Workers in the Tallahassee Metropolitan Statistical Area had an average (mean) hourly wage of $21.22 in May 2016, about 11 percent below the nationwide average of $23.86, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Regional Commissioner Janet S. Rankin noted that, after testing for statistical significance, 16 groups had significantly lower wages than their respective national averages, including computer and mathematical; business and financial operations; and life, physical, and social science. No group had an hourly wage significantly higher than its respective national average.

When compared to the nationwide distribution, local employment was more highly concentrated in 7 of the 22 occupational groups, including business and financial operations; education, training, and library; and legal. Conversely, seven 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 16,920 jobs in business and financial operations, accounting for 10.3 percent of local area employment, significantly higher than the 5.2-percent share nationally. The average hourly wage for this occupational group locally was $25.77, significantly below the national wage of $36.09.

Some of the larger detailed occupations within the business and financial operations group included management analysts (4,840), accountants and auditors (2,610), and compliance officers (1,400). Among the higher paying jobs were loan officers and cost estimators, with mean hourly wages of $34.39 and $30.80, respectively. At the lower end of the wage scale were compliance officers ($17.90) and tax examiners and collectors, and revenue agents ($19.11). (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.)

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 13.4 times the national rate in Tallahassee, and management analysts, at 6.5 times the U.S. average. On the other hand, financial analysts had a location quotient of 1.0 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.

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. The OES data available from BLS include cross-industry occupational employment and wage estimates for the nation; over 650 areas, including states and the District of Columbia, metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs), metropolitan divisions, nonmetropolitan areas, and territories; national industry-specific estimates at the NAICS sector, 3-, 4-, and selected 5- and 6-digit industry levels, and national estimates by ownership across all industries and for schools and hospitals. OES data are available at www.bls.gov/oes/tables.htm.

OES estimates are constructed from a sample of about 1.2 million establishments. Each year, two semiannual panels of approximately 200,000 sampled establishments are contacted, one panel in May and the other in November. Responses are obtained by mail, Internet or other electronic means, email, telephone, or personal visit. The May 2016 estimates are based on responses from six semiannual panels collected over a 3-year period: May 2016, November 2015, May 2015, November 2014, May 2014, and November 2013. The overall national response rate for the six panels, based on the 50 states and the District of Columbia, is 73 percent based on establishments and 69 percent based on weighted sampled employment. The unweighted employment of sampled establishments across all six semiannual panels represents approximately 58 percent of total national employment. The sample in the Tallahassee Metropolitan Statistical Area included 1,698 establishments with a response rate of 77 percent. For more information about OES concepts and methodology, go to www.bls.gov/news.release/ocwage.tn.htm.

The May 2016 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.

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 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/current/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 2016

Occupation (1)	Employment		Mean wages
	Level (2)	Location quotient (3)	Hourly	Annual (4)
Business and financial operations occupations	16,920	2.0	$25.77	$53,600
Purchasing agents, except wholesale, retail, and farm products	270	0.8	25.01	52,030
Claims adjusters, examiners, and investigators	540	1.7	27.08	56,330
Compliance officers	1,400	4.4	17.90	37,220
Cost estimators	220	0.9	30.80	64,060
Human resources specialists	880	1.4	22.94	47,720
Labor relations specialists	140	1.5	24.84	51,660
Logisticians	60	0.4	33.21	69,070
Management analysts	4,840	6.5	25.70	53,450
Meeting, convention, and event planners	120	1.1	22.84	47,510
Fundraisers	130	1.7	29.17	60,670
Compensation, benefits, and job analysis specialists	220	2.4	21.36	44,420
Training and development specialists	360	1.2	25.30	52,620
Market research analysts and marketing specialists	480	0.7	29.07	60,470
Business operations specialists, all other	2,200	2.0	31.12	64,730
Accountants and auditors	2,610	1.8	26.01	54,110
Appraisers and assessors of real estate	30	0.4	21.80	45,330
Budget analysts	240	3.8	26.92	56,000
Financial analysts	320	1.0	23.63	49,140
Personal financial advisors	170	0.7	40.83	84,920
Insurance underwriters	50	0.5	29.81	62,000
Credit counselors	70	1.7	19.37	40,290
Loan officers	210	0.6	34.39	71,520
Tax examiners and collectors, and revenue agents	920	13.4	19.11	39,740
Financial specialists, all other	250	1.8	26.10	54,290
Footnotes: (1) For a complete listing of all detailed occupations in the Tallahassee, FL Metropolitan Statistical Area, 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.