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News Release Information

18-441-CHI
Wednesday, May 23, 2018

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

Occupational Employment and Wages in Sioux Falls — May 2017

Workers in the Sioux Falls Metropolitan Statistical Area had an average (mean) hourly wage of $21.12 in May 2017, about 13 percent below the nationwide average of $24.34, 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 lower than their respective national averages in 17 of the 22 major occupational groups, including legal; computer and mathematical; and arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media. Four occupational groups had wages that were not significantly different from their respective national averages, including management; sales and related; and installation, maintenance, and repair.

When compared to the nationwide distribution, local employment was more highly concentrated in 6 of the 22 occupational groups, including healthcare practitioners and technical; sales and related; and construction and extraction. Conversely, nine groups had employment shares significantly below their national representation, including management; education, training, and library; and protective 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 Sioux Falls Metropolitan Statistical Area, and measures of statistical significance, May 2017
Major occupational groupPercent of total employmentMean hourly wage
United StatesSioux FallsUnited StatesSioux FallsPercent difference (1)

Total, all occupations

100.0100.0$24.34$21.12*-13

Management

5.12.9*57.6556.36-2

Business and financial operations

5.25.7*36.7031.56*-14

Computer and mathematical

3.03.2*43.1831.66*-27

Architecture and engineering

1.81.0*41.4434.00*-18

Life, physical, and social science

0.80.4*35.7630.85*-14

Community and social service

1.51.523.1019.93*-14

Legal

0.80.5*51.6239.99*-23

Education, training, and library

6.14.0*26.6719.68*-26

Arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media

1.41.528.3420.16*-29

Healthcare practitioners and technical

6.09.3*38.8335.56*-8

Healthcare support

2.92.4*15.0514.33*-5

Protective service

2.41.3*22.6921.50-5

Food preparation and serving related

9.39.411.8810.92*-8

Building and grounds cleaning and maintenance

3.13.5*13.9112.68*-9

Personal care and service

3.63.613.1112.48*-5

Sales and related

10.211.3*19.5620.153

Office and administrative support

15.416.018.2415.48*-15

Farming, fishing, and forestry

0.30.1*13.8716.04*16

Construction and extraction

4.04.9*24.0119.40*-19

Installation, maintenance, and repair

3.93.5*23.0222.41-3

Production

6.36.718.3015.76*-14

Transportation and material moving

7.07.317.8216.50*-7

Footnotes:
(1) A positive percent difference measures how much the mean wage in the Sioux Falls Metropolitan Statistical Area 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—healthcare practitioners and technical—was chosen to illustrate the diversity of data available for any of the 22 major occupational categories. Sioux Falls had 14,140 jobs in healthcare practitioners and technical occupations, accounting for 9.3 percent of local area employment, significantly higher than the 6.0-percent share nationally. The average hourly wage for this occupational group locally was $35.56, significantly below the national wage of $38.83.

Some of the larger detailed occupations within the healthcare practitioners and technical group included registered nurses (6,050); pharmacists (660); and licensed practical and licensed vocational nurses (650). Among the higher paying jobs in this group were dentists, general with mean hourly wages of $121.93 and family and general practitioners at $103.36. At the lower end of the wage scale were emergency medical technicians and paramedics ($13.83) and opticians, dispensing ($15.02). (Detailed data for healthcare practitioners and technical occupations are presented in table 1; for a complete listing of detailed occupations available go to www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_43620.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 Sioux Falls Metropolitan Statistical Area, above-average concentrations of employment were found in many of the occupations within the healthcare practitioners and technical group. For instance, surgeons were employed at 5.1 times the national rate in Sioux Falls, and surgical technologists, at 2.5 times the U.S. average. On the other hand, licensed practical and licensed vocational nurses had a location quotient of 0.9 in Sioux Falls, 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 South Dakota Department of Labor and Regulation.

Notes on Occupational Employment Statistics Data

With the release of the May 2017 estimates, the OES program has replaced 21 detailed occupations found in the 2010 Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) with 10 new aggregations of those occupations. In addition, selected 4- and 5-digit North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) industries previously published by OES will no longer be published separately. Some of the 4-digit NAICS industries that are no longer being published separately will instead be published as OES-specific industry aggregations. More information about the new occupational and industry aggregations is available at www.bls.gov/oes/changes_2017.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 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 Sioux Falls Metropolitan Statistical Area included 1,942 establishments with a response rate of 83 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 2017 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 2017 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 Sioux Falls, S.D. Metropolitan Statistical Area includes Lincoln, McCook, Minnehaha, and Turner 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/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, Sioux Falls Metropolitan Statistical Area, May 2017
Occupation (1)EmploymentMean wages
Level (2)Location quotient (3)HourlyAnnual (4)

Healthcare practitioners and technical occupations

14,1401.6$35.56$73,960

Chiropractors

601.737.4377,850

Dentists, general

700.6121.93253,610

Dietitians and nutritionists

901.325.8653,790

Optometrists

501.347.9099,630

Pharmacists

6602.054.77113,910

Family and general practitioners

1601.2103.36215,000

Internists, general

1202.8(7)(7)

Surgeons

2105.1(7)(7)

Physicians and surgeons, all other

2700.7126.25262,610

Physician assistants

2201.948.52100,930

Occupational therapists

2201.731.8566,250

Physical therapists

3701.535.7974,440

Respiratory therapists

2001.524.6851,330

Speech-language pathologists

1501.029.2160,760

Veterinarians

700.940.8284,910

Registered nurses

6,0502.027.7757,750

Nurse anesthetists

1603.596.24200,170

Nurse practitioners

2501.447.3298,430

Clinical laboratory technologists and technicians

6201.825.0452,080

Dental hygienists

2701.231.2064,910

Cardiovascular technologists and technicians

1502.524.9951,980

Diagnostic medical sonographers

1902.629.1060,530

Nuclear medicine technologists

1005.228.0958,420

Radiologic technologists

3501.624.6551,260

Magnetic resonance imaging technologists

401.129.3160,960

Emergency medical technicians and paramedics

1900.713.8328,760

Pharmacy technicians

6001.415.7132,670

Surgical technologists

2802.519.8441,260

Veterinary technologists and technicians

900.915.8032,870

Licensed practical and licensed vocational nurses

6500.917.9937,410

Medical records and health information technicians

4702.220.8243,310

Opticians, dispensing

1501.815.0231,240

Health technologists and technicians, all other

1301.027.5857,370

Occupational health and safety specialists

801.030.8564,170

Athletic trainers

702.7(6)44,020

Footnotes:
(1) For a complete listing of all detailed occupations in Sioux Falls, SD, see www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_43620.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.
(6) Wages for some occupations that do not generally work year-round, full time, are reported either as hourly wages or annual salaries depending on how they are typically paid.
(7) This wage is equal to or greater than $80.00 per hour or $166,400 per year.

 

Last Modified Date: Wednesday, May 23, 2018