Workers in the Springfield Metropolitan Statistical Area had an average (mean) hourly wage of $17.71 in May 2013, about 21 percent below 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, no wages in the local area were significantly higher than their respective national averages in 22 major occupational groups. Nineteen groups had significantly lower wages than their respective national averages, including legal, management, and computer and mathematical.

When compared to the nationwide distribution, local employment was more highly concentrated in 6 of the 22 occupational groups, including healthcare practitioners and technical, transportation and material moving, and office and administrative support. Conversely, nine groups had employment shares significantly below their national representation, including architecture and engineering, computer and mathematical, 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 Springfield Metropolitan Statistical Area, and measures of statistical significance, May 2013

Major occupational group	Percent of total employment		Mean hourly wage
	United States	Springfield	United States	Springfield	Percent difference (1)
Total, all occupations	100.0%	100.0%	$22.33	$17.71*	-21
Management	4.9	4.4*	53.15	39.07*	-26
Business and financial operations	5.0	4.3*	34.14	24.08*	-29
Computer and mathematical	2.8	1.8*	39.43	26.59*	-33
Architecture and engineering	1.8	0.8*	38.51	30.83*	-20
Life, physical, and social science	0.9	0.4*	33.37	26.06*	-22
Community and social services	1.4	1.5	21.50	17.46*	-19
Legal	0.8	0.6*	47.89	31.72*	-34
Education, training, and library	6.3	5.9	24.76	23.56	-5
Arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media	1.3	1.2	26.72	17.39*	-35
Healthcare practitioner and technical	5.8	7.3*	35.93	28.12*	-22
Healthcare support	3.0	3.8*	13.61	11.54*	-15
Protective service	2.5	1.7*	20.92	17.31*	-17
Food preparation and serving related	9.0	9.7*	10.38	9.19*	-11
Building and grounds cleaning and maintenance	3.2	2.6*	12.51	10.99*	-12
Personal care and service	3.0	3.0	11.88	10.68*	-10
Sales and related	10.6	11.2	18.37	14.45*	-21
Office and administrative support	16.2	17.2*	16.78	14.01*	-17
Farming, fishing, and forestry	0.3	(2)	11.70	11.27	-4
Construction and extraction	3.8	3.1*	21.94	19.74*	-10
Installation, maintenance, and repair	3.9	4.7*	21.35	18.18*	-15
Production	6.6	6.7	16.79	15.15*	-10
Transportation and material moving	6.8	8.1*	16.28	15.61	-4
Footnotes: (1) A positive percent difference measures how much the mean wage in Springfield is above the national mean wage, while a negative difference reflects a lower wage. (2) Estimate not released. * 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—office and administrative support—was chosen to illustrate the diversity of data available for any of the 22 major occupational categories. Springfield had 32,590 jobs in office and administrative support, accounting for 17.2 percent of local area employment, significantly higher than the 16.2-percent share nationally. The average hourly wage for this occupational group locally was $14.01, measurably below the national wage of $16.78.

With employment of 5,310, general office clerks was one of the largest occupations within the office and administrative support group, as were stock clerks and order fillers (2,670). Among the higher paying jobs were postal service mail carriers and first-line supervisors of office and administrative support workers, with mean hourly wages of $24.12 and $21.25, respectively. Occupations at the lower end of the wage scale included order clerks ($9.71) and tellers ($10.35). (Detailed occupational data for office and administrative support are presented in table 1; for a complete listing of detailed occupations available go to www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_44180.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 Springfield Metropolitan Statistical Area, above average concentrations of employment were found in some of the occupations within the office and administrative support group. For instance, interviewers, except eligibility and loan, were employed at 2.6 times the national rate in Springfield, and order clerks, at 2.3 times the U.S. average. On the other hand, bookkeeping, accounting, and auditing clerks had a location quotient of 1.0 in Springfield, 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 Springfield Metropolitan Statistical Area included 2,056 establishments with a response rate of 69 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 Springfield, Mo. Metropolitan Statistical Area includes Christian, Dallas, Greene, Polk, and Webster Counties.

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, Springfield Metropolitan Statistical Area, May 2013

Occupation (1)	Employment		Mean wages
	Level (2)	Location quotient (3)	Hourly	Annual(4)
Office and Administrative Support Occupations	32,590	1.1	$14.01	$29,140
First-Line Supervisors of Office and Administrative Support Workers	1,660	0.9	21.25	44,200
Switchboard Operators, Including Answering Service	220	1.3	11.67	24,280
Bill and Account Collectors	340	0.7	13.43	27,930
Billing and Posting Clerks	510	0.7	14.27	29,670
Bookkeeping, Accounting, and Auditing Clerks	2,200	1.0	14.45	30,060
Payroll and Timekeeping Clerks	320	1.3	16.65	34,640
Procurement Clerks	70	0.7	16.21	33,720
Tellers	1,140	1.5	10.35	21,520
Court, Municipal, and License Clerks	220	1.2	14.27	29,680
Credit Authorizers, Checkers, and Clerks	70	1.0	17.15	35,680
Customer Service Representatives	3,970	1.2	13.98	29,080
Eligibility Interviewers, Government Programs	220	1.3	15.18	31,570
File Clerks	170	0.8	12.22	25,430
Hotel, Motel, and Resort Desk Clerks	270	0.8	8.92	18,540
Interviewers, Except Eligibility and Loan	710	2.6	12.84	26,710
Library Assistants, Clerical	210	1.4	9.09	18,910
Loan Interviewers and Clerks	370	1.2	15.29	31,810
New Accounts Clerks	120	1.5	12.02	25,000
Order Clerks	650	2.3	9.71	20,190
Human Resources Assistants, Except Payroll and Timekeeping	210	1.1	14.70	30,580
Receptionists and Information Clerks	980	0.7	11.24	23,370
Reservation and Transportation Ticket Agents and Travel Clerks	40	0.2	11.60	24,130
Information and Record Clerks, All Other	150	0.6	20.33	42,300
Cargo and Freight Agents	60	0.6	21.38	44,470
Couriers and Messengers	150	1.5	11.97	24,890
Police, Fire, and Ambulance Dispatchers	180	1.3	15.58	32,400
Dispatchers, Except Police, Fire, and Ambulance	430	1.6	21.84	45,430
Meter Readers, Utilities	70	1.3	22.11	45,990
Postal Service Clerks	80	0.8	21.37	44,450
Postal Service Mail Carriers	490	1.1	24.12	50,160
Postal Service Mail Sorters, Processors, and Processing Machine Operators	220	1.3	23.39	48,660
Production, Planning, and Expediting Clerks	340	0.8	18.23	37,910
Shipping, Receiving, and Traffic Clerks	970	1.0	14.37	29,880
Stock Clerks and Order Fillers	2,670	1.0	10.94	22,750
Weighers, Measurers, Checkers, and Samplers, Recordkeeping	180	1.8	10.84	22,550
Executive Secretaries and Executive Administrative Assistants	620	0.6	17.87	37,170
Legal Secretaries	250	0.8	15.18	31,570
Medical Secretaries	1,100	1.5	13.26	27,580
Secretaries and Administrative Assistants, Except Legal, Medical, and Executive	3,180	1.0	13.13	27,300
Computer Operators	60	0.7	16.51	34,340
Data Entry Keyers	170	0.6	12.77	26,560
Word Processors and Typists	170	1.3	12.64	26,290
Insurance Claims and Policy Processing Clerks	(5)	(5)	18.07	37,590
Mail Clerks and Mail Machine Operators, Except Postal Service	130	0.9	10.80	22,460
Office Clerks, General	5,310	1.3	12.72	26,460
Office Machine Operators, Except Computer	150	1.5	10.51	21,860
Office and Administrative Support Workers, All Other	150	0.4	13.41	27,900
Footnotes: (1) For a complete listing of all detailed occupations in Springfield, MO, see www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_44180.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. (5) Estimate not released.