Workers in the Provo-Orem Metropolitan Statistical Area had an average (mean) hourly wage of $20.42 in May 2015, about 12 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 in 20 of the 22 major occupational groups, including legal; management; and computer and mathematical.

When compared to the nationwide distribution, local employment was more highly concentrated in 7 of the 22 occupational groups, including construction and extraction; education, training, and library; and office and administrative support. Conversely, nine groups had employment shares significantly below their national representation, including transportation and material moving; healthcare practitioners and technical; and protective service. (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. Provo-Orem had 36,230 jobs in office and administrative support, accounting for 17.6 percent of local area employment, significantly higher than the 15.8-percent share nationally. The average hourly wage for this occupational group locally was $14.44, significantly below the national wage of $17.47.

Some of the larger detailed occupations within the office and administrative support group included customer service representatives (8,190), secretaries and administrative assistants, except legal, medical, and executive (4,820), and general office clerks (4,420). Among the higher paying jobs were postal service mail carriers and postal service clerks, with mean hourly wages of $24.80 and $22.85, respectively. At the lower end of the wage scale were hotel, motel, and resort desk clerks ($9.47) and clerical library assistants ($10.33). (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_39340.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 Provo-Orem Metropolitan Statistical Area, above-average concentrations of employment were found in some of the occupations within the office and administrative support group. For instance, customer service representatives were employed at 2.1 times the national rate in Provo. On the other hand, general office clerks had a location quotient of 1.0 in Provo, 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 Utah Department of Workforce Services.

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 Provo-Orem Metropolitan Statistical Area included 2,234 establishments with a response rate of 76 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 Provo-Orem, Utah Metropolitan Statistical Area includes Juab and Utah 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, Provo-Orem Metropolitan Statistical Area, May 2015

Occupation (1)	Employment		Mean wages
	Level (2)	Location quotient (3)	Hourly	Annual (4)
Office and Administrative Support Occupations	36,230	1.1	$14.44	$30,040
First-Line Supervisors of Office and Administrative Support Workers	2,110	1.0	22.82	47,460
Switchboard Operators, Including Answering Service	90	0.6	11.87	24,690
Bill and Account Collectors	160	0.3	16.93	35,220
Billing and Posting Clerks	710	1.0	15.90	33,070
Bookkeeping, Accounting, and Auditing Clerks	2,050	0.9	17.12	35,610
Payroll and Timekeeping Clerks	260	1.1	19.25	40,040
Procurement Clerks	70	0.6	20.71	43,070
Tellers	790	1.1	12.31	25,600
Court, Municipal, and License Clerks	110	0.6	16.99	35,340
Customer Service Representatives	8,190	2.1	13.03	27,100
Eligibility Interviewers, Government Programs	170	0.9	18.35	38,160
File Clerks	80	0.4	15.39	32,010
Hotel, Motel, and Resort Desk Clerks	210	0.6	9.47	19,700
Interviewers, Except Eligibility and Loan	1,010	3.7	12.42	25,820
Library Assistants, Clerical	250	1.7	10.33	21,480
Loan Interviewers and Clerks	330	1.0	16.18	33,660
New Accounts Clerks	70	1.0	15.45	32,140
Order Clerks	260	0.9	14.51	30,170
Human Resources Assistants, Except Payroll and Timekeeping	140	0.7	17.27	35,930
Receptionists and Information Clerks	1,910	1.3	12.07	25,100
Information and Record Clerks, All Other	60	0.2	15.00	31,200
Cargo and Freight Agents	50	0.5	11.75	24,440
Couriers and Messengers	40	0.4	12.74	26,500
Police, Fire, and Ambulance Dispatchers	120	0.9	17.94	37,320
Dispatchers, Except Police, Fire, and Ambulance	270	0.9	19.80	41,180
Postal Service Clerks	100	0.9	22.85	47,520
Postal Service Mail Carriers	370	0.8	24.80	51,580
Postal Service Mail Sorters, Processors, and Processing Machine Operators	60	0.4	23.59	49,060
Production, Planning, and Expediting Clerks	220	0.5	18.99	39,510
Shipping, Receiving, and Traffic Clerks	1,530	1.5	13.31	27,680
Stock Clerks and Order Fillers	2,360	0.8	12.07	25,100
Weighers, Measurers, Checkers, and Samplers, Recordkeeping	40	0.4	15.63	32,520
Executive Secretaries and Executive Administrative Assistants	570	0.6	21.61	44,940
Legal Secretaries	280	0.9	14.94	31,060
Medical Secretaries	1,000	1.3	14.70	30,570
Secretaries and Administrative Assistants, Except Legal, Medical, and Executive	4,820	1.4	14.03	29,180
Data Entry Keyers	470	1.6	11.29	23,480
Word Processors and Typists	50	0.4	16.15	33,580
Insurance Claims and Policy Processing Clerks	80	0.2	19.48	40,520
Office Clerks, General	4,420	1.0	12.44	25,870
Office Machine Operators, Except Computer	60	0.7	11.03	22,940
Office and Administrative Support Workers, All Other	70	0.2	17.13	35,630
Footnotes: (1) For a complete listing of all detailed occupations in the Provo-Orem, UT Metropolitan Statistical Area see www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_39340.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.