Workers in the Manhattan, KS Metropolitan Statistical Area had an average (mean) hourly wage of $22.36 in May 2021, 20 percent below the nationwide average of $28.01, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Regional Commissioner Michael Hirniak noted that, after testing for statistical significance, wages in the local area were lower than their respective national averages in 21 of the 22 major occupational groups, including life, physical, and social science; computer and mathematical; and legal.

When compared to the nationwide distribution, Manhattan area employment was more highly concentrated in 7 of the 22 occupational groups, including educational instruction and library, food preparation and serving related, and personal care and service. Thirteen groups had employment shares significantly below their national representation, including transportation and material moving, computer and mathematical, and business and financial operations. (See table A.)

One occupational group—educational instruction and library—was chosen to illustrate the diversity of data available for any of the 22 major occupational categories. Manhattan had 3,820 jobs in educational instruction and library, accounting for 10.3 percent of local area employment, significantly higher than the 5.8-percent share nationally. The average hourly wage for this occupational group locally was $29.20, significantly below the national wage of $29.88.

Some of the larger detailed occupations within the educational instruction and library group included teaching assistants, except postsecondary (620), elementary school teachers, except special education (380), and secondary school teachers, except special and career/technical education (270). Among the higher-paying jobs in this group were middle school teachers, except special and career/technical education with a mean annual wage of $62,630, respectively. At the lower end of the wage scale were teaching assistants except postsecondary ($25,830). (Detailed data for the educational instruction and library occupations are presented in table 1; for a complete listing of detailed occupations available go to www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_31740.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 Manhattan area, above-average concentrations of employment were found in some of the occupations within the educational instruction and library group. For instance, teaching assistants, except postsecondary were employed at 2.0 times the national rate in Manhattan. Secondary school teachers, except special and career/technical education had a location quotient of 1.0 in Manhattan, 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 Kansas Department of Labor.

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 179,000 to 187,000 sampled establishments are contacted, one panel in May and the other in November. Responses are obtained by Internet or other electronic means, mail, email, telephone, or personal visit. The May 2021 estimates are based on responses from six semiannual panels collected over a 3-year period: May 2021, November 2020, May 2020, November 2019, May 2019, and November 2018. The unweighted sampled employment of 82 million across all six semiannual panels represents approximately 62 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 67.2 percent based on establishments and 64.5 percent based on weighted sampled employment. The sample in the Manhattan, KS Metropolitan Statistical Area included 714 establishments with a response rate of 73 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 Manhattan, KS Metropolitan Statistical Area includes Pottawatomie County and Riley County.

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; Telecommunications Relay Service: 7-1-1.

Table 1. Employment and wage data for educational instruction and library occupations, Manhattan metropolitan area, May 2021

Occupation (1)	Employment		Mean wages
	Level (2)	Location quotient (3)	Hourly	Annual (4)
Educational instruction and library occupations	3,820	1.8	$29.20	$60,730
Computer science teachers, postsecondary	30	3.3	(5)	98,380
Preschool teachers, except special education	60	0.6	19.58	40,720
Kindergarten teachers, except special education	40	1.3	(5)	62,570
Elementary school teachers, except special education	380	1.1	(5)	59,950
Middle school teachers, except special and career/technical education	130	0.8	(5)	62,630
Secondary school teachers, except special and career/technical education	270	1.0	(5)	60,010
Self-enrichment teachers	40	0.8	25.74	53,540
Substitute teachers, short-term	90	0.9	13.93	28,970
Library technicians	50	2.8	16.54	34,390
Instructional coordinators	90	1.8	31.19	64,870
Teaching assistants, except postsecondary	620	2.0	(5)	25,830
(1) For a complete listing of all detailed occupations in the Manhattan, KS Metropolitan Statistical Area, see www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_31740.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) 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.