Workers in the Baton Rouge Metropolitan Statistical Area had an average (mean) hourly wage of $21.38 in May 2016, about 10 percent below the nationwide average of $23.86, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Assistant Commissioner for Regional Operations Stanley W. Suchman noted that, after testing for statistical significance, wages in the local area were lower than their respective national averages in 14 of the 22 major occupational groups, including computer and mathematical; legal; and protective service. Local wages were measurably higher in two groups, including production, while wages in the six remaining groups were not statistically different from their respective national averages.

When compared to the nationwide distribution, local employment was more highly concentrated in 5 of the 22 occupational groups, including construction and extraction; installation, maintenance, and repair; and transportation and material moving. Conversely, 11 groups had employment shares significantly below their national representation, including office and administrative support; computer and mathematical; and business and financial operations. (See table A and box note at end of release.)

Table A. Occupational employment and wages by major occupational group, United States and the Baton Rouge, LA Metropolitan Statistical Area, and measures of statistical significance, May 2016

Major occupational group	Percent of total employment			Mean hourly wage
	United States	Baton Rouge, LA		United States	Baton Rouge, LA		Percent difference(1)
Total, all occupations	100.0	100.0		$23.86	$21.38	*	-10
Management	5.1	4.6	*	56.74	49.11	*	-13
Business and financial operations	5.2	4.2	*	36.09	28.44	*	-21
Computer and mathematical	3.0	1.5	*	42.25	29.68	*	-30
Architecture and engineering	1.8	2.2	*	40.53	40.73		0
Life, physical, and social science	0.8	0.9		35.06	30.60	*	-13
Community and social service	1.4	1.2	*	22.69	21.62	*	-5
Legal	0.8	0.7		50.95	37.71	*	-26
Education, training, and library	6.2	5.3	*	26.21	25.12		-4
Arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media	1.4	1.1	*	28.07	28.49		1
Healthcare practitioners and technical	5.9	5.8		38.06	30.99	*	-19
Healthcare support	2.9	2.6	*	14.65	12.30	*	-16
Protective service	2.4	2.9	*	22.03	17.14	*	-22
Food preparation and serving related	9.2	8.6	*	11.47	9.88	*	-14
Building and grounds cleaning and maintenance	3.2	3.0		13.47	10.97	*	-19
Personal care and service	3.2	3.4		12.74	10.30	*	-19
Sales and related	10.4	9.7	*	19.50	15.61	*	-20
Office and administrative support	15.7	13.5	*	17.91	16.22	*	-9
Farming, fishing, and forestry	0.3	0.1	*	13.37	26.09	*	95
Construction and extraction	4.0	9.9	*	23.51	22.89		-3
Installation, maintenance, and repair	3.9	4.9	*	22.45	21.89		-2
Production	6.5	6.3		17.88	25.22	*	41
Transportation and material moving	6.9	7.5	*	17.34	17.70		2
Footnotes: (1) A positive percent difference measures how much the mean wage in the Baton Rouge, LA Metropolitan Statistical Area is above the national mean wage, while a negative difference reflects a lower wage.
* 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. Baton Rouge had 39,390 jobs in construction and extraction, accounting for 9.9 percent of local area employment, more than double the 4.0-percent national share. Local average hourly earnings for this group were $22.89, compared to the national average of $23.51.

Some of the larger detailed occupations within the construction and extraction group included first line supervisors of construction trades and extraction workers (4,470), construction laborers (4,230), and electricians (3,710). With a mean hourly earnings of $33.47, first line supervisors of construction trades and extraction workers were also among the higher-paying local jobs, as were construction and building inspectors at $31.11. At the lower end of the wage scale were carpenters’ helpers ($13.26) and helpers of pipelayers, plumbers, pipefitters, and steamfitters ($14.35). (Detailed occupational data for construction and extraction are presented in table 1; for a complete listing of all occupations see www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_12940.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 Baton Rouge metropolitan area, above average concentrations of employment were found in many of the occupations within the construction and extraction group. For instance, mechanical insulation workers were employed at 26.8 times the national rate in Baton Rouge, and boilermakers, at 23.3 times the U.S. average. Both location quotients were among the highest in all metropolitan areas for these particular occupations. On the other hand, sheet metal workers had a location quotient of 0.9 in Baton Rouge, 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 Louisiana 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 data available from BLS include cross-industry occupational employment and wage estimates for the nation; over 650 areas, including states and the District of Columbia, metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs), metropolitan divisions, nonmetropolitan areas, and territories; national industry-specific estimates at the NAICS sector, 3-, 4-, and selected 5- and 6-digit industry levels, and national estimates 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. Each year, two semiannual panels of approximately 200,000 sampled establishments are contacted, one panel in May and the other in November. Responses are obtained by mail, Internet or other electronic means, email, telephone, or personal visit. The May 2016 estimates are based on responses from six semiannual panels collected over a 3-year period: May 2016, November 2015, May 2015, November 2014, May 2014, and November 2013. The overall national response rate for the six panels, based on the 50 states and the District of Columbia, is 73 percent based on establishments and 69 percent based on weighted sampled employment. The unweighted employment of sampled establishments across all six semiannual panels represents approximately 58 percent of total national employment. The sample in the Baton Rouge Metropolitan Statistical Area included 3,257 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 May 2016 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 Baton Rouge Metropolitan Statistical Area includes Ascension, East Baton Rouge, East Feliciana, Iberville, Livingston, Pointe Coupee, St. Helena, West Baton Rouge, and West Feliciana Parishes in Louisiana.

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 the 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, Baton Rouge, LA Metropolitan Statistical Area, May 2016

Occupation(1)	Employment		Mean wages
	Level(2)	Location quotient(3)	Hourly	Annual(4)
Construction and extraction occupations	39,390	2.5	$22.89	$47,620
First-line supervisors of construction trades and extraction workers	4,470	3.0	33.47	69,610
Boilermakers	1,090	23.3	27.56	57,330
Brickmasons and blockmasons	140	0.8	22.05	45,860
Carpenters	3,310	1.7	20.05	41,710
Carpet installers	110	1.5	17.45	36,300
Tile and marble setters	180	1.7	16.12	33,530
Construction laborers	4,230	1.6	16.34	33,980
Pile-driver operators	150	14.8	19.44	40,440
Operating engineers and other construction equipment operators	2,110	2.1	20.10	41,810
Drywall and ceiling tile installers	(5)	(5)	23.80	49,500
Electricians	3,710	2.2	26.48	55,070
Glaziers	(5)	(5)	18.41	38,290
Insulation workers, floor, ceiling, and wall	520	6.3	21.39	44,500
Insulation workers, mechanical	2,060	26.8	22.34	46,470
Painters, construction and maintenance	1,560	2.5	19.57	40,710
Pipelayers	290	2.6	20.04	41,670
Plumbers, pipefitters, and steamfitters	3,290	2.8	25.97	54,010
Plasterers and stucco masons	(5)	(5)	15.17	31,560
Reinforcing iron and rebar workers	430	7.5	29.10	60,520
Roofers	(5)	(5)	17.81	37,050
Sheet metal workers	360	0.9	19.72	41,020
Structural iron and steel workers	1,250	6.4	27.30	56,780
Helpers-brickmasons, blockmasons, stonemasons, and tile and marble setters	180	2.7	15.96	33,200
Helpers-carpenters	880	8.7	13.26	27,580
Helpers-electricians	1,400	6.9	15.32	31,860
Helpers-painters, paperhangers, plasterers, and stucco masons	670	22.2	13.89	28,880
Helpers-pipelayers, plumbers, pipefitters, and steamfitters	650	4.2	14.35	29,850
Helpers, construction trades, all other	670	10.9	18.00	37,440
Construction and building inspectors	350	1.3	31.11	64,700
Hazardous materials removal workers	520	4.2	18.41	38,290
Highway maintenance workers	280	0.7	15.07	31,350
Rail-track laying and maintenance equipment operators	310	7.7	26.54	55,210
Septic tank servicers and sewer pipe cleaners	(5)	(5)	18.78	39,070
Construction and related workers, all other	310	3.2	22.75	47,310
Roustabouts, oil and gas	260	1.8	17.48	36,360
Helpers-extraction workers	(5)	(5)	16.77	34,890
Footnotes: (1) For a complete listing of all detailed occupations in the Baton Rouge, LA Metropolitan Statistical Area, see www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_12940.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.