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News Release Information

16-1234-DAL
Tuesday, June 21, 2016

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

Occupational Employment and Wages in College Station-Bryan, May 2015

Workers in the College Station-Bryan Metropolitan Statistical Area had an average (mean) hourly wage of $20.17 in May 2015, about 13 percent below the nationwide average of $23.23, 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 15 of the 22 major occupational groups, including life, physical, and social science; computer and mathematical; and architecture and engineering. Only one group – education, training, and library – had wages that were measurably higher than the national average. Local wage levels in the six remaining occupational groups were not statistically different from their respective national averages.

When compared to the nationwide distribution, College Station employment was more highly concentrated in 6 of the 22 occupational groups including office and administrative support; education, training, and library; and life, physical, and social science. Conversely, 12 groups had employment shares significantly below their national representation, including transportation and material moving; management; 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 College Station-Bryan Metropolitan Statistical Area, and measures of statistical significance, May 2015
Major occupational groupPercent of total employmentMean hourly wage
United
States
College Station-
Bryan
United
States
College Station-
Bryan
Percent
difference(1)

Total, all occupations

100.0%100.0% $23.23$20.17*-13

Management

5.03.1*55.3053.26 -4

Business and financial operations

5.13.4*35.4831.82*-10

Computer and mathematical

2.92.3*41.4331.18*-25

Architecture and engineering

1.82.3*39.8930.06*-25

Life, physical, and social science

0.82.6*34.2423.89*-30

Community and social service

1.41.1*22.1921.79 -2

Legal

0.80.4*49.7440.36*-19

Education, training, and library

6.210.6*25.4832.29*27

Arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media

1.31.0*27.3927.67 1

Healthcare practitioners and technical

5.85.3 37.4031.72*-15

Healthcare support

2.91.8*14.1913.28 -6

Protective service

2.42.0 21.4520.41 -5

Food preparation and serving related

9.110.8*10.989.69*-12

Building and grounds cleaning and maintenance

3.22.9 13.0211.30*-13

Personal care and service

3.12.7*12.3311.47*-7

Sales and related

10.59.4*18.9014.68*-22

Office and administrative support

15.820.3*17.4714.21*-19

Farming, fishing, and forestry

0.30.3 12.6712.32 -3

Construction and extraction

4.05.1*22.8818.08*-21

Installation, maintenance, and repair

3.93.4*22.1119.44*-12

Production

6.64.7*17.4115.80*-9

Transportation and material moving

6.94.4*16.9014.79*-12

(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 – was chosen to illustrate the diversity of data available for any of the 22 major occupational categories. College Station had 10,700 jobs in education, training, and library, accounting for 10.6 percent of local area employment, significantly higher than the 6.2-percent national share. The average hourly wage for this occupational group locally was $32.29, 27 percent above the national average wage of $25.48.

Some of the larger detailed occupations within the education, training, and library group included graduate teaching assistants (1,640), elementary school teachers, except special education (1,140), and teacher assistants (850). Among the higher paying jobs were postsecondary engineering teachers and postsecondary agricultural sciences teachers, with mean annual wages of $155,030 and $116,290, respectively. At the lower end of the wage scale were teacher assistants ($20,830) and substitute teachers, ($21,190). (Detailed occupational data for education, training, and library are presented in table 1; for a complete listing of detailed occupations available 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 occupations within the education, training, and library group. For instance, postsecondary agricultural sciences teachers were employed at 97.5 times the national average in College Station, and graduate teaching assistants, at 17.9 times the U.S. average. Both location quotients were among the highest in all metropolitan areas for these particular occupations. On the other hand, teacher assistants 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.

Notes on Occupational Employment Statistics Data

With the issuance of data for May 2015, the OES program has incorporated redefined metropolitan area definitions as designated by the Office of Management and Budget. OES data are available for 394 metropolitan areas, 38 metropolitan divisions, and 167 OES-defined nonmetropolitan areas. A listing of the areas and their definitions can be found at www.bls.gov/oes/current/msa_def.htm.

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. 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 College Station-Bryan Metropolitan Statistical Area included 1,275 establishments with a response rate of 67 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 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 2015
Occupation(1)EmploymentMean wages
Level(2)Location
quotient(3)
HourlyAnnual(4)

Education, training, and library occupations

10,7001.7$32.29$67,160

Architecture teachers, postsecondary

15027.9(5)100,530

Engineering teachers, postsecondary

43015.7(5)155,030

Agricultural sciences teachers, postsecondary

69097.5(5)116,290

Biological science teachers, postsecondary

2005.2(5)109,060

Chemistry teachers, postsecondary

1006.4(5)129,200

Economics teachers, postsecondary

606.4(5)162,530

Health specialties teachers, postsecondary

2201.7(5)114,150

Education teachers, postsecondary

1804.1(5)99,130

Graduate teaching assistants

1,64017.9(5)37,610

Recreation and fitness studies teachers, postsecondary

1309.7(5)92,770

Vocational education teachers, postsecondary

(5)(5)26.4354,980

Postsecondary teachers, all other

2301.6(5)81,230

Preschool teachers, except special education

900.413.3227,710

Kindergarten teachers, except special education

600.5(5)42,690

Elementary school teachers, except special education

1,1401.1(5)45,880

Middle school teachers, except special and career/technical education

5101.1(5)47,410

Secondary school teachers, except special and career/technical education

8301.2(5)47,810

Career/technical education teachers, secondary school

500.9(5)51,920

Special education teachers, secondary school

600.7(5)45,170

Self-enrichment education teachers

700.522.7747,360

Teachers and instructors, all other, except substitute teachers

4502.3(5)43,050

Substitute teachers

5201.110.1921,190

Librarians

1301.322.5446,880

Library technicians

801.213.4427,950

Instructional coordinators

1501.529.4761,290

Teacher assistants

8501.0(5)20,830

(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.

 

Last Modified Date: Tuesday, June 21, 2016