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News Release Information

16-573-CHI
Wednesday, June 22, 2016

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

Occupational Employment and Wages in Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington — May 2015

Workers in the Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington Metropolitan Statistical Area had an average (mean) hourly wage of $25.70 in May 2015, about 11 percent above the nationwide average of $23.23, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Assistant Commissioner for Regional Operations Charlene Peiffer noted that, after testing for statistical significance, wages in the local area were higher than their respective national averages in 12 of the 22 major occupational groups, including construction and extraction; sales and related; and management. Four groups had significantly lower wages than their respective national averages—architecture and engineering; arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media; business and financial operations; and computer and mathematical.

When compared to the nationwide distribution, local employment was more highly concentrated in 7 of the 22 occupational groups, including business and financial operations; management; and personal care and service. Conversely, 11 groups had employment shares significantly below their national representation, including office and administrative support; transportation and material moving; and food preparation and serving related. (See table A and box note at end of release.)

Table A. Occupational employment and wages by major occupational group, United States and the Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington Metropolitan Statistical Area, and measures of statistical significance, May 2015
Major occupational groupPercent of total employmentMean hourly wage
United StatesMinneapolisUnited StatesMinneapolisPercent difference (1)

Total, all occupations

100.0%100.0%$23.23$25.70*11

Management

5.06.7*55.3058.22*5

Business and Financial Operations

5.17.0*35.4834.56*-3

Computer and Mathematical

2.94.2*41.4340.61*-2

Architecture and Engineering

1.82.2*39.8938.22*-4

Life, Physical, and Social Science

0.80.934.2434.842

Community and Social Services

1.41.7*22.1922.742

Legal

0.80.849.7450.151

Education, Training, and Library

6.25.6*25.4826.193

Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media

1.31.427.3925.99*-5

Healthcare Practitioner and Technical

5.85.4*37.4040.30*8

Healthcare Support

2.92.814.1915.51*9

Protective Service

2.41.6*21.4523.22*8

Food Preparation and Serving Related

9.18.2*10.9811.010

Building and Grounds Cleaning and Maintenance

3.22.8*13.0213.76*6

Personal Care and Service

3.14.6*12.3312.501

Sales and Related

10.510.1*18.9022.15*17

Office and Administrative Support

15.814.7*17.4719.16*10

Farming, Fishing, and Forestry

0.30.1*12.6715.42*22

Construction and Extraction

4.03.1*22.8828.01*22

Installation, Maintenance, and Repair

3.93.1*22.1123.62*7

Production

6.67.1*17.4118.27*5

Transportation and Material Moving

6.95.9*16.9018.33*8

Footnotes:
(1) A positive percent difference measures how much the mean wage in Minneapolis 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—business and financial operations—was chosen to illustrate the diversity of data available for any of the 22 major occupational categories. Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington had 132,430 jobs in business and financial operations, accounting for 7.0 percent of local area employment, significantly higher than the 5.1-percent share nationally. The average hourly wage for this occupational group locally was $34.56, significantly below the national wage of $35.48.

Some of the larger detailed occupations within the business and financial operations group included accountants and auditors (21,750); management analysts (10,840); and market research analysts and marketing specialists (10,250). Among the higher paying jobs were personal financial advisors and financial examiners, with mean hourly wages of $56.20 and $43.64, respectively. At the lower end of the wage scale were tax preparers ($22.09) and credit counselors ($23.18). (Detailed occupational data for business and financial operations are presented in table 1; for a complete listing of detailed occupations available go to www.bls.gov/oes/2015/may/oes_33460.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 Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington Metropolitan Statistical Area, above-average concentrations of employment were found in a number of the occupations within the business and financial operations group. For instance, wholesale and retail buyers, except farm products were employed at 1.9 times the national rate in Minneapolis, and financial analysts, at 1.5 times the U.S. average. On the other hand, cost estimators had a location quotient of 1.0 in Minneapolis, 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 Minnesota Department of Employment & Economic Development and the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development.

Notes on Occupational Employment Statistics Data

With the issuance of data for May 2015, the OES program has incorporated redefined metropolitan area definitions as designated by the Office of Management and Budget. OES data are available for 394 metropolitan areas, 38 metropolitan divisions, and 167 OES-defined nonmetropolitan areas. A listing of the areas and their definitions can be found at www.bls.gov/oes/current/msa_def.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.


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 program produces employment and wage estimates for over 800 occupations for all industries combined in the nation; the 50 states and the District of Columbia; 432 metropolitan areas and divisions; 167 nonmetropolitan areas; and Guam, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. National estimates are also available by industry for NAICS sectors, 3-, 4-, and selected 5- and 6-digit industries, and 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. Forms are mailed to approximately 200,000 sampled establishments in May and November each year. May 2015 estimates are based on responses from six semiannual panels collected over a 3-year period: May 2015, November 2014, May 2014, November 2013, May 2013, and November 2012. The overall national response rate for the six panels is 73.5 percent based on establishments and 69.6 percent based on weighted sampled employment. The unweighted employment of sampled establishments across all six semiannual panels represents approximately 57.9 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 Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington Metropolitan Statistical Area included 8,776 establishments with a response rate of 73 percent. For more information about OES concepts and methodology, go to www.bls.gov/news.release/ocwage.tn.htm.

The May 2015 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 Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, Minn.-Wis. Metropolitan Statistical Area includes Anoka, Carver, Chisago, Dakota, Hennepin, Isanti, Le Sueur, Mille Lacs, Ramsey, Scott, Sherburne, Sibley, Washington, and Wright Counties of Minnesota, and Pierce and St. Croix Counties of Wisconsin.

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/2015/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, Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington Metropolitan Statistical Area, May 2015
Occupation (1)EmploymentMean wages
Level (2)Location quotient (3)HourlyAnnual (4)

Business and Financial Operations Occupations

132,4301.4$34.56$71,890

Agents and Business Managers of Artists, Performers, and Athletes

1600.941.0885,440

Buyers and Purchasing Agents, Farm Products

1701.030.6063,640

Wholesale and Retail Buyers, Except Farm Products

2,8701.932.4767,540

Purchasing Agents, Except Wholesale, Retail, and Farm Products

4,1701.131.2965,080

Claims Adjusters, Examiners, and Investigators

4,4201.230.5363,500

Compliance Officers

4,0401.235.7174,280

Cost Estimators

3,0601.030.6963,840

Human Resources Specialists

9,5401.430.8464,150

Labor Relations Specialists

1,5001.432.9768,580

Logisticians

1,8401.035.6074,040

Management Analysts

10,8401.341.1485,570

Meeting, Convention, and Event Planners

1,1501.024.1850,300

Fundraisers

1,2701.530.6663,770

Compensation, Benefits, and Job Analysis Specialists

1,8801.733.8370,370

Training and Development Specialists

4,4001.330.1962,790

Market Research Analysts and Marketing Specialists

10,2501.533.2169,080

Business Operations Specialists, All Other

23,1601.832.5567,710

Accountants and Auditors

21,7501.334.3071,340

Appraisers and Assessors of Real Estate

1,6102.034.4971,730

Budget Analysts

2400.332.8168,250

Credit Analysts

2,7902.938.3179,680

Financial Analysts

5,4801.542.0087,370

Personal Financial Advisors

3,0301.156.20116,890

Insurance Underwriters

1,6901.430.7563,960

Financial Examiners

8901.543.6490,770

Credit Counselors

4801.223.1848,220

Loan Officers

4,9801.238.5280,120

Tax Examiners and Collectors, and Revenue Agents

9601.229.0860,480

Tax Preparers

9301.022.0945,950

Financial Specialists, All Other

2,8001.633.6269,930

Footnotes:
(1) For a complete listing of all detailed occupations in the Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington Metropolitan Statistical Area, see www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_33460.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.
 

 

Last Modified Date: Wednesday, June 22, 2016