Workers in the Memphis Metropolitan Statistical Area had an average (mean) hourly wage of $21.45 in May 2018, about 14 percent below the nationwide average of $24.98, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Regional Commissioner Janet S. Rankin noted that, after testing for statistical significance, 20 of the 22 major occupational groups had average wages in the local area that were significantly lower than their respective national averages, including computer and mathematical; legal; and construction and extraction.

When compared to the nationwide distribution, local employment was more highly concentrated in 5 of the 22 occupational groups, including transportation and material moving; protective service; and office and administrative support. Conversely, 14 groups had employment shares significantly below their national representation, including business and financial operations; computer and mathematical; and construction and extraction. (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. Memphis had 91,180 jobs in transportation and material moving, accounting for 14.6 percent of local area employment, significantly higher than the 7.1-percent share nationally. The average hourly wage for this occupational group locally was $16.75, significantly below the national wage of $18.41.

Some of the larger detailed occupations within the transportation and material moving group included laborers and hand freight, stock, and material movers (39,840); heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers (16,430); and light truck or delivery services drivers (6,660). Among the higher-paying jobs in this group were transportation inspectors and first-line supervisors of transportation and material moving workers, except aircraft cargo handling supervisors, with mean hourly wages of $48.10 and $28.14, respectively. At the lower end of the wage scale were parking lot attendants ($10.59) and ambulance drivers and attendants, except emergency medical technicians ($10.72). (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_32820.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 Memphis Metropolitan Statistical Area, above-average concentrations of employment were found in many of the occupations within the transportation and material moving group. For instance, laborers and hand freight, stock, and material movers were employed at 3.2 times the national rate in Memphis, and industrial truck and tractor operators, at 2.1 times the U.S. average. On the other hand, taxi drivers and chauffeurs had a location quotient of 1.0 in Memphis, 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 Tennessee Department of Labor & Workforce Development.

Technical Note

The Occupational Employment Statistics (OES) survey is a semiannual 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 580 areas, including states and the District of Columbia, metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs), nonmetropolitan areas, and territories; national industry-specific estimates at the NAICS sector, 3-digit, most 4-digit, 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.

The OES survey is a cooperative effort between BLS and the State Workforce Agencies (SWAs). BLS funds the survey and provides the procedures and technical support, while the State Workforce Agencies collect most of the data. OES estimates are constructed from a sample of about 1.2 million establishments. Each year, two semiannual panels of approximately 180,000 to 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 2018 estimates are based on responses from six semiannual panels collected over a 3-year period: May 2018, November 2017, May 2017, November 2016, May 2016, and November 2015. The unweighted sample employment of 83 million across all six semiannual panels represents approximately 58 percent of total national employment. The overall national response rate for the six panels, based on the 50 states and the District of Columbia, is 71 percent based on establishments and 68 percent based on weighted sampled employment. The sample in the Memphis Metropolitan Statistical Area included 4,531 establishments with a response rate of 72 percent. For more information about OES concepts and methodology, go to www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_tec.htm.

A value that is statistically different from another does not necessarily mean that the difference has economic or practical significance. Statistical significance is concerned with the ability to make confident statements about a universe based on a sample. It is entirely possible that a large difference between two values is not significantly different statistically, while a small difference is, since both the size and heterogeneity of the sample affect the relative error of the data being tested.

The May 2018 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 Memphis, TN-MS-AR Metropolitan Statistical Area includes Benton, DeSoto, Marshall, Tate, and Tunica Counties in Mississippi; Crittenden County in Arkansas; and Fayette, Shelby, and Tipton Counties in Tennessee.

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, Memphis Metropolitan Statistical Area, May 2018

Occupation (1)	Employment		Mean wages
	Level (2)	Location quotient (3)	Hourly	Annual (4)
Transportation and material moving occupations	91,180	2.1	$16.75	$34,830
Aircraft cargo handling supervisors	(5)	(5)	23.28	48,430
First-line supervisors of transportation and material moving workers, except aircraft cargo handling supervisors	4,800	2.7	28.14	58,530
Airline pilots, copilots, and flight engineers	50	0.1	(6)	67,960
Commercial pilots	(5)	(5)	(6)	79,700
Ambulance drivers and attendants, except emergency medical technicians	50	0.8	10.72	22,300
Bus drivers, transit and intercity	700	0.9	17.92	37,260
Driver/sales workers	1,660	0.9	13.16	27,370
Heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers	16,430	2.1	22.08	45,920
Light truck or delivery services drivers	6,660	1.7	17.32	36,020
Taxi drivers and chauffeurs	930	1.0	13.21	27,480
Motor vehicle operators, all other	210	0.9	15.47	32,180
Sailors and marine oilers	310	2.3	12.54	26,090
Captains, mates, and pilots of water vessels	320	2.0	19.73	41,050
Parking lot attendants	510	0.8	10.59	22,030
Automotive and watercraft service attendants	630	1.3	12.46	25,920
Traffic technicians	60	1.9	21.06	43,800
Transportation inspectors	80	0.7	48.10	100,050
Transportation workers, all other	280	1.7	17.43	36,260
Conveyor operators and tenders	210	2.1	16.73	34,790
Crane and tower operators	70	0.4	22.63	47,070
Excavating and loading machine and dragline operators	200	1.0	17.22	35,820
Industrial truck and tractor operators	5,490	2.1	16.42	34,160
Cleaners of vehicles and equipment	1,450	0.9	12.43	25,850
Laborers and freight, stock, and material movers, hand	39,840	3.2	13.84	28,790
Machine feeders and offbearers	140	0.5	14.17	29,470
Packers and packagers, hand	5,200	1.8	12.02	25,000
Refuse and recyclable material collectors	590	1.2	16.79	34,920
Tank car, truck, and ship loaders	30	0.9	18.68	38,850
Material moving workers, all other	(5)	(5)	14.33	29,810
Footnotes: (1) For a complete listing of all detailed occupations in the Memphis, TN-MS-AR Metropolitan Statistical Area, see www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_32820.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.