Workers in the Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia Metropolitan Statistical Area had an average (mean) hourly wage of $24.11 in May 2017, not significantly different from 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, 14 of the 22 major occupational groups had average wages in the local area that were lower than their respective national averages, including construction and extraction; life, physical, and social science; and healthcare support. Three groups had significantly higher wages than their respective national averages: sales and related; farming, fishing, and forestry; and management.

When compared to the nationwide distribution, local employment was more highly concentrated in 6 of the 22 occupational groups, including business and financial operations; transportation and material moving; and sales and related. Conversely, 12 groups had employment shares significantly below their national representation, including education, training, and library; healthcare practitioners and technical; and personal care and service. (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. Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia had 80,420 jobs in business and financial operations occupations, accounting for 6.8 percent of local area employment, significantly higher than the 5.2-percent share nationally. The average hourly wage for this occupational group locally was $37.42, compared to the national wage of $36.70.

Some of the larger detailed occupations within the business and financial operations group included accountants and auditors (11,940), market research analysts and marketing specialists (8,240), and management analysts (7,420). Among the higher paying jobs in this group were personal financial advisors and management analysts, with mean hourly wages of $55.64 and $47.28, respectively. At the lower end of the wage scale were meeting, convention, and event planners ($21.64) and tax preparers ($23.23). (Detailed data for business and financial operations occupations are presented in table 1; for a complete listing of detailed occupations available, go to www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_16740.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 Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia Metropolitan Statistical Area, above-average concentrations of employment were found in some of the occupations within the business and financial operations group. For instance, credit analysts were employed at 3.3 times the national rate in Charlotte, and financial analysts, at 2.1 times the U.S. average. On the other hand, buyers and purchasing agents had a location quotient of 1.0 in Charlotte, 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 North Carolina Department of Commerce.

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 Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia Metropolitan Statistical Area included 6,930 establishments with a response rate of 78 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 Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia Metropolitan Statistical Area includes Cabarrus, Gaston, Iredell, Lincoln, Mecklenburg, Rowan, and Union Counties of North Carolina; Chester, Lancaster, and York Counties of 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, Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia Metropolitan Statistical Area, May 2017

Occupation (1)	Employment		Mean wages
	Level (2)	Location quotient (3)	Hourly	Annual (4)
Business and financial operations occupations	80,420	1.3	$37.42	$77,830
Agents and business managers of artists, performers, and athletes	160	1.3	41.61	86,560
Buyers and purchasing agents	3,520	1.0	31.93	66,420
Claims adjusters, examiners, and investigators	2,790	1.2	32.04	66,640
Insurance appraisers, auto damage	80	0.6	31.56	65,650
Compliance officers	1,850	0.8	32.53	67,670
Cost estimators	2,320	1.3	29.39	61,130
Human resources specialists	5,270	1.1	34.45	71,650
Labor relations specialists	320	0.5	27.97	58,180
Logisticians	1,350	1.0	37.38	77,750
Management analysts	7,420	1.4	47.28	98,340
Meeting, convention, and event planners	830	1.0	21.64	45,010
Fundraisers	570	0.9	26.92	55,990
Compensation, benefits, and job analysis specialists	880	1.3	33.08	68,810
Training and development specialists	3,040	1.3	34.99	72,780
Market research analysts and marketing specialists	8,240	1.7	29.81	62,000
Business operations specialists, all other	8,850	1.1	38.31	79,680
Accountants and auditors	11,940	1.2	38.27	79,590
Appraisers and assessors of real estate	630	1.3	36.04	74,960
Budget analysts	170	0.4	34.50	71,760
Credit analysts	2,040	3.3	40.30	83,820
Financial analysts	5,090	2.1	43.21	89,880
Personal financial advisors	2,690	1.6	55.64	115,740
Insurance underwriters	980	1.3	40.76	84,790
Financial examiners	1,740	4.0	43.38	90,240
Credit counselors	240	0.8	24.93	51,850
Loan officers	5,250	2.1	36.20	75,290
Tax examiners and collectors, and revenue agents	230	0.5	29.70	61,770
Tax preparers	550	1.0	23.23	48,310
Financial specialists, all other	1,360	1.3	40.91	85,080
Footnotes: (1) For a complete listing of all detailed occupations in the Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia Metropolitan Statistical Area, see www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_16740.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.