.21	73,240
Dentists, general	610	0.8	71.78	149,310
Orthodontists	(5)	(5)	(7)	(7)
Dentists, all other specialists	(5)	(5)	73.19	152,230
Dietitians and nutritionists	810	1.6	24.87	51,730
Optometrists	740	2.6	53.61	111,500
Pharmacists	3,060	1.3	52.86	109,940
Physician assistants	1,550	1.6	47.84	99,510
Podiatrists	90	1.2	55.57	115,580
Occupational therapists	1,570	1.6	36.66	76,260
Physical therapists	2,670	1.6	41.00	85,270
Radiation therapists	140	1.1	38.25	79,550
Recreational therapists	130	0.8	26.16	54,400
Respiratory therapists	1,350	1.3	27.89	58,010
Speech-language pathologists	1,240	1.1	37.89	78,820
Exercise physiologists	(5)	(5)	25.19	52,380
Veterinarians	540	1.0	55.22	114,860
Registered nurses	33,190	1.5	33.74	70,180
Nurse anesthetists	200	0.6	94.15	195,830
Nurse midwives	50	0.9	50.55	105,150
Nurse practitioners	2,180	1.3	52.20	108,570
Audiologists	110	1.1	36.95	76,850
Anesthesiologists	(5)	(5)	147.78	307,390
Family medicine physicians	610	0.8	87.93	182,900
General internal medicine physicians	140	0.4	126.13	262,340
Psychiatrists	140	0.7	123.99	257,890
Physicians, all other; and ophthalmologists, except pediatric	5,050	1.8	61.88	128,710
Dental hygienists	1,390	0.9	29.55	61,470
Acupuncturists and healthcare diagnosing or treating practitioners, all other	320	1.1	38.28	79,630
Clinical laboratory technologists and technicians	3,650	1.5	25.43	52,900
Cardiovascular technologists and technicians	1,010	2.4	29.67	61,720
Diagnostic medical sonographers	620	1.1	30.34	63,100
Nuclear medicine technologists	210	1.6	32.30	67,190
Radiologic technologists and technicians	2,150	1.4	26.49	55,100
Magnetic resonance imaging technologists	380	1.3	29.24	60,820
Emergency medical technicians and paramedics	2,860	1.5	16.06	33,410
Dietetic technicians	140	0.7	16.48	34,290
Pharmacy technicians	3,950	1.2	14.95	31,110
Psychiatric technicians	600	0.9	15.83	32,920
Surgical technologists	980	1.2	22.85	47,540
Veterinary technologists and technicians	1,300	1.5	16.53	34,380
Licensed practical and licensed vocational nurses	5,700	1.1	21.99	45,740
Opticians, dispensing	460	0.9	16.43	34,180
Orthotists and prosthetists	130	1.8	35.01	72,820
Medical dosimetrists, medical records specialists, and health technologists and technicians, all other	2,550	1.1	22.26	46,310
Athletic trainers	340	1.6	(6)	45,640
Genetic counselors	30	1.9	37.95	78,940
Health information technologists, medical registrars, surgical assistants, and healthcare practitioners and technical workers, all other	300	0.5	32.25	67,090
Footnotes: (1) For a complete listing of all detailed occupations in the Pittsburgh, PA Metropolitan Statistical Area, see www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_38300.htm. (2) Estimates for detailed occupations may not sum to the totals due to rounding, and because the totals may include occupations that are 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) Estimate not released. (6) Wages for some occupations that do not generally work year-round, full time, are reported either as hourly wages or annual salaries depending on how they are typically paid. (7) This wage is equal to or greater than $80.00 per hour or $166,400 per year.