Workers in the Memphis, TN-MS-AR Metropolitan Statistical Area had an average (mean) hourly wage of $21.81 in May 2019, about 15 percent below the nationwide average of $25.72, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Regional Commissioner Janet S. Rankin noted that, after testing for statistical significance, 21 of the 22 major occupational groups had average wages in the local area that were significantly lower than their respective national averages, including legal, architecture and engineering, and management.

When compared to the nationwide distribution, Memphis area employment was more highly concentrated in 4 of the 22 occupational groups, including transportation and material moving, and healthcare practitioners and technical. Thirteen 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 107,020 jobs in transportation and material moving occupations, accounting for 16.9 percent of local area employment, significantly higher than the 8.5-percent share nationally. The local average hourly wage for this occupational group was $17.15, significantly lower than the national wage of $18.23.

Some of the larger detailed occupations within the transportation and material moving group included laborers and hand freight, stock, and material movers (39,160); heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers (16,150); and stockers and order fillers (13,900). Among the higher-paying jobs in this group were captains, mates, and pilots of water vessels; and tank car, truck, and ship loaders, with mean hourly wages of $35.31 and $28.13, respectively. At the lower end of the wage scale were passenger vehicle drivers, except transit and intercity bus drivers ($11.69) and hand packers and packagers ($12.30). (Detailed data for the 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 area, above-average concentrations of employment were found in many of the occupations within the transportation and material moving group. For instance, captains, mates, and pilots of water vessels were employed at 9.5 times the national rate in Memphis, and industrial truck and tractor operators, at 2.2 times the U.S. average. Refuse and recyclable material collectors had a location quotient of 1.2 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, the Mississippi Department of Employment Security, and the Arkansas Division of Workforce Services.

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 1.1 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 2019 estimates are based on responses from six semiannual panels collected over a 3-year period: May 2019, November 2018, May 2018, November 2017, May 2017, and November 2016. The unweighted sample employment of 83 million across all six semiannual panels represents approximately 57 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, TN-MS-AR Metropolitan Statistical Area included 4,515 establishments with a response rate of 71 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 2019 OES estimates are the first set of OES estimates to be based in part on survey data collected using the 2018 SOC. These estimates use a hybrid of the 2010 and 2018 SOC systems. More information on the hybrid classification system is available at www.bls.gov/oes/soc_2018.htm.

The May 2019 OES estimates are based on the 2017 North American Industry Classification System (NAICS). More 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 Fayette, Shelby, and Tipton Counties of Tennessee; Benton, DeSoto, Marshall, Tate, and Tunica Counties of Mississippi; and Crittenden County of Arkansas.

For more information

Answers to frequently asked questions about the OES data are available at www.bls.gov/oes/oes_ques.htm. Detailed information about the OES program is available at www.bls.gov/oes/oes_doc.htm.

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 for transportation and material moving occupations, Memphis, TN-MS-AR Metropolitan Statistical Area, May 2019

Occupation (1)	Employment		Mean wages
	Level (2)	Location quotient (3)	Hourly	Annual (4)
Transportation and material moving occupations	107,020	2.0	$17.15	$35,660
Aircraft cargo handling supervisors	(5)	(5)	24.35	50,650
First-line supervisors of transportation and material moving workers, except aircraft cargo handling supervisors	5,080	2.6	28.95	60,210
Airline pilots, copilots, and flight engineers	60	0.2	(6)	88,650
Commercial pilots	(5)	(5)	(6)	117,910
Ambulance drivers and attendants, except emergency medical technicians	470	7.4	12.17	25,320
Driver/sales workers	1,480	0.8	14.56	30,290
Heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers	16,150	2.0	21.49	44,700
Light truck drivers	8,650	2.2	18.14	37,730
Bus drivers, transit and intercity	710	0.9	17.46	36,310
Passenger vehicle drivers, except bus drivers, transit and intercity	2,450	0.8	11.69	24,310
Motor vehicle operators, all other	260	1.1	15.34	31,920
Sailors and marine oilers	(5)	(5)	18.55	38,580
Captains, mates, and pilots of water vessels	1,360	9.5	35.31	73,440
Parking attendants	360	0.6	11.67	24,270
Automotive and watercraft service attendants	670	1.3	12.19	25,360
Traffic technicians	80	2.5	21.50	44,720
Transportation inspectors	100	0.8	45.63	94,910
Aircraft service attendants and transportation workers, all other	230	1.6	20.45	42,540
Conveyor operators and tenders	210	2.0	17.78	36,980
Crane and tower operators	60	0.3	20.57	42,780
Industrial truck and tractor operators	5,980	2.2	16.92	35,190
Cleaners of vehicles and equipment	1,260	0.8	13.14	27,340
Laborers and freight, stock, and material movers, hand	39,160	3.1	14.47	30,100
Machine feeders and offbearers	90	0.3	16.34	33,980
Packers and packagers, hand	5,100	1.9	12.30	25,590
Stockers and order fillers	13,900	1.5	14.23	29,590
Refuse and recyclable material collectors	650	1.2	17.20	35,780
Tank car, truck, and ship loaders	320	6.5	28.13	58,510
Material moving workers, all other	(5)	(5)	15.10	31,420
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 may not sum to the totals due to rounding, and because the totals may include occupations that are 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.