Workers in the Augusta-Richmond County Metropolitan Statistical Area had an average (mean) hourly wage of $21.16 in May 2017, about 13 percent below the nationwide average of $24.34, 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 lower than their respective averages in 16 of the 22 major occupational groups, including construction and extraction; sales and related; and computer and mathematical. Three groups: farming, fishing, and forestry; production; and architecture and engineering, had significantly higher wages than their respective national averages.

When compared to the nationwide distribution, local employment was more highly concentrated in 7 of the 22 occupational groups, including healthcare practitioners and technical; production; and education, training, and library. Conversely, nine groups had employment shares significantly below their national representation, including business and financial operations; computer and mathematical; and office and administrative support. (See table A and box note at end of release.)

One occupational group—healthcare practitioners and technical—was chosen to illustrate the diversity of data available for any of the 22 major occupational categories. Augusta-Richmond County had 18,940 jobs in healthcare practitioners and technical occupations, accounting for 8.7 percent of local area employment, significantly higher than the 6.0-percent share nationally. The average hourly wage for this occupational group locally was $34.44, significantly below the national wage of $38.83.

Some of the larger detailed occupations within the healthcare practitioners and technical group included registered nurses (6,900), licensed practical and licensed vocational nurses (1,760), and pharmacy technicians (830). Among the higher paying jobs in this group were pharmacists and nurse practitioners, with mean hourly wages of $55.28 and $47.26, respectively. At the lower end of the wage scale were pharmacy technicians ($14.60) and veterinary technologists and technicians ($15.12). (Detailed data for 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_12260.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 Augusta-Richmond County Metropolitan Statistical Area, above-average concentrations of employment were found in some of the occupations within the healthcare practitioners and technical group. For instance, occupational health and safety specialists were employed at 6.6 times the national rate in Augusta, and family and general practitioners, at 3.2 times the U.S. average. On the other hand, medical records and health information technicians had a location quotient of 1.1 in Augusta, 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 Georgia Department of Labor.

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 2017 estimates are based on responses from six semiannual panels collected over a 3-year period: May 2017, November 2016, May 2016, November 2015, May 2015, and November 2014. The overall national response rate for the six panels, based on the 50 states and the District of Columbia, is 72 percent based on establishments and 68 percent based on weighted sampled employment. The unweighted sample employment of 82 million across all six semiannual panels represents approximately 58 percent of total national employment. The sample in the Augusta-Richmond County Metropolitan Statistical Area included 2,455 establishments with a response rate of 76 percent. For more information about OES concepts and methodology, go to www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_tec.htm.

The May 2017 OES estimates are based on the 2010 Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) system and the 2017 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 2017 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 Augusta-Richmond County Metropolitan Statistical Area includes Aiken and Edgefield Counties in South Carolina; Burke, Columbia, Lincoln, McDuffie, and Richmond Counties in Georgia.

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, Augusta-Richmond County Metropolitan Statistical Area, May 2017

Occupation (1)	Employment		Mean wages
	Level (2)	Location quotient (3)	Hourly	Annual (4)
Healthcare practitioners and technical occupations	18,940	1.5	$34.44	$71,640
Chiropractors	50	0.9	42.76	88,940
Dentists, general	110	0.7	94.20	195,940
Dietitians and nutritionists	120	1.2	26.29	54,690
Optometrists	50	0.9	60.96	126,800
Pharmacists	570	1.2	55.28	114,980
Family and general practitioners	630	3.2	60.19	125,190
Surgeons	(5)	(5)	135.31	281,450
Physicians and surgeons, all other	630	1.2	107.28	223,150
Physician assistants	230	1.4	39.88	82,960
Occupational therapists	170	0.9	38.94	81,000
Physical therapists	420	1.2	38.08	79,210
Recreational therapists	(5)	(5)	19.20	39,940
Respiratory therapists	290	1.5	27.43	57,050
Speech-language pathologists	170	0.8	37.74	78,500
Veterinarians	160	1.5	41.29	85,880
Registered nurses	6,900	1.6	32.77	68,150
Nurse anesthetists	40	0.6	89.98	187,150
Nurse practitioners	310	1.2	47.26	98,300
Audiologists	(5)	(5)	35.96	74,800
Clinical laboratory technologists and technicians	640	1.3	23.68	49,260
Dental hygienists	330	1.0	29.46	61,280
Cardiovascular technologists and technicians	150	1.8	27.21	56,590
Diagnostic medical sonographers	110	1.0	30.39	63,220
Nuclear medicine technologists	50	1.7	27.60	57,410
Radiologic technologists	400	1.3	27.83	57,880
Magnetic resonance imaging technologists	80	1.4	25.94	53,960
Emergency medical technicians and paramedics	560	1.4	16.70	34,730
Pharmacy technicians	830	1.3	14.60	30,370
Surgical technologists	290	1.8	20.51	42,660
Veterinary technologists and technicians	220	1.4	15.12	31,460
Ophthalmic medical technicians	90	1.2	16.17	33,630
Licensed practical and licensed vocational nurses	1,760	1.6	19.84	41,270
Medical records and health information technicians	350	1.1	20.77	43,190
Opticians, dispensing	110	1.0	14.88	30,960
Health technologists and technicians, all other	400	2.1	18.79	39,090
Occupational health and safety specialists	820	6.6	32.12	66,820
Occupational health and safety technicians	220	8.1	28.95	60,210
Athletic trainers	70	1.8	(6)	43,160
Healthcare practitioners and technical workers, all other	70	1.2	28.98	60,280
Footnotes: (1) For a complete listing of all detailed occupations in the Augusta-Richmond County Metropolitan Statistical Area, see www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_12260.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. (6) Wages for some occupations that do not generally work year-round, full time, are reported either as hourly wages or annual salaries depending on how they are typically paid.