Workers in the Charleston, WV Metropolitan Statistical Area had an average (mean) hourly wage of $25.93 in May 2023, compared to the nationwide average of $31.48, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Regional Commissioner Alexandra Hall Bovee noted that higher paying major occupational groups included management ($48.83), and healthcare practitioners and technical ($45.17). Lower paying occupational groups included food preparation and serving related ($13.43), building and grounds cleaning and maintenance ($14.61), and personal care and services ($14.99). (See table A.)

Office and administrative support occupations accounted for 13.9 percent of Charleston area employment, followed by healthcare practitioners and technical occupations (9.6 percent). Major occupational groups on the lower end of local employment included arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media (0.8 percent); and life, physical, and social science (1.2 percent).

One occupational group—office and administrative support—was chosen to illustrate the diversity of data available for any of the 22 major occupational categories. Charleston had 14,260 jobs in office and administrative support, accounting for 13.9 percent of local area employment, compared to the 12.2-percent share nationally. The average hourly wage for this occupational group locally was $19.60, compared to the national wage of $23.05.

  

View Chart Data

                                                                                             

Chart 1. Hourly mean wages for higher paying office and administrative support occupations in the Charleston metropolitan area, May 2023

Occupation	Wage
All occupations	$25.93
Office and administrative support occupations	19.60
Executive secretaries and executive administrative assistants	29.78
Production, planning, and expediting clerks	29.50
Meter readers, utilities	29.46
Postal service mail carriers	28.60
First-line supervisors of office and administrative support workers	26.90

Some of the larger detailed occupations within the office and administrative support group included office clerks, general (1,850); customer service representatives (1,670); and secretaries and administrative assistants, except legal, medical, and executive (1,450). Among the higher paying jobs in this group were executive secretaries and executive administrative assistants ($29.78) and production, planning, and expediting clerks ($29.50). (See chart 1.) At the lower end of the wage scale were library assistants, clerical ($12.25), and switchboard operators, including answering service ($12.28). (Detailed data for the office and administrative support occupations are presented in table 1; for a complete listing of detailed occupations available go to www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_16620.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 Charleston area, above-average concentrations of employment were found in some of the occupations within the office and administrative group. For instance, postal service mail sorters, processors, and processing machine operators, were employed at 5.3 times the national rate in Charleston, and legal secretaries and administrative assistants, at 4.0 times the U.S. average. Postal service mail carriers had a location quotient of 1.0 in Charleston, indicating that this particular occupation’s local and national employment shares were similar.

The statistics in this release are from the Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) survey, a cooperative effort between BLS and the State Workforce Agencies (SWAs). BLS funds the survey and provides the procedures and technical support. State Workforce Agencies collect most of the data: in this case, the Workforce West Virginia.

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. Full OEWS data tables are available online.

Additional information about the OEWS estimates and methodology are available in the national Technical Notes. The overall national response rate for the six panels, based on the 50 states and the District of Columbia, is 65.8 percent based on establishments and 64.3 percent based on weighted sampled employment. The sample in the Charleston, WV Metropolitan Statistical Area included 1,342 establishments with a response rate of 59 percent.

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 Charleston, WV Metropolitan Statistical Area includes Boone County, Clay County, and Kanawha County.

For more information

Answers to frequently asked questions about the OEWS data, as well as general program documentation, are available on the OEWS website.

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.