Workers in the Topeka Metropolitan Statistical Area had an average (mean) hourly wage of $19.89 in May 2014, about 12 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. Seventeen groups had significantly lower wages than their respective national averages, including legal; computer and mathematical; and management.

When compared to the nationwide distribution, local employment was more highly concentrated in 7 of the 22 occupational groups, including healthcare support; healthcare practitioners and technical; and construction and extraction. Conversely, seven groups had employment shares significantly below their national representation, including sales and related; food preparation and serving related; 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. Topeka had 7,290 jobs in healthcare practitioners and technical, accounting for 6.6 percent of local area employment, significantly higher than the 5.8-percent share nationally. The average hourly wage for this occupational group locally was $32.27, significantly below the national wage of $36.54.

Some of the largest detailed occupations within the healthcare practitioners and technical group included registered nurses (2,880), licensed practical and licensed vocational nurses (600), and pharmacy technicians (270). Among the higher paying jobs were family and general practitioners, with mean hourly wages of $104.33. At the lower end of the wage scale were emergency medical technicians and paramedics ($9.47). (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/current/oes_45820.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 Topeka Metropolitan Statistical Area, above-average concentrations of employment were found in some of the occupations within the healthcare practitioners and technical group. For instance, occupational therapists were employed at 1.9 times the national rate in Topeka, and speech-language pathologists, at 1.6 times the U.S. average. On the other hand, physical therapists had a location quotient of 1.2 in Topeka, 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 Kansas Department of Labor.

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 Topeka Metropolitan Statistical Area included 1,431 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 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 Topeka, Kans. Metropolitan Statistical Area  includes Jackson, Jefferson, Osage, Shawnee, and Wabaunsee Counties.

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, Topeka Metropolitan Statistical Area, May 2014

Occupation (1)	Employment		Mean wages
	Level (2)	Location quotient (3)	Hourly	Annual (4)
Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	7,290	1.1	$32.27	$67,120
Dentists, General	70	0.9	89.78	186,740
Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons	40	8.7	101.13	210,360
Dietitians and Nutritionists	60	1.1	24.77	51,530
Optometrists	40	1.6	61.83	128,610
Pharmacists	280	1.2	56.99	118,530
Family and General Practitioners	70	0.7	104.33	217,000
Physicians and Surgeons, All Other	150	0.6	106.19	220,880
Physician Assistants	(5)	(5)	43.92	91,360
Occupational Therapists	170	1.9	42.77	88,950
Physical Therapists	190	1.2	43.51	90,500
Respiratory Therapists	130	1.3	24.02	49,950
Speech-Language Pathologists	170	1.6	39.68	82,530
Veterinarians	80	1.6	32.74	68,100
Registered Nurses	2,880	1.3	30.01	62,430
Nurse Practitioners	110	1.1	42.98	89,400
Medical and Clinical Laboratory Technologists	(5)	(5)	28.26	58,770
Medical and Clinical Laboratory Technicians	100	0.8	15.98	33,250
Dental Hygienists	210	1.3	29.11	60,540
Radiologic Technologists	200	1.3	23.16	48,170
Emergency Medical Technicians and Paramedics	310	1.6	9.47	19,690
Pharmacy Technicians	270	0.9	14.19	29,510
Surgical Technologists	(5)	(5)	19.46	40,470
Veterinary Technologists and Technicians	60	0.7	12.32	25,630
Ophthalmic Medical Technicians	30	1.1	(5)	(5)
Licensed Practical and Licensed Vocational Nurses	600	1.1	19.49	40,550
Medical Records and Health Information Technicians	220	1.4	16.75	34,840
Opticians, Dispensing	60	1.1	11.65	24,240
Health Technologists and Technicians, All Other	60	0.8	21.29	44,280
Occupational Health and Safety Specialists	80	1.4	25.78	53,630
Footnotes: (1) For a complete listing of all detailed occupations in Topeka, KS, see www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_45820.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.