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Friday, May 02, 2025
Workers in the Huntsville, AL Metropolitan Statistical Area had an average (mean) hourly wage of $33.35 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 ($65.99), architecture and engineering ($59.03), and computer and mathematical ($55.39). Lower paying occupational groups included food preparation and serving related ($14.30) and personal care and service ($15.08). (See table A.)
Occupational groups with the highest employment in the Huntsville area included production (9.3 percent), office and administrative support (8.6 percent), and business and financial operations (8.0 percent). Major occupational groups on the lower end of local employment included legal (0.5 percent); community and social service (0.8 percent); and life, physical, and social science (0.9 percent).
Major occupational group | Percent of total employment | Mean hourly wage ($) | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
United States | Huntsville | United States | Huntsville | ||
Total, all occupations |
100.0 | 100.0 | 32.66 | 33.35 | |
Management |
7.1 | 6.0 | 68.15 | 65.99 | |
Business and financial operations |
6.7 | 8.0 | 45.04 | 48.48 | |
Computer and mathematical |
3.4 | 7.6 | 56.16 | 55.39 | |
Architecture and engineering |
1.7 | 7.7 | 49.99 | 59.03 | |
Life, physical, and social science |
0.9 | 0.9 | 43.12 | 45.74 | |
Community and social service |
1.7 | 0.8 | 30.31 | 26.24 | |
Legal |
0.8 | 0.5 | 66.19 | 46.63 | |
Educational instruction and library |
5.8 | 4.2 | 31.69 | 25.26 | |
Arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media |
1.4 | 1.0 | 37.04 | 30.83 | |
Healthcare practitioners and technical |
6.2 | 6.3 | 50.59 | 40.82 | |
Healthcare support |
4.8 | 3.1 | 19.06 | 16.70 | |
Protective service |
2.4 | 1.9 | 29.33 | 25.71 | |
Food preparation and serving related |
8.8 | 7.8 | 17.32 | 14.30 | |
Building and grounds cleaning and maintenance |
2.9 | 2.3 | 19.01 | 16.75 | |
Personal care and service |
2.0 | 1.7 | 18.95 | 15.08 | |
Sales and related |
8.7 | 7.8 | 26.00 | 22.14 | |
Office and administrative support |
11.8 | 8.6 | 24.12 | 21.92 | |
Farming, fishing, and forestry |
0.3 | 0.1 | 20.06 | 18.44 | |
Construction and extraction |
4.1 | 3.0 | 30.73 | 24.74 | |
Installation, maintenance, and repair |
3.9 | 3.7 | 29.63 | 28.94 | |
Production |
5.7 | 9.3 | 24.08 | 23.40 | |
Transportation and material moving |
8.9 | 7.8 | 23.44 | 20.37 |
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 20,060 jobs in architecture and engineering, accounting for 7.7 percent of local area employment, compared to the 1.7-percent share nationally. The average hourly wage for this occupational group locally was $59.03, compared to the national wage of $49.99.
Some of the larger detailed occupations within the architecture and engineering group included aerospace engineers (4,580), electrical engineers (2,240), and mechanical engineers (2,020). Among the higher paying jobs in this group were aerospace engineers ($67.86), computer hardware engineers ($65.10), and electronics engineers, except computer ($64.98). At the lower end of the wage scale were surveying and mapping technicians ($22.98) and civil engineering technologists and technicians ($25.24). (Detailed data for the architecture and engineering occupations are presented in table 1; for a complete listing of detailed occupations available go to https://data.bls.gov/oes/#/area/0026620.)
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 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 39.67 times the national rate in Huntsville, and electrical engineers, at 7.04 times the U.S. average. Industrial engineering technologists and technicians had a location quotient of 0.89 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.
Effective with the May 2024 OEWS news release, the OEWS program has implemented new metropolitan area definitions based on the 2020 decennial census and delineated by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), Bulletin 23-01. This news release does not include data for Colorado and its areas because of quality concerns with Colorado’s Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW) data. See the national OEWS news release for more information.
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 Huntsville, AL Metropolitan Statistical Area included 2,049 establishments with a response rate of 57 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.
Occupation (1) | Employment | Mean wages ($) | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
Level (2) | Location quotient (3) | Hourly | Annual (4) | |
Architecture and engineering occupations |
20,060 | 4.63 | 59.03 | 122,790 |
Architects, except landscape and naval |
180 | 0.97 | 50.16 | 104,340 |
Surveyors |
190 | 2.12 | 35.00 | 72,810 |
Aerospace engineers |
4,580 | 39.67 | 67.86 | 141,140 |
Chemical engineers |
80 | 2.31 | 49.97 | 103,930 |
Civil engineers |
1,250 | 2.08 | 54.36 | 113,060 |
Computer hardware engineers |
650 | 5.09 | 65.10 | 135,410 |
Electrical engineers |
2,240 | 7.04 | 63.59 | 132,260 |
Electronics engineers, except computer |
790 | 5.00 | 64.98 | 135,170 |
Environmental engineers |
90 | 1.45 | 54.37 | 113,090 |
Health and safety engineers, except mining safety engineers and inspectors |
180 | 4.69 | 59.27 | 123,280 |
Industrial engineers |
1,790 | 3.03 | 54.50 | 113,350 |
Materials engineers |
330 | 8.52 | 59.30 | 123,340 |
Mechanical engineers |
2,020 | 4.18 | 55.16 | 114,720 |
Engineers, all other |
3,120 | 12.26 | 69.68 | 144,940 |
Architectural and civil drafters |
240 | 1.29 | 27.82 | 57,870 |
Electrical and electronics drafters |
70 | 1.99 | 31.47 | 65,450 |
Mechanical drafters |
130 | 1.89 | 35.04 | 72,870 |
Aerospace engineering and operations technologists and technicians |
130 | 8.50 | 35.45 | 73,740 |
Civil engineering technologists and technicians |
180 | 1.70 | 25.24 | 52,500 |
Electrical and electronic engineering technologists and technicians |
870 | 5.56 | 35.48 | 73,790 |
Environmental engineering technologists and technicians |
(5) | (5) | 32.63 | 67,880 |
Industrial engineering technologists and technicians |
110 | 0.89 | 30.53 | 63,510 |
Mechanical engineering technologists and technicians |
120 | 1.85 | 33.98 | 70,680 |
Engineering technologists and technicians, except drafters, all other |
250 | 2.30 | 44.45 | 92,450 |
Surveying and mapping technicians |
210 | 2.20 | 22.98 | 47,790 |
Footnotes: |
Last Modified Date: Friday, May 02, 2025