Workers in the Tallahassee Metropolitan Statistical Area had an average (mean) hourly wage of $19.93 in May 2013, 11 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 19 of the 22 major occupational groups, including construction and extraction, business and financial operations, and computer and mathematical.

When compared to the nationwide distribution, local employment was more highly concentrated in 11 of the 22 occupational groups, including business and financial operations; education, training, and library; and office and administrative support. Conversely, eight groups had employment shares significantly below their national representation, including production, transportation and material moving, and management. (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. Tallahassee had 16,870 jobs in business and financial operations, accounting for 10.8 percent of local area employment, significantly higher than the 5.0-percent share nationally. The average hourly wage for this occupational group locally was $25.16, measurably below the national wage of $34.14.

With employment of 4,340, management analysts was the largest occupation within the business and financial operations group, followed by all other business operations specialists (3,030) and accountants and auditors (2,650). Among the higher paying jobs were loan officers and all other business operations specialists, with mean hourly wages of $33.76 and $29.93, respectively. At the lower end of the wage scale were compliance officers ($17.93) and tax examiners and collectors, and revenue agents ($18.49). (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/current/oes_45220.htm.)

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

Major occupational group	Percent of total employment		Mean hourly wage
	United States	Tallahassee	United States	Tallahassee	Percent difference 1
Total, all occupations	100.0%	100.0%	$22.33	$19.93*	-11
Management	4.9	3.4*	53.15	48.56*	-9
Business and financial operations	5.0	10.8*	34.14	25.16*	-26
Computer and mathematical	2.8	3.6*	39.43	29.06*	-26
Architecture and engineering	1.8	1.2*	38.51	31.58*	-18
Life, physical, and social science	0.9	1.4*	33.37	26.10*	-22
Community and social services	1.4	1.7*	21.50	18.58*	-14
Legal	0.8	1.9*	47.89	43.77	-9
Education, training, and library	6.3	8.0*	24.76	26.53	7
Arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media	1.3	1.6*	26.72	22.19*	-17
Healthcare practitioner and technical	5.8	5.7	35.93	30.80*	-14
Healthcare support	3.0	2.4*	13.61	12.37*	-9
Protective service	2.5	2.9*	20.92	18.60*	-11
Food preparation and serving related	9.0	9.4*	10.38	9.83*	-5
Building and grounds cleaning and maintenance	3.2	3.6*	12.51	10.41*	-17
Personal care and service	3.0	2.0*	11.88	11.71	-1
Sales and related	10.6	10.6	18.37	15.25*	-17
Office and administrative support	16.2	17.4*	16.78	14.43*	-14
Farming, fishing, and forestry	0.3	0.3	11.70	11.03*	-6
Construction and extraction	3.8	2.8*	21.94	15.86*	-28
Installation, maintenance, and repair	3.9	3.4*	21.35	18.09*	-15
Production	6.6	2.1*	16.79	14.43*	-14
Transportation and material moving	6.8	3.6*	16.28	12.96*	-20
1 A positive percent difference measures how much the mean wage in Tallahassee 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 Tallahassee Metropolitan Statistical Area, above average concentrations of employment were found in many of the occupations within the business and financial operations group. For instance, tax examiners and collectors, and revenue agents were employed at 13.3 times the national rate in Tallahassee, and management analysts, at 6.5 times the U.S. average. On the other hand, purchasing agents, except wholesale, retail, and farm products had a location quotient of 0.8 in Tallahassee, 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.

OES wage and employment data for the 22 major occupational groups in the Tallahassee Metropolitan Statistical Area were compared to their respective national averages based on statistical significance testing. Only those occupations with wages or employment shares above or below the national wage or share after testing for significance at the 90-percent confidence level meet the criteria.

NOTE: 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.

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 Tallahassee Metropolitan Statistical Area included 1,740 establishments with a response rate of 80 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 Tallahassee, Fla. Metropolitan Statistical Area includes Gadsden, Jefferson, Leon, and Wakulla 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, Tallahassee Metropolitan Statistical Area, May 2013

Occupation (1)	Employment		Mean wages
	Level (2)	Location quotient (3)	Hourly	Annual (4)
Business and Financial Operations Occupations	16,870	2.2	$25.16	$52,340
Wholesale and Retail Buyers, Except Farm Products	40	0.3	21.69	45,110
Purchasing Agents, Except Wholesale, Retail, and Farm Products	250	0.8	23.74	49,370
Claims Adjusters, Examiners, and Investigators	410	1.3	26.14	54,360
Compliance Officers	1,460	5.2	17.93	37,290
Cost Estimators	160	0.7	28.63	59,540
Human Resources Specialists	740	1.5	24.57	51,100
Labor Relations Specialists	120	1.3	22.86	47,540
Management Analysts	4,340	6.5	25.32	52,670
Meeting, Convention, and Event Planners	160	1.8	20.30	42,230
Fundraisers	100	1.7	28.96	60,230
Compensation, Benefits, and Job Analysis Specialists	170	1.8	18.88	39,260
Training and Development Specialists	360	1.4	23.50	48,870
Market Research Analysts and Marketing Specialists	260	0.5	25.87	53,820
Business Operations Specialists, All Other	3,030	2.7	29.93	62,240
Accountants and Auditors	2,650	1.9	26.01	54,090
Appraisers and Assessors of Real Estate	100	1.4	20.37	42,380
Budget Analysts	210	3.0	25.37	52,770
Financial Analysts	200	0.7	24.88	51,740
Personal Financial Advisors	180	0.8	24.41	50,780
Insurance Underwriters	150	1.4	31.37	65,260
Credit Counselors	70	2.0	18.53	38,550
Loan Officers	300	0.8	33.76	70,220
Tax Examiners and Collectors, and Revenue Agents	1,010	13.3	18.49	38,460
Financial Specialists, All Other	310	1.8	24.17	50,280
(1) For a complete listing of all detailed occupations in Tallahassee, see www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_45220.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.