Workers in the Oklahoma City Metropolitan Statistical Area had an average (mean) hourly wage of $20.80 in May 2014, about 8 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 lower than their respective national averages in 19 of the 22 major occupational groups, including legal; arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media; and computer and mathematical occupations. Local wages were not statistically different from the national averages in the three remaining groups.

When compared to the nationwide distribution, Oklahoma City employment was more highly concentrated in 8 of the 22 occupational groups, including construction and extraction; management; and healthcare practitioners and technical. Conversely, seven groups had employment shares significantly below their national representation, including production; personal care and service; and education, training, and library. (See table A and box note at end of release.)

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

Major occupational group	Percent of total employment			Mean hourly wage
	United States	Oklahoma City		United States	Oklahoma City		Percent difference(1)
Total, all occupations	100.0%	100.0%		$22.71	$20.80	*	-8
Management	5.0	6.0	*	54.08	45.35	*	-16
Business and financial operations	5.1	5.1		34.81	30.13	*	-13
Computer and mathematical	2.8	2.4	*	40.37	32.04	*	-21
Architecture and engineering	1.8	2.1	*	39.19	39.66		1
Life, physical, and social science	0.8	0.9		33.69	31.62		-6
Community and social service	1.4	1.6	*	21.79	18.66	*	-14
Legal	0.8	1.2	*	48.61	37.58	*	-23
Education, training, and library	6.2	5.4		25.10	20.82	*	-17
Arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media	1.3	1.1	*	26.82	20.83	*	-22
Healthcare practitioners and technical	5.8	6.6	*	36.54	32.62	*	-11
Healthcare support	2.9	2.9		13.86	12.57	*	-9
Protective service	2.4	2.1	*	21.14	18.95	*	-10
Food preparation and serving related	9.1	9.7	*	10.57	9.56	*	-10
Building and grounds cleaning and maintenance	3.2	2.9	*	12.68	11.40	*	-10
Personal care and service	3.1	2.2	*	12.01	10.99	*	-8
Sales and related	10.5	10.2		18.59	17.02	*	-8
Office and administrative support	16.0	16.3		17.08	16.10	*	-6
Farming, fishing, and forestry	0.3	0.1	*	12.09	13.05		8
Construction and extraction	3.9	5.0	*	22.40	19.83	*	-11
Installation, maintenance, and repair	3.9	4.2	*	21.74	20.74	*	-5
Production	6.6	5.6	*	17.06	16.26	*	-5
Transportation and material moving	6.8	6.5		16.57	15.83	*	-4
(1) A positive percent difference measures how much the mean wage in Oklahoma City 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 – construction and extraction – was chosen to illustrate the diversity of data available for any of the 22 major occupational categories. Oklahoma City had 29,830 jobs in construction and extraction, accounting for 5.0 percent of area employment, significantly higher than the 3.9-percent national share. However, the local wage for this occupational group was significantly below the U.S. average. At $19.83 an hour, the mean wage for Oklahoma City construction and extraction workers was 11 percent below the $22.40 national average.

With employment of 3,590, construction laborers was one of the largest occupations within the construction and extraction group, as were first-line supervisors of construction trades and extraction workers (3,000) and sheet metal workers (2,390). Among the higher paying jobs was oil and gas rotary drill operators and first-line supervisors of construction trades and extraction workers, with mean hourly wages of $29.51 and $29.39 per hour, respectively. At the lower end of the wage scale were carpenters’ helpers ($11.03) and  pipelayers, plumbers, pipefitters, and steamfitters’ helpers ($12.93). (Detailed occupational data for construction and extraction workers are presented in table 1; for a complete listing of all detailed occupations, see www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_36420.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 Oklahoma City metropolitan area, above average concentrations of employment were found in many of the occupations within the construction and extraction group. For instance, oil and gas derrick operators were employed at 6.4 times the national average in Oklahoma City, and oil and gas rotary drill operators, at 5.5 times the national rate. On the other hand, construction laborers had a location quotient of 1.0 in Oklahoma City, meaning the local employment share in this particular occupation matched the national average.

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 Oklahoma Employment Security 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 Oklahoma City Metropolitan Statistical Area included 4,057 establishments with a response rate of 75 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 Oklahoma City Metropolitan Statistical Area includes Canadian, Cleveland, Grady, Lincoln, Logan, McClain, and Oklahoma Counties in Oklahoma.

Additional information
OES data are available on our regional web page at www.bls.gov/regions/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, Oklahoma City Metropolitan Statistical Area, May 2014

Occupation(1)	Employment		Mean wages
	Level(2)	Location quotient(3)	Hourly	Annual(4)
Construction and extraction occupations	29,830	1.3	$19.83	$41,240
First-line supervisors of construction trades and extraction workers	3,000	1.4	29.39	61,140
Brickmasons and blockmasons	360	1.4	19.23	40,000
Stonemasons	30	0.7	18.06	37,570
Carpenters	1,930	0.7	17.16	35,680
Carpet installers	(5)	(5)	14.61	30,390
Floor layers, except carpet, wood, and hard tiles	(5)	(5)	20.76	43,180
Tile and marble setters	(5)	(5)	15.23	31,690
Cement masons and concrete finishers	1,020	1.5	15.47	32,180
Construction laborers	3,590	1.0	14.42	29,990
Paving, surfacing, and tamping equipment operators	380	1.6	18.83	39,170
Operating engineers and other construction equipment operators	1,810	1.2	18.91	39,340
Drywall and ceiling tile installers	170	0.5	16.46	34,230
Electricians	2,050	0.8	22.89	47,620
Insulation workers, floor, ceiling, and wall	270	2.6	14.44	30,030
Insulation workers, mechanical	100	0.7	26.48	55,070
Painters, construction and maintenance	1,110	1.2	17.83	37,080
Pipelayers	290	1.6	16.66	34,660
Plumbers, pipefitters, and steamfitters	1,960	1.2	22.44	46,680
Reinforcing iron and rebar workers	120	1.4	15.56	32,360
Roofers	1,030	2.2	14.52	30,210
Sheet metal workers	2,390	4.0	24.18	50,300
Structural iron and steel workers	60	0.2	14.26	29,660
Helpers--carpenters	490	2.8	11.03	22,940
Helpers--electricians	800	2.6	14.83	30,860
Helpers--painters, paperhangers, plasterers, and stucco masons	(5)	(5)	9.38	19,510
Helpers--pipelayers, plumbers, pipefitters, and steamfitters	800	3.5	12.93	26,890
Helpers--roofers	(5)	(5)	13.99	29,100
Construction and building inspectors	340	0.9	20.51	42,670
Hazardous materials removal workers	110	0.6	17.24	35,850
Highway maintenance workers	420	0.7	15.56	32,360
Septic tank servicers and sewer pipe cleaners	180	1.6	16.43	34,170
Derrick operators, oil and gas	590	6.4	23.43	48,730
Rotary drill operators, oil and gas	640	5.5	29.51	61,390
Service unit operators, oil, gas, and mining	1,240	4.5	23.15	48,150
Earth drillers, except oil and gas	190	2.2	22.35	46,480
Explosives workers, ordnance handling experts, and blasters	(5)	(5)	24.70	51,370
Roustabouts, oil and gas	1,330	4.1	18.38	38,240
Helpers--extraction workers	310	2.9	17.36	36,120
(1) For a complete listing of all detailed occupations in the Oklahoma City MSA, see www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_36420.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.