Workers in the Huntsville, AL Metropolitan Statistical Area had an average (mean) hourly wage of $32.27 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 ($65.24), architecture and engineering ($55.58), legal ($54.56), and computer and mathematical ($54.18). Lower paying occupations included food preparation and serving related ($13.56), personal care and service ($15.54), healthcare support ($15.89), and building and grounds and cleaning and maintenance ($16.11). (See table A.)

Occupational groups with the highest employment in the Huntsville area included office and administrative support (9.4 percent), production (8.9 percent), and transportation and material moving (8.6 percent). Major occupational groups on the lower end of local employment included legal (0.5 percent); community and social service (0.7 percent); and life, physical, and social science (0.8 percent). (See table A.)

One occupational group—architecture and engineering—was chosen to illustrate the diversity of data available for any of the 22 major occupational categories. Huntsville had 19,870 jobs in architecture and engineering, accounting for 7.9 percent of local area employment, compared to the 1.7-percent share nationally. The average hourly wage for this occupational group locally was $55.58, compared to the national wage of $47.64.

Some of the larger detailed occupations within the architecture and engineering group included aerospace engineers (4,280), mechanical engineers (2,260), and electrical engineers (2,070). Among the higher-paying jobs in this group were computer hardware engineers ($64.67), aerospace engineers ($63.61), and electronics engineers, except computer ($63.15). At the lower end of the wage scale were surveying and mapping technicians and civil engineering technologists and technicians, with mean hourly wages of $21.95 and $24.20, respectively. (Detailed data for the architecture and engineering occupations are presented in table 1; for a complete listing of detailed occupations available, go to www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_26620.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 Huntsville area, above-average concentrations of employment were found in many of the occupations within the architecture and engineering group. For instance, aerospace engineers were employed at 38.8 times the national rate in Huntsville, and electrical engineers, at 6.7 times the U.S. average. Architectural and civil drafters had a location quotient of 1.2 in Huntsville, 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 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. 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 Huntsville, AL Metropolitan Statistical Area included 2,001 establishments with a response rate of 59 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 Huntsville, AL Metropolitan Statistical Area includes Limestone County and Madison 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 architecture and engineering occupations, Huntsville metropolitan area, May 2023

Occupation (1)	Employment		Mean wages ($)
	Level (2)	Location quotient (3)	Hourly	Annual (4)
Architecture and engineering occupations	19,870	4.7	55.58	115,600
Architects, except landscape and naval	190	1.0	56.20	116,900
Surveyors	160	2.0	28.18	58,610
Aerospace engineers	4,280	38.8	63.61	132,310
Chemical engineers	110	3.2	56.01	116,490
Civil engineers	1,120	2.1	48.89	101,680
Computer hardware engineers	660	4.8	64.67	134,520
Electrical engineers	2,070	6.7	57.57	119,740
Electronics engineers, except computer	920	5.7	63.15	131,360
Environmental engineers	130	1.9	51.31	106,720
Health and safety engineers, except mining safety engineers and inspectors	200	5.4	57.69	120,000
Industrial engineers	1,640	3.0	50.87	105,810
Materials engineers	290	7.1	57.32	119,220
Mechanical engineers	2,260	4.9	53.74	111,780
Engineers, all other	3,190	12.8	66.62	138,570
Architectural and civil drafters	220	1.2	27.41	57,020
Electrical and electronics drafters	70	2.1	35.42	73,680
Mechanical drafters	70	1.0	35.74	74,340
Aerospace engineering and operations technologists and technicians	(5)	(5)	35.33	73,480
Civil engineering technologists and technicians	220	2.1	24.20	50,330
Electrical and electronic engineering technologists and technicians	750	4.7	33.13	68,910
Industrial engineering technologists and technicians	160	1.3	28.40	59,080
Mechanical engineering technologists and technicians	180	2.7	32.69	67,990
Engineering technologists and technicians, except drafters, all other	300	2.8	39.46	82,070
Surveying and mapping technicians	230	2.5	21.95	45,660
Footnotes: (1) For a complete listing of all detailed occupations in the Huntsville, AL Metropolitan Statistical Area, see www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_26620.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.