Workers in the Kansas City Metropolitan Statistical Area had an average (mean) hourly wage of $22.12 in May 2013, similar to the nationwide average of $22.33, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Regional Commissioner Stanley W. Suchman noted that, after testing for statistical significance, wages in the local area were significantly higher than their respective national averages in 4 of the 22 major occupational groups, including construction and extraction, and sales and related. Ten groups had significantly lower wages than their respective national averages, including management; architecture and engineering; and arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media.

When compared to the nationwide distribution, local employment was more highly concentrated in 5 of the 22 occupational groups, including office and administrative support, business and financial operations, and computer and mathematical. Conversely, 10 groups had employment shares significantly below their national representation, including education, training, and library; production; and sales and 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 Kansas City Metropolitan Statistical Area, and measures of statistical significance, May 2013

Major occupational group	Percent of total employment		Mean hourly wage
	United States	Kansas City	United States	Kansas City	Percent difference (1)
Total, all occupations	100.0%	100.0%	$22.33	$22.12	-1
Management	4.9	5.4*	53.15	49.29*	-7
Business and financial operations	5.0	5.9*	34.14	32.32*	-5
Computer and mathematical	2.8	3.7*	39.43	36.36*	-8
Architecture and engineering	1.8	1.7	38.51	34.71*	-10
Life, physical, and social science	0.9	0.7*	33.37	31.83*	-5
Community and social services	1.4	1.1*	21.50	19.88*	-8
Legal	0.8	0.8	47.89	47.11	-2
Education, training, and library	6.3	5.4*	24.76	21.57*	-13
Arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media	1.3	1.4*	26.72	23.40*	-12
Healthcare practitioner and technical	5.8	6.2	35.93	35.47	-1
Healthcare support	3.0	2.6*	13.61	13.42	-1
Protective service	2.5	2.1*	20.92	20.42	-2
Food preparation and serving related	9.0	9.1	10.38	9.84*	-5
Building and grounds cleaning and maintenance	3.2	2.8*	12.51	12.31	-2
Personal care and service	3.0	3.1	11.88	11.17*	-6
Sales and related	10.6	10.2*	18.37	19.20*	5
Office and administrative support	16.2	17.4*	16.78	16.88	1
Farming, fishing, and forestry	0.3	0.1*	11.70	12.68*	8
Construction and extraction	3.8	3.5*	21.94	23.94*	9
Installation, maintenance, and repair	3.9	3.7	21.35	21.19	-1
Production	6.6	5.9*	16.79	17.59*	5
Transportation and material moving	6.8	7.0	16.28	16.24	0
Footnotes: (1) A positive percent difference measures how much the mean wage in Kansas City 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. Kansas City had 58,460 jobs in business and financial operations, accounting for 5.9 percent of local area employment, significantly higher than the 5.0-percent share nationally. The average hourly wage for this occupational group locally was $32.32, measurably below the national wage of $34.14.

With employment of 11,040, accountants and auditors was one of the largest occupations within the business and financial operations group, as were management analysts (4,060) and human resources specialists (3,480). Among the higher paying jobs were personal financial advisors and management analysts, with mean hourly wages of $50.92 and $40.61, respectively. One of the lower paying occupations was meeting, convention, and event planners ($21.29). (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/current/oes_28140.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 Kansas City Metropolitan Statistical Area, above average concentrations of employment were found in some of the occupations within the business and financial operations group. For instance, tax examiners and collectors, and revenue agents were employed at 2.8 times the national rate in Kansas City. On the other hand, management analysts had a location quotient of 1.0 in Kansas City, 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 Missouri Department of Economic Development.

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. Guam, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands are also surveyed, but their data are not included in the national estimates. 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 for a 3-year period. May 2013 estimates are based on responses from six semiannual panels collected in May 2013, November 2012, May 2012, November 2011, May 2011, and November 2010. The overall national response rate for the six panels is 75.3 percent based on establishments and 71.6 percent based on employment. The sample in the Kansas City Metropolitan Statistical Area included 7,417 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 OES survey provides estimates of employment and hourly and annual wages for wage and salary workers in 22 major occupational groups and 821 detailed occupations for the nation, states, metropolitan statistical areas, metropolitan divisions, and nonmetropolitan areas. In addition, employment and wage estimates for 94 minor groups and 458 broad occupations are available in the national data. OES data by state and metropolitan/nonmetropolitan area are available from www.bls.gov/oes/current/oessrcst.htm and www.bls.gov/oes/current/oessrcma.htm, respectively.

The May 2013 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.

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 Kansas City, Mo.-Ks. Metropolitan Statistical Area includes Bates, Caldwell, Cass, Clay, Clinton, Jackson, Lafayette, Platte, and Ray Counties of Missouri, and Franklin, Johnson, Leavenworth, Linn, Miami, and Wyandotte Counties of Kansas.

Additional information

OES data are available on our regional web page at www.bls.gov/regions/mountain-plains/home.htm. 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/2013/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: 1-800-877-8339.

 

Table 1. Employment and wage data from the Occupational Employment Statistics survey, by occupation, Kansas City Metropolitan Statistical Area, May 2013

Occupation (1)	Employment		Mean wages
	Level (2)	Location quotient (3)	Hourly	Annual(4)
Business and Financial Operations Occupations	58,460	1.2	$32.32	$67,220
Agents and Business Managers of Artists, Performers, and Athletes	30	0.4	32.47	67,530
Buyers and Purchasing Agents, Farm Products	90	1.1	39.89	82,970
Wholesale and Retail Buyers, Except Farm Products	1,140	1.4	29.16	60,650
Purchasing Agents, Except Wholesale, Retail, and Farm Products	2,330	1.1	29.31	60,960
Claims Adjusters, Examiners, and Investigators	3,440	1.7	30.40	63,230
Insurance Appraisers, Auto Damage	170	1.8	29.12	60,570
Compliance Officers	1,870	1.1	30.49	63,420
Cost Estimators	2,000	1.3	30.59	63,620
Human Resources Specialists	3,480	1.1	28.10	58,440
Labor Relations Specialists	360	0.6	29.90	62,180
Logisticians	680	0.8	32.62	67,840
Management Analysts	4,060	1.0	40.61	84,480
Meeting, Convention, and Event Planners	640	1.2	21.29	44,280
Fundraisers	220	0.6	23.36	48,580
Compensation, Benefits, and Job Analysis Specialists	640	1.1	30.39	63,210
Training and Development Specialists	2,180	1.3	29.62	61,600
Market Research Analysts and Marketing Specialists	3,460	1.1	30.41	63,250
Business Operations Specialists, All Other	7,900	1.1	35.77	74,410
Accountants and Auditors	11,040	1.3	31.24	64,970
Appraisers and Assessors of Real Estate	830	1.9	28.73	59,750
Budget Analysts	370	0.9	32.19	66,950
Credit Analysts	510	1.0	30.44	63,320
Financial Analysts	2,060	1.1	35.88	74,630
Personal Financial Advisors	1,580	1.2	50.92	105,910
Insurance Underwriters	1,450	2.1	29.18	60,690
Financial Examiners	330	1.5	48.73	101,350
Credit Counselors	110	0.5	18.77	39,040
Loan Officers	2,730	1.2	33.52	69,730
Tax Examiners and Collectors, and Revenue Agents	1,360	2.8	21.61	44,950
Tax Preparers	550	1.1	21.97	45,700
Financial Specialists, All Other	830	0.8	29.64	61,650
Footnotes: (1) For a complete listing of all detailed occupations in Kansas City, MO-KS, see www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_28140.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.