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News Release Information

24-1439-ATL
Thursday, July 18, 2024

Contacts Technical information: Media contact:
  • (404) 893-4220

Occupational Employment and Wages in Cape Coral-Fort Myers — May 2023

Workers in the Cape Coral-Fort Myers, FL Metropolitan Statistical Area had an average (mean) hourly wage of $27.55 in May 2023, compared to the nationwide average of $31.48, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Regional Commissioner Victoria G. Lee noted that higher paying major occupational groups included management ($57.89), healthcare practitioners and technical ($50.65), and legal ($49.83). Lower paying occupations included food preparation and serving related ($16.30), personal care and service ($17.17), and building and grounds cleaning and maintenance ($17.76). (See table A.)

Occupational groups with the highest employment in the Cape Coral area included office and administrative support (12.9 percent), sales and related (11.7 percent), and food preparation and serving related (10.8 percent). Major occupational groups on the lower end of local employment included life, physical, and social science (0.4 percent) and both architecture and engineering and legal (0.8 percent each). (See table A.)

Table A. Occupational employment and wages by major occupational group, United States and the Cape Coral metropolitan area, May 2023
Major occupational group Percent of total employment Mean hourly wage ($)
United States Cape Coral United States Cape Coral

Total, all occupations

100.0 100.0 31.48 27.55

Management

6.9 5.7 66.23 57.89

Business and financial operations

6.6 5.2 43.55 37.61

Computer and mathematical

3.4 1.7 54.39 43.29

Architecture and engineering

1.7 0.8 47.64 41.49

Life, physical, and social science

0.9 0.4 42.24 34.65

Community and social service

1.6 1.2 28.36 27.81

Legal

0.8 0.8 64.34 49.83

Educational instruction and library

5.8 4.1 31.92 30.09

Arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media

1.4 1.3 36.31 29.88

Healthcare practitioners and technical

6.1 7.2 49.07 50.65

Healthcare support

4.7 3.4 18.37 19.21

Protective service

2.3 2.1 27.74 24.78

Food preparation and serving related

8.7 10.8 16.58 16.30

Building and grounds cleaning and maintenance

2.9 4.5 18.43 17.76

Personal care and service

2.0 2.0 18.48 17.17

Sales and related

8.8 11.7 25.62 23.95

Office and administrative support

12.2 12.9 23.05 21.62

Farming, fishing, and forestry

0.3 0.1 19.22 15.64

Construction and extraction

4.1 9.4 29.57 23.82

Installation, maintenance, and repair

3.9 4.6 28.13 24.75

Production

5.8 2.5 22.90 21.28

Transportation and material moving

9.1 7.6 22.45 19.59

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 27,370 jobs in construction and extraction, accounting for 9.4 percent of local area employment, compared to the 4.1-percent share nationally. The average hourly wage for this occupational group locally was $23.82, compared to the national wage of $29.57.

Some of the larger detailed occupations within the construction and extraction group included construction laborers (3,850), first-line supervisors of construction trades and extraction workers (3,660), and carpenters (3,630). Among the higher-paying jobs in this group were elevator and escalator installers and repairers, first-line supervisors of construction trades and extraction workers, and construction and building inspectors, with mean hourly wages of $44.51, $33.40, and $31.02, respectively. At the lower end of the wage scale was helpers of painters, paperhangers, plasterers, and stucco masons ($15.97). (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 10.3 times the national rate in Cape Coral, and roofers, at 9.6 times the U.S. average. Electricians had a location quotient of 1.2 in Cape Coral, 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 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. Full OEWS data tables are available online.

Additional information about the OEWS estimates and methodology are 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 65.8 percent based on establishments and 64.3 percent based on weighted sampled employment. The sample in the Cape Coral-Fort Myers, FL Metropolitan Statistical Area included 2,524 establishments with a response rate of 61 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 Cape Coral-Fort Myers, FL Metropolitan Statistical Area includes Lee 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 construction and extraction occupations, Cape Coral metropolitan area, May 2023
Occupation (1) Employment Mean wages ($)
Level (2) Location quotient (3) Hourly Annual (4)

Construction and extraction occupations

27,370 2.3 23.82 49,550

First-line supervisors of construction trades and extraction workers

3,660 2.5 33.40 69,460

Stonemasons

50 2.9 23.45 48,770

Carpenters

3,630 2.7 22.42 46,630

Tile and stone setters

270 3.4 24.43 50,810

Cement masons and concrete finishers

1,060 2.7 23.43 48,740

Construction laborers

3,850 2.0 19.66 40,880

Paving, surfacing, and tamping equipment operators

160 2.0 20.36 42,360

Operating engineers and other construction equipment operators

1,140 1.3 23.17 48,180

Drywall and ceiling tile installers

670 3.9 20.07 41,740

Electricians

1,660 1.2 24.33 50,610

Glaziers

360 3.5 23.01 47,860

Insulation workers, floor, ceiling, and wall

140 1.8 21.81 45,360

Insulation workers, mechanical

60 1.3 20.35 42,320

Painters, construction and maintenance

1,440 3.5 20.70 43,050

Pipelayers

160 2.5 21.33 44,370

Plumbers, pipefitters, and steamfitters

1,860 2.2 24.58 51,130

Plasterers and stucco masons

440 10.3 22.39 46,560

Roofers

2,480 9.6 22.52 46,830

Sheet metal workers

420 1.9 23.04 47,930

Helpers--carpenters

240 5.7 18.14 37,720

Helpers--electricians

340 2.6 18.26 37,980

Helpers--painters, paperhangers, plasterers, and stucco masons

90 6.4 15.97 33,230

Helpers--pipelayers, plumbers, pipefitters, and steamfitters

410 4.8 19.04 39,610

Helpers--roofers

120 13.8 17.62 36,650

Helpers, construction trades, all other

190 3.6 18.64 38,780

Construction and building inspectors

570 2.2 31.02 64,520

Elevator and escalator installers and repairers

60 1.4 44.51 92,580

Miscellaneous construction and related workers

240 4.3 22.89 47,610

Excavating and loading machine and dragline operators, surface mining

100 1.6 26.36 54,820

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.

 

Last Modified Date: Thursday, July 18, 2024