Workers in the Jefferson City Metropolitan Statistical Area had an average (mean) hourly wage of $19.08 in May 2015, about 18 percent below 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 significantly lower than their respective national averages in 18 of the 22 major occupational groups, including legal; computer and mathematical; and management.

When compared to the nationwide distribution, local employment was more highly concentrated in 8 of the 22 occupational groups, including office and administrative support; protective service; and business and financial operations. Conversely, nine groups had employment shares significantly below their national representation, including sales and related; transportation and material moving; and food preparation and serving related. (See table A and box note at end of release.)

One occupational group—office and administrative support—was chosen to illustrate the diversity of data available for any of the 22 major occupational categories. Jefferson City had 13,540 jobs in office and administrative support, accounting for 19.1 percent of local area employment, significantly higher than the 15.8-percent share nationally. The average hourly wage for this occupational group locally was $15.30, significantly below the national wage of $17.47.

Some of the larger detailed occupations within the office and administrative support group included general office clerks (2,950); secretaries and administrative assistants, except legal, medical, and executive (2,280); and customer service representatives (1,440). Among the higher-paying jobs were postal service mail carriers and first-line supervisors of office and administrative support workers with mean hourly wages of $23.93 and $22.22, respectively. Occupations at the lower end of the wage scale included stock clerks and order fillers ($11.67) and receptionists and information clerks ($12.14). (Detailed occupational data for office and administrative support are presented in table 1; for a complete listing of detailed occupations available go to www.bls.gov/oes/2015/may/oes_27620.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 Jefferson City Metropolitan Statistical Area, above-average concentrations of employment were found in some of the occupations within the office and administrative support group. For instance, court, municipal, and license clerks were employed at 2.9 times the national rate in Jefferson City, and human resources assistants, except payroll and timekeeping, at 2.0 times the U.S. average. On the other hand, postal service mail carriers had a location quotient of 1.0 in Jefferson City, 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 Missouri Department of Economic Development.

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 Jefferson City Metropolitan Statistical Area included 1,047 establishments with a response rate of 63 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 Jefferson City, Mo. Metropolitan Statistical Area includes Callaway, Cole, Moniteau and Osage 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/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, Jefferson City Metropolitan Statistical Area, May 2015

Occupation (1)	Employment		Mean wages
	Level (2)	Location quotient (3)	Hourly	Annual (4)
Office and Administrative Support Occupations	13,540	1.2	$15.30	$31,830
First-Line Supervisors of Office and Administrative Support Workers	570	0.8	22.22	46,210
Bill and Account Collectors	120	0.7	15.01	31,230
Billing and Posting Clerks	170	0.7	16.93	35,200
Bookkeeping, Accounting, and Auditing Clerks	950	1.2	15.79	32,840
Payroll and Timekeeping Clerks	60	0.7	19.13	39,790
Procurement Clerks	40	1.2	18.70	38,900
Tellers	310	1.2	12.45	25,900
Court, Municipal, and License Clerks	200	2.9	14.30	29,740
Customer Service Representatives	1,440	1.1	14.90	30,980
File Clerks	120	1.7	(5)	(5)
Hotel, Motel, and Resort Desk Clerks	60	0.5	9.52	19,800
Interviewers, Except Eligibility and Loan	(5)	(5)	12.11	25,200
Library Assistants, Clerical	(5)	(5)	9.88	20,560
Loan Interviewers and Clerks	210	1.9	14.90	30,980
New Accounts Clerks	80	3.1	13.78	28,670
Human Resources Assistants, Except Payroll and Timekeeping	140	2.0	17.49	36,390
Receptionists and Information Clerks	370	0.7	12.14	25,250
Information and Record Clerks, All Other	70	0.8	16.96	35,280
Couriers and Messengers	40	1.2	12.01	24,980
Police, Fire, and Ambulance Dispatchers	120	2.5	14.24	29,610
Dispatchers, Except Police, Fire, and Ambulance	50	0.5	23.97	49,870
Postal Service Clerks	50	1.3	20.92	43,500
Postal Service Mail Carriers	160	1.0	23.93	49,780
Production, Planning, and Expediting Clerks	90	0.6	22.20	46,180
Shipping, Receiving, and Traffic Clerks	160	0.5	(5)	(5)
Stock Clerks and Order Fillers	720	0.7	11.67	24,260
Weighers, Measurers, Checkers, and Samplers, Recordkeeping	50	1.4	15.20	31,610
Executive Secretaries and Executive Administrative Assistants	520	1.5	21.48	44,670
Legal Secretaries	120	1.2	18.63	38,760
Medical Secretaries	220	0.8	15.97	33,210
Secretaries and Administrative Assistants, Except Legal, Medical, and Executive	2,280	2.0	14.84	30,880
Data Entry Keyers	110	1.1	12.36	25,710
Word Processors and Typists	40	1.2	12.51	26,030
Mail Clerks and Mail Machine Operators, Except Postal Service	90	1.9	13.36	27,790
Office Clerks, General	2,950	2.0	14.01	29,150
Office Machine Operators, Except Computer	(5)	(5)	14.59	30,340
Office and Administrative Support Workers, All Other	110	0.9	16.80	34,940
Footnotes: (1) For a complete listing of all detailed occupations in the Jefferson City, MO Metropolitan Statistical Area, see www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_27620.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.