Workers in the Charleston-North Charleston Metropolitan Statistical Area had an average (mean) hourly wage of $21.62 in May 2017, about 11 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 national averages in 17 of the 22 major occupational groups, including arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media; construction and extraction; and sales and related. Two groups had significantly higher wages than their respective national averages: farming, fishing, and forestry; and production.

When compared to the nationwide distribution, local employment was more highly concentrated in 7 of the 22 occupational groups, including food preparation and serving related; building and grounds cleaning and maintenance; and healthcare practitioners and technical. Conversely, 10 groups had employment shares significantly below their national representation, including education, training, and library; personal care and service; and management. (See table A and box note at end of release.)

One occupational group—food preparation and serving related—was chosen to illustrate the diversity of data available for any of the 22 major occupational categories. Charleston-North Charleston had 36,680 jobs in food preparation and serving related occupations, accounting for 10.9 percent of local area employment, significantly higher than the 9.3-percent share nationally. The average hourly wage for this occupational group locally was $10.79, significantly below the national wage of $11.88.

Some of the larger detailed occupations within the food preparation and serving related group included combined food preparation and serving workers, including fast food (10,760), waiters and waitresses (6,050), and restaurant cooks (4,420). Among the higher paying jobs in this group were first-line supervisors of food preparation and serving workers, and chefs and head cooks, with mean hourly wages of $16.91 and $14.29, respectively. At the lower end of the wage scale were combined food preparation and serving workers, including fast food ($8.88) and fast food cooks ($8.99). (Detailed data for food preparation and serving related occupations are presented in table 1; for a complete listing of detailed occupations available, go to www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_16700.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 Charleston-North Charleston Metropolitan Statistical Area, above-average concentrations of employment were found in some of the occupations within the food preparation and serving related group. For instance, restaurant, lounge, and coffee shop hosts and hostesses,  were employed at 1.5 times the national rate in Charleston, and restaurant cooks, also at 1.5 times the U.S. average. On the other hand, waiters and waitresses had a location quotient of 1.0 in Charleston, 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 South Carolina Department of Employment and Workforce.

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 Charleston-North Charleston Metropolitan Statistical Area included 2,725 establishments with a response rate of 63 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 Charleston-North Charleston Metropolitan Statistical Area includes Berkeley, Charleston, and Dorchester Counties in South Carolina.

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, Charleston-North Charleston Metropolitan Statistical Area, May 2017

Occupation (1)	Employment		Mean wages
	Level (2)	Location quotient (3)	Hourly	Annual (4)
Food preparation and serving related occupations	36,680	1.2	$10.79	$22,430
Chefs and head cooks	1,430	4.6	14.29	29,720
First-line supervisors of food preparation and serving workers	3,020	1.4	16.91	35,170
Cooks, fast food	1,390	1.2	8.99	18,700
Cooks, institution and cafeteria	1,150	1.2	10.18	21,180
Cooks, restaurant	4,420	1.5	11.83	24,610
Cooks, short order	(5)	(5)	10.20	21,220
Food preparation workers	2,000	1.0	11.62	24,170
Bartenders	1,830	1.3	11.36	23,620
Combined food preparation and serving workers, including fast food	10,760	1.3	8.88	18,460
Counter attendants, cafeteria, food concession, and coffee shop	570	0.5	9.44	19,630
Waiters and waitresses	6,050	1.0	10.36	21,550
Food servers, nonrestaurant	420	0.7	10.74	22,340
Dining room and cafeteria attendants and bartender helpers	790	0.8	9.47	19,690
Dishwashers	1,220	1.0	10.06	20,920
Hosts and hostesses, restaurant, lounge, and coffee shop	1,450	1.5	9.56	19,880
Footnotes: (1) For a complete listing of all detailed occupations in the Charleston-North Charleston Metropolitan Statistical Area, see www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_16700.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.