Workers in the Great Falls Metropolitan Statistical Area had an average (mean) hourly wage of $19.15 in May 2016, about 20 percent below the nationwide average of $23.86, 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 lower than their respective national averages in 17 of the 22 major occupational groups, including computer and mathematical; management; and arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media. 

When compared to the nationwide distribution, local employment was more highly concentrated in 7 of the 22 occupational groups, including sales and related; food preparation and serving related; and construction and extraction. Conversely, eight groups had employment shares significantly below their national representation, including production; management; and computer and mathematical. (See table A and box note at end of release.)

One occupational group—sales and related—was chosen to illustrate the diversity of data available for any of the 22 major occupational categories. Great Falls had 4,340 jobs in sales and related occupations, accounting for 12.1 percent of local area employment, significantly higher than the 10.4-percent share nationally. The average hourly wage for this occupational group locally was $15.46, significantly below the national wage of $19.50.

Some of the larger detailed occupations within the sales and related group included retail salespersons (1,610), cashiers (1,220), and first-line supervisors of retail sales workers (450). Among the higher paying jobs were first-line supervisors of non-retail sales workers and wholesale and manufacturing sales representatives except technical and scientific products, with mean hourly wages of $36.97 and $28.83, respectively. At the lower end of the wage scale were cashiers ($10.14) and retail salespersons ($12.13). (Detailed occupational data for sales and related are presented in table 1; for a complete listing of detailed occupations available go to www.bls.gov/oes/2016/may/oes_24500.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 Great Falls Metropolitan Statistical Area, above-average concentrations of employment were found in several of the occupations within the sales and related group. For instance, insurance sales agents were employed at 1.6 times the national rate in Great Falls, and first-line supervisors of retail sales workers, at 1.5 times the U.S. average. On the other hand, wholesale and manufacturing sales representatives except technical and scientific products had a location quotient of 0.9 in Great Falls, 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 Montana Department of Labor and Industry.

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 data available from BLS include cross-industry occupational employment and wage estimates for the nation; over 650 areas, including states and the District of Columbia, metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs), metropolitan divisions, nonmetropolitan areas, and territories; national industry-specific estimates at the NAICS sector, 3-, 4-, and selected 5- and 6-digit industry levels, and national estimates 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. Each year, two semiannual panels of approximately 200,000 sampled establishments are contacted, one panel in May and the other in November. Responses are obtained by mail, Internet or other electronic means, email, telephone, or personal visit. The May 2016 estimates are based on responses from six semiannual panels collected over a 3-year period: May 2016, November 2015, May 2015, November 2014, May 2014, and November 2013. The overall national response rate for the six panels, based on the 50 states and the District of Columbia, is 73 percent based on establishments and 69 percent based on weighted sampled employment. The unweighted employment of sampled establishments across all six semiannual panels represents approximately 58 percent of total national employment. The sample in the Great Falls Metropolitan Statistical Area included 841 establishments with a response rate of 84 percent. For more information about OES concepts and methodology, go to www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_tec.htm.

The May 2016 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 Great Falls, Mont. Metropolitan Statistical Area includes Cascade 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/current/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, Great Falls Metropolitan Statistical Area, May 2016

Occupation (1)	Employment		Mean wages
	Level (2)	Location quotient (3)	Hourly	Annual (4)
Sales and related occupations	4,340	1.2	$15.46	$32,160
First-line supervisors of retail sales workers	450	1.5	17.80	37,030
First-line supervisors of non-retail sales workers	70	1.1	36.97	76,900
Cashiers	1,220	1.4	10.14	21,100
Counter and rental clerks	90	0.8	15.09	31,380
Parts salespersons	110	1.8	14.66	30,490
Retail salespersons	1,610	1.4	12.13	25,230
Advertising sales agents	70	2.0	22.29	46,350
Insurance sales agents	150	1.6	24.28	50,510
Securities, commodities, and financial services sales agents	100	1.1	29.85	62,080
Sales representatives, services, all other	70	0.3	33.77	70,250
Sales representatives, wholesale and manufacturing, except technical and scientific products	320	0.9	28.83	59,970
Footnotes: (1) For a complete listing of all detailed occupations in the Great Falls Metropolitan Statistical Area, see www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_24500.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.