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News Release Information

24-1854-KAN
Friday, September 06, 2024

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

Occupational Employment and Wages in St. Louis — May 2023

Workers in the St. Louis, MO-IL Metropolitan Statistical Area had an average (mean) hourly wage of $29.76 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 legal ($57.32), management ($57.27), and architecture and engineering ($46.68). Lower paying occupations included food preparation and serving related ($16.40), healthcare support ($16.59), and personal care and service ($17.15). (See table A.)

Occupational groups with the highest employment in the St. Louis area included office and administrative support (12.2 percent), food preparation and serving related (9.0 percent), and transportation and material moving (8.7 percent). Major occupational groups on the lower end of local employment included life, physical, and social science (0.8 percent); legal (0.8 percent); and arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media (1.3 percent).

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

Total, all occupations

100.0 100.0 31.48 29.76

Management

6.9 7.1 66.23 57.27

Business and financial operations

6.6 6.6 43.55 41.28

Computer and mathematical

3.4 3.4 54.39 45.35

Architecture and engineering

1.7 1.5 47.64 46.68

Life, physical, and social science

0.9 0.8 42.24 38.93

Community and social service

1.6 1.5 28.36 25.28

Legal

0.8 0.8 64.34 57.32

Educational instruction and library

5.8 5.9 31.92 30.50

Arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media

1.4 1.3 36.31 32.08

Healthcare practitioners and technical

6.1 6.8 49.07 45.44

Healthcare support

4.7 5.2 18.37 16.59

Protective service

2.3 2.1 27.74 26.90

Food preparation and serving related

8.7 9.0 16.58 16.40

Building and grounds cleaning and maintenance

2.9 2.9 18.43 17.76

Personal care and service

2.0 2.1 18.48 17.15

Sales and related

8.8 8.2 25.62 24.12

Office and administrative support

12.2 12.2 23.05 22.65

Farming, fishing, and forestry

0.3 0.1 19.22 19.31

Construction and extraction

4.1 4.0 29.57 32.92

Installation, maintenance, and repair

3.9 3.9 28.13 28.52

Production

5.8 5.8 22.90 23.56

Transportation and material moving

9.1 8.7 22.45 21.58

One occupational group—healthcare practitioners and technical—was chosen to illustrate the diversity of data available for any of the 22 major occupational categories. St. Louis had 90,780 jobs in healthcare practitioners and technical, accounting for 6.8 percent of local area employment, compared to the 6.1-percent share nationally. The average hourly wage for this occupational group locally was $45.44, compared to the national wage of $49.07.

Some of the larger detailed occupations within the healthcare practitioners and technical group included registered nurses (33,010), pharmacy technicians (4,930), and clinical laboratory technologists and technicians (4,780). Among the higher-paying jobs in this group were psychiatrists and emergency medicine physicians, with mean hourly wages of $147.56 and $130.54, respectively. At the lower end of the wage scale were dietetic technicians ($18.04) and ophthalmic medical technicians ($18.45). (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_41180.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 St. Louis area, above-average concentrations of employment were found in some of the occupations within the healthcare practitioners and technical group. For instance, magnetic resonance imaging technologists were employed at 2.0 times the national rate in St. Louis, and radiation therapist, at 1.8 times the U.S. average. Emergency medical technicians had a location quotient of 1.0 in St. Louis, 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 Economic Security.


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 St. Louis, MO-IL Metropolitan Statistical Area included 7,572 establishments with a response rate of 55 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 St. Louis, MO-IL Metropolitan Statistical Area includes Bond County, IL; Calhoun County, IL; Clinton County, IL; Jersey County, IL; Macoupin County, IL; Madison County, IL; Monroe County, IL; St. Clair County, IL; Franklin County, MO; Jefferson County, MO; Lincoln County, MO; St. Charles County, MO; St. Louis city, MO; St. Louis County, MO; and Warren 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.

Table 1. Employment and wage data for healthcare practitioners and technical occupations, St. Louis metropolitan area, May 2023
Occupation (1) Employment Mean wages ($)
Level (2) Location quotient (3) Hourly Annual (4)

Healthcare practitioners and technical occupations

90,780 1.1 45.44 94,520

Chiropractors

400 1.1 36.83 76,600

Dentists, general

1,340 1.3 (5) (5)

Orthodontists

70 1.3 (7) (7)

Dietitians and nutritionists

850 1.3 30.08 62,570

Optometrists

410 1.1 57.20 118,970

Pharmacists

3,520 1.2 64.61 134,380

Physician assistants

800 0.6 62.29 129,570

Occupational therapists

1,800 1.4 42.34 88,080

Physical therapists

2,380 1.1 45.24 94,110

Radiation therapists

270 1.8 42.97 89,380

Recreational therapists

130 1.0 27.92 58,070

Respiratory therapists

1,150 1.0 35.20 73,210

Speech-language pathologists

1,760 1.2 39.54 82,250

Therapists, all other

100 0.7 29.48 61,320

Veterinarians

920 1.4 51.61 107,340

Registered nurses

33,010 1.2 38.69 80,480

Nurse anesthetists

230 0.6 96.25 200,190

Nurse midwives

50 0.9 61.24 127,380

Nurse practitioners

3,530 1.4 56.80 118,140

Audiologists

140 1.2 46.08 95,840

Emergency medicine physicians

270 0.9 130.54 271,530

Family medicine physicians

960 1.0 123.07 255,980

General internal medicine physicians

150 0.3 114.05 237,230

Obstetricians and gynecologists

40 0.2 173.43 360,740

Pediatricians, general

120 0.4 100.15 208,310

Physicians, pathologists

(5) (5) 124.83 259,650

Psychiatrists

290 1.3 147.56 306,930

Radiologists

500 1.8 (7) (7)

Physicians, all other

2,650 1.0 157.13 326,830

Dental hygienists

1,990 1.1 38.49 80,060

Healthcare diagnosing or treating practitioners, all other

110 0.4 45.05 93,700

Clinical laboratory technologists and technicians

4,780 1.6 28.19 58,630

Cardiovascular technologists and technicians

220 0.4 32.22 67,020

Diagnostic medical sonographers

570 0.8 41.75 86,840

Nuclear medicine technologists

160 1.1 42.78 88,990

Radiologic technologists and technicians

1,840 1.0 33.29 69,240

Magnetic resonance imaging technologists

700 2.0 39.60 82,380

Medical dosimetrists

30 0.9 57.85 120,330

Emergency medical technicians

1,450 1.0 19.11 39,740

Paramedics

1,820 2.1 28.13 58,510

Dietetic technicians

40 0.2 18.04 37,510

Pharmacy technicians

4,930 1.2 19.83 41,240

Psychiatric technicians

1,340 1.3 21.41 44,540

Surgical technologists

780 0.8 31.42 65,350

Veterinary technologists and technicians

900 0.9 19.02 39,570

Ophthalmic medical technicians

400 0.6 18.45 38,370

Licensed practical and licensed vocational nurses

4,670 0.9 28.54 59,360

Medical records specialists

1,470 0.9 25.80 53,660

Opticians, dispensing

760 1.1 18.94 39,400

Orthotists and prosthetists

130 1.7 34.53 71,820

Hearing aid specialists

140 1.6 26.68 55,500

Health technologists and technicians, all other

1,880 1.3 22.46 46,720

Health information technologists and medical registrars

420 1.4 26.69 55,520

Athletic trainers

190 0.8 (6) 56,590

Genetic counselors

50 1.8 43.11 89,670

Surgical assistants

180 1.1 31.75 66,040

Healthcare practitioners and technical workers, all other

260 0.8 34.11 70,950

(1) For a complete listing of all detailed occupations in the St. Louis, MO-IL Metropolitan Statistical Area, see www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_41180.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.
(7) This wage is equal to or greater than $115.00 per hour or $239,200 per year.

 

Last Modified Date: Friday, September 06, 2024