Workers in the Kansas City Metropolitan Statistical Area had an average (mean) hourly wage of $22.90 in May 2015, below the nationwide average of $23.23, 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 significantly lower than their respective national averages in 15 of the 22 major occupational groups, including legal; education, training, and library; and computer and mathematical. Three occupational groups had wages that were significantly higher than their respective national averages, including construction and extraction.

When compared to the nationwide distribution, local employment was more highly concentrated in 5 of the 22 occupational groups, including office and administrative support; computer and mathematical; and business and financial operations. Conversely, 11 groups had employment shares significantly below their national representation, including education, training, and library; production; and building and grounds cleaning and maintenance. (See table A and box note at end of release.)

One occupational group—business and financial operations—was chosen to illustrate the diversity of data available for any of the 22 major occupational categories. Kansas City had 62,410 jobs in business and financial operations, accounting for 6.1 percent of local area employment, significantly higher than the 5.1-percent share nationally. The average hourly wage for this occupational group locally was $33.78, significantly below the national wage of $35.48.

Some of the larger detailed occupations within the business and financial operations group included accountants and auditors (10,060), market research analysts and marketing specialists (5,000), and claims adjusters, examiners, and investigators (4,500). Among the higher-paying jobs were personal financial advisors and financial examiners, with mean hourly wages of $57.48 and $46.01, respectively. Occupations at the lower end of the wage scale included tax examiners and collectors, and revenue agents ($21.06) and meeting, convention, and event planners ($22.99). (Detailed occupational data for business and financial operations are presented in table 1; for a complete listing of detailed occupations available go to www.bls.gov/oes/2015/may/oes_28140.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 Kansas City Metropolitan Statistical Area, above-average concentrations of employment were found in some of the occupations within the business and financial operations group. For instance, tax examiners and collectors, and revenue agents were employed at 3.5 times the national rate in Kansas City, and claims adjusters, examiners, and investigators, at 2.2 times the U.S. average. On the other hand, human resources specialists had a location quotient of 1.1 in Kansas 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 Kansas City Metropolitan Statistical Area included 7,340 establishments with a response rate of 66 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 Kansas City, Mo.-Kan. Metropolitan Statistical Area includes Bates, Caldwell, Cass, Clay, Clinton, Jackson, Lafayette, Platte, and Ray Counties of Missouri, and Johnson, Leavenworth, Linn, Miami, and Wyandotte Counties of Kansas.

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, Kansas City Metropolitan Statistical Area, May 2015

Occupation (1)	Employment		Mean wages
	Level (2)	Location quotient (3)	Hourly	Annual (4)
Business and Financial Operations Occupations	62,410	1.2	$33.78	$70,260
Agents and Business Managers of Artists, Performers, and Athletes	(5)	(5)	28.71	59,720
Buyers and Purchasing Agents, Farm Products	120	1.3	32.89	68,400
Wholesale and Retail Buyers, Except Farm Products	1,570	1.9	30.92	64,320
Purchasing Agents, Except Wholesale, Retail, and Farm Products	2,140	1.0	30.01	62,410
Claims Adjusters, Examiners, and Investigators	4,500	2.2	30.63	63,710
Insurance Appraisers, Auto Damage	360	3.2	32.47	67,530
Compliance Officers	2,270	1.2	30.15	62,710
Cost Estimators	1,900	1.2	31.92	66,400
Human Resources Specialists	4,160	1.1	29.28	60,900
Labor Relations Specialists	520	0.9	34.79	72,370
Logisticians	640	0.7	33.33	69,320
Management Analysts	3,800	0.8	42.89	89,210
Meeting, Convention, and Event Planners	710	1.1	22.99	47,810
Fundraisers	310	0.7	23.89	49,690
Compensation, Benefits, and Job Analysis Specialists	710	1.2	31.69	65,910
Training and Development Specialists	2,550	1.4	31.50	65,510
Market Research Analysts and Marketing Specialists	5,000	1.3	31.81	66,170
Business Operations Specialists, All Other	8,150	1.2	35.04	72,880
Accountants and Auditors	10,060	1.1	33.45	69,570
Appraisers and Assessors of Real Estate	520	1.2	22.61	47,020
Budget Analysts	360	0.9	34.77	72,320
Credit Analysts	630	1.2	34.97	72,730
Financial Analysts	1,980	1.0	38.69	80,480
Personal Financial Advisors	2,180	1.5	57.48	119,550
Insurance Underwriters	1,280	1.9	34.29	71,320
Financial Examiners	430	1.3	46.01	95,690
Credit Counselors	50	0.2	21.86	45,470
Loan Officers	2,470	1.1	37.01	76,980
Tax Examiners and Collectors, and Revenue Agents	1,540	3.5	21.06	43,810
Tax Preparers	470	0.9	25.65	53,360
Financial Specialists, All Other	960	1.0	31.42	65,360
Footnotes: (1) For a complete listing for all detailed occupations in the Kansas City, MO-KS Metropolitan Statistical Area, see www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_28140.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.