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Friday, June 27, 2025
Workers in the Cape Girardeau, MO-IL Metropolitan Statistical Area had an average (mean) hourly wage of $26.23 in May 2024, compared to the nationwide average of $32.66, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Assistant Commissioner for Regional Operations Michael Hirniak noted that higher paying major occupational groups included management ($48.28); healthcare practitioners and technical ($45.96); and life, physical, and social science ($44.18). Lower paying occupations included food preparation and serving related ($15.11), building and grounds cleaning and maintenance ($16.76), and healthcare support ($16.77). (See table A.)
Occupational groups with the highest employment in the Cape Girardeau area included office and administrative support (11.8 percent), food preparation and serving related (10.2 percent), and healthcare practitioners and technical (9.7 percent). Major occupational groups on the lower end of local employment included life, physical, and social science (0.3 percent); legal (0.4 percent); and architecture and engineering (0.8 percent).
Major occupational group | Percent of total employment | Mean hourly wage ($) | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
United States | Cape Girardeau | United States | Cape Girardeau | ||
Total, all occupations |
100.0 | 100.0 | 32.66 | 26.23 | |
Management |
7.1 | 6.6 | 68.15 | 48.28 | |
Business and financial operations |
6.7 | 3.8 | 45.04 | 33.72 | |
Computer and mathematical |
3.4 | 1.3 | 56.16 | 37.75 | |
Architecture and engineering |
1.7 | 0.8 | 49.99 | 40.93 | |
Life, physical, and social science |
0.9 | 0.3 | 43.12 | 44.18 | |
Community and social service |
1.7 | 2.3 | 30.31 | 23.35 | |
Legal |
0.8 | 0.4 | 66.19 | 41.08 | |
Educational instruction and library |
5.8 | 7.2 | 31.69 | 24.00 | |
Arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media |
1.4 | 1.1 | 37.04 | 24.70 | |
Healthcare practitioners and technical |
6.2 | 9.7 | 50.59 | 45.96 | |
Healthcare support |
4.8 | 6.8 | 19.06 | 16.77 | |
Protective service |
2.4 | 1.4 | 29.33 | 23.79 | |
Food preparation and serving related |
8.8 | 10.2 | 17.32 | 15.11 | |
Building and grounds cleaning and maintenance |
2.9 | 2.4 | 19.01 | 16.76 | |
Personal care and service |
2.0 | 2.1 | 18.95 | 17.47 | |
Sales and related |
8.7 | 9.3 | 26.00 | 19.74 | |
Office and administrative support |
11.8 | 11.8 | 24.12 | 20.71 | |
Farming, fishing, and forestry |
0.3 | 0.2 | 20.06 | 19.46 | |
Construction and extraction |
4.1 | 3.5 | 30.73 | 29.73 | |
Installation, maintenance, and repair |
3.9 | 4.2 | 29.63 | 26.71 | |
Production |
5.7 | 6.7 | 24.08 | 25.22 | |
Transportation and material moving |
8.9 | 8.0 | 23.44 | 21.33 |
One occupational group—healthcare practitioners and technical—was chosen to illustrate the diversity of data available for any of the 22 major occupational categories. Cape Girardeau had 4,360 jobs in healthcare practitioners and technical, accounting for 9.7 percent of local area employment, compared to the 6.2-percent share nationally. The average hourly wage for this occupational group locally was $45.96, compared to the national wage of $50.59.
Some of the larger detailed occupations within the healthcare practitioners and technical group included registered nurses (1,520), licensed practical and licensed vocational nurses (350), and pharmacy technicians (220). Among the higher paying jobs in this group were general dentists ($104.68) and pharmacists ($66.28). At the lower end of the wage scale were emergency medical technicians ($16.98) and veterinary technologists and technicians ($17.73). (Detailed data for the healthcare practitioners and technical occupations are presented in table 1; for a complete listing of detailed occupations available go to https://data.bls.gov/oes/#/area/0016020.)
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 Cape Girardeau area, above-average concentrations of employment were found in many of the occupations within the healthcare practitioners and technical group. For instance, nurse anesthetists were employed at 2.92 times the national rate in Cape Girardeau, and dispensing opticians, at 2.44 times the U.S. average. Pharmacists had a location quotient of 1.19 in Cape Girardeau, 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 Missouri Department of Economic Development, and the Illinois Department of Employment Security.
Effective with the May 2024 OEWS news release, the OEWS program has implemented new metropolitan area definitions based on the 2020 decennial census and delineated by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), Bulletin 23-01. This news release does not include data for Colorado and its areas because of quality concerns with Colorado’s Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW) data. See the national OEWS news release for more information.
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 are 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 65.7 percent based on establishments and 65.9 percent based on weighted sampled employment. The sample in the Cape Girardeau, MO-IL Metropolitan Statistical Area included 858 establishments with a response rate of 69 percent.
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 Cape Girardeau, MO-IL Metropolitan Statistical Area includes Alexander County, IL; Bollinger County, MO; and Cape Girardeau County, MO.
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.
Occupation (1) | Employment | Mean wages ($) | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
Level (2) | Location quotient (3) | Hourly | Annual (4) | |
Healthcare practitioners and technical occupations |
4,360 | 1.57 | 45.96 | 95,590 |
Dentists, general |
50 | 1.43 | 104.68 | 217,740 |
Dietitians and nutritionists |
40 | 1.58 | 24.92 | 51,840 |
Pharmacists |
110 | 1.19 | 66.28 | 137,850 |
Physician assistants |
40 | 0.97 | 64.93 | 135,060 |
Occupational therapists |
60 | 1.26 | 42.13 | 87,640 |
Physical therapists |
90 | 1.21 | 43.92 | 91,360 |
Respiratory therapists |
90 | 2.30 | 31.94 | 66,430 |
Speech-language pathologists |
60 | 1.13 | 42.12 | 87,610 |
Veterinarians |
40 | 1.51 | 57.85 | 120,320 |
Registered nurses |
1,520 | 1.60 | 40.08 | 83,370 |
Nurse anesthetists |
40 | 2.92 | (5) | (5) |
Nurse practitioners |
170 | 1.86 | 58.93 | 122,570 |
Anesthesiologists |
30 | 2.57 | (6) | (6) |
Emergency medicine physicians |
30 | 3.07 | (6) | (6) |
Physicians, all other |
80 | 0.87 | 184.10 | 382,920 |
Dental hygienists |
70 | 1.16 | 39.84 | 82,870 |
Clinical laboratory technologists and technicians |
190 | 1.86 | 26.59 | 55,310 |
Diagnostic medical sonographers |
40 | 1.41 | 36.22 | 75,340 |
Radiologic technologists and technicians |
100 | 1.48 | 29.96 | 62,310 |
Emergency medical technicians |
60 | 1.17 | 16.98 | 35,320 |
Paramedics |
30 | 1.12 | 23.54 | 48,950 |
Pharmacy technicians |
220 | 1.56 | 18.29 | 38,040 |
Psychiatric technicians |
120 | 3.02 | 17.87 | 37,170 |
Surgical technologists |
70 | 2.17 | 24.91 | 51,810 |
Veterinary technologists and technicians |
40 | 0.96 | 17.73 | 36,880 |
Licensed practical and licensed vocational nurses |
350 | 1.88 | 26.88 | 55,920 |
Medical records specialists |
70 | 1.31 | 24.61 | 51,190 |
Opticians, dispensing |
60 | 2.44 | 18.28 | 38,020 |
Health technologists and technicians, all other |
110 | 2.24 | 21.06 | 43,800 |
(1) For a complete listing of all detailed occupations in the Cape Girardeau, MO-IL Metropolitan Statistical Area, see https://data.bls.gov/oes/#/area/0016020. |
Last Modified Date: Friday, June 27, 2025