Workers in the Savannah Metropolitan Statistical Area had an average (mean) hourly wage of $21.20 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 national averages in 15 of the 22 major occupational groups, including legal; computer and mathematical; and management. 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 6 of the 22 occupational groups, including transportation and material moving; food preparation and serving related; and installation, maintenance, and repair. Conversely, 12 groups had employment shares significantly below their national representation, including office and administrative support; computer and mathematical; and business and financial operations. (See table A and box note at end of release.)

One occupational group—transportation and material moving—was chosen to illustrate the diversity of data available for any of the 22 major occupational categories. Savannah had 17,810 jobs in transportation and material moving occupations, accounting for 10.4 percent of local area employment, significantly higher than the 7.0-percent share nationally. The average hourly wage for this occupational group locally was $18.51, compared to the national wage of $17.82.

Some of the larger detailed occupations within the transportation and material moving group included hand laborers and freight, stock, and material movers (7,270), heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers (2,790), and industrial truck and tractor operators (2,110). Among the higher paying jobs in this group were captains, mates, and pilots of water vessels; and transportation inspectors, with mean hourly wages of $37.05 and $31.54, respectively. At the lower end of the wage scale were hand packers and packagers ($9.68) and school or special client bus drivers ($10.13). (Detailed data for transportation and material moving occupations are presented in table 1; for a complete listing of detailed occupations available, go to www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_42340.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 Savannah Metropolitan Statistical Area, above-average concentrations of employment were found in some of the occupations within the transportation and material moving group. For instance, transportation inspectors were employed at 7.9 times the national rate in Savannah, and industrial truck and tractor operators, at 3.1 times the U.S. average. On the other hand, light truck or delivery services drivers had a location quotient of 0.9 in Savannah, 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 Savannah Metropolitan Statistical Area included 1,840 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 Savannah Metropolitan Statistical Area includes Bryan, Chatham, and Effingham 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, Savannah Metropolitan Statistical Area, May 2017

Occupation (1)	Employment		Mean wages
	Level (2)	Location quotient (3)	Hourly	Annual (4)
Transportation and material moving occupations	17,810	1.5	$18.51	$38,490
First-line supervisors of transportation and material moving workers, except aircraft cargo handling supervisors	850	1.8	27.06	56,280
Commercial pilots	320	7.0	(5)	136,930
Bus drivers, transit and intercity	80	0.4	14.39	29,930
Bus drivers, school or special client	320	0.5	10.13	21,080
Driver/sales workers	470	0.9	17.65	36,710
Heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers	2,790	1.3	20.75	43,170
Light truck or delivery services drivers	970	0.9	17.67	36,750
Taxi drivers and chauffeurs	100	0.4	11.86	24,670
Motor vehicle operators, all other	80	1.2	8.93	18,570
Sailors and marine oilers	80	2.1	23.93	49,780
Captains, mates, and pilots of water vessels	180	4.2	37.05	77,070
Ship engineers	40	3.7	31.16	64,820
Parking lot attendants	80	0.5	12.13	25,220
Automotive and watercraft service attendants	(6)	(6)	11.42	23,760
Transportation inspectors	280	7.9	31.54	65,610
Transportation workers, all other	(6)	(6)	12.98	27,000
Industrial truck and tractor operators	2,110	3.1	19.58	40,720
Cleaners of vehicles and equipment	640	1.4	11.39	23,700
Laborers and freight, stock, and material movers, hand	7,270	2.2	15.17	31,550
Packers and packagers, hand	510	0.6	9.68	20,140
Refuse and recyclable material collectors	130	0.9	14.60	30,360
Footnotes: (1) For a complete listing of all detailed occupations in Savannah Metropolitan Statistical Area, see www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_42340.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) 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. (6) Estimate not released.