Workers in the Billings Metropolitan Statistical Area had an average (mean) hourly wage of $22.53 in May 2018, about 10 percent below the nationwide average of $24.98, 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 12 of the 22 major occupational groups including legal; computer and mathematical; and arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media. Two groups: production; and transportation and material moving had significantly higher wages than their respective national averages.

When compared to the nationwide distribution, local employment was more highly concentrated in 9 of the 22 occupational groups, including sales and related; construction and extraction; and food preparation and serving related. Conversely, nine groups had employment shares significantly below their national representation, including production; management; and education, training, and library. (See table A and box note at end of release.)

One occupational group—food preparation and serving related—was chosen to illustrate the diversity of data available for any of the 22 major occupational categories. Billings had 9,170 jobs in food preparation and serving related occupations, accounting for 10.7 percent of local area employment, significantly higher than the 9.2-percent share nationally. The average hourly wage for this occupational group locally was $12.00, compared to the national wage of $12.30.

Some of the larger detailed occupations within the food preparation and serving related group included combined food preparation and serving workers, including fast food (2,100), waiters and waitresses (1,800), and cooks, restaurant (1,030). Among the higher-paying jobs in this group were chefs and head cooks and first-line supervisors of food preparation and serving workers, with mean hourly wages of $26.54 and $17.22, respectively. At the lower end of the wage scale were dining room and cafeteria attendants and bartender helpers ($9.07) and hosts and hostesses, restaurant, lounge, and coffee shop ($10.05). (Detailed data for the food preparation and serving related occupations are presented in table 1; for a complete listing of detailed occupations available go to www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_13740.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 Billings Metropolitan Statistical Area, above-average concentrations of employment were found in some of the occupations within the food preparation and serving related group. For instance, bartenders were employed at 2.1 times the national rate in Billings. On the other hand, combined food preparation and serving workers, including fast food had a location quotient of 1.0 in Billings, 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 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 580 areas, including states and the District of Columbia, metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs), nonmetropolitan areas, and territories; national industry-specific estimates at the NAICS sector, 3-digit, most 4-digit, 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.

The OES survey is a cooperative effort between BLS and the State Workforce Agencies (SWAs). BLS funds the survey and provides the procedures and technical support, while the State Workforce Agencies collect most of the data. OES estimates are constructed from a sample of about 1.2 million establishments. Each year, two semiannual panels of approximately 180,000 to 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 2018 estimates are based on responses from six semiannual panels collected over a 3-year period: May 2018, November 2017, May 2017, November 2016, May 2016, and November 2015. The unweighted sample employment of 83 million across all six semiannual panels represents approximately 58 percent of total national employment. The overall national response rate for the six panels, based on the 50 states and the District of Columbia, is 71 percent based on establishments and 68 percent based on weighted sampled employment. The sample in the Billings Metropolitan Statistical Area included 1,450 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.

A value that is statistically different from another does not necessarily mean that the difference has economic or practical significance. Statistical significance is concerned with the ability to make confident statements about a universe based on a sample. It is entirely possible that a large difference between two values is not significantly different statistically, while a small difference is, since both the size and heterogeneity of the sample affect the relative error of the data being tested.

The May 2018 OES estimates are based on the 2010 Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) system and the 2017 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 2017 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 Billings, MT Metropolitan Statistical Area includes Carbon and Yellowstone 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/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, Billings Metropolitan Statistical Area, May 2018

Occupation (1)	Employment		Mean wages
	Level (2)	Location quotient (3)	Hourly	Annual (4)
Food preparation and serving related occupations	9,170	1.2	$12.00	$24,950
Chefs and head cooks	60	0.8	26.54	55,200
First-line supervisors of food preparation and serving workers	730	1.3	17.22	35,820
Cooks, fast food	(5)	(5)	11.70	24,330
Cooks, institution and cafeteria	270	1.2	13.22	27,500
Cooks, restaurant	1,030	1.3	12.41	25,810
Food preparation workers	530	1.1	11.25	23,390
Bartenders	790	2.1	10.76	22,380
Combined food preparation and serving workers, including fast food	2,100	1.0	11.76	24,450
Counter attendants, cafeteria, food concession, and coffee shop	(5)	(5)	11.28	23,450
Waiters and waitresses	1,800	1.2	11.19	23,270
Food servers, nonrestaurant	210	1.3	10.55	21,940
Dining room and cafeteria attendants and bartender helpers	(5)	(5)	9.07	18,860
Dishwashers	370	1.2	10.33	21,490
Hosts and hostesses, restaurant, lounge, and coffee shop	260	1.1	10.05	20,910
Food preparation and serving related workers, all other	30	1.0	12.19	25,350
Footnotes: (1) For a complete listing of all detailed occupations in the Billings, MT Metropolitan Statistical Area, see www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_13740.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.