Workers in the Indianapolis-Carmel-Anderson, IN Metropolitan Statistical Area had an average (mean) hourly wage of $24.55 in May 2019, about 5 percent below the nationwide average of $25.72, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. 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 1 of the 22 major occupational groups: sales and related. Seventeen groups had significantly lower wages than their respective national averages, including legal, management, and computer and mathematical.

When compared to the nationwide distribution, Indianapolis area employment was more highly concentrated in 3 of the 22 occupational groups: transportation and material moving; healthcare practitioners and technical; and arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media. Conversely, eleven groups had employment shares significantly below their national representation, including educational instruction and library, healthcare support, and personal care and service. (See table A and box note at end of release.)

One occupational group—healthcare practitioners and technical—was chosen to illustrate the diversity of data available for any of the 22 major occupational categories. Indianapolis had 76,190 jobs in healthcare practitioners and technical, accounting for 7.2 percent of local area employment, significantly higher than the 5.9-percent share nationally. The average hourly wage for this occupational group locally was $40.13, compared to the national wage of $40.21.

Some of the larger detailed occupations within the healthcare practitioners and technical group included registered nurses (26,670), licensed practical and licensed vocational nurses (4,730), and physicians, all other; and ophthalmologists, except pediatric (4,300). Among the higher-paying jobs in this group were psychiatrists and obstetricians and gynecologists, with mean hourly wages of $127.12 and $121.31, respectively. At the lower end of the wage scale were veterinary technologists and technicians ($15.29) and opticians, dispensing ($15.88). (Detailed data for the 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_26900.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 Indianapolis area, above-average concentrations of employment were found in some of the occupations within the healthcare practitioners and technical group. For instance, family medicine physicians were employed at 2.0 times the national rate in Indianapolis, and respiratory therapists, at 1.9 times the U.S. average. Pharmacists had a location quotient of 1.0 in Indianapolis, 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 Indiana Department of Workforce Development.

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 580 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. OES data are available at www.bls.gov/oes/tables.htm.

The OES survey is a cooperative effort between BLS and the State Workforce Agencies (SWAs). BLS funds the survey and provides the procedures and technical support, while the State Workforce Agencies collect most of the data. OES estimates are constructed from a sample of about 1.1 million establishments. Each year, two semiannual panels of approximately 180,000 to 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 2019 estimates are based on responses from six semiannual panels collected over a 3-year period: May 2019, November 2018, May 2018, November 2017, May 2017, and November 2016. The unweighted sample employment of 83 million across all six semiannual panels represents approximately 57 percent of total national employment. The overall national response rate for the six panels, based on the 50 states and the District of Columbia, is 71 percent based on establishments and 68 percent based on weighted sampled employment. The sample in the Indianapolis-Carmel-Anderson, IN Metropolitan Statistical Area included 5,022 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.

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.

The May 2019 OES estimates are the first set of OES estimates to be based in part on survey data collected using the 2018 SOC. These estimates use a hybrid of the 2010 and 2018 SOC systems. More information on the hybrid classification system is available at www.bls.gov/oes/soc_2018.htm.

The May 2019 OES estimates are based on the 2017 North American Industry Classification System (NAICS). More 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 Indianapolis-Carmel-Anderson, IN Metropolitan Statistical Area includes Boone, Brown, Hamilton, Hancock, Hendricks, Johnson, Madison, Marion, Morgan, Putnam, and Shelby Counties.

For more information

Answers to frequently asked questions about the OES data are available at www.bls.gov/oes/oes_ques.htm. Detailed information about the OES program is available at www.bls.gov/oes/oes_doc.htm.

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 for healthcare practitioners and technical occupations, Indianapolis-Carmel-Anderson, IN Metropolitan Statistical Area, May 2019

Occupation (1)	Employment		Mean wages
	Level (2)	Location quotient (3)	Hourly	Annual (4)
Healthcare practitioners and technical occupations	76,190	1.2	$40.13	$83,480
Chiropractors	(5)	(5)	41.33	85,960
Dentists, general	820	1.0	75.84	157,750
Dietitians and nutritionists	440	0.9	28.90	60,110
Optometrists	340	1.2	49.95	103,900
Pharmacists	2,240	1.0	56.38	117,280
Physician assistants	700	0.8	46.62	96,980
Podiatrists	200	2.8	63.71	132,510
Occupational therapists	1,390	1.4	40.58	84,420
Physical therapists	2,220	1.3	42.41	88,220
Radiation therapists	140	1.1	38.93	80,970
Recreational therapists	90	0.7	22.55	46,900
Respiratory therapists	1,790	1.9	27.30	56,790
Speech-language pathologists	1,150	1.0	38.04	79,120
Exercise physiologists	110	2.0	23.96	49,830
Therapists, all other	(5)	(5)	21.54	44,790
Veterinarians	540	1.0	40.27	83,760
Registered nurses	26,670	1.2	34.11	70,960
Nurse anesthetists	120	0.4	79.37	165,080
Nurse midwives	30	0.7	53.31	110,890
Nurse practitioners	2,070	1.4	51.32	106,750
Audiologists	90	0.9	34.23	71,190
Family medicine physicians	1,540	2.0	115.61	240,460
General internal medicine physicians	220	0.7	103.57	215,420
Obstetricians and gynecologists	140	1.1	121.31	252,330
Pediatricians, general	(5)	(5)	90.01	187,220
Psychiatrists	80	0.4	127.12	264,400
Physicians, all other; and ophthalmologists, except pediatric	4,300	1.5	118.33	246,120
Surgeons, except ophthalmologists	420	1.6	81.36	169,230
Dental hygienists	1,720	1.1	34.10	70,940
Acupuncturists and healthcare diagnosing or treating practitioners, all other	1,480	5.6	29.66	61,680
Clinical laboratory technologists and technicians	3,470	1.5	22.86	47,550
Cardiovascular technologists and technicians	580	1.4	27.26	56,700
Diagnostic medical sonographers	420	0.8	35.92	74,710
Nuclear medicine technologists	100	0.8	36.70	76,340
Radiologic technologists and technicians	1,500	1.0	30.12	62,640
Magnetic resonance imaging technologists	360	1.3	33.54	69,770
Emergency medical technicians and paramedics	1,930	1.0	17.53	36,470
Dietetic technicians	130	0.6	25.42	52,880
Pharmacy technicians	3,580	1.2	16.24	33,780
Psychiatric technicians	770	1.4	16.33	33,970
Surgical technologists	1,020	1.3	22.99	47,820
Veterinary technologists and technicians	560	0.7	15.29	31,810
Ophthalmic medical technicians	300	0.7	20.30	42,230
Licensed practical and licensed vocational nurses	4,730	0.9	22.75	47,330
Opticians, dispensing	560	1.1	15.88	33,030
Orthotists and prosthetists	30	0.5	34.15	71,020
Hearing aid specialists	(5)	(5)	31.19	64,880
Medical dosimetrists, medical records specialists, and health technologists and technicians, all other	2,220	0.9	24.28	50,510
Athletic trainers	220	1.1	(6)	50,930
Genetic counselors	30	2.0	37.67	78,350
Health information technologists, medical registrars, surgical assistants, and healthcare practitioners and technical workers, all other	(5)	(5)	18.59	38,660
Footnotes: (1) For a complete listing of all detailed occupations in the Indianapolis-Carmel-Anderson, IN Metropolitan Statistical Area, see www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_26900.htm. (2) Estimates for detailed occupations may not sum to the totals due to rounding, and because the totals may include occupations that are 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. (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.