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.)

Table A. Occupational employment and wages by major occupational group, United States and the College Station-Bryan Metropolitan Statistical Area, and measures of statistical significance, May 2014

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.

Technical Note

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.

Table 1. Employment and wage data from the Occupational Employment Statistics survey, by occupation, College Station-Bryan Metropolitan Statistical Area, May 2014

Occupation(1)	Employment		Mean wages
	Level(2)	Location quotient(3)	Hourly	Annual(4)
Education, training, and library occupations	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. (2) Estimates for detailed occupations do not sum to the totals because the totals include occupations 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) Estimates not released.