Workers in the Cape Coral-Fort Myers, FL Metropolitan Statistical Area had an average (mean) hourly wage of $23.53 in May 2021, about 16 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 17 of the 22 major occupational groups, including management, computer and mathematical, and sales and related. Only one group had a significantly higher wage than its respective national average: healthcare support.

When compared to the nationwide distribution, Cape Coral area employment was more highly concentrated in 8 of the 22 occupational groups, including construction and extraction, food preparation and serving related, and sales and related. Fourteen groups had employment shares significantly below their national representation, including production, computer and mathematical, and transportation and material moving. (See table A.)

One occupational group—construction and extraction—was chosen to illustrate the diversity of data available for any of the 22 major occupational categories. Cape Coral had 21,810 jobs in construction and extraction, accounting for 8.2 percent of local area employment, significantly higher than the 4.2-percent share nationally. The average hourly wage for this occupational group locally was $21.38, significantly below the national wage of $26.87.

Some of the larger detailed occupations within the construction and extraction group included construction laborers (3,490), first-line supervisors of construction trades and extraction workers (2,880), and carpenters (2,350). Among the higher-paying jobs in this group were elevator and escalator installers and repairers, construction and building inspectors, and first-line supervisors of construction trades and extraction workers, with mean hourly wages of $39.75, $30.66, and $30.56, respectively. At the lower end of the wage scale were carpenters' helpers ($14.85). (Detailed data for the construction and extraction occupations are presented in table 1; for a complete listing of detailed occupations available, go to www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_15980.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 Cape Coral area, above-average concentrations of employment were found in many of the occupations within the construction and extraction group. For instance, plasterers and stucco masons were employed at 7.4 times the national rate in Cape Coral, and roofers, at 7.1 times the U.S. average. Electricians had a location quotient of 1.1 in Cape Coral, 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 Florida Department of Economic Opportunity.

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 Cape Coral-Fort Myers, FL Metropolitan Statistical Area included 2,442 establishments with a response rate of 66 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 Cape Coral-Fort Myers, FL Metropolitan Statistical Area includes Lee 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 construction and extraction occupations, Cape Coral metropolitan area, May 2021

Occupation (1)	Employment		Mean wages
	Level (2)	Location quotient (3)	Hourly	Annual (4)
Construction and extraction occupations	21,810	2.0	$21.38	$44,470
First-line supervisors of construction trades and extraction workers	2,880	2.3	30.56	63,570
Brickmasons and blockmasons	360	3.4	21.47	44,660
Carpenters	2,350	1.9	20.04	41,670
Cement masons and concrete finishers	660	1.9	20.23	42,090
Construction laborers	3,490	1.9	17.48	36,350
Operating engineers and other construction equipment operators	870	1.1	21.35	44,420
Drywall and ceiling tile installers	740	4.1	18.71	38,930
Electricians	1,380	1.1	23.02	47,880
Glaziers	340	3.4	20.32	42,270
Insulation workers, mechanical	90	1.7	19.13	39,790
Painters, construction and maintenance	1,070	2.7	18.40	38,260
Pipelayers	210	3.3	19.56	40,680
Plumbers, pipefitters, and steamfitters	1,310	1.7	23.91	49,730
Plasterers and stucco masons	380	7.4	19.37	40,290
Roofers	1,740	7.1	20.42	42,480
Sheet metal workers	390	1.7	21.71	45,150
Structural iron and steel workers	160	1.3	23.17	48,200
Solar photovoltaic installers	50	1.7	19.47	40,510
Helpers--carpenters	300	5.7	14.85	30,890
Helpers--electricians	370	2.7	16.47	34,260
Helpers--pipelayers, plumbers, pipefitters, and steamfitters	470	5.4	15.12	31,450
Helpers--roofers	(5)	(5)	15.65	32,560
Helpers, construction trades, all other	110	2.2	15.98	33,230
Construction and building inspectors	330	1.5	30.66	63,770
Elevator and escalator installers and repairers	80	2.0	39.75	82,680
Miscellaneous construction and related workers	120	2.1	18.00	37,430
Excavating and loading machine and dragline operators, surface mining	90	1.3	22.72	47,260
Footnotes: (1) For a complete listing of all detailed occupations in the Cape Coral-Fort Myers, FL Metropolitan Statistical Area, see www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_15980.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.