Workers in the El Paso Metropolitan Statistical Area had an average (mean) hourly wage of $18.56 in May 2017, about 24 percent below the nationwide average of $24.34, 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 19 of the 22 major occupational groups, including construction and extraction; personal care and service; and computer and mathematical. Local wage levels were similar to their respective national averages in three groups: protective service; community and social service; and life, physical, and social science.

When compared to the nationwide distribution, local employment was more highly concentrated in 7 of the 22 occupational groups, including office and administrative support; education, training, and library; and sales and related. Conversely, 11 groups had employment shares significantly below their national representation, including management; production; and computer and mathematical. (See table A and box note at end of release.)

One occupational group—education, training, and library—was chosen to illustrate the diversity of data available for any of the 22 major occupational categories. El Paso had 25,620 jobs in education, training, and library, accounting for 8.5 percent of local area employment, significantly higher than the 6.1-percent share nationally. The average hourly wage for this occupational group locally was $22.54, significantly below the national wage of $26.67.

Some of the larger detailed occupations within the education, training, and library group included substitute teachers (4,030), elementary school teachers, except special education (3,850), and secondary school teachers, except special and career/technical education (3,000). Among the higher-paying jobs were health specialties teachers, postsecondary, and psychology teachers, postsecondary, with mean annual wages of $89,910 and $85,550, respectively. At the lower end of the wage scale were substitute teachers ($22,160) and teachers assistants ($26,540). (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_21340.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 El Paso Metropolitan Statistical Area, above-average concentrations of employment were found in many of the occupations within the education, training, and library group. For instance, graduate teaching assistants were employed at 5.9 times the national rate in El Paso, and substitute teachers, at 3.1 times the U.S. average. Both El Paso location quotients were among the highest in all metropolitan areas for these particular occupations. On the other hand, preschool teachers, except special education, had a location quotient of 1.0 in El Paso, 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 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 2017 estimates are based on responses from six semiannual panels collected over a 3-year period: May 2017, November 2016, May 2016, November 2015, May 2015, and November 2014. The overall national response rate for the six panels, based on the 50 states and the District of Columbia, is 72 percent based on establishments and 68 percent based on weighted sampled employment. The unweighted sample employment of 82 million across all six semiannual panels represents approximately 58 percent of total national employment. The sample in the El Paso Metropolitan Statistical Area included 2,452 establishments with a response rate of 58 percent. For more information about OES concepts and methodology, go to www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_tec.htm.

The May 2017 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 El Paso Metropolitan Statistical Area includes El Paso County 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, El Paso Metropolitan Statistical Area, May 2017

Occupation (1)	Employment		Mean wages
	Level (2)	Location quotient (3)	Hourly	Annual (4)
Education, training, and library occupations	25,620	1.4	$22.54	$46,890
Business teachers, postsecondary	90	0.5	(5)	67,860
Computer science teachers, postsecondary	90	1.3	(5)	60,100
Mathematical science teachers, postsecondary	160	1.5	(5)	80,210
Engineering teachers, postsecondary	120	1.5	(5)	69,510
Biological science teachers, postsecondary	140	1.3	(5)	56,730
Chemistry teachers, postsecondary	100	2.2	(5)	58,570
Physics teachers, postsecondary	40	1.2	(5)	83,360
Political science teachers, postsecondary	60	1.9	(5)	85,190
Psychology teachers, postsecondary	120	1.5	(5)	85,550
Health specialties teachers, postsecondary	470	1.1	(5)	89,910
Nursing instructors and teachers, postsecondary	160	1.3	(5)	61,980
Education teachers, postsecondary	90	0.7	(5)	64,450
Criminal justice and law enforcement teachers, postsecondary	50	1.5	(5)	63,200
Art, drama, and music teachers, postsecondary	150	0.8	(5)	70,570
English language and literature teachers, postsecondary	230	1.5	(5)	83,930
Foreign language and literature teachers, postsecondary	100	1.8	(5)	66,220
History teachers, postsecondary	80	1.9	(5)	76,660
Philosophy and religion teachers, postsecondary	30	0.7	(5)	68,610
Graduate teaching assistants	1,700	5.9	(5)	31,410
Vocational education teachers, postsecondary	250	1.0	25.54	53,120
Postsecondary teachers, all other	90	0.2	(5)	60,860
Preschool teachers, except special education	830	1.0	14.20	29,540
Kindergarten teachers, except special education	290	1.0	(5)	59,220
Elementary school teachers, except special education	3,850	1.3	(5)	59,020
Middle school teachers, except special and career/technical education	2,090	1.6	(5)	57,620
Career/technical education teachers, middle school	150	6.0	(5)	54,700
Secondary school teachers, except special and career/technical education	3,000	1.4	(5)	58,710
Career/technical education teachers, secondary school	280	1.7	(5)	69,120
Special education teachers, preschool	90	1.4	(5)	59,520
Special education teachers, kindergarten and elementary school	300	0.8	(5)	59,330
Special education teachers, middle school	160	0.9	(5)	58,070
Special education teachers, secondary school	300	1.1	(5)	60,510
Adult basic and secondary education and literacy teachers and instructors	140	1.1	25.09	52,190
Self-enrichment education teachers	280	0.6	19.81	41,210
Teachers and instructors, all other, except substitute teachers	1,370	2.2	(5)	31,370
Substitute teachers	4,030	3.1	10.66	22,160
Librarians	320	1.2	30.75	63,960
Library technicians	150	0.8	14.65	30,470
Audio-visual and multimedia collections specialists	60	2.6	19.89	41,380
Instructional coordinators	510	1.5	34.42	71,590
Teacher assistants	2,590	0.9	(5)	26,540
Education, training, and library workers, all other	220	1.1	20.64	42,930
Footnotes: (1) For a complete listing of all detailed occupations in the El Paso Metropolitan Statistical Area, see www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_21340.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) Wages for some occupations that do not generally work year-round, full time, are reported either as hourly wages or annual salaries depending on how they are typically paid.