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News Release Information

15-763-DAL
Wednesday, April 29, 2015

Contacts Technical information: Media contact:
  • (972) 850-4800

Occupational Employment and Wages in Tulsa, May 2014

Workers in the Tulsa Metropolitan Statistical Area had an average (mean) hourly wage of $20.53 in May 2014, about 10 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 1 of the 22 major groups–production occupations. Sixteen groups had wages that were measurably lower than their respective national averages; included in this group were computer and mathematical; education, training, and library; and construction and extraction. Wages in the remaining occupational groups were not statistically different from their respective national averages.

When compared to the nationwide distribution, local employment was more highly concentrated in 6 of the 22 occupational groups, including production; office and administrative support; and construction and extraction. Conversely, 10 groups had employment shares significantly below their national representation, including business and financial operations; education, training, and library; and computer and mathematical. (See table A and box note at end of release.)

Table A. Occupational employment and wages by major occupational group, United States and the Tulsa Metropolitan Statistical Area, and measures of statistical significance, May 2014
Major occupational groupPercent of total employmentMean hourly wage
United StatesTulsaUnited StatesTulsaPercent difference(1)

Total, all occupations

100.0%100.0% $22.71$20.80*-8

Management

5.05.7*54.0846.59*-14

Business and financial operations

5.13.9*34.8129.11*-16

Computer and mathematical

2.81.8*40.3731.88*-21

Architecture and engineering

1.82.1*39.1937.89 -3

Life, physical, and social science

0.80.5*33.6937.01 10

Community and social service

1.41.3*21.7918.35*-16

Legal

0.80.9 48.6146.94 -3

Education, training, and library

6.25.1*25.1020.01*-20

Arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media

1.30.9*26.8223.86*-11

Healthcare practitioners and technical

5.85.5 36.5433.51*-8

Healthcare support

2.92.6*13.8613.16*-5

Protective service

2.42.0 21.1417.56*-17

Food preparation and serving related

9.19.1 10.579.55*-10

Building and grounds cleaning and maintenance

3.22.6*12.6810.93*-14

Personal care and service

3.12.6*12.0110.64*-11

Sales and related

10.510.9 18.5917.23*-7

Office and administrative support

16.017.1*17.0816.03*-6

Farming, fishing, and forestry

0.30.1*12.0914.09 17

Construction and extraction

3.94.8*22.4018.39*-18

Installation, maintenance, and repair

3.94.6*21.7420.01*-8

Production

6.69.5*17.0618.12*6

Transportation and material moving

6.86.3 16.5717.89 8

(1) A positive percent difference measures how much the mean wage in Tulsa 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–production–was chosen to illustrate the diversity of data available for any of the 22 major occupational categories. Tulsa had 40,720 jobs in production, accounting for 9.5 percent of local area employment, significantly higher than the 6.6-percent national share. The local average hourly wage for this occupational group was $18.12, about 6 percent above the national average of $17.06.

With employment of 5,210, team assemblers was one of the largest occupations within the production group, as were welders, cutters, solderers, and brazers (4,080) and production workers' helpers (3,130). Among the higher paying jobs were petroleum pump system operators, refinery operators, and gaugers and first-line supervisors of production and operating workers, with mean hourly wages of $42.86 and $28.26, respectively. At the lower end of the wage scale were laundry and dry-cleaning workers ($10.43) and packaging and filling machine operators and tenders ($11.43). (Detailed occupational data for production workers are presented in table 1; for a complete listing of detailed occupations see www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_46140.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 Tulsa metropolitan area, above average concentrations of employment were found in many of the occupations within the production group. For instance, aircraft structure, surfaces, rigging, and systems assemblers were employed at 10.4 times the national rate in Tulsa, and petroleum pump system operators, refinery operators, and gaugers, at 5.0 times the U.S. average. Tulsa’s aircraft structure, surfaces, rigging, and systems assemblers location quotient was among the highest in all metropolitan areas for this occupation. On the other hand, electrical and electronic equipment assemblers had a location quotient of 1.0 in Tulsa, 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.

Note

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.


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 Tulsa Metropolitan Statistical Area included 3,614 establishments with a response rate of  77 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 aand 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 Tulsa Metropolitan Statistical Area includes Creek, Okmulgee, Osage, Pawnee, Rogers, Tulsa, and Wagoner Counties in Oklahoma.

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/currnet/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, Tulsa Metropolitan Statistical Area, May 2014
Occupation(1)EmploymentMean wages
Level(2)Location
quotient(3)
HourlyAnnual(4)

 

Production occupations
40,7201.4$18.12$37,690

First-line supervisors of production and operating workers

2,7101.428.2658,780

Aircraft structure, surfaces, rigging, and systems assemblers

1,33010.420.0441,680

Coil winders, tapers, and finishers

(5)(5)17.3636,110

Electrical and electronic equipment assemblers

6301.013.6828,450

Electromechanical equipment assemblers

7304.918.1237,700

Engine and other machine assemblers

3402.815.1231,450

Structural metal fabricators and fitters

7303.017.0935,550

Team assemblers

5,2101.515.7032,650

Assemblers and fabricators, all other

3100.413.5628,200

Bakers

4400.811.1123,100

Butchers and meat cutters

4501.011.9624,880

Meat, poultry, and fish cutters and trimmers

700.113.1727,390

Food and tobacco roasting, baking, and drying machine operators and tenders

(5)(5)12.9927,020

Food batchmakers

4101.111.8624,670

Food cooking machine operators and tenders

(5)(5)13.4527,970

Food processing workers, all other

800.611.6624,250

Computer-controlled machine tool operators, metal and plastic

1,0602.319.5740,700

Computer numerically controlled machine tool programmers, metal and plastic

700.827.2656,700

Extruding and drawing machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic

1200.516.7834,910

Forging machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic

901.421.8445,430

Rolling machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic

3903.717.2535,870

Cutting, punching, and press machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic

1,1201.915.2331,690

Drilling and boring machine tool setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic

3205.818.3438,140

Grinding, lapping, polishing, and buffing machine tool setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic

3101.415.4932,220

Lathe and turning machine tool setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic

2601.918.2838,020

Milling and planing machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic

1001.414.4530,060

Machinists

2,5902.118.3438,140

Metal-refining furnace operators and tenders

(5)(5)14.6830,540

Foundry mold and coremakers

902.312.8226,670

Molding, coremaking, and casting machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic

2500.612.4525,900

Multiple machine tool setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic

8802.816.5734,460

Tool and die makers

2000.923.4348,740

Welders, cutters, solderers, and brazers

4,0803.520.1941,990

Welding, soldering, and brazing machine setters, operators, and tenders

5203.019.8241,230

Heat treating equipment setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic

1602.417.6236,660

Plating and coating machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic

2402.215.4632,160

Tool grinders, filers, and sharpeners

1002.814.5630,280

Metal workers and plastic workers, all other

400.614.6430,460

Prepress technicians and workers

600.515.5432,320

Printing press operators

2800.515.3431,910

Print binding and finishing workers

500.313.4527,970

Laundry and dry-cleaning workers

6000.910.4321,680

Pressers, textile, garment, and related materials

1701.19.5519,860

Sewing machine operators

1600.410.8922,650

Upholsterers

700.717.5936,590

Cabinetmakers and bench carpenters

1900.715.8532,970

Furniture finishers

(5)(5)16.5834,490

Woodworking machine setters, operators, and tenders, except sawing

800.414.4230,000

Power plant operators

1801.429.8162,010

Stationary engineers and boiler operators

700.623.5548,990

Water and wastewater treatment plant and system operators

2500.718.6738,830

Gas plant operators

3106.125.0152,020

Petroleum pump system operators, refinery operators, and gaugers

6605.042.8689,150

Chemical equipment operators and tenders

3101.524.1350,180

Separating, filtering, clarifying, precipitating, and still machine setters, operators, and tenders

600.410.5721,990

Crushing, grinding, and polishing machine setters, operators, and tenders

1101.113.6228,340

Grinding and polishing workers, hand

2302.513.9729,060

Mixing and blending machine setters, operators, and tenders

1300.321.9645,690

Cutters and trimmers, hand

501.115.3631,940

Cutting and slicing machine setters, operators, and tenders

1600.814.8230,820

Extruding, forming, pressing, and compacting machine setters, operators, and tenders

900.414.4330,010

Furnace, kiln, oven, drier, and kettle operators and tenders

801.215.9733,210

Inspectors, testers, sorters, samplers, and weighers

2,5401.620.5242,670

Jewelers and precious stone and metal workers

300.5(5)(5)

Dental laboratory technicians

1601.419.1539,840

Medical appliance technicians

701.614.4730,100

Ophthalmic laboratory technicians

1201.411.6924,310

Packaging and filling machine operators and tenders

9000.711.4323,770

Coating, painting, and spraying machine setters, operators, and tenders

6802.417.2435,860

Painters, transportation equipment

2101.421.7545,230

Painting, coating, and decorating workers

601.211.2223,330

Photographic process workers and processing machine operators

1001.110.9322,740

Cleaning, washing, and metal pickling equipment operators and tenders

300.615.1331,480

Etchers and engravers

(5)(5)15.7732,800

Molders, shapers, and casters, except metal and plastic

900.814.6830,540

Paper goods machine setters, operators, and tenders

5401.921.4544,610

Helpers--production workers

3,1302.413.5228,120

Production workers, all other

4100.616.3734,060

(1) For a complete listing of all detailed occupations in the Tulsa MSA, see www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_46140.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.

 

Last Modified Date: Wednesday, April 29, 2015