Workers in the Fargo, ND-MN Metropolitan Statistical Area had an average (mean) hourly wage of $28.54 in May 2023, compared to the nationwide average of $31.48, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Regional Commissioner Jason Palmer noted that higher paying major occupational groups included management ($58.75), legal ($49.81), and healthcare practitioners and technical ($43.88). Lower paying occupations included food preparation and serving related ($16.13), personal care and service ($16.99), and building and grounds cleaning and maintenance ($18.51). (See table A.)

Occupational groups with the highest employment in the Fargo area included office and administrative support (11.7 percent), transportation and material moving (9.7 percent), and sales and related (8.7 percent). Major occupational groups on the lower end of local employment included legal (0.5 percent); life, physical, and social science (0.9 percent); and protective service (1.3 percent). (See table A.)

One occupational group—sales and related—was chosen to illustrate the diversity of data available for any of the 22 major occupational categories. Fargo had 12,700 jobs in sales and related, accounting for 8.7 percent of local area employment, compared to the 8.8-percent share nationally. The average hourly wage for this occupational group locally was $24.86, compared to the national wage of $25.62.

Some of the larger detailed occupations within the sales and related group included retail salespersons (4,310), cashiers (2,660), and sales representatives, wholesale and manufacturing, except technical and scientific products (1,880). Among the higher-paying jobs in this group were sales representatives, wholesale and manufacturing, technical and scientific products and first-line supervisors of non-retail sales workers, with mean hourly wages of $53.78 and $46.48, respectively. At the lower end of the wage scale were cashiers ($14.79) and retail salespersons ($18.13). (Detailed data for the sales and related occupations are presented in table 1; for a complete listing of detailed occupations available go to www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_22020.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 Fargo area, above-average concentrations of employment were found in some of the occupations within the sales and related group. For instance, parts salespersons were employed at 2.0 times the national rate in Fargo, and sales representatives, wholesale and manufacturing, except technical and scientific products, at 1.5 times the U.S. average. First-line supervisors of retail sales workers had a location quotient of 0.9 in Fargo, indicating that this particular occupation’s local and national employment shares were similar.

The statistics in this release are from the Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) survey, a cooperative effort between BLS and the State Workforce Agencies (SWAs). BLS funds the survey and provides the procedures and technical support. State Workforce Agencies collect most of the data: in this case, Job Service North Dakota and the Minnesota Department of Employment & Economic Development.

Technical Note

The Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) survey is a semiannual survey measuring occupational employment and wage rates for wage and salary workers in nonfarm establishments in the United States. The OEWS 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. Full OEWS data tables are available online.

Additional information about the OEWS estimates and methodology are available in the national Technical Notes. The overall national response rate for the six panels, based on the 50 states and the District of Columbia, is 65.8 percent based on establishments and 64.3 percent based on weighted sampled employment. The sample in the Fargo, ND-MN Metropolitan Statistical Area included 2,018 establishments with a response rate of 72 percent.

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 Fargo, ND-MN Metropolitan Statistical Area includes Clay County MN, and Cass County, ND.

For more information

Answers to frequently asked questions about the OEWS data, as well as general program documentation, are available on the OEWS website.

Information in this release will be made available to individuals with sensory impairments upon request. Voice phone: (202) 691-5200; Telecommunications Relay Service: 7-1-1.

Table 1. Employment and wage data for sales and related occupations, Fargo metropolitan area, May 2023

Occupation (1)	Employment		Mean wages ($)
	Level (2)	Location quotient (3)	Hourly	Annual (4)
Sales and related occupations	12,700	1.0	24.86	51,700
First-line supervisors of retail sales workers	910	0.9	25.42	52,880
First-line supervisors of non-retail sales workers	110	0.5	46.48	96,670
Cashiers	2,660	0.8	14.79	30,760
Counter and rental clerks	310	0.8	19.66	40,890
Parts salespersons	500	2.0	24.59	51,140
Retail salespersons	4,310	1.2	18.13	37,710
Advertising sales agents	180	1.7	26.59	55,320
Insurance sales agents	550	1.3	44.58	92,730
Securities, commodities, and financial services sales agents	170	0.4	(5)	(5)
Travel agents	60	1.1	22.16	46,090
Sales representatives of services, except advertising, insurance, financial services, and travel	530	0.5	40.31	83,850
Sales representatives, wholesale and manufacturing, technical and scientific products	200	0.7	53.78	111,850
Sales representatives, wholesale and manufacturing, except technical and scientific products	1,880	1.5	37.22	77,410
Real estate sales agents	110	0.6	30.37	63,180
Sales and related workers, all other	170	1.6	21.90	45,550
Footnotes: (1) For a complete listing of all detailed occupations in the Fargo, ND-MN Metropolitan Statistical Area, see www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_22020.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.