Workers in the Pensacola-Ferry Pass-Brent, FL Metropolitan Statistical Area had an average (mean) hourly wage of $27.13 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 ($53.34), legal ($45.30), and computer and mathematical ($44.03). Lower paying occupational groups included food preparation and serving related ($16.29), building and grounds cleaning and maintenance ($16.54), and personal care and service ($17.08). (See table A.)

Occupational groups with the highest employment in the Pensacola area included office and administrative support (12.6 percent), food preparation and serving related (11.9 percent), and sales and related (10.4 percent). Major occupational groups on the lower end of local employment included life, physical, and social science (0.7 percent); arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media (0.9 percent); legal (1.1 percent); and architecture and engineering (1.2 percent).

One occupational group—healthcare practitioners and technical—was chosen to illustrate the diversity of data available for any of the 22 major occupational categories. Pensacola had 14,760 jobs in healthcare practitioners and technical, accounting for 7.8 percent of local area employment, compared to the 6.2-percent share nationally. The average hourly wage for this occupational group locally was $42.66, compared to the national wage of $50.59.

Registered nurses (5,730) was among the larger detailed occupations within the healthcare practitioners and technical group. Among the higher paying jobs in this group were nurse anesthetists ($108.32) and general dentists ($91.63). At the lower end of the wage scale were emergency medical technicians ($18.98), pharmacy technicians ($19.81), and psychiatric technicians ($19.90). (Detailed data for the healthcare practitioners and technical occupations are presented in table 1; for a complete listing of detailed occupations available go to https://data.bls.gov/oes/#/area/0037860.)

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 Pensacola area, above-average concentrations of employment were found in some of the occupations within the healthcare practitioners and technical group. For instance, cardiovascular technologists and technicians were employed at 2.34 times the national rate in Pensacola, and surgical technologists, at 1.83 times the U.S. average. Pharmacists had a location quotient of 1.02 in Pensacola, 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 Commerce.

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 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 65.7 percent based on establishments and 65.9 percent based on weighted sampled employment. The sample in the Pensacola-Ferry Pass-Brent, FL Metropolitan Statistical Area included 2,000 establishments with a response rate of 66 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 Pensacola-Ferry Pass-Brent, FL Metropolitan Statistical Area includes Escambia County and Santa Rosa 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 healthcare practitioners and technical occupations, Pensacola metropolitan area, May 2024

Occupation (1)	Employment		Mean wages ($)
	Level (2)	Location quotient (3)	Hourly	Annual (4)
Healthcare practitioners and technical occupations	14,760	1.26	42.66	88,740
Chiropractors	80	1.76	41.71	86,760
Dentists, general	180	1.32	91.63	190,580
Dietitians and nutritionists	110	1.14	33.07	68,790
Optometrists	50	1.01	57.74	120,100
Pharmacists	410	1.02	65.26	135,740
Physician assistants	220	1.17	61.07	127,020
Occupational therapists	220	1.19	44.41	92,380
Physical therapists	330	1.09	45.64	94,930
Radiation therapists	60	2.51	46.43	96,570
Respiratory therapists	200	1.21	39.77	82,720
Speech-language pathologists	220	1.02	42.51	88,430
Veterinarians	140	1.46	67.20	139,780
Registered nurses	5,730	1.43	39.92	83,040
Nurse anesthetists	70	1.21	108.32	225,300
Nurse practitioners	440	1.17	59.98	124,760
Family medicine physicians	90	0.69	(5)	(5)
General internal medicine physicians	(5)	(5)	119.31	248,170
Physicians, all other	350	0.90	147.34	306,470
Dental hygienists	270	0.99	38.88	80,870
Clinical laboratory technologists and technicians	440	1.04	28.72	59,730
Cardiovascular technologists and technicians	180	2.34	29.41	61,180
Diagnostic medical sonographers	140	1.28	37.18	77,320
Nuclear medicine technologists	70	3.35	42.19	87,740
Radiologic technologists and technicians	370	1.34	32.77	68,160
Magnetic resonance imaging technologists	70	1.32	39.96	83,120
Emergency medical technicians	230	1.03	18.98	39,490
Paramedics	190	1.55	27.20	56,580
Pharmacy technicians	820	1.38	19.81	41,210
Psychiatric technicians	250	1.50	19.90	41,380
Surgical technologists	260	1.83	29.29	60,930
Veterinary technologists and technicians	240	1.48	20.14	41,890
Ophthalmic medical technicians	170	1.85	21.15	43,990
Licensed practical and licensed vocational nurses	860	1.11	27.80	57,820
Medical records specialists	320	1.37	22.88	47,590
Opticians, dispensing	100	1.07	25.93	53,930
Health technologists and technicians, all other	240	1.11	23.95	49,810
Surgical assistants	60	2.03	27.99	58,220
Healthcare practitioners and technical workers, all other	40	0.80	23.73	49,360
Footnotes: (1) For a complete listing of all detailed occupations in the Pensacola-Ferry Pass-Brent, FL Metropolitan Statistical Area, see https://data.bls.gov/oes/#/area/0037860. (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.