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News Release Information

24-1422-ATL
Tuesday, July 16, 2024

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

Occupational Employment and Wages in Memphis — May 2023

Workers in the Memphis, TN-MS-AR Metropolitan Statistical Area had an average (mean) hourly wage of $26.91 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 ($60.06) and legal ($53.68). Lower paying occupations included food preparation and serving related ($14.28), personal care and service ($15.87), building and grounds cleaning and maintenance ($16.37), and healthcare support ($16.82). (See table A.)

Occupational groups with the highest employment in the Memphis area included transportation and material moving (17.0 percent) and office and administrative support (13.3 percent). Major occupational groups on the lower end of local employment included legal (0.5 percent); life, physical, and social science (0.7 percent); and arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media (0.8 percent). (See table A.)

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

Total, all occupations

100.0 100.0 31.48 26.91

Management

6.9 6.2 66.23 60.06

Business and financial operations

6.6 5.1 43.55 36.04

Computer and mathematical

3.4 2.0 54.39 44.35

Architecture and engineering

1.7 1.0 47.64 40.22

Life, physical, and social science

0.9 0.7 42.24 40.21

Community and social service

1.6 1.3 28.36 25.10

Legal

0.8 0.5 64.34 53.68

Educational instruction and library

5.8 5.0 31.92 27.94

Arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media

1.4 0.8 36.31 26.39

Healthcare practitioners and technical

6.1 6.3 49.07 44.14

Healthcare support

4.7 3.0 18.37 16.82

Protective service

2.3 3.4 27.74 22.37

Food preparation and serving related

8.7 8.2 16.58 14.28

Building and grounds cleaning and maintenance

2.9 2.6 18.43 16.37

Personal care and service

2.0 1.8 18.48 15.87

Sales and related

8.8 8.1 25.62 21.23

Office and administrative support

12.2 13.3 23.05 21.66

Farming, fishing, and forestry

0.3 0.2 19.22 17.58

Construction and extraction

4.1 3.2 29.57 24.88

Installation, maintenance, and repair

3.9 4.3 28.13 27.13

Production

5.8 6.0 22.90 21.42

Transportation and material moving

9.1 17.0 22.45 21.93

One occupational group—transportation and material moving—was chosen to illustrate the diversity of data available for any of the 22 major occupational categories. Memphis had 106,230 jobs in transportation and material moving, accounting for 17.0 percent of local area employment, compared to the 9.1-percent share nationally. The average hourly wage for this occupational group locally was $21.93, compared to the national wage of $22.45.

Some of the larger detailed occupations within the transportation and material moving group included laborers and hand freight, stock, and material movers (36,710); heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers (16,890); and stockers and order fillers (16,070). Among the higher-paying jobs in this group were transportation inspectors and first-line supervisors of transportation and material moving workers, except aircraft cargo handling supervisors, with mean hourly wages of $43.35 and $33.24, respectively. At the lower end of the wage scale were passenger attendants ($12.60) and parking attendants ($13.76). (Detailed data for the transportation and material moving occupations are presented in table 1; for a complete listing of detailed occupations available, go to www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_32820.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 Memphis area, above-average concentrations of employment were found in many of the occupations within the transportation and material moving group. For instance, conveyor operators and tenders were employed at 4.0 times the national rate in Memphis, and laborers and hand freight, stock, and material movers, at 3.0 times the U.S. average. Cleaners of vehicles and equipment had a location quotient of 1.0 in Memphis, 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 Tennessee Department of Labor & Workforce Development, the Mississippi Department of Employment Security, and the Arkansas Department of Workforce Services.


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 Memphis, TN-MS-AR Metropolitan Statistical Area included 4,699 establishments with a response rate of 64 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 Memphis, TN-MS-AR Metropolitan Statistical Area includes Crittenden County, AR; Benton County, MS; DeSoto County, MS; Marshall County, MS; Tate County, MS; Tunica County, MS; Fayette County, TN; Shelby County, TN; and Tipton County, TN.

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, Memphis metropolitan area, May 2023
Occupation (1) Employment Mean wages ($)
Level (2) Location quotient (3) Hourly Annual (4)

Transportation and material moving occupations

106,230 1.9 21.93 45,620

First-line supervisors of transportation and material moving workers, except aircraft cargo handling supervisors

6,510 2.7 33.24 69,140

Commercial pilots

170 0.8 (5) 125,290

Airfield operations specialists

230 3.1 24.14 50,210

Ambulance drivers and attendants, except emergency medical technicians

50 1.1 15.97 33,210

Driver/sales workers

1,340 0.7 17.07 35,500

Heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers

16,890 2.0 28.54 59,370

Light truck drivers

7,710 1.9 25.98 54,040

Bus drivers, school

970 0.6 17.49 36,390

Shuttle drivers and chauffeurs

630 0.7 17.84 37,110

Motor vehicle operators, all other

340 1.6 16.78 34,900

Railroad conductors and yardmasters

60 0.3 20.35 42,330

Captains, mates, and pilots of water vessels

210 1.5 (6) (6)

Parking attendants

260 0.5 13.76 28,630

Automotive and watercraft service attendants

460 1.2 15.51 32,250

Aircraft service attendants

(6) (6) 24.61 51,180

Traffic technicians

50 1.5 27.48 57,160

Transportation inspectors

110 1.0 43.35 90,160

Passenger attendants

70 0.8 12.60 26,210

Transportation workers, all other

(6) (6) 26.57 55,270

Conveyor operators and tenders

410 4.0 18.11 37,660

Crane and tower operators

160 0.9 29.00 60,320

Industrial truck and tractor operators

7,200 2.2 20.24 42,100

Cleaners of vehicles and equipment

1,520 1.0 16.29 33,880

Laborers and freight, stock, and material movers, hand

36,710 3.0 18.26 37,970

Machine feeders and offbearers

250 1.4 20.82 43,300

Packers and packagers, hand

4,240 1.6 16.00 33,280

Stockers and order fillers

16,070 1.4 18.33 38,130

Refuse and recyclable material collectors

710 1.3 19.73 41,030

Tank car, truck, and ship loaders

30 0.7 22.67 47,160

Material moving workers, all other

140 1.4 21.87 45,500

Footnotes:
(1) For a complete listing of all detailed occupations in the Memphis, TN-MS-AR Metropolitan Statistical Area, see www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_32820.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) Wages for some occupations that do not generally work year-round, full time, are reported either as hourly wages or annual salaries depending on how they are typically paid.
(6) Estimate not released.

 

Last Modified Date: Tuesday, July 16, 2024