Workers in the Harrisburg-Carlisle, PA Metropolitan Statistical Area had an average (mean) hourly wage of $29.66 in May 2024, compared to the nationwide average of $32.66, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Regional Commissioner Alexandra Hall Bovee noted that higher paying major occupational groups included management ($60.27) and legal ($54.54). Lower paying occupational groups included food preparation and serving related ($15.82), personal care and service ($16.56), and healthcare support ($16.91). (See table A.)

Transportation and material moving occupations accounted for 13.6 percent of Harrisburg area employment, followed by office and administrative support occupations (12.3 percent). Major occupational groups on the lower end of local employment included life, physical, and social science (0.9 percent); legal (0.9 percent); and arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media (1.0 percent).

One occupational group—transportation and material moving—was chosen to illustrate the diversity of data available for any of the 22 major occupational categories. Harrisburg had 45,000 jobs in transportation and material moving, accounting for 13.6 percent of local area employment, compared to the 8.9-percent share nationally. The average hourly wage for this occupational group locally was $22.55, compared to the national wage of $23.44.

  

View Chart Data

                                                                                 

Chart 1. Hourly mean wages for selected higher paying transportation and material moving occupations in the Harrisburg metropolitan area, May 2024

Occupation	Wage
All occupations	$29.66
Transportation and material moving occupations	22.55
First-line supervisors of transportation and material moving workers, except aircraft cargo handling supervisors	31.77
Crane and tower operators	29.65
Heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers	29.34
Refuse and recyclable material collectors	25.68
Bus drivers, transit and intercity	25.64

Some of the larger detailed occupations within the transportation and material moving group included laborers and freight, stock, and hand material movers (12,780), stockers and order fillers (7,120), and heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers (6,470). Among the higher paying jobs in this group were first-line supervisors of transportation and material moving workers, except aircraft cargo handling supervisors ($31.77) and crane and tower operators ($29.65). (See chart 1.) At the lower end of the wage scale were parking attendants ($15.04) and automotive and watercraft service attendants ($15.11). (Detailed data for the computer and mathematical occupations are presented in table 1; for a complete listing of detailed occupations available go to https://data.bls.gov/oes/#/area/0025420.)

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 2.00 indicates that an occupation accounts for twice the share of employment in the area than it does nationally. In the Harrisburg area, above-average concentrations of employment were found in some of the occupations within the transportation and material moving group. For instance, industrial truck and tractor operators were employed at 3.25 times the national rate in Harrisburg, and laborers and freight, stock, and hand material movers, at 2.00 times the U.S. average. Driver/sales workers had a location quotient of 1.10 in Harrisburg, 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 Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry.

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 530 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 is 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 65.7 percent based on establishments and 65.9 percent based on weighted sampled employment. The sample in the Harrisburg-Carlisle, PA Metropolitan Statistical Area included 2,627 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 Harrisburg-Carlisle, PA Metropolitan Statistical Area includes Cumberland County, Dauphin County, and Perry 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.