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).

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.

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 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.

Table 1. Employment and wage data for architecture and engineering occupations, Huntsville metropolitan area, May 2024

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: (1) For a complete listing of all detailed occupations in the Huntsville, AL Metropolitan Statistical Area, see https://data.bls.gov/oes/#/area/0026620. (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.