Workers in the Little Rock-North Little Rock-Conway Metropolitan Statistical Area had an average (mean) hourly wage of $21.05 in May 2017, about 14 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, 20 of the 22 major occupational groups in the local area had significantly lower wages than their respective national averages, including legal; management; and construction and extraction. The two remaining major occupational groups in the local area had wages that were similar to their respective national averages.

When compared to the nationwide distribution, local employment was more highly concentrated in 6 of the 22 occupational groups, including healthcare practitioners and technical; management; and installation, maintenance, and repair. Conversely, nine groups had employment shares significantly below their national representation, including production; education, training, and library; and food preparation and serving related. (See table A and box note at end of release.)

One occupational group—healthcare practitioners and technical—was chosen to illustrate the diversity of data available for any of the 22 major occupational categories. Little Rock-North Little Rock-Conway had 28,890 jobs in healthcare practitioners and technical, accounting for 8.3 percent of local area employment, significantly higher than the 6.0-percent share nationally. The average hourly wage for this occupational group locally was $32.47, significantly below the national wage of $38.83.

Some of the larger detailed occupations within the healthcare practitioners and technical group included registered nurses (9,690), licensed practical and licensed vocational nurses (3,540), and pharmacy technicians (1,670). Among the higher-paying jobs were surgeons, as well as family and general practitioners, with mean hourly wages of $137.83 and $121.31, respectively. At the lower end of the wage scale were dietetic technicians ($12.84) and veterinary technologists and technicians ($13.24). (Detailed occupational data for healthcare practitioners and technical are presented in table 1; for a complete listing of detailed occupations available go to www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_30780.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 Little Rock-North Little Rock-Conway Metropolitan Statistical Area, above-average concentrations of employment were found in many of the occupations within the healthcare practitioners and technical group. For instance, in Little Rock, licensed practical and licensed vocational nurses, as well as speech-language pathologists, were employed at 2.1 times the national rate. Little Rock's location quotient for speech language pathologists was among the highest in all metropolitan areas for this particular occupation. On the other hand, clinical laboratory technologists and technicians had a location quotient of 1.1 in Little Rock, 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 Arkansas Department of Workforce Services.

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 Little Rock-North Little Rock-Conway Metropolitan Statistical Area included 2,691 establishments with a response rate of 71 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 Little Rock-North Little Rock-Conway Metropolitan Statistical Area includes Faulkner, Grant, Lonoke, Perry, Pulaski, and Saline Counties in Arkansas.

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, Little Rock-North Little Rock-Conway Metropolitan Statistical Area, May 2017

Occupation (1)	Employment		Mean wages
	Level (2)	Location quotient (3)	Hourly	Annual (4)
Healthcare practitioners and technical occupations	28,890	1.4	$32.47	$67,540
Chiropractors	80	1.0	17.12	35,610
Dentists, general	250	0.9	65.57	136,390
Dietitians and nutritionists	170	1.1	27.48	57,160
Optometrists	80	0.9	36.73	76,390
Pharmacists	1,500	2.0	52.96	110,160
Family and general practitioners	270	0.9	121.31	252,320
Obstetricians and gynecologists	(5)	(5)	126.99	264,130
Surgeons	80	0.8	137.83	286,690
Physicians and surgeons, all other	1,450	1.7	68.23	141,930
Physician assistants	210	0.8	40.82	84,900
Occupational therapists	500	1.6	35.99	74,860
Physical therapists	710	1.3	38.71	80,520
Radiation therapists	110	2.7	31.54	65,610
Respiratory therapists	330	1.1	25.81	53,680
Speech-language pathologists	720	2.1	33.57	69,830
Veterinarians	190	1.1	26.48	55,080
Registered nurses	9,690	1.4	30.25	62,910
Nurse anesthetists	160	1.6	67.19	139,760
Nurse practitioners	680	1.7	45.68	95,010
Health diagnosing and treating practitioners, all other	130	1.4	(5)	(5)
Clinical laboratory technologists and technicians	830	1.1	20.71	43,070
Dental hygienists	350	0.7	33.32	69,310
Cardiovascular technologists and technicians	230	1.7	24.21	50,360
Diagnostic medical sonographers	250	1.5	30.79	64,030
Nuclear medicine technologists	90	2.0	34.81	72,400
Radiologic technologists	960	2.0	23.89	49,690
Magnetic resonance imaging technologists	210	2.3	27.65	57,520
Emergency medical technicians and paramedics	(5)	(5)	14.26	29,660
Dietetic technicians	90	1.1	12.84	26,700
Pharmacy technicians	1,670	1.6	15.51	32,270
Psychiatric technicians	240	1.5	13.69	28,480
Respiratory therapy technicians	(5)	(5)	22.22	46,210
Surgical technologists	400	1.6	20.37	42,370
Veterinary technologists and technicians	100	0.4	13.24	27,530
Licensed practical and licensed vocational nurses	3,540	2.1	19.59	40,750
Medical records and health information technicians	580	1.2	18.32	38,100
Opticians, dispensing	160	0.9	20.36	42,350
Health technologists and technicians, all other	500	1.6	20.27	42,160
Occupational health and safety specialists	220	1.1	28.02	58,290
Athletic trainers	(5)	(5)	(6)	29,880
Healthcare practitioners and technical workers, all other	400	4.7	22.15	46,070
Footnotes: (1) For a complete listing of all detailed occupations in the Little Rock-North Little Rock-Conway Metropolitan Statistical Area see www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_30780.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) Estimate not released. (6) 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.