Workers in the Great Falls Metropolitan Statistical Area had an average (mean) hourly wage of $17.97 in May 2014, about 21 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, no wages in the local area were higher than their respective national averages in 22 major occupational groups. Seventeen groups had significantly lower wages than their respective national averages, including computer and mathematical; management; and arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media.

When compared to the nationwide distribution, local employment was more highly concentrated in 6 of the 22 occupational groups, including sales and related; healthcare practitioners and technical; and food preparation and serving related. Conversely, six groups had employment shares significantly below their national representation, including production; management; and transportation and material moving. (See table A and box note at end of release.)

One occupational group—healthcare practitioners and technical—was chosen to illustrate the diversity of data available for any of the 22 major occupational categories. Great Falls had 2,740 jobs in healthcare practitioners and technical, accounting for 7.8 percent of local area employment, significantly higher than the 5.8-percent share nationally. The average hourly wage for this occupational group locally was $31.00, significantly below the national wage of $36.54.

Some of the largest detailed occupations within the healthcare practitioners and technical group included registered nurses (960), licensed practical and licensed vocational nurses (280), and pharmacists (110). Among the higher paying jobs were pharmacists and nurse practitioners, with mean hourly wages of $53.68 and $44.22, respectively. At the lower end of the wage scale were veterinary technologists and technicians ($13.62) and pharmacy technicians ($15.18). (Detailed occupational data for healthcare practitioners and technical are presented in table 1; for a complete listing of detailed occupations available go to www.bls.gov/oes/2014/may/oes_24500.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 Great Falls Metropolitan Statistical Area, above-average concentrations of employment were found in many of the occupations within the healthcare practitioners and technical group. For instance, physical therapists were employed at 1.9 times the national rate in Great Falls, and radiologic technologists, at 1.8 times the U.S. average. On the other hand, pharmacy technicians had a location quotient of 1.0 in Great Falls, 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 Montana Department of Labor and Industry.

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 Great Falls Metropolitan Statistical Area included 825 establishments with a response rate of 79 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 Great Falls, Mont. Metropolitan Statistical Area  includes Cascade 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, Great Falls Metropolitan Statistical Area, May 2014

Occupation (1)	Employment		Mean wages
	Level (2)	Location quotient (3)	Hourly	Annual (4)
Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	2,740	1.4	$31.00	$64,480
Pharmacists	110	1.4	53.68	111,660
Physicians and Surgeons, All Other	60	0.7	105.91	220,280
Physical Therapists	100	1.9	28.03	58,290
Respiratory Therapists	60	2.1	23.25	48,350
Veterinarians	40	2.2	28.64	59,560
Registered Nurses	960	1.4	29.18	60,680
Nurse Practitioners	50	1.5	44.22	91,970
Medical and Clinical Laboratory Technologists	70	1.6	29.27	60,870
Dental Hygienists	70	1.3	33.66	70,020
Diagnostic Medical Sonographers	30	2.1	32.93	68,490
Radiologic Technologists	90	1.8	25.32	52,660
Pharmacy Technicians	100	1.0	15.18	31,570
Veterinary Technologists and Technicians	40	1.9	13.62	28,330
Licensed Practical and Licensed Vocational Nurses	280	1.6	18.76	39,010
Medical Records and Health Information Technicians	30	0.7	17.25	35,880
Opticians, Dispensing	70	3.5	15.54	32,330
Occupational Health and Safety Specialists	30	1.9	32.49	67,580
Footnotes: (1) For a complete listing of all detailed occupations in Great Falls, MT, see www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_24500.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.