Workers in the Birmingham-Hoover, AL Metropolitan Statistical Area had an average (mean) hourly wage of $24.87 in May 2021, about 11 percent below the nationwide average of $28.01, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. 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 arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media; food preparation and serving related; and construction and extraction.

When compared to the nationwide distribution, Birmingham area employment was more highly concentrated in 7 of the 22 occupational groups, including healthcare practitioners and technical; sales and related; and installation, maintenance, and repair. Twelve groups had employment shares significantly below their national representation, including educational instruction and library, healthcare support, and business and financial operations. (See table A.)

One occupational group—healthcare practitioners and technical—was chosen to illustrate the diversity of data available for any of the 22 major occupational categories. Birmingham had 42,320 jobs in healthcare practitioners and technical, accounting for 8.8 percent of local area employment, significantly higher than the 6.2-percent share nationally. The average hourly wage for this occupational group locally was $35.39, significantly below the national wage of $43.80.

In addition to registered nurses (17,880), some of the larger detailed occupations within the healthcare practitioners and technical group also included clinical laboratory technologists and technicians (2,340), pharmacy technicians (2,290), and licensed practical and licensed vocational nurses (2,170). Among the higher-paying jobs in this group were orthopedic surgeons, except pediatric, and cardiologists, with mean hourly wages of $175.14 and $170.83,respectively. At the lower end of the wage scale were veterinary technologists and technicians ($14.27), psychiatric technicians ($14.28), and emergency medical technicians ($14.67). (Detailed data for the healthcare practitioners and technical occupations are presented in table 1; for a complete listing of detailed occupations available, go to www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_13820.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 Birmingham area, above-average concentrations of employment were found in many of the occupations within the healthcare practitioners and technical group. For instance, nurse anesthetists were employed at 3.7 times the national rate in Birmingham, and psychiatric technicians, at 2.7 times the U.S. average. Licensed practical and licensed vocational nurses had a location quotient of 1.0 in Birmingham, indicating that this particular occupation’s local and national employment shares were similar.

These statistics are from the Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) survey, a federal-state cooperative program between BLS and State Workforce Agencies, in this case, the Alabama Department of Labor.

Technical Note

The Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) survey is a semiannual survey measuring occupational employment and wage rates for wage and salary workers in nonfarm establishments in the United States. The OEWS 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. OEWS data are available at www.bls.gov/oes/tables.htm.

The OEWS 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. OEWS estimates are constructed from a sample of about 1.1 million establishments. Each year, two semiannual panels of approximately 179,000 to 187,000 sampled establishments are contacted, one panel in May and the other in November. Responses are obtained by Internet or other electronic means, mail, email, telephone, or personal visit. The May 2021 estimates are based on responses from six semiannual panels collected over a 3-year period: May 2021, November 2020, May 2020, November 2019, May 2019, and November 2018. The unweighted sampled employment of 82 million across all six semiannual panels represents approximately 62 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 67.2 percent based on establishments and 64.5 percent based on weighted sampled employment. The sample in the Birmingham-Hoover, AL Metropolitan Statistical Area included 3,280 establishments with a response rate of 71 percent. For more information about OEWS 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.

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 Birmingham-Hoover, AL Metropolitan Statistical Area includes Bibb County, Blount County, Chilton County, Jefferson County, Shelby County, St. Clair County, and Walker County.

For more information

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

Information in this release will be made available to individuals with sensory impairments upon request. Voice phone: (202) 691-5200; Telecommunications Relay Service: 7-1-1.

Table 1. Employment and wage data for healthcare practitioners and technical occupations, Birmingham metropolitan area, May 2021

Occupation (1)	Employment		Mean wages
	Level (2)	Location quotient (3)	Hourly	Annual (4)
Healthcare practitioners and technical occupations	42,320	1.4	$35.39	$73,620
Chiropractors	50	0.4	30.31	63,040
Dentists, general	300	0.8	84.72	176,210
Dietitians and nutritionists	190	0.8	28.23	58,720
Optometrists	130	1.0	58.39	121,440
Pharmacists	1,470	1.4	61.26	127,420
Physician assistants	180	0.4	40.94	85,160
Occupational therapists	420	1.0	42.30	87,990
Physical therapists	840	1.1	46.90	97,550
Radiation therapists	80	1.4	37.25	77,480
Respiratory therapists	950	2.1	26.01	54,110
Speech-language pathologists	520	1.0	35.41	73,640
Veterinarians	350	1.3	49.69	103,350
Registered nurses	17,880	1.7	30.58	63,610
Nurse anesthetists	560	3.7	95.83	199,320
Nurse practitioners	1,290	1.6	49.12	102,170
Audiologists	(5)	(5)	35.98	74,840
Cardiologists	120	1.9	170.83	355,320
Family medicine physicians	220	0.6	97.69	203,200
Obstetricians and gynecologists	50	0.7	129.30	268,930
Pediatricians, general	(5)	(5)	73.29	152,450
Psychiatrists	50	0.5	81.27	169,040
Radiologists	(5)	(5)	167.25	347,880
Physicians, all other	1,090	1.2	114.54	238,230
Orthopedic surgeons, except pediatric	100	1.9	175.14	364,290
Surgeons, all other	(5)	(5)	73.71	153,320
Dental hygienists	820	1.2	25.39	52,810
Clinical laboratory technologists and technicians	2,340	2.1	23.76	49,410
Cardiovascular technologists and technicians	350	1.8	23.90	49,710
Diagnostic medical sonographers	480	1.8	30.26	62,940
Nuclear medicine technologists	120	2.1	32.36	67,310
Radiologic technologists and technicians	1,130	1.5	25.64	53,340
Magnetic resonance imaging technologists	190	1.5	31.89	66,330
Emergency medical technicians	640	1.2	14.62	30,410
Paramedics	200	0.6	18.24	37,940
Dietetic technicians	40	0.5	16.11	33,500
Pharmacy technicians	2,290	1.5	15.74	32,730
Psychiatric technicians	870	2.7	14.28	29,690
Surgical technologists	760	2.1	20.27	42,160
Veterinary technologists and technicians	370	0.9	14.27	29,680
Ophthalmic medical technicians	340	1.5	17.00	35,360
Licensed practical and licensed vocational nurses	2,170	1.0	21.45	44,610
Medical records specialists	630	1.0	19.93	41,450
Opticians, dispensing	170	0.7	17.29	35,950
Orthotists and prosthetists	50	1.5	31.04	64,570
Health technologists and technicians, all other	350	0.7	21.65	45,020
Athletic trainers	70	0.8	(6)	46,350
Healthcare practitioners and technical workers, all other	40	0.3	25.49	53,010
Footnotes: (1) For a complete listing of all detailed occupations in the Birmingham-Hoover, AL Metropolitan Statistical Area, see www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_13820.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.