Department of Labor Logo United States Department of Labor
Dot gov

The .gov means it's official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you're on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

News Release Information

24-1234-BOS
Friday, June 28, 2024

Contacts Technical information: Media contact:
  • (617) 565-4141

Occupational Employment and Wages in Burlington-South Burlington — May 2023

Workers in the Burlington-South Burlington, VT Metropolitan Statistical Area had an average (mean) hourly wage of $32.14 in May 2023, compared to the nationwide average of $31.48, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Regional Commissioner William J. Sibley noted that higher paying major occupational groups included management ($57.09), computer and mathematical ($48.77), and healthcare practitioners and technical ($47.92). Lower paying occupations included building and grounds cleaning and maintenance ($20.06), personal care and service ($20.13), and healthcare support ($20.54). (See table A.)

Occupational groups with the highest employment in the Burlington area included office and administrative support (10.7 percent), sales and related (8.4 percent), and food preparation and serving related (8.3 percent). Major occupational groups on the lower end of local employment included legal (0.7 percent); life, physical, and social science (1.2 percent); and protective service (1.5 percent).

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

Total, all occupations

100.0 100.0 31.48 32.14

Management

6.9 8.0 66.23 57.09

Business and financial operations

6.6 6.5 43.55 41.43

Computer and mathematical

3.4 3.8 54.39 48.77

Architecture and engineering

1.7 3.1 47.64 44.33

Life, physical, and social science

0.9 1.2 42.24 35.45

Community and social service

1.6 2.6 28.36 27.43

Legal

0.8 0.7 64.34 47.68

Educational instruction and library

5.8 8.1 31.92 33.67

Arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media

1.4 2.0 36.31 30.78

Healthcare practitioners and technical

6.1 7.2 49.07 47.92

Healthcare support

4.7 3.3 18.37 20.54

Protective service

2.3 1.5 27.74 26.71

Food preparation and serving related

8.7 8.3 16.58 21.35

Building and grounds cleaning and maintenance

2.9 2.8 18.43 20.06

Personal care and service

2.0 1.7 18.48 20.13

Sales and related

8.8 8.4 25.62 25.01

Office and administrative support

12.2 10.7 23.05 23.80

Farming, fishing, and forestry

0.3 0.2 19.22 21.81

Construction and extraction

4.1 3.9 29.57 28.02

Installation, maintenance, and repair

3.9 3.5 28.13 28.37

Production

5.8 5.4 22.90 23.45

Transportation and material moving

9.1 6.7 22.45 21.88

One occupational group—office and administrative support—was chosen to illustrate the diversity of data available for any of the 22 major occupational categories. Burlington had 12,910 jobs in office and administrative support, accounting for 10.7 percent of local area employment, compared to the 12.2-percent share nationally. The average hourly wage for this occupational group locally was $23.80, compared to the national wage of $23.05.

Some of the larger detailed occupations within the office and administrative support group included general office clerks (1,820), customer service representatives (1,620), and secretaries and administrative assistants, except legal, medical, and executive (1,420). Among the higher-paying jobs in this group were executive secretaries and executive administrative assistants ($33.55) and first-line supervisors of office and administrative support workers ($32.52). (See chart 1.) At the lower end of the wage scale were receptionists and information clerks ($17.55) and clerical library assistants ($17.78). (Detailed data for the office and administrative support occupations are presented in table 1; for a complete listing of detailed occupations available go to www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_72400.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 Burlington area, above-average concentrations of employment were found in some of the occupations within the office and administrative support group. For instance, medical secretaries and administrative assistants were employed at 1.6 times the national rate in Burlington, and court, municipal, and license clerks, at 1.5 times the U.S. average. Secretaries and administrative assistants, except legal, medical, and executive had a location quotient of 1.0 in Burlington, 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 Vermont 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. 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 Burlington-South Burlington, VT Metropolitan Statistical Area included 1,695 establishments with a response rate of 74 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 Burlington-South Burlington, VT Metropolitan Statistical Area includes Bolton town, Burlington city, Cambridge town, Charlotte town, Colchester town, Duxbury town, Essex town, Fairfax town, Ferrisburgh town, Fletcher town, Georgia town, Grand Isle town, Hinesburg town, Huntington town, Jericho town, Lincoln town, Milton town, Monkton town, North Hero town, Richmond town, Shelburne town, South Burlington city, South Hero town, St. Albans city, St. Albans town, St. George town, Starksboro town, Swanton town, Underhill town, Vergennes city, Westford town, Williston town, and Winooski city.

 

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 office and administrative support occupations, Burlington metropolitan area, May 2023
Occupation (1) Employment Mean wages ($)
Level (2) Location quotient (3) Hourly Annual (4)

Office and administrative support occupations

12,910 0.9 23.8 49,510

First-line supervisors of office and administrative support workers

680 0.6 32.52 67,650

Switchboard operators, including answering service

30 0.9 18.26 37,970

Billing and posting clerks

400 1.2 26.31 54,730

Bookkeeping, accounting, and auditing clerks

1,240 1.0 25.49 53,030

Payroll and timekeeping clerks

80 0.7 26.73 55,590

Tellers

350 1.3 20.22 42,050

Court, municipal, and license clerks

190 1.5 25.00 52,000

Customer service representatives

1,620 0.7 22.01 45,770

Eligibility interviewers, government programs

130 1.1 23.35 48,560

Hotel, motel, and resort desk clerks

170 0.8 18.19 37,840

Interviewers, except eligibility and loan

120 0.9 20.04 41,680

Library assistants, clerical

130 2.0 17.78 36,990

Loan interviewers and clerks

210 1.3 24.15 50,220

Order clerks

60 0.9 22.62 47,040

Human resources assistants, except payroll and timekeeping

(5) 24.47 50,890

Receptionists and information clerks

430 0.5 17.55 36,500

Reservation and transportation ticket agents and travel clerks

80 0.8 20.32 42,260

Information and record clerks, all other

130 1.1 22.18 46,140

Couriers and messengers

40 0.6 18.71 38,920

Public safety telecommunicators

120 1.6 26.05 54,190

Dispatchers, except police, fire, and ambulance

90 0.5 25.85 53,760

Postal service clerks

80 1.3 28.07 58,390

Postal service mail carriers

230 0.9 29.53 61,410

Postal service mail sorters, processors, and processing machine operators

70 0.8 27.82 57,870

Production, planning, and expediting clerks

260 0.9 26.59 55,310

Shipping, receiving, and inventory clerks

450 0.7 22.05 45,860

Executive secretaries and executive administrative assistants

290 0.8 33.55 69,790

Legal secretaries and administrative assistants

110 0.9 23.45 48,780

Medical secretaries and administrative assistants

960 1.6 22.20 46,170

Secretaries and administrative assistants, except legal, medical, and executive

1,420 1.0 23.13 48,110

Data entry keyers

150 1.2 20.30 42,230

Insurance claims and policy processing clerks

140 0.7 27.39 56,980

Mail clerks and mail machine operators, except postal service

(5) 20.90 43,480

Office clerks, general

1,820 0.9 22.40 46,580

Office and administrative support workers, all other

120 0.9 27.88 58,000

Footnotes:
(1) For a complete listing of all detailed occupations in the Burlington-South Burlington, VT Metropolitan Statistical Area, see www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_72400.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.

 

Last Modified Date: Friday, June 28, 2024