Workers in the Austin-Round Rock Metropolitan Statistical Area had an average (mean) hourly wage of $23.83 in May 2015, about 3 percent above the nationwide average of $23.23, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Regional Commissioner Stanley W. Suchman noted that although the Austin overall average wage was higher than the nation, after testing for statistical significance, wages in the local area were lower than their respective national averages in 7 of the 22 major occupational groups, including transportation and material moving; construction and extraction; and life, physical, and social science. Four groups had wages that were measurably higher than their respective national averages, including sales and related; healthcare support; and office and administrative support. Local wage levels in the 11 remaining occupational groups were not statistically different from their respective national averages.

When compared to the nationwide distribution, Austin employment was more highly concentrated in 8 of the 22 occupational groups including computer and mathematical; office and administrative support; and food preparation and serving related. Conversely, 10 groups had employment shares significantly below their national representation, including production; transportation and material moving; and healthcare practitioners and technical. (See table A and box note at end of release.)

Table A. Occupational employment and wages by major occupational group, United States and the Austin-Round Rock Metropolitan Statistical Area, and measures of statistical significance, May 2015

Major occupational group	Percent of total employment			Mean hourly wage
	United States	Austin- Round Rock		United States	Austin- Round Rock		Percent difference(1)
Total, all occupations	100.0%	100.0%		$23.23	$23.83	*	3
Management	5.0	4.5	*	55.30	57.12	*	3
Business and financial operations	5.1	6.3	*	35.48	35.58		0
Computer and mathematical	2.9	6.4	*	41.43	40.70		-2
Architecture and engineering	1.8	2.7	*	39.89	40.83		2
Life, physical, and social science	0.8	1.0	*	34.24	28.25	*	-17
Community and social service	1.4	1.0	*	22.19	22.34		1
Legal	0.8	1.1	*	49.74	48.27		-3
Education, training, and library	6.2	6.3		25.48	22.63	*	-11
Arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media	1.3	1.8	*	27.39	27.05		-1
Healthcare practitioners and technical	5.8	4.5	*	37.40	36.20		-3
Healthcare support	2.9	1.9	*	14.19	14.80	*	4
Protective service	2.4	2.0	*	21.45	22.14		3
Food preparation and serving related	9.1	10.4	*	10.98	10.81		-2
Building and grounds cleaning and maintenance	3.2	2.9	*	13.02	12.04	*	-8
Personal care and service	3.1	3.0		12.33	12.37		0
Sales and related	10.5	10.8		18.90	20.77	*	10
Office and administrative support	15.8	18.0	*	17.47	17.94	*	3
Farming, fishing, and forestry	0.3	0.1	*	12.67	11.96		-6
Construction and extraction	4.0	4.1		22.88	18.76	*	-18
Installation, maintenance, and repair	3.9	3.4	*	22.11	19.96	*	-10
Production	6.6	3.6	*	17.41	16.41	*	-6
Transportation and material moving	6.9	4.2	*	16.90	15.11	*	-11
(1) A positive percent difference measures how much the mean wage in Austin-Round Rock 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 – computer and mathematical – was chosen to illustrate the diversity of data available for any of the 22 major occupational categories. Austin-Round Rock had 59,860 jobs in computer and mathematical, accounting for 6.4 percent of local area employment, significantly higher than the the 2.9-percent national share. The local average hourly wage for this occupational group was $40.70 compared to the national average of $41.43.

Some of the larger detailed occupations within the computer and mathematical group included applications software developers (11,960), computer systems analysts (10,970), and computer user support specialists (8,340). Among the higher paying jobs were computer network architects and information security analysts, with mean hourly wages of $57.80 and $49.12, respectively. At the lower end of the wage scale were computer user support specialists ($24.54) and computer network support specialists ($28.89). (Detailed occupational data for computer and mathematical are presented in table 1; for a complete listing of detailed occupations available go to www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_12420.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 Austin metropolitan area, above average concentrations of employment were found in many of the occupations within the computer and mathematical group. For instance, computer systems analysts were employed at 2.9 times the national average in Austin, and computer network architects, at 2.5 times the U.S. average. Both location quotients were among the highest in all metropolitan areas for these particular occupations. On the other hand, information security analysts had a location quotient of 1.0 in Austin, 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. The OES program produces employment and wage estimates for over 800 occupations for all industries combined in the nation; the 50 states and the District of Columbia; 432 metropolitan areas and divisions; 167 nonmetropolitan areas; and Guam, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. National estimates are also available by industry for NAICS sectors, 3-, 4-, and selected 5- and 6-digit industries, and by ownership across all industries and for schools and hospitals. OES data are available at www.bls.gov/oes/tables.htm.

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 2015 estimates are based on responses from six semiannual panels collected over a 3-year period: May 2015, November 2014, May 2014, November 2013, May 2013, and November 2012. The overall national response rate for the six panels is 73.5 percent based on establishments and 69.6 percent based on weighted sampled employment. The unweighted employment of sampled establishments across all six semiannual panels represents approximately 57.9 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 Austin-Round Rock Metropolitan Statistical Area included 5,029 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 May 2015 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.

Metropolitan 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 Austin-Round Rock Metropolitan Statistical Area includes Bastrop, Caldwell, Hays, Travis, and Williamson 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, Austin-Round Rock Metropolitan Statistical Area, May 2015

Occupation(1)	Employment		Mean wages
	Level(2)	Location quotient(3)	Hourly	Annual(4)
Computer and mathematical occupations	59,860	2.2	$40.70	$84,660
Computer and information research scientists	570	3.3	46.91	97,580
Computer systems analysts	10,970	2.9	40.50	84,240
Information security analysts	590	1.0	49.12	102,170
Computer programmers	3,780	1.9	43.51	90,500
Software developers, applications	11,960	2.4	46.08	95,850
Software developers, systems software	7,260	2.8	48.41	100,690
Web developers	1,890	2.2	36.82	76,580
Database administrators	1,620	2.1	37.77	78,560
Network and computer systems administrators	4,510	1.8	41.39	86,090
Computer network architects	2,490	2.5	57.80	120,220
Computer user support specialists	8,340	2.1	24.54	51,040
Computer network support specialists	2,570	2.1	28.89	60,100
Computer occupations, all other	1,620	1.1	40.64	84,530
Actuaries	110	0.8	49.00	101,910
Operations research analysts	1,280	2.0	36.50	75,920
Statisticians	280	1.4	38.33	79,730
(1) For a complete listing of all detailed occupations in the Austin-Round Rock MSA, see www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_12420.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.