Workers in the Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford Metropolitan Statistical Area had an average (mean) hourly wage of $26.72 in May 2014, about 18 percent above the nationwide average of $22.71, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Regional Commissioner Deborah A. Brown noted that, after testing for statistical significance, wages in the local area were higher than their respective national averages in 16 of the 22 major occupational groups, including management; healthcare practitioners and technical; and community and social service. No group had an hourly wage significantly lower than its respective national average.

When compared to the nationwide distribution, local employment was more highly concentrated in 8 of the 22 occupational groups, including management; business and financial operations; and education, training, and library. Conversely, nine groups had employment shares significantly below their national representation, including food preparation and serving related; transportation and material moving; and sales and related. (See table A and box note at end of release.)

One occupational group—business and financial operations—was chosen to illustrate the diversity of data available for any of the 22 major occupational categories. Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford had 37,630 jobs in business and financial operations, accounting for 6.7 percent of local area employment, significantly higher than the 5.1-percent share nationally. The average hourly wage for this occupational group locally was $37.34, significantly above the national wage of $34.81.

Some of the largest detailed occupations within the business and financial operations group included accountants and auditors (5,270), management analysts (4,850), and insurance underwriters (2,850). Among the higher paying jobs were personal financial advisors and insurance underwriters, with mean hourly wages of $65.23 and $44.05, respectively. At the lower end of the wage scale were tax preparers ($22.57) and fundraisers ($23.92). (Detailed occupational data for business and financial operations are presented in table 1; for a complete listing of detailed occupations available go to www.bls.gov/oes/2014/may/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-West Hartford-East Hartford Metropolitan Statistical Area, above-average concentrations of employment were found in some of the occupations within the business and financial operations group. For instance, insurance underwriters were employed at 7.5 times the national rate in Hartford, and claims adjusters, examiners, and investigators, at 2.3 times the U.S. average. On the other hand, market research analysts and marketing specialists had a location quotient of 1.0 in Hartford, indicating that this particular occupation’s local and national employment shares were similar.

These statistics are from the Occupational Employment Statistics (OES) 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 Statistics (OES) survey is a semiannual mail survey measuring occupational employment and wage rates for wage and salary workers in nonfarm establishments in the United States. Guam, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands are also surveyed, but their data are not included in the national estimates. OES estimates are constructed from a sample of about 1.2 million establishments. Forms are mailed to approximately 200,000 sampled establishments in May and November each year. May 2014 estimates are based on responses from six semiannual panels collected over a 3-year period: May 2014, November 2013, May 2013, November 2012, May 2012, and November 2011. The overall national response rate for the six panels is 74.3 percent based on establishments and 70.5 percent based on weighted sampled employment. The unweighted employment of sampled establishments across all six semiannual panels represents approximately 57.1 percent of total national employment. (Response rates are slightly lower for these estimates due to the federal shutdown in October 2013.) The sample in the Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford Metropolitan Statistical Area included 3,860 establishments with a response rate of 74 percent. For more information about OES concepts and methodology, go to www.bls.gov/news.release/ocwage.tn.htm.

The OES survey provides estimates of employment and hourly and annual wages for wage and salary workers in 22 major occupational groups and 821 detailed occupations for the nation, states, metropolitan statistical areas, metropolitan divisions, and nonmetropolitan areas. In addition, employment and wage estimates for 94 minor groups and 458 broad occupations are available in the national data. OES data by state and metropolitan/nonmetropolitan area are available from www.bls.gov/oes/current/oessrcst.htm and www.bls.gov/oes/current/oessrcma.htm, respectively.

The May 2014 OES estimates are based on the 2010 Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) system and the 2012 North American Industry Classification System (NAICS). Information about the 2010 SOC is available on the BLS website at www.bls.gov/soc and information about the 2012 NAICS is available at www.bls.gov/bls/naics.htm.

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, Conn. Metropolitan Statistical Area  includes Andover town, Ashford town, Avon town, Barkhamsted town, Berlin town, Bloomfield town, Bolton town, Bristol city, Burlington town, Canton 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, Middlefield town, Middletown city, New Britain city, New Hartford town, Newington town, Plainville town, Plymouth town, Portland town, Rocky Hill 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, and Windsor town.

Additional information

OES data are available on our regional web page at www.bls.gov/regions/northeast. Answers to frequently asked questions about the OES data are available at www.bls.gov/oes/oes_ques.htm. Detailed technical information about the OES survey is available in our Survey Methods and Reliability Statement on the BLS website at www.bls.gov/oes/2014/may/methods_statement.pdf.

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

Table 1. Employment and wage data from the Occupational Employment Statistics survey, by occupation, Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford Metropolitan Statistical Area, May 2014

Occupation (1)	Employment		Mean wages
	Level (2)	Location quotient (3)	Hourly	Annual (4)
Business and Financial Operations Occupations	37,630	1.3	$37.34	$77,660
Wholesale and Retail Buyers, Except Farm Products	380	0.8	32.01	66,580
Purchasing Agents, Except Wholesale, Retail, and Farm Products	1,340	1.1	33.93	70,570
Claims Adjusters, Examiners, and Investigators	2,550	2.3	37.00	76,970
Insurance Appraisers, Auto Damage	80	1.4	(5)	(5)
Compliance Officers	1,600	1.6	37.14	77,250
Cost Estimators	980	1.1	35.95	74,780
Human Resources Specialists	2,050	1.1	32.27	67,120
Labor Relations Specialists	360	1.1	29.42	61,190
Logisticians	190	0.4	37.45	77,890
Management Analysts	4,850	2.0	42.27	87,920
Meeting, Convention, and Event Planners	340	1.1	30.18	62,770
Fundraisers	350	1.5	23.92	49,740
Compensation, Benefits, and Job Analysis Specialists	640	1.9	35.77	74,400
Training and Development Specialists	1,110	1.1	31.49	65,490
Market Research Analysts and Marketing Specialists	1,880	1.0	33.34	69,340
Business Operations Specialists, All Other	4,180	1.1	36.43	75,770
Accountants and Auditors	5,270	1.1	35.40	73,630
Appraisers and Assessors of Real Estate	230	0.9	37.16	77,290
Budget Analysts	640	2.7	37.93	78,900
Credit Analysts	260	0.9	39.95	83,090
Financial Analysts	2,050	1.9	40.63	84,510
Personal Financial Advisors	730	0.9	65.23	135,670
Insurance Underwriters	2,850	7.5	44.05	91,630
Financial Examiners	200	1.3	43.65	90,800
Credit Counselors	40	0.3	21.66	45,060
Loan Officers	790	0.6	34.45	71,660
Tax Examiners and Collectors, and Revenue Agents	580	2.2	37.83	78,680
Tax Preparers	390	1.4	22.57	46,950
Financial Specialists, All Other	700	1.2	29.47	61,310
Footnotes: (1) For a complete listing of all detailed occupations in Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT, see www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_73450.htm. (2) Estimates for detailed occupations do not sum to the totals because the totals include occupations 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.