Workers in the Burlington, NC Metropolitan Statistical Area had an average (mean) hourly wage of $24.75 in May 2024, compared to the nationwide average of $32.66, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Regional Commissioner Victoria G. Lee noted that higher paying major occupational groups included management ($55.96), computer and mathematical ($47.72), legal ($42.98), and architecture and engineering ($40.87). Lower paying occupational groups included food preparation and serving related ($14.47), personal care and service ($16.27), and building and grounds cleaning and maintenance ($16.70). (See table A.)

Occupational groups with the highest employment in the Burlington area included transportation and material moving (11.6 percent) and office and administrative support (11.5 percent). Major occupational groups on the lower end of local employment included legal (0.2 percent); life, physical, and social science (0.6 percent); arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media (0.9 percent); and architecture and engineering (0.9 percent).

One occupational group—transportation and material moving—was chosen to illustrate the diversity of data available for any of the 22 major occupational categories. Burlington had 7,900 jobs in transportation and material moving, accounting for 11.6 percent of local area employment, compared to the 8.9-percent share nationally. The average hourly wage for this occupational group locally was $18.88, compared to the national wage of $23.44.

Some of the larger detailed occupations within the transportation and material moving group included laborers and freight, stock, and material movers, hand (2,150), and stockers and order fillers (1,710). Among the higher paying jobs in this group were first-line supervisors of transportation and material moving workers, except aircraft cargo handling supervisors ($27.62), and heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers ($25.37). At the lower end of the wage scale were cleaners of vehicles and equipment ($13.70) and shuttle drivers and chauffeurs ($14.27). (Detailed data for the transportation and material moving occupations are presented in table 1; for a complete listing of detailed occupations available go to https://data.bls.gov/oes/#/area/0015500.)

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 2.00 indicates that an occupation accounts for twice the share of employment in the area than it does nationally. In the Burlington area, above-average concentrations of employment were found in some of the occupations within the transportation and material moving group. For instance, hand packers and packagers were employed at 2.74 times the national rate in Burlington, and industrial truck and tractor operators, at 1.70 times the U.S. average. Heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers had a location quotient of 0.92 in Burlington, indicating that this particular occupation’s local and national employment shares were similar.

The statistics in this release are from the Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) survey, a cooperative effort between BLS and the State Workforce Agencies (SWAs). BLS funds the survey and provides the procedures and technical support. State Workforce Agencies collect most of the data: in this case, the North Carolina Department of Commerce.

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 530 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. Full OEWS data tables are available online.

Additional information about the OEWS estimates and methodology is available in the national Technical Notes. The overall national response rate for the six panels, based on the 50 states and the District of Columbia, is 65.7 percent based on establishments and 65.9 percent based on weighted sampled employment. The sample in the Burlington, NC Metropolitan Statistical Area included 1,036 establishments with a response rate of 69 percent.

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 Burlington, NC Metropolitan Statistical Area includes Alamance County.

For more information

Answers to frequently asked questions about the OEWS data, as well as general program documentation, are available on the OEWS website.

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 transportation and material moving occupations, Burlington metropolitan area, May 2024

Occupation (1)	Employment		Mean wages ($)
	Level (2)	Location quotient (3)	Hourly	Annual (4)
Transportation and material moving occupations	7,900	1.31	18.88	39,280
First-line supervisors of transportation and material moving workers, except aircraft cargo handling supervisors	310	1.18	27.62	57,450
Heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers	840	0.92	25.37	52,760
Light truck drivers	570	1.30	20.11	41,820
Bus drivers, school	90	0.51	17.02	35,400
Bus drivers, transit and intercity	60	0.94	16.96	35,280
Shuttle drivers and chauffeurs	40	0.40	14.27	29,690
Automotive and watercraft service attendants	70	1.54	15.30	31,820
Industrial truck and tractor operators	600	1.70	22.80	47,420
Cleaners of vehicles and equipment	190	1.12	13.70	28,500
Laborers and freight, stock, and material movers, hand	2,150	1.63	15.66	32,580
Packers and packagers, hand	730	2.74	15.91	33,090
Stockers and order fillers	1,710	1.39	18.41	38,290
Refuse and recyclable material collectors	70	1.13	20.21	42,040
Footnotes: (1) For a complete listing of all detailed occupations in the Burlington, NC Metropolitan Statistical Area, see https://data.bls.gov/oes/#/area/0015500. (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.