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News Release Information

24-1848-KAN
Friday, September 06, 2024

Contacts Technical information: Media contact:
  • (816) 285-7000

Occupational Employment and Wages in Columbia — May 2023

Workers in the Columbia, MO Metropolitan Statistical Area had an average (mean) hourly wage of $27.28 in May 2023, compared to the nationwide average of $31.48, 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 ($52.08), legal ($50.18), and computer and mathematical ($40.87). Lower paying occupations included food preparation and serving related ($15.43), personal care and service ($16.52), and building and grounds cleaning and maintenance ($16.63). (See table A.)

Occupational groups with the highest employment in the Columbia area included office and administrative support (12.2 percent), food preparation and serving related (10.8 percent), and healthcare practitioners and technical (9.6 percent). Major occupational groups on the lower end of local employment included legal (0.7 percent); architecture and engineering (0.8 percent); and life, physical, and social science (1.3 percent).

Table A. Occupational employment and wages by major occupational group, United States and the Columbia metropolitan area, May 2023
Major occupational group Percent of total employment Mean hourly wage ($)
United States Columbia United States Columbia

Total, all occupations

100.0 100.0 31.48 27.28

Management

6.9 7.1 66.23 52.08

Business and financial operations

6.6 6.6 43.55 36.07

Computer and mathematical

3.4 2.8 54.39 40.87

Architecture and engineering

1.7 0.8 47.64 37.79

Life, physical, and social science

0.9 1.3 42.24 32.02

Community and social service

1.6 1.9 28.36 24.52

Legal

0.8 0.7 64.34 50.18

Educational instruction and library

5.8 8.2 31.92 30.30

Arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media

1.4 1.5 36.31 27.65

Healthcare practitioners and technical

6.1 9.6 49.07 40.85

Healthcare support

4.7 5.4 18.37 17.79

Protective service

2.3 1.4 27.74 21.60

Food preparation and serving related

8.7 10.8 16.58 15.43

Building and grounds cleaning and maintenance

2.9 3.0 18.43 16.63

Personal care and service

2.0 1.9 18.48 16.52

Sales and related

8.8 7.7 25.62 20.58

Office and administrative support

12.2 12.2 23.05 21.01

Farming, fishing, and forestry

0.3 0.1 19.22 19.67

Construction and extraction

4.1 2.7 29.57 27.60

Installation, maintenance, and repair

3.9 3.5 28.13 24.71

Production

5.8 4.4 22.90 21.26

Transportation and material moving

9.1 6.4 22.45 19.20

One occupational group—healthcare practitioners and technical—was chosen to illustrate the diversity of data available for any of the 22 major occupational categories. Columbia had 9,410 jobs in healthcare practitioners and technical, accounting for 9.6 percent of local area employment, compared to the 6.1-percent share nationally. The average hourly wage for this occupational group locally was $40.85, compared to the national wage of $49.07.

Some of the larger detailed occupations within the healthcare practitioners and technical group included registered nurses (3,500), family medicine physicians (760), and licensed practical and licensed vocational nurses (600). Among the higher-paying jobs in this group were nurse anesthetists and pharmacists, with mean hourly wages of $104.96 and $62.63, respectively. At the lower end of the wage scale were dispensing opticians ($18.15) and pharmacy technicians ($18.56). (Detailed data for the healthcare practitioners and technical occupations are presented in table 1; for a complete listing of detailed occupations available go to www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_17860.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 Columbia area, above-average concentrations of employment were found in many of the occupations within the healthcare practitioners and technical group. For instance, family medicine physicians were employed at 10.5 times the national rate in Columbia, and health information technologists and medical registrars, at 5.0 times the U.S. average. Dental hygienists had a location quotient of 0.9 in Columbia, 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.


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. 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 65.8 percent based on establishments and 64.3 percent based on weighted sampled employment. The sample in the Columbia, MO Metropolitan Statistical Area included 1,169 establishments with a response rate of 54 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 Columbia, MO Metropolitan Statistical Area includes Boone 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 healthcare practitioners and technical occupations, Columbia metropolitan area, May 2023
Occupation (1) Employment Mean wages ($)
Level (2) Location quotient (3) Hourly Annual (4)

Healthcare practitioners and technical occupations

9,410 1.6 40.85 84,960

Chiropractors

40 1.5 37.35 77,680

Dentists, general

60 0.8 120.81 251,280

Dietitians and nutritionists

90 1.9 30.21 62,830

Optometrists

30 1.1 51.09 106,270

Pharmacists

300 1.4 62.63 130,260

Physician assistants

90 0.9 58.96 122,630

Occupational therapists

130 1.4 42.45 88,300

Physical therapists

230 1.5 42.20 87,780

Radiation therapists

50 4.8 38.39 79,850

Respiratory therapists

130 1.6 33.00 68,640

Speech-language pathologists

130 1.1 43.66 90,810

Veterinarians

120 2.3 51.47 107,050

Registered nurses

3,500 1.7 38.28 79,620

Nurse anesthetists

60 2.0 104.96 218,310

Nurse practitioners

240 1.3 53.67 111,630

Family medicine physicians

760 10.5 (5) (5)

Physicians, all other

190 1.0 133.34 277,350

Dental hygienists

120 0.9 38.11 79,270

Clinical laboratory technologists and technicians

280 1.3 29.43 61,210

Diagnostic medical sonographers

40 0.8 38.20 79,450

Radiologic technologists and technicians

210 1.5 32.52 67,630

Magnetic resonance imaging technologists

80 2.9 37.97 78,980

Paramedics

100 1.6 27.95 58,140

Pharmacy technicians

440 1.5 18.56 38,610

Psychiatric technicians

160 2.1 18.86 39,220

Surgical technologists

130 1.8 25.42 52,870

Veterinary technologists and technicians

120 1.6 19.65 40,870

Ophthalmic medical technicians

60 1.3 19.08 39,680

Licensed practical and licensed vocational nurses

600 1.5 27.17 56,520

Medical records specialists

210 1.7 26.90 55,960

Opticians, dispensing

60 1.2 18.15 37,760

Health technologists and technicians, all other

150 1.4 22.67 47,150

Health information technologists and medical registrars

110 5.0 22.64 47,100

Athletic trainers

40 2.3 (6) 60,870

(1) For a complete listing of all detailed occupations in the Columbia, MO Metropolitan Statistical Area, see www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_17860.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.

 

Last Modified Date: Friday, September 06, 2024