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News Release Information

15-918-CHI
Tuesday, June 23, 2015

Contacts Technical information: Media contact:
  • (312) 353-1138

Occupational Employment and Wages in Columbus, Ohio — May 2014

Workers in the Columbus, Ohio Metropolitan Statistical Area had an average (mean) hourly wage of $22.34 in May 2014, compared to the nationwide average of $22.71, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Regional Commissioner Charlene Peiffer noted that, after testing for statistical significance, wages in the local area were higher than their respective national averages in 2 of the 22 major occupational groups. Ten groups had significantly lower wages than their respective national averages, including legal; life, physical, and social science; and architecture and engineering.

When compared to the nationwide distribution, local employment was more highly concentrated in 5 of the 22 occupational groups, including office and administrative support; business and financial operations; and computer and mathematical. Conversely, nine groups had employment shares significantly below their national representation, including sales and related; construction and extraction; and personal care and service. (See table A and box note at end of release.)

Table A. Occupational employment and wages by major occupational group, United States and the Columbus Metropolitan Statistical Area, and measures of statistical significance, May 2014
Major occupational groupPercent of total employmentMean hourly wage
United StatesColumbusUnited StatesColumbusPercent difference (1)

Total, all occupations

100.0%100.0%$22.71$22.34-2

Management

5.05.054.0851.42*-5

Business and financial operations

5.16.2*34.8132.28*-7

Computer and mathematical

2.84.0*40.3737.88*-6

Architecture and engineering

1.81.7*39.1934.61*-12

Life, physical, and social science

0.80.833.6928.92*-14

Community and social services

1.41.3*21.7921.30-2

Legal

0.80.7*48.6142.20*-13

Education, training, and library

6.25.825.1028.45*13

Arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media

1.31.626.8223.75*-11

Healthcare practitioners and technical

5.86.136.5435.78-2

Healthcare support

2.93.4*13.8612.67*-9

Protective service

2.42.321.1421.271

Food preparation and serving related

9.19.010.5710.540

Building and grounds cleaning and maintenance

3.23.112.6812.640

Personal care and service

3.12.3*12.0112.020

Sales and related

10.59.2*18.5917.75*-5

Office and administrative support

16.017.8*17.0816.92-1

Farming, fishing, and forestry

0.30.1*12.0914.25*18

Construction and extraction

3.92.8*22.4022.510

Installation, maintenance, and repair

3.93.3*21.7421.41-2

Production

6.65.9*17.0617.251

Transportation and material moving

6.87.7*16.5714.70*-11

Footnotes:
(1) A positive percent difference measures how much the mean wage in Columbus is above the national mean wage, while a negative difference reflects a lower wage.
* The percent share of employment or mean hourly wage for this area is significantly different from the national average of all areas at the 90-percent confidence level.
 

One occupational group—office and administrative support—was chosen to illustrate the diversity of data available for any of the 22 major occupational categories. Columbus had 172,600 jobs in office and administrative support, accounting for 17.8 percent of local area employment, significantly higher than the 16.0-percent share nationally. The average hourly wage for this occupational group locally was $16.92, compared to the national wage of $17.08.

Some of the largest detailed occupations within the office and administrative support group included customer service representatives (24,770); office clerks, general (17,450); and stock clerks and order fillers (15,900). Among the higher paying jobs were first-line supervisors of office and administrative support workers; and executive secretaries and executive administrative assistants, with mean hourly wages of $24.82 and $24.61, respectively. At the lower end of the wage scale were hotel, motel, and resort desk clerks ($9.37) and tellers ($11.53). (Detailed occupational data for office and administrative support are presented in table 1; for a complete listing of detailed occupations available go to www.bls.gov/oes/2014/may/oes_18140.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 Columbus Metropolitan Statistical Area, above-average concentrations of employment were found in some of the occupations within the office and administrative support group. For instance, credit authorizers, checkers, and clerks were employed at 4.2 times the national rate in Columbus, and bill and account collectors, at 2.2 times the U.S. average. On the other hand, dispatchers, except police, fire, and ambulance had a location quotient of 1.0 in Columbus, 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 Ohio Department of Job & Family Services.

Note

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.


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. Guam, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands are also surveyed, but their data are not included in the national estimates. OES estimates are constructed from a sample of about 1.2 million establishments. Forms are mailed to approximately 200,000 sampled establishments in May and November each year. May 2014 estimates are based on responses from six semiannual panels collected over a 3-year period: May 2014, November 2013, May 2013, November 2012, May 2012, and November 2011. The overall national response rate for the six panels is 74.3 percent based on establishments and 70.5 percent based on weighted sampled employment. The unweighted employment of sampled establishments across all six semiannual panels represents approximately 57.1 percent of total national employment. (Response rates are slightly lower for these estimates due to the federal shutdown in October 2013.) The sample in the Columbus Metropolitan Statistical Area included 5,115 establishments with a response rate of 75 percent. For more information about OES concepts and methodology, go to www.bls.gov/news.release/ocwage.tn.htm.

The OES survey provides estimates of employment and hourly and annual wages for wage and salary workers in 22 major occupational groups and 821 detailed occupations for the nation, states, metropolitan statistical areas, metropolitan divisions, and nonmetropolitan areas. In addition, employment and wage estimates for 94 minor groups and 458 broad occupations are available in the national data. OES data by state and metropolitan/nonmetropolitan area are available from www.bls.gov/oes/current/oessrcst.htm and www.bls.gov/oes/current/oessrcma.htm, respectively.

The May 2014 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.

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 Columbus, Ohio Metropolitan Statistical Area  includes Delaware, Fairfield, Franklin, Licking, Madison, Morrow, Pickaway, and Union Counties.

Additional information

OES data are available on our regional web page at www.bls.gov/regions/midwest. 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/2014/may/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, Columbus Metropolitan Statistical Area, May 2014
Occupation (1)EmploymentMean wages
Level (2)Location quotient (3)HourlyAnnual (4)

Office and Administrative Support Occupations

172,6001.1$16.92$35,190

First-Line Supervisors of Office and Administrative Support Workers

9,4300.924.8251,630

Switchboard Operators, Including Answering Service

7401.012.3425,670

Telephone Operators

801.114.5630,290

Bill and Account Collectors

5,3402.214.0929,300

Billing and Posting Clerks

5,4101.516.8234,990

Bookkeeping, Accounting, and Auditing Clerks

14,1601.320.5442,720

Payroll and Timekeeping Clerks

9900.819.7040,970

Procurement Clerks

8901.819.7241,010

Tellers

3,2000.911.5323,970

Financial Clerks, All Other

2701.018.9039,310

Brokerage Clerks

4001.021.8545,460

Correspondence Clerks

1001.915.0931,390

Court, Municipal, and License Clerks

1,0401.118.3938,250

Credit Authorizers, Checkers, and Clerks

1,4004.215.7032,650

Customer Service Representatives

24,7701.415.9533,180

Eligibility Interviewers, Government Programs

9801.121.4744,660

File Clerks

1,2301.214.9331,040

Hotel, Motel, and Resort Desk Clerks

1,3000.89.3719,490

Interviewers, Except Eligibility and Loan

1,2500.914.9631,110

Library Assistants, Clerical

9801.413.0827,210

Loan Interviewers and Clerks

2,7301.819.6440,860

New Accounts Clerks

4001.118.8039,100

Order Clerks

2,3801.714.3529,860

Human Resources Assistants, Except Payroll and Timekeeping

8400.919.0739,670

Receptionists and Information Clerks

4,5800.712.9526,930

Reservation and Transportation Ticket Agents and Travel Clerks

4100.416.6034,530

Information and Record Clerks, All Other

6900.620.1141,820

Cargo and Freight Agents

4300.817.7036,830

Couriers and Messengers

2000.413.8728,840

Police, Fire, and Ambulance Dispatchers

5100.720.1241,840

Dispatchers, Except Police, Fire, and Ambulance

1,3701.018.0437,530

Meter Readers, Utilities

2701.118.6738,830

Postal Service Clerks

3400.723.4648,790

Postal Service Mail Carriers

1,7000.824.5351,010

Postal Service Mail Sorters, Processors, and Processing Machine Operators

1,0101.223.4848,840

Production, Planning, and Expediting Clerks

2,4501.221.4844,680

Shipping, Receiving, and Traffic Clerks

7,5401.613.5728,220

Stock Clerks and Order Fillers

15,9001.212.3925,770

Weighers, Measurers, Checkers, and Samplers, Recordkeeping

2200.414.6430,460

Executive Secretaries and Executive Administrative Assistants

7,6201.524.6151,180

Legal Secretaries

1,4300.920.0241,640

Medical Secretaries

7,5302.015.6832,610

Secretaries and Administrative Assistants, Except Legal, Medical, and Executive

11,5800.716.6334,590

Computer Operators

4501.118.8239,150

Data Entry Keyers

1,2900.913.4327,920

Word Processors and Typists

4300.715.1031,410

Insurance Claims and Policy Processing Clerks

3,3301.818.2437,930

Mail Clerks and Mail Machine Operators, Except Postal Service

7801.115.4632,150

Office Clerks, General

17,4500.815.0231,240

Office Machine Operators, Except Computer

8201.715.5132,260

Proofreaders and Copy Markers

600.916.1733,630

Statistical Assistants

(5)(5)20.9643,590

Office and Administrative Support Workers, All Other

1,5800.916.5534,420

Footnotes:
(1) For a complete listing of all detailed occupations in Columbus, OH, see www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_18140.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.
 

 

Last Modified Date: Tuesday, June 23, 2015