Workers in the Greeley Metropolitan Statistical Area had an average (mean) hourly wage of $21.93 in May 2016, about eight 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 significantly lower than their respective national averages in 10 of the 22 major occupational groups including legal; computer and mathematical; and arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media. Three groups had significantly higher wages than their respective national averages: transportation and material moving; sales and related; and installation, maintenance, and repair.

When compared to the nationwide distribution, local employment was more highly concentrated in 5 of the 22 occupational groups, including construction and extraction; production; and transportation and material moving. Conversely, 13 groups had employment shares significantly below their national representation, including office and administrative support; computer and mathematical; and healthcare practitioners and technical. (See table A and box note at end of release.)

One occupational group—construction and extraction—was chosen to illustrate the diversity of data available for any of the 22 major occupational categories. Greeley had 9,880 jobs in construction and extraction occupations, accounting for 10.3 percent of local area employment, significantly higher than the 4.0-percent share nationally. The average hourly wage for this occupational group locally was $21.49, significantly below the national wage of $23.51.

Some of the larger detailed occupations within the construction and extraction group included construction laborers (1,550), first-line supervisors of construction trades and extraction workers (1,150), and operating engineers and other construction equipment operators (1,060). Among the higher paying jobs were construction and building inspectors and first-line supervisors of construction trades and extraction workers, with mean hourly wages of $34.00 and $30.02, respectively. At the lower end of the wage scale were construction laborers ($17.46) and construction and maintenance painters ($18.01). (Detailed occupational data for construction and extraction are presented in table 1; for a complete listing of detailed occupations available go to www.bls.gov/oes/2016/may/oes_24540.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 Greeley Metropolitan Statistical Area, above-average concentrations of employment were found in several of the occupations within the construction and extraction group. For instance, oil and gas roustabouts were employed at 28.8 times the national rate in Greeley, and oil, gas, and mining service unit operators at 25.7 times the U.S. average. On the other hand, highway maintenance workers had a location quotient of 1.1 in Greeley, 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 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 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 Greeley Metropolitan Statistical Area included 1,429 establishments with a response rate of 76 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 Greeley, Colo. Metropolitan Statistical Area includes Weld 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, Greeley Metropolitan Statistical Area, May 2016

Occupation (1)	Employment		Mean wages
	Level (2)	Location quotient (3)	Hourly	Annual (4)
Construction and extraction occupations	9,880	2.6	$21.49	$44,700
First-line supervisors of construction trades and extraction workers	1,150	3.1	30.02	62,430
Carpenters	550	1.2	18.10	37,650
Cement masons and concrete finishers	420	3.6	19.41	40,370
Construction laborers	1,550	2.5	17.46	36,310
Operating engineers and other construction equipment operators	1,060	4.3	22.71	47,240
Drywall and ceiling tile installers	70	1.1	18.34	38,140
Electricians	740	1.8	22.45	46,690
Painters, construction and maintenance	250	1.7	18.01	37,460
Pipelayers	50	1.9	22.03	45,820
Plumbers, pipefitters, and steamfitters	370	1.3	22.99	47,820
Roofers	260	3.3	18.92	39,350
Sheet metal workers	310	3.3	21.21	44,120
Structural iron and steel workers	(5)	(5)	26.38	54,870
Construction and building inspectors	130	2.0	34.00	70,730
Hazardous materials removal workers	(5)	(5)	21.79	45,320
Highway maintenance workers	100	1.1	19.96	41,520
Septic tank servicers and sewer pipe cleaners	60	3.2	20.54	42,720
Construction and related workers, all other	50	2.0	18.15	37,740
Service unit operators, oil, gas, and mining	750	25.7	21.61	44,940
Roustabouts, oil and gas	1,010	28.8	19.35	40,240
Helpers--extraction workers	(5)	(5)	21.41	44,540
Footnotes: (1) For a complete listing of all detailed occupations in the Greeley Metropolitan Statistical Area see www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_24540.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.