Workers in the Casper Metropolitan Statistical Area had an average (mean) hourly wage of $21.85 in May 2014, about 4 percent below the nationwide average of $22.71, 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 higher than their respective national averages in 5 of the 22 major occupational groups, including production; transportation and material moving; and installation, maintenance, and repair. Nine groups had significantly lower wages than their respective national averages, including computer and mathematical; legal; 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 construction and extraction; installation, maintenance, and repair; and architecture and engineering. Conversely, eight groups had employment shares significantly below their national representation, including office and administrative support; business and financial operations; and computer and mathematical. (See table A and box note at end of release.)

One occupational group—construction and extraction—was chosen to illustrate the diversity of data available for any of the 22 major occupational categories. Casper had 4,570 jobs in construction and extraction, accounting for 10.6 percent of local area employment, significantly higher than the 3.9-percent share nationally. The average hourly wage for this occupational group locally was $22.90, compared to the national wage of $22.40.

Some of the largest detailed occupations within the construction and extraction group included oil and gas roustabouts (610), electricians (470), and oil, gas, and mining service unit operators (460). Among the higher paying jobs were first-line supervisors of construction trades and extraction workers with mean hourly wages of $36.26 per hour and oil and gas rotary drill operators at $28.66 per hour. At the lower end of the wage scale were construction laborers ($14.34). (Detailed occupational data for construction and extraction are presented in table 1; for a complete listing of detailed occupations available go to www.bls.gov/oes/2014/may/oes_16220.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 Casper Metropolitan Statistical Area, above-average concentrations of employment were found in many of the occupations within the construction and extraction group. For instance, oil and gas rotary drill operators were employed at 34.6 times the national rate in Casper, and oil and gas roustabouts at 26.2 times the U.S. average.

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 Wyoming Department of Workforce Services.

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. May 2014 estimates are based on responses from six semiannual panels collected over a 3-year period: May 2014, November 2013, May 2013, November 2012, May 2012, and November 2011. The overall national response rate for the six panels is 74.3 percent based on establishments and 70.5 percent based on weighted sampled employment. The unweighted employment of sampled establishments across all six semiannual panels represents approximately 57.1 percent of total national employment. (Response rates are slightly lower for these estimates due to the federal shutdown in October 2013.) The sample in the Casper Metropolitan Statistical Area included 968 establishments with a response rate of 88 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 2014 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 Casper, Wyo. Metropolitan Statistical Area  includes Natrona County.

Additional information

OES data are available on our regional web page at www.bls.gov/regions/mountain-plains. 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/2014/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: 800-877-8339.

Table 1. Employment and wage data from the Occupational Employment Statistics survey, by occupation, Casper Metropolitan Statistical Area, May 2014

Occupation (1)	Employment		Mean wages
	Level (2)	Location quotient (3)	Hourly	Annual (4)
Construction and Extraction Occupations	4,570	2.7	$22.90	$47,630
First-Line Supervisors of Construction Trades and Extraction Workers	450	2.8	36.26	75,420
Carpenters	320	1.6	22.88	47,590
Cement Masons and Concrete Finishers	100	2.0	18.09	37,630
Construction Laborers	450	1.7	14.34	29,820
Paving, Surfacing, and Tamping Equipment Operators	130	7.2	20.26	42,150
Operating Engineers and Other Construction Equipment Operators	100	0.9	22.83	47,480
Drywall and Ceiling Tile Installers	40	1.5	19.20	39,940
Electricians	470	2.6	25.67	53,390
Insulation Workers, Mechanical	50	5.4	20.42	42,480
Painters, Construction and Maintenance	40	0.6	17.99	37,420
Plumbers, Pipefitters, and Steamfitters	230	2.0	19.81	41,210
Helpers--Pipelayers, Plumbers, Pipefitters, and Steamfitters	30	2.0	14.67	30,510
Highway Maintenance Workers	50	1.1	18.18	37,810
Derrick Operators, Oil and Gas	150	23.3	27.57	57,350
Rotary Drill Operators, Oil and Gas	290	34.6	28.66	59,610
Service Unit Operators, Oil, Gas, and Mining	460	23.1	22.92	47,680
Roustabouts, Oil and Gas	610	26.2	20.84	43,360
Helpers--Extraction Workers	(5)	(5)	19.47	40,490
Footnotes: (1) For a complete listing of all detailed occupations in Casper, WY, see www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_16220.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.