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News Release Information

23-1602-PHI
Tuesday, July 25, 2023

Contacts Technical information: Media contact:

Occupational Employment and Wages in Pittsburgh – May 2022

Workers in the Pittsburgh, PA Metropolitan Statistical Area had an average (mean) hourly wage of $27.90 in May 2022, 6 percent below the nationwide average of $29.76, 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 lower than their respective national averages in 17 of the 22 major occupational groups, including legal; computer and mathematical; and arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media. Three groups had significantly higher wages than their respective national averages: educational instruction and library, construction and extraction, and production.

When compared to the nationwide distribution, Pittsburgh area employment was more highly concentrated in 9 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 transportation and material moving, production, and sales and related. (See table A.)

Table A. Occupational employment and wages by major occupational group, United States and the Pittsburgh metropolitan area, and measures of statistical significance, May 2022
Major occupational groupPercent of total employmentMean hourly wage ($)
United StatesPittsburghUnited StatesPittsburghPercent difference (1)

Total, all occupations

100.0100.029.7627.90*-6

Management

6.76.2*63.0859.25*-6

Business and financial operations

6.56.0*41.3938.10*-8

Computer and mathematical

3.43.1*51.9943.85*-16

Architecture and engineering

1.72.1*45.5244.37-3

Life, physical, and social science

0.91.0*40.2133.15*-18

Community and social service

1.61.7*26.8124.67*-8

Legal

0.80.859.8748.14*-20

Educational instruction and library

5.75.4*30.4133.56*10

Arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media

1.41.2*36.7828.73*-22

Healthcare practitioners and technical

6.17.8*46.5240.25*-13

Healthcare support

4.65.5*17.1015.95*-7

Protective service

2.32.1*25.9724.52*-6

Food preparation and serving related

8.58.7*15.4513.84*-10

Building and grounds cleaning and maintenance

2.92.6*17.2616.55*-4

Personal care and service

1.92.3*17.4115.71*-10

Sales and related

8.98.3*24.2222.01*-9

Office and administrative support

12.613.3*21.9021.21*-3

Farming, fishing, and forestry

0.30.1*18.2117.27-5

Construction and extraction

4.14.6*28.0829.13*4

Installation, maintenance, and repair

3.93.926.7726.32*-2

Production

5.95.2*21.8122.52*3

Transportation and material moving

9.28.3*21.1220.05*-5

Footnotes:
(1) A positive percent difference measures how much the mean wage in the Pittsburgh, PA 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—healthcare practitioners and technical—was chosen to illustrate the diversity of data available for any of the 22 major occupational categories. Pittsburgh had 82,010 jobs in healthcare practitioners and technical, accounting for 7.8 percent of local area employment, significantly higher than the 6.1-percent share nationally. The average hourly wage for this occupational group locally was $40.25, significantly below the national wage of $46.52.

Some of the larger detailed occupations within the healthcare practitioners and technical group included registered nurses (27,580), licensed practical and licensed vocational nurses (5,020), and pharmacy technicians (3,920). Among the higher-paying jobs in this group were ophthalmologists, except pediatric and psychiatrists, with mean hourly wages of $143.30 and $141.38, respectively. (See chart 1.) At the lower end of the wage scale were psychiatric technicians ($16.48) and emergency medical technicians ($16.86). (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 some of the occupations within the healthcare practitioners and technical group. For instance, family medicine physicians were employed at 2.4 times the national rate in Pittsburgh, and cardiovascular technologists and technicians, at 2.0 times the U.S. average. Surgical technologists had a location quotient of 1.0 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.

Changes to the Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) Data

The May 2022 OEWS estimates use the model-based (MB3) estimation method implemented with the May 2021 estimates release. Additional updates were made to the MB3 wage processing methodology for May 2022. For more information, see the May 2022 Survey Methods and Reliability Statement.

The May 2022 estimates are the first OEWS estimates to be produced using the 2022 NAICS, which replaces the 2017 NAICS used for the May 2017-May 2021 estimates. See North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) at BLS for details.


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 179,000 to 187,000 sampled establishments are contacted, one panel in May and the other in November. Responses are obtained by Internet or other electronic means, mail, email, telephone, or personal visit. The May 2022 estimates are based on responses from six semiannual panels collected over a 3-year period: May 2022, November 2021, May 2021, November 2020, May 2020, and November 2019. The unweighted sampled employment of 80 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 65.4 percent based on establishments and 62.5 percent based on weighted sampled employment. The sample in the Pittsburgh, PA Metropolitan Statistical Area included 5,610 establishments with a response rate of 52 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 County, Armstrong County, Beaver County, Butler County, Fayette County, Washington County, and Westmoreland County.

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; Telecommunications Relay Service: 7-1-1.

Table 1. Employment and wage data for healthcare practitioners and technical occupations, Pittsburgh metropolitan area, May 2022
Occupation (1)EmploymentMean wages ($)
Level (2)Location quotient (3)HourlyAnnual (4)

Healthcare practitioners and technical occupations

82,0101.340.2583,730

Chiropractors

3901.425.7453,540

Dentists, general

9901.168.86143,220

Dietitians and nutritionists

6601.330.8164,080

Optometrists

2200.757.30119,190

Pharmacists

3,1801.457.59119,790

Physician assistants

1,2901.350.09104,200

Podiatrists

701.161.04126,960

Occupational therapists

1,1101.239.4282,000

Physical therapists

2,0701.345.4294,470

Radiation therapists

1301.239.1881,490

Recreational therapists

1401.225.0152,030

Respiratory therapists

1,0201.130.8164,090

Speech-language pathologists

1,0700.937.2877,530

Exercise physiologists

(5)(5)25.0552,100

Therapists, all other

900.826.4855,090

Veterinarians

6001.154.89114,170

Registered nurses

27,5801.336.6576,230

Nurse anesthetists

5101.594.08195,690

Nurse midwives

400.749.57103,100

Nurse practitioners

1,7300.959.57123,910

Audiologists

800.841.0685,400

Family medicine physicians

1,7002.4111.38231,670

General internal medicine physicians

2400.5(7)(7)

Pediatricians, general

2000.9100.97210,010

Physicians, pathologists

400.4(5)(5)

Psychiatrists

1000.6141.38294,070

Physicians, all other

6,6803.159.50123,760

Ophthalmologists, except pediatric

700.8143.30298,050

Dental hygienists

1,6501.133.3169,290

Healthcare diagnosing or treating practitioners, all other

2801.342.6088,600

Clinical laboratory technologists and technicians

3,0401.326.3854,860

Cardiovascular technologists and technicians

8002.032.5767,750

Diagnostic medical sonographers

5100.933.8370,370

Nuclear medicine technologists

1701.434.0470,810

Radiologic technologists and technicians

1,6201.129.4661,280

Magnetic resonance imaging technologists

4701.734.3971,520

Emergency medical technicians

1,8501.516.8635,060

Paramedics

9901.523.6449,160

Dietetic technicians

800.619.5040,550

Pharmacy technicians

3,9201.217.8037,030

Psychiatric technicians

3000.416.4834,280

Surgical technologists

7801.024.8651,700

Veterinary technologists and technicians

9701.119.3640,270

Ophthalmic medical technicians

5601.219.5940,760

Licensed practical and licensed vocational nurses

5,0201.125.7453,540

Medical records specialists

2,4601.822.2846,350

Opticians, dispensing

6501.217.7836,990

Orthotists and prosthetists

1101.740.7184,670

Hearing aid specialists

1201.719.3640,280

Health technologists and technicians, all other

1,5701.422.1846,130

Health information technologists and medical registrars

2100.831.3865,280

Athletic trainers

4902.3(6)51,170

Genetic counselors

1104.837.5378,060

Healthcare practitioners and technical workers, all other

1600.534.8472,470

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 $115.00 per hour or $239,200 per year.

 

Last Modified Date: Tuesday, July 25, 2023