Workers in the Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington Metropolitan Statistical Area had an average (mean) hourly wage of $22.92 in May 2014, compared to 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 7 of the 22 major occupational groups, including sales and related; healthcare support; and management. Twelve groups had wages that were measurably lower than their respective national averages; included in this grouping were construction and extraction, and building and grounds cleaning and maintenance.

When compared to the nationwide distribution, Dallas-Fort Worth area employment was more highly concentrated in 6 of the 22 occupational groups including office and administrative support; computer and mathematical; and business and financial operations. Conversely, 12 groups had employment shares significantly below their national representation, including education, training, and library; healthcare practitioners and technical; and production. (See table A and box note at end of release.)

Table A. Occupational employment and wages by major occupational group, United States and the Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington Metropolitan Statistical Area, and measures of statistical significance, May 2014

Major occupational group	Percent of total employment			Mean hourly wage
	United States	Dallas- Fort Worth- Arlington		United States	Dallas- Fort Worth- Arlington		Percent difference(1)
Total, all occupations	100.0%	100.0%		$22.71	$22.92		1
Management	5.0	4.5	*	54.08	57.94	*	7
Business and financial operations	5.1	5.8	*	34.81	36.25	*	4
Computer and mathematical	2.8	4.2	*	40.37	40.05		-1
Architecture and engineering	1.8	2.0	*	39.19	40.30	*	3
Life, physical, and social science	0.8	0.5	*	33.69	30.90	*	-8
Community and social service	1.4	0.8	*	21.79	22.91	*	5
Legal	0.8	0.8		48.61	48.43		0
Education, training, and library	6.2	5.3	*	25.10	23.87	*	-5
Arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media	1.3	1.1	*	26.82	25.75	*	-4
Healthcare practitioners and technical	5.8	5.1	*	36.54	37.33		2
Healthcare support	2.9	2.3	*	13.86	14.85	*	7
Protective service	2.4	2.3		21.14	19.82	*	-6
Food preparation and serving related	9.1	8.9	*	10.57	10.26	*	-3
Building and grounds cleaning and maintenance	3.2	2.8	*	12.68	11.08	*	-13
Personal care and service	3.1	2.8	*	12.01	11.17	*	-7
Sales and related	10.5	11.2	*	18.59	20.83	*	12
Office and administrative support	16.0	18.5	*	17.08	17.36	*	2
Farming, fishing, and forestry	0.3	0.1	*	12.09	11.21	*	-7
Construction and extraction	3.9	4.0		22.40	18.20	*	-19
Installation, maintenance, and repair	3.9	4.0		21.74	21.00	*	-3
Production	6.6	5.9	*	17.06	16.15	*	-5
Transportation and material moving	6.8	7.2	*	16.57	15.72	*	-5
(1) A positive percent difference measures how much the mean wage in Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington 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 – business and financial operations – was chosen to illustrate the diversity of data available for any of the 22 major occupational categories. Dallas had 182,760 jobs in business and financial operations, accounting for 5.8 percent of local area employment, significantly higher than the 5.1-percent national share. The local average hourly wage for this occupational group was $36.25, significantly above the national average of $34.81.

Some of the largest detailed occupations within the business and financial operations group included accountants and auditors (34,960), human resources specialists (13,470), and management analysts (13,290). Among the higher paying jobs were personal financial advisors and management analysts, with mean hourly wages of $52.01 and $42.74, respectively. At the lower end of the wage scale were tax preparers ($22.93) and credit counselors ($24.04). (Detailed occupational data for the business and financial operations group are presented in table 1; for a complete listing of detailed occupations go to www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_19100.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 Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington metropolitan area, above average concentrations of employment were found in some of the detailed occupations within the business and financial operations group. For instance, auto damage insurance appraisers were employed at 2.7 times the national rate in Dallas-Fort Worth, and credit analysts, at 2.0 times the U.S. average. On the other hand, cost estimators had a location quotient of 1.0 in Dallas-Fort Worth, indicating that this particular 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 Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington Metropolitan Statistical Area included 14,085 establishments with a response rate of 57 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 Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington Metropolitan Statistical Area includes Collin, Dallas, Delta, Denton, Ellis, Hunt, Johnson, Kaufman, Parker, Rockwall, Tarrant, and Wise 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, Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington Metropolitan Statistical Area, May 2014

Occupation(1)	Employment		Mean wages
	Level(2)	Location quotient(3)	Hourly	Annual(4)
Business and financial operations occupations	182,760	1.1	$36.25	$75,400
Agents and business managers of artists, performers, and athletes	(5)	(5)	40.69	84,640
Buyers and purchasing agents, farm products	130	0.5	29.69	61,750
Wholesale and retail buyers, except farm products	2,870	1.1	28.42	59,120
Purchasing agents, except wholesale, retail, and farm products	7,390	1.1	32.14	66,850
Claims adjusters, examiners, and investigators	6,870	1.1	31.35	65,200
Insurance appraisers, auto damage	870	2.7	30.62	63,680
Compliance officers	5,800	1.0	33.05	68,750
Cost estimators	5,010	1.0	32.26	67,100
Human resources specialists	13,470	1.3	32.61	67,830
Labor relations specialists	930	0.5	41.62	86,560
Logisticians	3,990	1.4	38.39	79,850
Management analysts	13,290	1.0	42.74	88,900
Meeting, convention, and event planners	2,150	1.2	28.51	59,300
Fundraisers	920	0.7	27.57	57,350
Compensation, benefits, and job analysis specialists	1,660	0.9	33.73	70,150
Training and development specialists	7,280	1.3	29.86	62,110
Market research analysts and marketing specialists	10,750	1.0	36.63	76,200
Business operations specialists, all other	22,350	1.0	38.42	79,910
Accountants and auditors	34,960	1.3	36.77	76,470
Appraisers and assessors of real estate	1,680	1.1	34.49	71,740
Budget analysts	1,480	1.1	36.81	76,550
Credit analysts	3,260	2.0	36.53	75,980
Financial analysts	9,280	1.5	42.11	87,600
Personal financial advisors	5,170	1.1	52.01	108,180
Insurance underwriters	2,560	1.2	35.12	73,050
Financial examiners	1,140	1.3	41.30	85,900
Credit counselors	1,260	1.8	24.04	50,010
Loan officers	10,710	1.5	34.80	72,390
Tax examiners and collectors, and revenue agents	580	0.4	36.43	75,780
Tax preparers	1,200	0.8	22.93	47,700
Financial specialists, all other	3,590	1.1	34.38	71,510
(1) For a complete listing of all detailed occupations in the Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington MSA, see www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_19100.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.