Workers in the Jacksonville Metropolitan Statistical Area had an average (mean) hourly wage of $20.38 in May 2013, 9 percent below the nationwide average of $22.33, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Regional Commissioner Janet S. Rankin noted that, after testing for statistical significance, wages in the local area were significantly lower than their respective national averages in 15 of the 22 major occupational groups, including construction and extraction, computer and mathematical, and business and financial operations.

When compared to the nationwide distribution, local employment was more highly concentrated in 6 of the 22 occupational groups, including office and administrative support, business and financial operations, and sales and related. Conversely, nine groups had employment shares significantly below their national representation, including production; management; and education, training, and library. (See table A and box note at end of release.)

One occupational group—office and administrative support—was chosen to illustrate the diversity of data available for any of the 22 major occupational categories. Jacksonville had 111,090 jobs in office and administrative support, accounting for 18.9 percent of local area employment, significantly higher than the 16.2-percent share nationally. The average hourly wage for this occupational group locally was $15.83, measurably below the national wage of $16.78.

With employment of 17,360, customer service representatives was the largest occupation within the office and administrative support group, followed by general office clerks (11,860) and secretaries and administrative assistants, except legal, medical, and executive (10,350). Among the higher paying jobs were first-line supervisors of office and administrative support workers, and government programs eligibility interviewers, with mean hourly wages of $25.62 and $22.13, respectively. At the lower end of the wage scale were stock clerks and order fillers ($11.43) and general office clerks ($13.20). (Detailed occupational data for office and administrative support are presented in table 1; for a complete listing of detailed occupations available go to www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_27260.htm.)

 

Table A. Occupational employment and wages by major occupational group, United States and the Jacksonville Metropolitan Statistical Area, and measures of statistical significance, May 2013

Major occupational group	Percent of total employment		Mean hourly wage
	United States	Jacksonville	United States	Jacksonville	Percent difference 1
Total, all occupations	100.0%	100.0%	$22.33	$20.38*	-9
Management	4.9	3.3*	53.15	53.58	1
Business and financial operations	5.0	6.5*	34.14	30.69*	-10
Computer and mathematical	2.8	2.8	39.43	35.38*	-10
Architecture and engineering	1.8	1.4*	38.51	33.42*	-13
Life, physical, and social science	0.9	0.4*	33.37	29.13*	-13
Community and social services	1.4	1.1*	21.50	19.54*	-9
Legal	0.8	0.8	47.89	40.40*	-16
Education, training, and library	6.3	4.9*	24.76	24.99	1
Arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media	1.3	0.9*	26.72	22.17*	-17
Healthcare practitioner and technical	5.8	6.1	35.93	34.71	-3
Healthcare support	3.0	2.8	13.61	13.26*	-3
Protective service	2.5	2.5	20.92	17.15*	-18
Food preparation and serving related	9.0	10.1*	10.38	10.11*	-3
Building and grounds cleaning and maintenance	3.2	3.2	12.51	11.73*	-6
Personal care and service	3.0	2.2*	11.88	11.50	-3
Sales and related	10.6	11.8*	18.37	17.07*	-7
Office and administrative support	16.2	18.9*	16.78	15.83*	-6
Farming, fishing, and forestry	0.3	0.1*	11.70	12.86	10
Construction and extraction	3.8	3.8	21.94	17.30*	-21
Installation, maintenance, and repair	3.9	4.3*	21.35	19.79*	-7
Production	6.6	4.6*	16.79	16.11	-4
Transportation and material moving	6.8	7.5*	16.28	16.28	0
1 A positive percent difference measures how much the mean wage in Jacksonville is above the national mean wage, while a negative difference reflects a lower wage. * The percent share of employment or mean hourly wage for this area is significantly different from the national average of all areas at the 90-percent confidence level.

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 Jacksonville Metropolitan Statistical Area, above average concentrations of employment were found in some of the occupations within the office and administrative support group. For instance, credit authorizers, checkers, and clerks were employed at 6.6 times the national rate in Jacksonville, and bill and account collectors, at 3.0 times the U.S. average. On the other hand, stock clerks and order fillers had a location quotient of 1.0 in Jacksonville, 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 Florida Department of Economic Opportunity.

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 for a 3-year period. May 2013 estimates are based on responses from six semiannual panels collected in May 2013, November 2012, May 2012, November 2011, May 2011, and November 2010. The overall national response rate for the six panels is 75.3 percent based on establishments and 71.6 percent based on employment. The sample in the Jacksonville Metropolitan Statistical Area included 3,738 establishments with a response rate of 78 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 2013 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 Jacksonville, Fla. Metropolitan Statistical Area includes Baker, Clay, Duval, Nassau, and St. Johns Counties.

Additional information

OES data are available on our regional web page at www.bls.gov/regions/southeast. 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/2013/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, Jacksonville Metropolitan Statistical Area, May 2013

Occupation (1)	Employment		Mean wages
	Level (2)	Location quotient (3)	Hourly	Annual (4)
Office and Administrative Support Occupations	111,090	1.2	$15.83	$32,930
First-Line Supervisors of Office and Administrative Support Workers	6,820	1.1	25.62	53,290
Switchboard Operators, Including Answering Service	540	1.0	11.41	23,730
Telephone Operators	80	1.7	17.02	35,400
Bill and Account Collectors	4,860	3.0	15.05	31,310
Billing and Posting Clerks	2,390	1.1	15.48	32,190
Bookkeeping, Accounting, and Auditing Clerks	6,700	1.0	16.66	34,650
Payroll and Timekeeping Clerks	460	0.6	17.59	36,590
Procurement Clerks	280	0.9	20.00	41,600
Tellers	2,290	1.0	14.79	30,750
Brokerage Clerks	230	0.9	17.73	36,870
Court, Municipal, and License Clerks	220	0.4	16.46	34,240
Credit Authorizers, Checkers, and Clerks	1,470	6.6	17.94	37,320
Customer Service Representatives	17,360	1.6	14.82	30,820
Eligibility Interviewers, Government Programs	660	1.2	22.13	46,030
File Clerks	1,520	2.3	13.45	27,980
Hotel, Motel, and Resort Desk Clerks	1,270	1.2	10.19	21,200
Interviewers, Except Eligibility and Loan	940	1.1	15.33	31,890
Library Assistants, Clerical	440	1.0	11.09	23,070
Loan Interviewers and Clerks	2,020	2.1	18.47	38,420
New Accounts Clerks	100	0.4	17.30	35,990
Order Clerks	710	0.8	13.26	27,580
Human Resources Assistants, Except Payroll and Timekeeping	590	1.0	16.31	33,920
Receptionists and Information Clerks	5,440	1.3	13.25	27,550
Reservation and Transportation Ticket Agents and Travel Clerks	590	0.9	15.13	31,470
Information and Record Clerks, All Other	1,560	2.0	15.71	32,680
Cargo and Freight Agents	570	1.7	19.36	40,260
Couriers and Messengers	230	0.7	11.67	24,270
Police, Fire, and Ambulance Dispatchers	380	0.9	16.46	34,230
Dispatchers, Except Police, Fire, and Ambulance	970	1.2	16.94	35,230
Meter Readers, Utilities	90	0.5	15.90	33,060
Postal Service Clerks	210	0.7	24.59	51,150
Postal Service Mail Carriers	1,170	0.9	24.69	51,350
Postal Service Mail Sorters, Processors, and Processing Machine Operators	1,140	2.1	23.99	49,900
Production, Planning, and Expediting Clerks	1,190	1.0	21.17	44,040
Shipping, Receiving, and Traffic Clerks	2,110	0.7	14.27	29,680
Stock Clerks and Order Fillers	7,960	1.0	11.43	23,780
Weighers, Measurers, Checkers, and Samplers, Recordkeeping	350	1.1	13.99	29,100
Executive Secretaries and Executive Administrative Assistants	3,520	1.1	20.88	43,430
Legal Secretaries	1,080	1.1	16.97	35,300
Medical Secretaries	1,450	0.6	14.54	30,250
Secretaries and Administrative Assistants, Except Legal, Medical, and Executive	10,350	1.1	14.98	31,150
Computer Operators	240	0.8	21.36	44,430
Data Entry Keyers	1,620	1.8	13.80	28,700
Word Processors and Typists	160	0.4	15.64	32,530
Desktop Publishers	40	0.7	15.12	31,440
Insurance Claims and Policy Processing Clerks	3,070	2.9	16.90	35,160
Mail Clerks and Mail Machine Operators, Except Postal Service	330	0.8	13.49	28,060
Office Clerks, General	11,860	1.0	13.20	27,450
Office Machine Operators, Except Computer	450	1.5	13.20	27,450
Statistical Assistants	50	0.7	22.61	47,030
Office and Administrative Support Workers, All Other	350	0.3	14.70	30,570
(1) For a complete listing of all detailed occupations in Jacksonville, see www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_27260.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.