Workers in the Grand Junction Metropolitan Statistical Area had an average (mean) hourly wage of $20.26 in May 2014, about 11 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 1 of the 22 major occupational groups. Ten groups had significantly lower wages than their respective national averages, including legal; management; and arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media.

When compared to the nationwide distribution, local employment was more highly concentrated in 7 of the 22 occupational groups, including construction and extraction; sales and related; and food preparation and serving related. Conversely, 10 groups had employment shares significantly below their national representation, including production; computer and mathematical; and management. (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. Grand Junction had 4,430 jobs in construction and extraction, accounting for 7.5 percent of local area employment, significantly higher than the 3.9-percent share nationally. The average hourly wage for this occupational group locally was $21.61, compared to the national wage of $22.40.

Some of the largest detailed occupations within the construction and extraction group included oil, gas, and mining service unit operators (850), construction laborers (720), and first-line supervisors of construction trades and extraction workers (440). Among the higher paying jobs were first-line supervisors of construction trades and extraction workers and oil, gas, and mining service unit operators, with mean hourly wages of $28.57 and $24.85, respectively. Occupations at the lower end of the wage scale included construction laborers ($15.25). (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_24300.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 Grand Junction Metropolitan Statistical Area, above-average concentrations of employment were found in many of the occupations within the construction and extraction group. For instance, oil, gas, and mining service unit operators were employed at 31.4 times the national rate in Grand Junction, and oil and gas roustabouts at 12.2 times the U.S. average. On the other hand, electricians had a location quotient of 1.3 in Grand Junction, 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 Colorado Department of Labor & Employment.

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 Grand Junction Metropolitan Statistical Area included 1,173 establishments with a response rate of 77 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 Grand Junction, Colo. Metropolitan Statistical Area  includes Mesa 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, Grand Junction Metropolitan Statistical Area, May 2014

Occupation (1)	Employment		Mean wages
	Level (2)	Location quotient (3)	Hourly	Annual (4)
Construction and Extraction Occupations	4,430	1.9	$21.61	$44,940
First-Line Supervisors of Construction Trades and Extraction Workers	440	2.0	28.57	59,430
Carpenters	210	0.8	24.54	51,040
Tile and Marble Setters	(5)	(5)	18.46	38,400
Cement Masons and Concrete Finishers	140	2.1	19.08	39,690
Construction Laborers	720	1.9	15.25	31,720
Operating Engineers and Other Construction Equipment Operators	310	2.0	20.86	43,380
Drywall and Ceiling Tile Installers	(5)	(5)	23.25	48,360
Electricians	310	1.3	18.37	38,210
Painters, Construction and Maintenance	50	0.5	17.13	35,630
Plumbers, Pipefitters, and Steamfitters	230	1.4	23.22	48,290
Sheet Metal Workers	80	1.3	22.43	46,650
Highway Maintenance Workers	90	1.5	20.99	43,660
Service Unit Operators, Oil, Gas, and Mining	850	31.4	24.85	51,680
Roustabouts, Oil and Gas	390	12.2	19.50	40,570
Footnotes: (1) For a complete listing of all detailed occupations in Grand Junction, CO, see www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_24300.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.