Workers in the Billings, MT Metropolitan Statistical Area had an average (mean) hourly wage of $29.76 in May 2025, compared to the nationwide average of $33.54, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Acting Regional Commissioner Jerome Watters noted that higher paying major occupational groups included management ($58.22), healthcare practitioners and technical ($52.08), and legal ($48.03). Lower paying occupations included food preparation and serving related ($15.92), personal care and service ($17.53), and building and grounds cleaning and maintenance ($19.70). (See table A.)

Occupational groups with the highest employment shares in the Billings area included office and administrative support (11.2 percent), food preparation and serving related (10.7 percent), and sales and related (9.7 percent). Major occupational groups on the lower end of local employment included legal (0.7 percent); life, physical, and social science (1.0 percent); and arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media (1.5 percent).

One occupational group—construction and extraction—was chosen to illustrate the diversity of data available for any of the 22 major occupational categories. Billings had 5,610 jobs in construction and extraction, accounting for 6.0 percent of local area employment, compared to the 4.1-percent share nationally. The average hourly wage for this occupational group locally was $31.40, compared to the national wage of $31.42.

Some of the larger detailed occupations within the construction and extraction group included construction laborers (830), first-line supervisors of construction trades and extraction workers (710), and operating engineers and other construction equipment operators (540). Among the higher paying jobs in this group were earth drillers, except oil and gas ($39.55) and plumbers, pipefitters, and steamfitters ($39.33). At the lower end of the wage scale were miscellaneous construction and related workers ($23.83) and paving, surfacing, and tamping equipment operators ($25.21). (Detailed data for the construction and extraction occupations are presented in table 1; for a complete listing of detailed occupations available go to data.bls.gov/oes/#/area/0013740/2025.)

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 2.00 indicates that an occupation accounts for twice the share of employment in the area than it does nationally. In the Billings area, above-average concentrations of employment were found in many of the occupations within the construction and extraction group. For instance, highway maintenance workers were employed at 1.89 times the national rate in Billings, and operating engineers and other construction equipment operators, at 1.87 times the U.S. average. Electricians had a location quotient of 1.11 in Billings, indicating that this particular occupation’s local and national employment shares were similar.

The statistics in this release are from the Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) survey, a cooperative effort between BLS and the State Workforce Agencies (SWAs). BLS funds the survey and provides the procedures and technical support. State Workforce Agencies collect most of the data: in this case, the Montana Department of Labor and Industry.

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 530 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. Full OEWS data tables are available online.

Additional information about the OEWS estimates and methodology is available in the national Technical Notes. The overall national response rate for the six panels, based on the 50 states and the District of Columbia, is 66.2 percent based on establishments and 67.2 percent based on weighted sampled employment. Sample sizes and response rates by metropolitan and nonmetropolitan area are available on the Additional OEWS data sets page.

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 County, Stillwater County, and Yellowstone County.

For more information

Answers to frequently asked questions about the OEWS data, as well as general program documentation, are available on the OEWS website.

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 construction and extraction occupations, Billings metropolitan area, May 2025

Occupation (1)	Employment		Mean wages ($)
	Level (2)	Location quotient (3)	Hourly	Annual (4)
Construction and extraction occupations	5,610	1.45	31.40	65,300
First-line supervisors of construction trades and extraction workers	710	1.46	38.54	80,150
Carpenters	530	1.32	27.85	57,930
Cement masons and concrete finishers	140	1.16	31.73	65,990
Construction laborers	830	1.26	25.23	52,470
Paving, surfacing, and tamping equipment operators	80	3.27	25.21	52,440
Operating engineers and other construction equipment operators	540	1.87	31.04	64,560
Electricians	510	1.11	36.62	76,160
Glaziers	100	2.70	25.23	52,480
Insulation workers, floor, ceiling, and wall	70	2.69	27.29	56,760
Painters, construction and maintenance	120	0.92	26.06	54,210
Plumbers, pipefitters, and steamfitters	360	1.28	39.33	81,810
Roofers	80	1.00	27.18	56,540
Sheet metal workers	80	1.16	30.37	63,180
Structural iron and steel workers	60	1.54	31.39	65,280
Construction and building inspectors	40	0.42	35.51	73,860
Fence erectors	170	11.26	26.75	55,650
Hazardous materials removal workers	80	2.53	27.34	56,870
Highway maintenance workers	180	1.89	28.95	60,210
Septic tank servicers and sewer pipe cleaners	60	3.43	26.95	56,060
Miscellaneous construction and related workers	80	4.75	23.83	49,570
Earth drillers, except oil and gas	40	3.56	39.55	82,250
(1) For a complete listing of all detailed occupations in the Billings, MT Metropolitan Statistical Area, see https://data.bls.gov/oes/#/area/0013740/2025. (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.