Workers in the Springfield, MO Metropolitan Statistical Area had an average (mean) hourly wage of $21.47 in May 2020, about 21 percent below the nationwide average of $27.07, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Regional Commissioner Michael Hirniak noted that, after testing for statistical significance, no wages in the local area were higher than their respective national averages in 22 major occupational groups. Twenty one groups had significantly lower wages than their respective national averages, including management, legal, and computer and mathematical.

When compared to the nationwide distribution, Springfield area employment was more highly concentrated in 5 of the 22 occupational groups, including transportation and material moving, food preparation and serving related, and healthcare practitioners and technical. Ten groups had employment shares significantly below their national representation, including computer and mathematical, management, and business and financial operations. (See table A.)

One occupational group—transportation and material moving—was chosen to illustrate the diversity of data available for any of the 22 major occupational categories. Springfield had 21,650 jobs in transportation and material moving, accounting for 10.6 percent of local area employment, significantly higher than the 8.7-percent share nationally. The average hourly wage for this occupational group locally was $18.20, compared to the national wage of $19.08.

Some of the larger detailed occupations within the transportation and material moving group included heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers (6,060), stockers and order fillers (4,850), and hand laborers and freight, stock, and material movers (3,110). Among the higher-paying jobs in this group were first-line supervisors of transportation and material moving workers, except aircraft cargo handling supervisors ($27.24) and transportation inspectors ($25.68). At the lower end of the wage scale were automotive and watercraft service attendants ($13.23) and hand packers and packagers ($13.70). (Detailed data for the transportation and material moving occupations are presented in table 1; for a complete listing of detailed occupations available go to www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_44180.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 Springfield area, above-average concentrations of employment were found in some of the occupations within the transportation and material moving group. For instance, driver/sales workers were employed at 2.6 times the national rate in Springfield, and heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers, at 2.3 times the U.S. average. Light truck drivers had a location quotient of 1.0 in Springfield, indicating that this particular occupation’s local and national employment shares were similar.

These statistics are from the Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) survey, a federal-state cooperative program between BLS and State Workforce Agencies, in this case, the Missouri Department of Higher Education and Workforce Development.

Technical Note

The Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) survey is a semiannual survey measuring occupational employment and wage rates for wage and salary workers in nonfarm establishments in the United States. The OEWS 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. OEWS data are available at www.bls.gov/oes/tables.htm.

The OEWS 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. OEWS estimates are constructed from a sample of about 1.1 million establishments. Each year, two semiannual panels of approximately 180,000 to 185,000 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 2020 estimates are based on responses from six semiannual panels collected over a 3-year period: May 2020, November 2019, May 2019, November 2018, May 2018, and November 2017. The unweighted sample employment of 83 million across all six semiannual panels represents approximately 56 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 69 percent based on establishments and 66 percent based on weighted sampled employment. The sample in the Springfield, MO Metropolitan Statistical Area included 1,978 establishments with a response rate of 50 percent. For more information about OEWS 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.

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 Springfield, MO Metropolitan Statistical Area includes Christian, Dallas, Greene, Polk, and Webster Counties.

For more information

Answers to frequently asked questions about the OEWS data are available at www.bls.gov/oes/oes_ques.htm. Detailed information about the OEWS program is available at www.bls.gov/oes/oes_doc.htm.

Information in this release will be made available to individuals with sensory impairments upon request. Voice phone: (202) 691-5200; Federal Relay Service: (800) 877-8339.

Table 1. Employment and wage data for transportation and material moving occupations, Springfield metropolitan area, May 2020

Occupation (1)	Employment		Mean wages
	Level (2)	Location quotient (3)	Hourly	Annual (4)
Transportation and material moving occupations	21,650	1.2	$18.20	$37,850
First-line supervisors of transportation and material moving workers, except aircraft cargo handling supervisors	660	0.9	27.24	56,650
Commercial pilots	30	0.6	(6)	114,790
Airfield operations specialists	30	2.0	16.84	35,030
Driver/sales workers	1,620	2.6	15.57	32,390
Heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers	6,060	2.3	23.46	48,810
Light truck drivers	1,350	1.0	20.20	42,010
Passenger vehicle drivers, except bus drivers, transit and intercity	1,040	1.2	14.12	29,370
Motor vehicle operators, all other	(5)	(5)	25.68	53,410
Automotive and watercraft service attendants	230	1.4	13.23	27,510
Transportation inspectors	50	1.2	25.68	53,410
Conveyor operators and tenders	40	1.1	19.59	40,750
Industrial truck and tractor operators	930	1.0	16.88	35,120
Cleaners of vehicles and equipment	610	1.2	13.89	28,890
Laborers and freight, stock, and material movers, hand	3,110	0.8	15.37	31,970
Machine feeders and offbearers	(5)	(5)	16.42	34,150
Packers and packagers, hand	220	0.3	13.70	28,490
Stockers and order fillers	4,850	1.5	13.96	29,030
Refuse and recyclable material collectors	(5)	(5)	18.14	37,740
Footnotes: (1) For a complete listing of all detailed occupations in the Springfield, MO Metropolitan Statistical Area, see www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_44180.htm. (2) Estimates for detailed occupations may not sum to the totals due to rounding, and because the totals may include occupations that are 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. (6) Wages for some occupations that do not generally work year-round, full time, are reported either as hourly wages or annual salaries depending on how they are typically paid.