Workers in the Pueblo, CO Metropolitan Statistical Area had an average (mean) hourly wage of $28.05 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 ($60.53), healthcare practitioners and technical ($50.85), and legal ($45.72). Lower paying occupations included food preparation and serving related ($17.15), building and grounds cleaning and maintenance ($18.29), and personal care and service ($18.99). (See table A.)

Occupational groups with the highest employment in the Pueblo area included office and administrative support (11.6 percent), sales and related (9.8 percent), and food preparation and serving related (9.5 percent). Major occupational groups on the lower end of local employment included legal (0.5 percent); arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media (0.7 percent); and architecture and engineering (1.2 percent).

One occupational group—healthcare support—was chosen to illustrate the diversity of data available for any of the 22 major occupational categories. Pueblo had 4,100 jobs in healthcare support, accounting for 6.5 percent of local area employment, compared to the 4.7-percent share nationally. The average hourly wage for this occupational group locally was $19.07, compared to the national wage of $18.37.

Some of the larger detailed occupations within the healthcare support group included home health and personal care aides (2,020), nursing assistants (780), and medical assistants (390). Among the higher-paying jobs in this group were occupational therapy assistants and physical therapist assistants, with mean hourly wages of $31.18 and $29.27, respectively. At the lower end of the wage scale were home health and personal care aides ($16.68) and medical assistants ($20.07). (Detailed data for the healthcare support occupations are presented in table 1; for a complete listing of detailed occupations available go to www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_39380.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 Pueblo area, above-average concentrations of employment were found in many of the occupations within the healthcare support group. For instance, physical therapist assistants were employed at 2.7 times the national rate in Pueblo, and phlebotomist, at 2.1 times the U.S. average. Medical assistants had a location quotient of 1.2 in Pueblo, 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 Colorado Department of Labor & Employment.

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 Pueblo, CO Metropolitan Statistical Area included 964 establishments with a response rate of 82 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 Pueblo, CO Metropolitan Statistical Area includes Pueblo 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 support occupations, Pueblo metropolitan area, May 2023

Occupation (1)	Employment		Mean wages ($)
	Level (2)	Location quotient (3)	Hourly	Annual (4)
Healthcare support occupations	4,100	1.4	19.07	39,660
Home health and personal care aides	2,020	1.3	16.68	34,690
Nursing assistants	780	1.4	20.49	42,610
Occupational therapy assistants	60	3.2	31.18	64,840
Physical therapist assistants	120	2.7	29.27	60,890
Dental assistants	230	1.5	21.00	43,680
Medical assistants	390	1.2	20.07	41,750
Medical equipment preparers	50	1.8	22.65	47,120
Medical transcriptionists	40	1.7	22.60	47,020
Phlebotomists	120	2.1	21.11	43,910
Healthcare support workers, all other	80	1.9	20.05	41,690
(1) For a complete listing of all detailed occupations in the Pueblo, CO Metropolitan Statistical Area, see www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_39380.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.