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News Release Information

24-1490-ATL
Thursday, July 25, 2024

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

Occupational Employment and Wages in Winston-Salem — May 2023

Workers in the Winston-Salem, NC Metropolitan Statistical Area had an average (mean) hourly wage of $27.33 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 ($60.59), legal ($51.24), computer and mathematical ($48.61), and healthcare practitioners and technical ($46.09). Lower paying occupations included food preparation and serving related ($13.98), building and grounds cleaning and maintenance ($15.74), and personal care and service ($16.29). (See table A.)

Occupational groups with the highest employment in the Winston area included office and administrative support (11.6 percent), transportation and material moving (10.3 percent), and sales and related (9.6 percent). Major occupational groups on the lower end of local employment included life, physical, and social science and also legal (0.7 percent each). (See table A.)

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

Total, all occupations

100.0 100.0 31.48 27.33

Management

6.9 5.3 66.23 60.59

Business and financial operations

6.6 5.3 43.55 37.78

Computer and mathematical

3.4 2.2 54.39 48.61

Architecture and engineering

1.7 1.1 47.64 39.76

Life, physical, and social science

0.9 0.7 42.24 36.98

Community and social service

1.6 1.0 28.36 26.21

Legal

0.8 0.7 64.34 51.24

Educational instruction and library

5.8 6.4 31.92 32.76

Arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media

1.4 1.0 36.31 26.27

Healthcare practitioners and technical

6.1 9.0 49.07 46.09

Healthcare support

4.7 4.2 18.37 17.70

Protective service

2.3 2.0 27.74 21.89

Food preparation and serving related

8.7 9.1 16.58 13.98

Building and grounds cleaning and maintenance

2.9 2.8 18.43 15.74

Personal care and service

2.0 1.6 18.48 16.29

Sales and related

8.8 9.6 25.62 21.53

Office and administrative support

12.2 11.6 23.05 20.88

Farming, fishing, and forestry

0.3 0.1 19.22 18.08

Construction and extraction

4.1 3.4 29.57 23.55

Installation, maintenance, and repair

3.9 3.8 28.13 24.97

Production

5.8 8.7 22.90 21.36

Transportation and material moving

9.1 10.3 22.45 18.72

One occupational group—healthcare practitioners and technical—was chosen to illustrate the diversity of data available for any of the 22 major occupational categories. Winston had 24,350 jobs in healthcare practitioners and technical, accounting for 9.0 percent of local area employment, compared to the 6.1-percent share nationally. The average hourly wage for this occupational group locally was $46.09, compared to the national wage of $49.07.

Some of the larger detailed occupations within the healthcare practitioners and technical group included registered nurses (8,750), pharmacy technicians (1,210), and licensed practical and licensed vocational nurses (1,120). Among the higher-paying jobs in this group were family medicine physicians and nurse anesthetists, with mean hourly wages of $108.90 and $107.70, respectively. At the lower end of the wage scale were dietetic technicians ($15.06), emergency medical technicians ($18.78), and psychiatric technicians ($19.16). (Detailed data for the healthcare practitioners and technical occupations are presented in table 1; for a complete listing of detailed occupations available, go to www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_49180.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 Winston area, above-average concentrations of employment were found in many of the occupations within the healthcare practitioners and technical group. For instance, nurse anesthetists were employed at 3.3 times the national rate in Winston, and physician assistants, at 2.7 times the U.S. average. Licensed practical and licensed vocational nurses had a location quotient of 1.0 in Winston, 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 North Carolina 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 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 Winston-Salem, NC Metropolitan Statistical Area included 2,295 establishments with a response rate of 70 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 Winston-Salem, NC Metropolitan Statistical Area includes Davidson County, Davie County, Forsyth County, Stokes County, and Yadkin 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, Winston metropolitan area, May 2023
Occupation (1) Employment Mean wages ($)
Level (2) Location quotient (3) Hourly Annual (4)

Healthcare practitioners and technical occupations

24,350 1.5 46.09 95,860

Dentists, general

180 0.9 85.32 177,460

Dietitians and nutritionists

140 1.0 29.94 62,270

Optometrists

90 1.2 75.17 156,360

Pharmacists

920 1.6 63.86 132,840

Physician assistants

700 2.7 63.66 132,410

Occupational therapists

220 0.9 43.69 90,860

Physical therapists

420 1.0 47.03 97,830

Radiation therapists

50 1.8 46.51 96,740

Recreational therapists

30 1.1 25.98 54,030

Respiratory therapists

420 1.8 34.57 71,900

Speech-language pathologists

400 1.3 38.74 80,570

Therapists, all other

40 1.5 40.51 84,260

Veterinarians

130 0.9 62.42 129,820

Registered nurses

8,750 1.5 40.64 84,520

Nurse anesthetists

280 3.3 107.70 224,010

Nurse practitioners

550 1.1 63.74 132,570

Audiologists

40 1.6 39.89 82,970

Family medicine physicians

100 0.5 108.90 226,520

Pediatricians, general

(5) (5) 70.26 146,130

Dental hygienists

410 1.1 40.22 83,670

Healthcare diagnosing or treating practitioners, all other

80 1.4 46.49 96,710

Clinical laboratory technologists and technicians

940 1.6 28.54 59,360

Cardiovascular technologists and technicians

190 1.9 35.38 73,600

Diagnostic medical sonographers

270 1.8 40.57 84,380

Nuclear medicine technologists

50 1.7 42.13 87,630

Radiologic technologists and technicians

600 1.5 34.20 71,140

Magnetic resonance imaging technologists

80 1.1 39.39 81,920

Emergency medical technicians

420 1.4 18.78 39,050

Paramedics

320 1.8 22.84 47,500

Dietetic technicians

140 3.3 15.06 31,330

Pharmacy technicians

1,210 1.5 21.01 43,690

Psychiatric technicians

260 1.2 19.16 39,840

Surgical technologists

350 1.8 26.99 56,140

Veterinary technologists and technicians

270 1.2 21.03 43,730

Ophthalmic medical technicians

140 1.1 21.07 43,820

Licensed practical and licensed vocational nurses

1,120 1.0 27.67 57,560

Medical records specialists

490 1.5 27.54 57,270

Opticians, dispensing

100 0.7 24.80 51,590

Orthotists and prosthetists

60 3.8 34.45 71,650

Health technologists and technicians, all other

580 1.9 22.88 47,590

Health information technologists and medical registrars

60 1.0 27.90 58,030

Athletic trainers

110 2.1 (6) 51,810

Healthcare practitioners and technical workers, all other

40 0.6 27.38 56,950

Footnotes:
(1) For a complete listing of all detailed occupations in the Winston-Salem, NC Metropolitan Statistical Area, see www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_49180.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.
(6) 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.

 

Last Modified Date: Thursday, July 25, 2024