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Thursday, April 24, 2025
Workers in the Iowa City, IA Metropolitan Statistical Area had an average (mean) hourly wage of $30.17 in May 2024, compared to the nationwide average of $32.66, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Acting Regional Commissioner Julie Wilson noted that higher paying major occupational groups included management ($53.20), computer and mathematical ($44.59), and legal ($44.41). Lower paying occupations included food preparation and serving related ($15.36), personal care and service ($17.71), and building and grounds cleaning and maintenance ($18.52). (See table A.)
Major occupational group | Percent of total employment | Mean hourly wage ($) | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
United States | Iowa City | United States | Iowa City | ||
Total, all occupations |
100.0 | 100.0 | 32.66 | 30.17 | |
Management |
7.1 | 6.1 | 68.15 | 53.20 | |
Business and financial operations |
6.7 | 5.4 | 45.04 | 36.75 | |
Computer and mathematical |
3.4 | 2.6 | 56.16 | 44.59 | |
Architecture and engineering |
1.7 | 1.1 | 49.99 | 41.73 | |
Life, physical, and social science |
0.9 | 2.7 | 43.12 | 34.47 | |
Community and social service |
1.7 | 2.0 | 30.31 | 28.66 | |
Legal |
0.8 | 0.4 | 66.19 | 44.41 | |
Educational instruction and library |
5.8 | 9.8 | 31.69 | 40.23 | |
Arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media |
1.4 | 1.2 | 37.04 | 33.83 | |
Healthcare practitioners and technical |
6.2 | 10.4 | 50.59 | 44.36 | |
Healthcare support |
4.8 | 4.7 | 19.06 | 19.31 | |
Protective service |
2.4 | 1.3 | 29.33 | 28.64 | |
Food preparation and serving related |
8.8 | 10.2 | 17.32 | 15.36 | |
Building and grounds cleaning and maintenance |
2.9 | 3.0 | 19.01 | 18.52 | |
Personal care and service |
2.0 | 2.1 | 18.95 | 17.71 | |
Sales and related |
8.7 | 7.6 | 26.00 | 20.50 | |
Office and administrative support |
11.8 | 10.8 | 24.12 | 23.55 | |
Farming, fishing, and forestry |
0.3 | 0.1 | 20.06 | 20.35 | |
Construction and extraction |
4.1 | 3.4 | 30.73 | 27.61 | |
Installation, maintenance, and repair |
3.9 | 2.9 | 29.63 | 27.73 | |
Production |
5.7 | 4.2 | 24.08 | 23.02 | |
Transportation and material moving |
8.9 | 7.8 | 23.44 | 25.94 |
Occupational groups with the highest employment in the Iowa City area included office and administrative support (10.8 percent), healthcare practitioners and technical (10.4 percent), and food preparation and serving related (10.2 percent). Major occupational groups on the lower end of local employment included legal (0.4 percent); architecture and engineering (1.1 percent); and arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media (1.2 percent).
One occupational group—healthcare practitioners and technical—was chosen to illustrate the diversity of data available for any of the 22 major occupational categories. Iowa City had 9,590 jobs in healthcare practitioners and technical, accounting for 10.4 percent of local area employment, compared to the 6.2-percent share nationally. The average hourly wage for this occupational group locally was $44.36, compared to the national wage of $50.59.
Some of the larger detailed occupations within the healthcare practitioners and technical group included registered nurses (4,050), pharmacy technicians (460), and pharmacists (410). Among the higher paying jobs in this group were family medicine physicians and dentists, general, with mean hourly wages of $123.33 and $91.42, respectively. At the lower end of the wage scale were psychiatric technicians ($21.04) and pharmacy technicians ($21.71). (Detailed data for the healthcare practitioners and technical occupations are presented in table 1; for a complete listing of detailed occupations available go to https://data.bls.gov/oes/#/area/0026980.)
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 2.00 indicates that an occupation accounts for twice the share of employment in the area than it does nationally. In the Iowa City area, above-average concentrations of employment were found in many of the occupations within the healthcare practitioners and technical group. For instance, physician assistants were employed at 3.61 times the national rate in Iowa City, and medical records specialists, at 2.93 times the U.S. average. Dental hygienists had a location quotient of 1.03 in Iowa City, 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, Iowa Workforce Development.
Effective with the May 2024 OEWS news release, the OEWS program has implemented new metropolitan area definitions based on the 2020 decennial census and delineated by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), Bulletin 23-01. This news release does not include data for Colorado and its areas because of quality concerns with Colorado’s Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW) data. See the national OEWS news release for more information.
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 530 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 is 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 65.7 percent based on establishments and 65.9 percent based on weighted sampled employment. The sample in the Iowa City, IA Metropolitan Statistical Area included 1,129 establishments with a response rate of 64 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 Iowa City, IA Metropolitan Statistical Area includes Johnson County and Washington County.
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.
Occupation (1) | Employment | Mean wages ($) | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
Level (2) | Location quotient (3) | Hourly | Annual (4) | |
Healthcare practitioners and technical occupations |
9,590 | 1.67 | 44.36 | 92,270 |
Chiropractors |
40 | 1.97 | 39.01 | 81,140 |
Dentists, general |
40 | 0.63 | 91.42 | 190,150 |
Dietitians and nutritionists |
80 | 1.70 | 33.53 | 69,740 |
Pharmacists |
410 | 2.06 | 62.43 | 129,850 |
Physician assistants |
340 | 3.61 | 63.57 | 132,230 |
Occupational therapists |
80 | 0.87 | 41.59 | 86,520 |
Physical therapists |
190 | 1.25 | 43.81 | 91,110 |
Recreational therapists |
40 | 4.37 | 28.31 | 58,870 |
Respiratory therapists |
150 | 1.90 | 35.63 | 74,110 |
Speech-language pathologists |
80 | 0.77 | 41.14 | 85,570 |
Veterinarians |
50 | 1.04 | 58.04 | 120,730 |
Registered nurses |
4,050 | 2.06 | 39.54 | 82,240 |
Nurse practitioners |
290 | 1.59 | 61.40 | 127,720 |
Family medicine physicians |
50 | 0.80 | 123.33 | 256,530 |
General internal medicine physicians |
110 | 2.69 | 42.62 | 88,640 |
Physicians, all other |
310 | 1.62 | 138.05 | 287,140 |
Surgeons, all other |
30 | 2.24 | (5) | (5) |
Dental hygienists |
140 | 1.03 | 41.01 | 85,300 |
Healthcare diagnosing or treating practitioners, all other |
210 | 11.17 | 42.17 | 87,720 |
Clinical laboratory technologists and technicians |
360 | 1.77 | 26.60 | 55,330 |
Diagnostic medical sonographers |
90 | 1.69 | 40.79 | 84,850 |
Radiologic technologists and technicians |
230 | 1.70 | 34.75 | 72,270 |
Emergency medical technicians |
70 | 0.64 | 24.40 | 50,750 |
Paramedics |
140 | 2.30 | 31.02 | 64,530 |
Pharmacy technicians |
460 | 1.57 | 21.71 | 45,150 |
Psychiatric technicians |
60 | 0.78 | 21.04 | 43,770 |
Surgical technologists |
90 | 1.29 | 26.00 | 54,070 |
Veterinary technologists and technicians |
40 | 0.51 | 21.78 | 45,300 |
Ophthalmic medical technicians |
30 | 0.67 | 23.06 | 47,960 |
Licensed practical and licensed vocational nurses |
240 | 0.62 | 29.61 | 61,590 |
Medical records specialists |
330 | 2.93 | 29.52 | 61,410 |
Opticians, dispensing |
50 | 1.15 | 22.85 | 47,520 |
Health technologists and technicians, all other |
150 | 1.47 | 28.56 | 59,390 |
Health information technologists and medical registrars |
30 | 1.34 | 38.79 | 80,690 |
Athletic trainers |
40 | 2.40 | (6) | 60,510 |
Footnotes: |
Last Modified Date: Thursday, April 24, 2025