Workers in the Gulfport-Biloxi-Pascagoula Metropolitan Statistical Area had an average (mean) hourly wage of $20.70 in May 2017, about 15 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 18 of the 22 major occupational groups, including management; sales and related; and computer and mathematical. One group—production—had a significantly higher wage than its respective national average.

When compared to the nationwide distribution, local employment was more highly concentrated in 9 of the 22 occupational groups, including food preparation and serving related; construction and extraction; and installation, maintenance, and repair. Conversely, nine groups had employment shares significantly below their national representation, including office and administrative support; transportation and material moving; and business and financial operations. (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. Gulfport-Biloxi-Pascagoula had 18,170 jobs in food preparation and serving related occupations, accounting for 12.1 percent of local area employment, significantly higher than the 9.3-percent share nationally. The average hourly wage for this occupational group locally was $10.03, significantly below the national wage of $11.88.

Some of the larger detailed occupations within the food preparation and serving related group included waiters and waitresses (4,840), restaurant cooks (2,390), and combined food preparation and serving wokers, including fast food (2,290). Among the higher paying jobs in this group were chefs and head cooks, and first-line supervisors of food preparation and serving workers, with mean hourly wages of $22.71 and $13.56, respectively. At the lower end of the wage scale were fast food cooks ($8.83) and bartenders ($8.88). (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_25060.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 Gulfport-Biloxi-Pascagoula Metropolitan Statistical Area, above-average concentrations of employment were found in many of the occupations within the food preparation and serving related group. For instance, institution and cafeteria cooks were employed at 2.2 times the national rate in Gulfport, and restaurant cooks, at 1.8 times the U.S. average. On the other hand, food preparation workers had a location quotient of 1.1 in Gulfport, 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 Mississippi Department of Employment Security.

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 Gulfport-Biloxi-Pascagoula Metropolitan Statistical Area included 1,511 establishments with a response rate of 73 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 Gulfport-Biloxi-Pascagoula Metropolitan Statistical Area includes Hancock, Harrison, and Jackson Counties in Mississippi.

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, Gulfport-Biloxi-Pascagoula Metropolitan Statistical Area, May 2017

Occupation (1)	Employment		Mean wages
	Level (2)	Location quotient (3)	Hourly	Annual (4)
Food preparation and serving related occupations	18,170	1.3	$10.03	$20,870
Chefs and head cooks	180	1.3	22.71	47,230
First-line supervisors of food preparation and serving workers	1,290	1.3	13.56	28,210
Cooks, fast food	1,170	2.2	8.83	18,360
Cooks, institution and cafeteria	920	2.2	10.61	22,070
Cooks, restaurant	2,390	1.8	10.72	22,300
Cooks, short order	500	2.7	9.13	18,980
Food preparation workers	990	1.1	9.98	20,750
Bartenders	730	1.1	8.88	18,460
Combined food preparation and serving workers, including fast food	2,290	0.6	10.32	21,460
Counter attendants, cafeteria, food concession, and coffee shop	700	1.4	9.30	19,340
Waiters and waitresses	4,840	1.8	9.03	18,780
Food servers, nonrestaurant	330	1.2	9.58	19,940
Dining room and cafeteria attendants and bartender helpers	600	1.3	9.24	19,220
Dishwashers	(5)	(5)	9.13	18,980
Hosts and hostesses, restaurant, lounge, and coffee shop	600	1.4	9.12	18,970
Food preparation and serving related workers, all other	160	2.7	10.20	21,210
Footnotes: (1) For a complete listing of all detailed occupations in Gulfport-Biloxi-Pascagoula Metropolitan Statistical Area, see www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_25060.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.