
An official website of the United States government
15-624-DAL
Monday, April 13, 2015
Workers in the College Station-Bryan Metropolitan Statistical Area had an average (mean) hourly wage of $20.09 in May 2014, about 12 percent below the nationwide average of $22.71, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Regional Commissioner Stanley W. Suchman noted that, after testing for statistical significance, wages in the local area were higher than their respective national averages in only 1 of the 22 major occupational groups: education, training, and library. Seventeen groups had wages measurably lower than their respective national averages; included in this group were life, physical, and social science; computer and mathematical; and architecture and engineering.
When compared to the nationwide distribution, College Station employment was more highly concentrated in 6 of the 22 occupational groups including education, training, and library; food preparation and serving related; and life, physical, and social science. Conversely, 9 groups had employment shares significantly below their national representation, including transportation and material moving; production; and business and financial operations. (See table A and box note at end of release.)
Major occupational group | Percent of total employment | Mean hourly wage | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
United States | College Station-Bryan | United States | College Station-Bryan | Percent difference(1) | |||
Total, all occupations | 100.0% | 100.0% | $22.71 | $20.09 | * | -12 | |
Management | 5.0 | 4.2 | * | 54.08 | 47.87 | * | -11 |
Business and financial operations | 5.1 | 3.4 | * | 34.81 | 31.95 | * | -8 |
Computer and mathematical | 2.8 | 2.3 | 40.37 | 28.88 | * | -28 | |
Architecture and engineering | 1.8 | 2.2 | * | 39.19 | 29.04 | * | -26 |
Life, physical, and social science | 0.8 | 2.7 | * | 33.69 | 23.82 | * | -29 |
Community and social service | 1.4 | 0.7 | * | 21.79 | 19.98 | * | -8 |
Legal | 0.8 | 0.5 | * | 48.61 | 37.16 | * | -24 |
Education, training, and library | 6.2 | 10.8 | * | 25.10 | 31.96 | * | 27 |
Arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media | 1.3 | 1.0 | * | 26.82 | 25.14 | -6 | |
Healthcare practitioners and technical | 5.8 | 5.0 | * | 36.54 | 31.89 | * | -13 |
Healthcare support | 2.9 | 1.8 | * | 13.86 | 12.87 | -7 | |
Protective service | 2.4 | 2.0 | 21.14 | 20.94 | -1 | ||
Food preparation and serving related | 9.1 | 11.0 | * | 10.57 | 9.45 | * | -11 |
Building and grounds cleaning and maintenance | 3.2 | 3.9 | * | 12.68 | 10.81 | * | -15 |
Personal care and service | 3.1 | 3.8 | 12.01 | 10.15 | * | -15 | |
Sales and related | 10.5 | 9.9 | 18.59 | 14.42 | * | -22 | |
Office and administrative support | 16.0 | 16.6 | 17.08 | 15.04 | * | -12 | |
Farming, fishing, and forestry | 0.3 | 0.3 | 12.09 | 12.37 | 2 | ||
Construction and extraction | 3.9 | 4.8 | * | 22.40 | 18.37 | * | -18 |
Installation, maintenance, and repair | 3.9 | 3.9 | 21.74 | 19.26 | * | -11 | |
Production | 6.6 | 4.9 | * | 17.06 | 14.91 | * | -13 |
Transportation and material moving | 6.8 | 4.2 | * | 16.57 | 14.02 | * | -15 |
(1)A positive percent difference measures how much the mean wage in College Station-Bryan is above the national mean wage, while a negative difference reflects a lower wage. | |||||||
Note: * The percent share of employment or mean hourly wage for this area is significantly different from the national average of all areas at the 90-percent confidence level. |
One occupational group – education, training, and library occupations – was chosen to illustrate the diversity of data available for any of the 22 major occupational categories. College Station had 10,640 jobs in education, training, and library occupations, accounting for 10.8 percent of local area employment, significantly higher than the 6.2-percent national share. The local average hourly wage for this occupational group was $31.96, nearly 30 percent above the national average of $25.10.
With employment of 1,830, graduate teaching assistants was one of the largest occupations within the education, training, and library occupations group, as were elementary school teachers, except special education (1,210) and teacher assistants (790). Among the higher paying jobs were postsecondary engineering teachers and postsecondary agricultural sciences teachers, averaging a mean annual wage of $141,990 and $109,310, respectively. At the lower end of the wage scale were teacher assistants ($19,910) and graduate teaching assistants ($36,870). (Detailed occupational data for education, training, and library occupations are presented in table 1; for a complete listing of detailed occupations go to www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_17780.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 College Station metropolitan area, above average concentrations of employment were found in many of the detailed occupations within the education, training, and library group. For instance, postsecondary agricultural sciences teachers were employed at 91.0 times the national average in College Station, and postsecondary architecture teachers, at 29.0 times the national rate. Both location quotients were among the highest in all metropolitan areas for these particular occupations. On the other hand, secondary school teachers, except special and career/technical education had a location quotient of 1.0 in College Station, indicating that this occupation’s local and national employment shares were similar.
These statistics are from the Occupational Employment Statistics (OES) survey, a federal-state cooperative program between BLS and State Workforce Agencies, in this case, the Texas Workforce Commission.
A value that is statistically different from another does not necessarily mean that the difference has economic or practical significance. Statistical significance is concerned with the ability to make confident statements about a universe based on a sample. It is entirely possible that a large difference between two values is not significantly different statistically, while a small difference is, since both the size and heterogeneity of the sample affect the relative error of the data being tested.
The Occupational Employment Statistics (OES) survey is a semiannual mail survey measuring occupational employment and wage rates for wage and salary workers in nonfarm establishments in the United States. Guam, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands are also surveyed, but their data are not included in the national estimates. OES estimates are constructed from a sample of about 1.2 million establishments. Forms are mailed to approximately 200,000 sampled establishments in May and November each year. May 2014 estimates are based on responses from six semiannual panels collected over a 3-year period: May 2014, November 2013, May 2013, November 2012, May 2012, and November 2011. The overall national response rate for the six panels is 74.3 percent based on establishments and 70.5 percent based on weighted sampled employment. The unweighted employment of sampled establishments across all six semiannual panels represents approximately 57.1 percent of total national employment. (Response rates are slightly lower for these estimates due to the federal shutdown in October 2013.) The sample in the College Station-Bryan Metropolitan Statistical Area included 1,262 establishments with a response rate of 64 percent. For more information about OES concepts and methodology, go to www.bls.gov/news.release/ocwage.tn.htm.
The OES survey provides estimates of employment and hourly and annual wages for wage and salary workers in 22 major occupational groups and 821 detailed occupations for the nation, states, metropolitan statistical areas, metropolitan divisions, and nonmetropolitan areas. In addition, employment and wage estimates for 94 minor groups and 458 broad occupations are available in the national data. OES data by state and metropolitan/nonmetropolitan area are available from www.bls.gov/oes/current/oessrcst.htm and www.bls.gov/oes/current/oessrcma.htm, respectively.
The May 2014 OES estimates are based on the 2010 Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) system and the 2012 North American Industry Classification System (NAICS). Information about the 2010 SOC is available on the BLS website at www.bls.gov/soc and information about the 2012 NAICS is available at www.bls.gov/bls/naics.htm.
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 College Station-Bryan Metropolitan Statistical Area includes Brazos, Burleson, and Robertson Counties in Texas.
Additional information
OES data are available on our regional web page at www.bls.gov/regions/southwest. Answers to frequently asked questions about the OES data are available at www.bls.gov/oes/oes_ques.htm. Detailed technical information about the OES survey is available in our Survey Methods and Reliability Statement on the BLS website at www.bls.gov/oes/current/methods_statement.pdf.
Information in this release will be made available to sensory impaired individuals upon request. Voice phone: 202-691-5200; Federal Relay Service: 800-877-8339.
Occupation(1) | Employment | Mean wages | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
Level(2) | Location quotient(3) | Hourly | Annual(4) | |
| 10,640 | 1.7 | $31.96 | $66,480 |
Architecture teachers, postsecondary | 150 | 29.0 | (5) | 97,220 |
Engineering teachers, postsecondary | 450 | 16.9 | (5) | 141,990 |
Agricultural sciences teachers, postsecondary | 660 | 91.0 | (5) | 109,310 |
Biological science teachers, postsecondary | 250 | 6.5 | (5) | 109,720 |
Chemistry teachers, postsecondary | 70 | 4.6 | (5) | 151,160 |
Economics teachers, postsecondary | 60 | 6.0 | (5) | 148,250 |
Health specialties teachers, postsecondary | 280 | 2.3 | (5) | 91,970 |
Education teachers, postsecondary | 160 | 3.6 | (5) | 103,770 |
Graduate teaching assistants | 1,830 | 19.9 | (5) | 36,870 |
Recreation and fitness studies teachers, postsecondary | 140 | 10.4 | (5) | 90,350 |
Postsecondary teachers, all other | (5) | (5) | (5) | 86,650 |
Preschool teachers, except special education | 130 | 0.5 | 14.38 | 29,920 |
Kindergarten teachers, except special education | 60 | 0.6 | (5) | 44,310 |
Elementary school teachers, except special education | 1,210 | 1.2 | (5) | 47,110 |
Middle school teachers, except special and career/technical education | 580 | 1.3 | (5) | 47,590 |
Secondary school teachers, except special and career/technical education | 670 | 1.0 | (5) | 47,680 |
Career/technical education teachers, secondary school | 80 | 1.3 | (5) | 51,280 |
Special education teachers, kindergarten and elementary school | 50 | 0.4 | (5) | 47,930 |
Special education teachers, middle school | 30 | 0.5 | (5) | 44,550 |
Special education teachers, secondary school | 80 | 0.8 | (5) | 44,830 |
Self-enrichment education teachers | 60 | 0.4 | 21.09 | 43,870 |
Teachers and instructors, all other, except substitute teachers | 560 | 2.9 | (5) | 36,680 |
Substitute teachers | 60 | 0.1 | 9.04 | 18,800 |
Librarians | 100 | 1.1 | 21.79 | 45,330 |
Library technicians | (5) | (5) | 13.00 | 27,040 |
Instructional coordinators | 210 | 2.1 | 26.16 | 54,410 |
Teacher assistants | 790 | 0.9 | (5) | 19,910 |
(1) For a complete listing of all detailed occupations in the College Station-Bryan MSA, see www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_17780.htm. |
Last Modified Date: Monday, April 13, 2015