Workers in the Camden Metropolitan Division had an average (mean) hourly wage of $25.14 in May 2017, about 3 percent above the nationwide average of $24.34, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Chief Regional Economist Martin Kohli noted that, after testing for statistical significance, wages in the local area were higher than their respective national averages in 14 of the 22 major occupational groups, including management; construction and extraction; and healthcare practitioners and technical. Three groups had significantly lower wages than their respective national averages: legal; computer and mathematical; and transportation and material moving.

When compared to the nationwide distribution, local employment was more highly concentrated in 5 of the 22 occupational groups, including healthcare support; education, training, and library; and office and administrative support. Conversely, 12 groups had employment shares significantly below their national representation, including production; food preparation and serving related; and management. (See table A and box note at end of release.)

One occupational group—healthcare support—was chosen to illustrate the diversity of data available for any of the 22 major occupational categories. Camden had 23,300 jobs in healthcare support, accounting for 4.4 percent of local area employment, significantly higher than the 2.9-percent share nationally. The average hourly wage for this occupational group locally was $14.76, compared to the national wage of $15.05.

Some of the larger detailed occupations within the healthcare support group included nursing assistants (9,120), home health aides (4,970), and medical assistants (3,560). Among the higher paying jobs were occupational therapy assistants and physical therapist assistants, with mean hourly wages of $33.76 and $31.83, respectively. At the lower end of the wage scale were home health aides ($11.38) and pharmacy aides ($11.38). (Detailed occupational data for healthcare support are presented in table 1; for a complete listing of detailed occupations available go to www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_15804.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 Camden Metropolitan Division, above-average concentrations of employment were found in many of the occupations within the healthcare support group. For instance, psychiatric aides were employed at 1.8 times the national rate in Camden, and nursing assistants at 1.7 times the U.S. average. On the other hand, massage therapists had a location quotient of 1.1 in Camden, 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 New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development.

Technical Note

The Occupational Employment Statistics (OES) survey is a semiannual mail 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 650 areas, including states and the District of Columbia, metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs), metropolitan divisions, nonmetropolitan areas, and territories; national industry-specific estimates at the NAICS sector, 3-, 4-, 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.

OES estimates are constructed from a sample of about 1.2 million establishments. Each year, two semiannual panels of approximately 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 2017 estimates are based on responses from six semiannual panels collected over a 3-year period: May 2017, November 2016, May 2016, November 2015, May 2015, and November 2014. The overall national response rate for the six panels, based on the 50 states and the District of Columbia, is 72 percent based on establishments and 68 percent based on weighted sampled employment. The unweighted sample employment of 82 million across all six semiannual panels represents approximately 58 percent of total national employment. The sample in the Camden Metropolitan Division included 3,806 establishments with a response rate of 77 percent. For more information about OES concepts and methodology, go to www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_tec.htm.

The May 2017 OES estimates are based on the 2010 Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) system and the 2012 North American Industry Classification System (NAICS). Information about the 2010 SOC is available on the BLS website at www.bls.gov/soc and information about the 2012 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 Camden, N.J. Metropolitan Division includes Burlington, Camden, and Gloucester Counties.

Additional information

OES data are available on our regional web page at www.bls.gov/regions/northeast. 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 in our Survey Methods and Reliability Statement on the BLS website at www.bls.gov/oes/current/methods_statement.pdf.

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, Camden Metropolitan Division, May 2017

Occupation (1)	Employment		Mean wages
	Level (2)	Location quotient (3)	Hourly	Annual (4)
Healthcare support occupations	23,300	1.5	$14.76	$30,710
Home health aides	4,970	1.6	11.38	23,680
Psychiatric aides	440	1.8	17.23	35,830
Nursing assistants	9,120	1.7	13.31	27,690
Orderlies	280	1.4	14.34	29,820
Occupational therapy assistants	50	0.3	33.76	70,220
Physical therapist assistants	160	0.5	31.83	66,200
Physical therapist aides	380	2.1	13.21	27,480
Massage therapists	400	1.1	19.40	40,350
Dental assistants	1,540	1.2	20.39	42,400
Medical assistants	3,560	1.5	16.99	35,340
Medical equipment preparers	350	1.8	19.36	40,260
Medical transcriptionists	(5)	(5)	18.40	38,280
Pharmacy aides	(5)	(5)	11.38	23,680
Veterinary assistants and laboratory animal caretakers	90	0.3	13.60	28,300
Phlebotomists	750	1.7	18.59	38,660
Healthcare support workers, all other	950	2.8	17.60	36,620
Footnotes: (1) For a complete listing of all detailed occupations in Camden, NJ Metropolitan Division, see www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_15804.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) Estimate not released.