Workers in the Boulder Metropolitan Statistical Area had an average (mean) hourly wage of $27.90 in May 2015, about 20 percent above the nationwide average of $23.23, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Assistant Commissioner for Regional Operations Stanley W. Suchman noted that, after testing for statistical significance, wages in the local area were higher than their respective national averages in 15 of the 22 major occupational groups, including architecture and engineering; management; and life, physical, and social science. Only one group had significantly lower wages than their respective national averages: construction and extraction.

When compared to the nationwide distribution, local employment was more highly concentrated in 7 of the 22 occupational groups, including computer and mathematical; life, physical, and social science; and architecture and engineering. Conversely, 11 groups had employment shares significantly below their national representation, including transportation and material moving; office and administrative support; and construction and extraction. (See table A and box note at end of release.)

One occupational group—architecture and engineering—was chosen to illustrate the diversity of data available for any of the 22 major occupational categories. Boulder had 7,110 jobs in architecture and engineering, accounting for 4.1 percent of local area employment, significantly higher than the 1.8-percent share nationally. The average hourly wage for this occupational group locally was $47.17, significantly above the national wage of $39.89.

Some of the larger detailed occupations within the architecture and engineering group included electronics engineers, except computer (1,000), mechanical engineers (810), and aerospace engineers (630). Among the higher paying jobs were aerospace engineers and materials engineers, with mean hourly wages of $67.65 and $64.61, respectively. At the lower end of the wage scale were architectural and civil drafters ($27.05) and electrical and electronics engineering technicians ($27.10). (Detailed occupational data for architecture and engineering are presented in table 1; for a complete listing of detailed occupations available go to www.bls.gov/oes/2015/may/oes_14500.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 Boulder Metropolitan Statistical Area, above-average concentrations of employment were found in many of the occupations within the architecture and engineering group. For instance, aerospace engineers were employed at 7.5 times the national rate in Boulder, and electronics engineers, except computer, at 5.9 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 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. The OES program produces employment and wage estimates for over 800 occupations for all industries combined in the nation; the 50 states and the District of Columbia; 432 metropolitan areas and divisions; 167 nonmetropolitan areas; and Guam, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. National estimates are also available by industry for NAICS sectors, 3-, 4-, and selected 5- and 6-digit industries, and by ownership across all industries and for schools and hospitals. OES data are available at www.bls.gov/oes/tables.htm.

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 2015 estimates are based on responses from six semiannual panels collected over a 3-year period: May 2015, November 2014, May 2014, November 2013, May 2013, and November 2012. The overall national response rate for the six panels is 73.5 percent based on establishments and 69.6 percent based on weighted sampled employment. The unweighted employment of sampled establishments across all six semiannual panels represents approximately 57.9 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 Boulder Metropolitan Statistical Area included 2,118 establishments with a response rate of 75 percent. For more information about OES concepts and methodology, go to www.bls.gov/news.release/ocwage.tn.htm.

The May 2015 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.

Metropolitan 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 Boulder, Colo. Metropolitan Statistical Area includes Boulder 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/2015/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, Boulder Metropolitan Statistical Area, May 2015

Occupation (1)	Employment		Mean wages
	Level (2)	Location quotient (3)	Hourly	Annual (4)
Architecture and Engineering Occupations	7,110	2.3	$47.17	$98,110
Architects, Except Landscape and Naval	270	2.3	29.82	62,020
Landscape Architects	(5)	(5)	32.20	66,970
Cartographers and Photogrammetrists	70	4.4	28.33	58,920
Surveyors	60	1.0	27.28	56,750
Aerospace Engineers	630	7.5	67.65	140,720
Chemical Engineers	120	3.1	42.61	88,620
Civil Engineers	510	1.5	37.23	77,440
Computer Hardware Engineers	450	4.8	55.04	114,480
Electrical Engineers	460	2.1	47.98	99,800
Electronics Engineers, Except Computer	1,000	5.9	56.03	116,550
Environmental Engineers	110	1.7	40.52	84,290
Industrial Engineers	570	1.9	45.99	95,660
Materials Engineers	170	5.1	64.61	134,400
Mechanical Engineers	810	2.4	51.77	107,690
Engineers, All Other	310	2.0	57.29	119,170
Architectural and Civil Drafters	160	1.3	27.05	56,270
Electrical and Electronics Drafters	50	1.5	27.21	56,590
Mechanical Drafters	60	0.8	28.57	59,430
Aerospace Engineering and Operations Technicians	170	10.8	37.57	78,130
Civil Engineering Technicians	30	0.4	29.43	61,220
Electrical and Electronics Engineering Technicians	290	1.7	27.10	56,370
Electro-Mechanical Technicians	30	1.8	29.77	61,920
Industrial Engineering Technicians	90	1.2	32.27	67,120
Mechanical Engineering Technicians	110	1.8	36.00	74,880
Engineering Technicians, Except Drafters, All Other	190	2.2	31.42	65,350
Footnotes: (1) For a complete listing of all detailed occupations in the Boulder, CO Metropolitan Statistical Area, see www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_14500.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.