Workers in the Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT Metropolitan Statistical Area had an average (mean) hourly wage of $31.61 in May 2020, about 17 percent above the nationwide average of $27.07, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Regional Commissioner William J. Sibley noted that, after testing for statistical significance, wages in the local area were higher than their respective national averages in 14 of the 22 major occupational groups, including management; arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media; and educational instruction and library. Only one group had significantly lower wages than their respective national averages: computer and mathematical.

When compared to the nationwide distribution, Hartford area employment was more highly concentrated in 10 of the 22 occupational groups, including management, business and financial operations, and educational instruction and library. Eight groups had employment shares significantly below their national representation, including transportation and material moving, food preparation and serving related, and sales and related. (See table A.)

One occupational group—management—was chosen to illustrate the diversity of data available for any of the 22 major occupational categories. Hartford had 46,160 jobs in management, accounting for 8.4 percent of local area employment, significantly higher than the 5.7-percent share nationally. The average hourly wage for this occupational group locally was $67.10, significantly above the national wage of $60.81.

Some of the larger detailed occupations within the management group included general and operations managers (10,770), financial managers (7,440), and computer and information systems managers (4,540). Among the higher-paying jobs in this group were compensation and benefits managers and education administrators postsecondary, with mean hourly wages of $85.72 and $78.92, respectively. (See chart 1.) At the lower end of the wage scale were social and community service managers ($31.79) and education and childcare administrators, preschool and daycare ($33.64). (Detailed data for the management occupations are presented in table 1; for a complete listing of detailed occupations go to https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_73450.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 Hartford area, above-average concentrations of employment were found in many of the occupations within the management group. For instance, financial managers and purchasing managers were employed at 2.9 times the national rate in Hartford. Administrative services and facilities managers had a location quotient of 1.1 in Hartford, indicating that this particular occupation’s local and national employment shares were similar.

These statistics are from the Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) survey, a federal-state cooperative program between BLS and State Workforce Agencies, in this case, the Connecticut Department of Labor.

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. OEWS data are available at www.bls.gov/oes/tables.htm.

The OEWS survey is a cooperative effort between BLS and the State Workforce Agencies (SWAs). BLS funds the survey and provides the procedures and technical support, while the State Workforce Agencies collect most of the data. OEWS estimates are constructed from a sample of about 1.1 million establishments. Each year, two semiannual panels of approximately 180,000 to 185,000 sampled establishments are contacted, one panel in May and the other in November. Responses are obtained by mail, Internet or other electronic means, email, telephone, or personal visit. The May 2020 estimates are based on responses from six semiannual panels collected over a 3-year period: May 2020, November 2019, May 2019, November 2018, May 2018, and November 2017. The unweighted sampled employment of 83 million across all six semiannual panels represents approximately 56 percent of total national employment. The overall national response rate for the six panels, based on the 50 states and the District of Columbia, is 69 percent based on establishments and 66 percent based on weighted sampled employment. The sample in the Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT Metropolitan Statistical Area included 3,554 establishments with a response rate of 62 percent. For more information about OEWS concepts and methodology, go to www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_tec.htm.

A value that is statistically different from another does not necessarily mean that the difference has economic or practical significance. Statistical significance is concerned with the ability to make confident statements about a universe based on a sample. It is entirely possible that a large difference between two values is not significantly different statistically, while a small difference is, since both the size and heterogeneity of the sample affect the relative error of the data being tested.

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 Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT Metropolitan Statistical Area includes Andover town; Ashford town; Avon town; Barkhamsted town; Berlin town; Bloomfield town; Bolton town; Bristol city; Burlington town; Canton town; Chaplin town; Colchester town; Columbia town; Coventry town; Cromwell town; East Granby town; East Haddam town; East Hampton town; East Hartford town; Ellington town; Farmington town; Glastonbury town; Granby town; Haddam town; Hartford city; Hartland town; Harwinton town; Hebron town; Lebanon town; Manchester town; Mansfield town; Marlborough town; Middletown city; New Britain city; New Hartford town; Newington town; Plainville town; Plymouth town; Portland town; Rocky Hill town; Scotland town; Simsbury town; South Windsor town; Southington town; Stafford town; Thomaston town; Tolland town; Union town; Vernon town; West Hartford town; Wethersfield town; Willington town; Windham town; Windsor town.

For more information

Answers to frequently asked questions about the OEWS data are available at www.bls.gov/oes/oes_ques.htm. Detailed information about the OEWS program is available at www.bls.gov/oes/oes_doc.htm.

Information in this release will be made available to individuals with sensory impairments upon request. Voice phone: (202) 691-5200; Federal Relay Service: (800) 877-8339.

Table 1. Employment and wage data for management occupations, Hartford metropolitan area, May 2020

Occupation (1)	Employment		Mean wages
	Level (2)	Location quotient (3)	Hourly	Annual (4)
Management occupations	46,160	1.5	$67.10	$139,560
Chief executives	200	0.3	114.58	238,330
General and operations managers	10,770	1.2	75.55	157,130
Legislators	240	1.2	(6)	42,870
Advertising and promotions managers	40	0.5	54.95	114,300
Marketing managers	1,930	1.8	67.64	140,690
Sales managers	2,810	1.8	68.98	143,480
Public relations and fundraising managers	530	1.7	61.27	127,450
Administrative services and facilities managers	1,340	1.1	50.86	105,780
Computer and information systems managers	4,540	2.5	69.74	145,070
Financial managers	7,440	2.9	73.73	153,350
Industrial production managers	1,040	1.5	67.61	140,620
Purchasing managers	800	2.9	58.26	121,180
Transportation, storage, and distribution managers	390	0.7	46.52	96,760
Compensation and benefits managers	180	2.7	85.72	178,300
Human resources managers	1,110	1.8	67.45	140,300
Training and development managers	220	1.5	57.71	120,040
Construction managers	990	0.9	51.75	107,640
Education and childcare administrators, preschool and daycare	180	1.0	33.64	69,970
Education administrators, kindergarten through secondary	1,330	1.3	(6)	126,840
Education administrators, postsecondary	750	1.4	78.92	164,160
Education administrators, all other	160	0.9	40.99	85,260
Architectural and engineering managers	2,070	2.7	64.44	134,040
Food service managers	280	0.4	35.15	73,120
Medical and health services managers	2,510	1.6	62.08	129,130
Natural sciences managers	160	0.5	70.16	145,940
Postmasters and mail superintendents	60	1.1	40.49	84,220
Property, real estate, and community association managers	690	0.8	38.26	79,590
Social and community service managers	1,110	1.8	31.79	66,130
Emergency management directors	90	2.2	47.86	99,550
Funeral home managers	(5)	(5)	38.83	80,760
Personal service managers, all other; entertainment and recreation managers, except gambling; and managers, all other	2,130	1.2	65.38	135,980
Footnotes: (1) For a complete listing of all detailed occupations in the Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT Metropolitan Statistical Area, see www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_73450.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.