Workers in the New Haven, CT Metropolitan Statistical Area had an average (mean) hourly wage of $34.20 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 ($67.73), legal ($65.44), and healthcare practitioners and technical ($52.28). Lower paying occupations included food preparation and serving related ($18.72), personal care and service ($19.88), and healthcare support ($20.08). (See table A.)

Office and administrative support occupations accounted for 12.1 percent of New Haven area employment, followed by transportation and material moving (10.3 percent) and educational instruction and library (9.4 percent) occupations. Major occupational groups on the lower end of local employment included legal (0.7 percent); arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media (1.1 percent); and life, physical, and social science (1.1 percent).

One occupational group—healthcare practitioners and technical—was chosen to illustrate the diversity of data available for any of the 22 major occupational categories. New Haven had 23,860 jobs in healthcare practitioners and technical, accounting for 8.2 percent of local area employment, compared to the 6.1-percent share nationally. The average hourly wage for this occupational group locally was $52.28, compared to the national wage of $49.07.

  

View Chart Data

Chart 1. Hourly mean wages for higher paying healthcare practitioners and technical occupations in the New Haven metropolitan area, May 2023

Occupation	Wage
All occupations	$34.20
Healthcare practitioners and technical occupations	52.28
Physicians, all other	141.21
Psychiatrists	132.62
Family medicine physicians	114.67
General internal medicine physicians	100.58
Dentists, general	82.49

Some of the larger detailed occupations within the healthcare practitioners and technical group included registered nurses (8,540), licensed practical and licensed vocational nurses (1,700), and clinical laboratory technologists and technicians (1,450). Among the higher-paying jobs in this group were psychiatrists and family medicine physicians, with mean hourly wages of $132.62 and $114.67, respectively. (See chart 1.) At the lower end of the wage scale were pharmacy technicians ($20.91) and ophthalmic medical technicians ($20.94). (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_75700.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 New Haven area, above-average concentrations of employment were found in some of the occupations within the healthcare practitioners and technical group. For instance, physician assistants were employed at 2.4 times the national rate in New Haven, and clinical laboratory technologists and technicians, at 2.3 times the U.S. average. Dental hygienists had a location quotient of 1.1 in New Haven, 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 Connecticut Department of Labor.

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 New Haven, CT Metropolitan Statistical Area included 2,487 establishments with a response rate of 61 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 New Haven, CT Metropolitan Statistical Area includes Bethany town, Branford town, Cheshire town, Chester town, Clinton town, Deep River town, Durham town, East Haven town, Essex town, Guilford town, Hamden town, Killingworth town, Madison town, Meriden city, Middlefield town, New Haven city, North Branford town, North Haven town, Old Saybrook town, Orange town, Wallingford town, West Haven city, and Westbrook town.

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.