Workers in the Baton Rouge, LA Metropolitan Statistical Area had an average (mean) hourly wage of $24.87 in May 2021, 11 percent below the nationwide average of $28.01, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Regional Commissioner Michael Hirniak noted that, after testing for statistical significance, wages in the local area were lower than their respective national averages in 17 of the 22 major occupational groups, including legal; computer and mathematical; and arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media. Two groups had significantly higher wages than their respective national averages: production and transportation and material moving.

When compared to the nationwide distribution, Baton Rouge area employment was more highly concentrated in 6 of the 22 occupational groups, including construction and extraction; educational instruction and library; and installation, maintenance, and repair. Eight groups had employment shares significantly below their national representation, including computer and mathematical, business and financial operations, and office and administrative support. (See table A.)

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 27,830 jobs in construction and extraction, accounting for 7.6 percent of local area employment, significantly higher than the 4.2-percent share nationally. The average hourly wage for this occupational group locally was $24.46, significantly below the national wage of $26.87.

Some of the larger detailed occupations within the construction and extraction group included construction laborers (4,860), first-line supervisors of construction trades and extraction workers (3,390), and electricians (3,220). Among the higher-paying jobs in this group were first-line supervisors of construction trades and extraction workers and construction and building inspectors, with mean hourly wages of $34.06 and $32.24, respectively. At the lower end of the wage scale were highway maintenance workers ($15.21) and carpenters helpers ($17.19). (Detailed data for the construction and extraction occupations are presented in table 1; for a complete listing of detailed occupations available go to 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 area, above-average concentrations of employment were found in many of the occupations within the construction and extraction group. For instance, boilermakers were employed at 20.3 times the national rate in Baton Rouge, and floor, ceiling, and wall insulation workers, at 7.8 times the U.S. average. Sheet metal workers had a location quotient of 1.0 in Baton Rouge, indicating that this particular occupation’s local and national employment shares were similar.

These statistics are from the Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) survey, a federal-state cooperative program between BLS and State Workforce Agencies, in this case, the Louisiana Workforce Commission.

Technical Note

The Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) survey is a semiannual survey measuring occupational employment and wage rates for wage and salary workers in nonfarm establishments in the United States. The OEWS data available from BLS include cross-industry occupational employment and wage estimates for the nation; over 580 areas, including states and the District of Columbia, metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs), nonmetropolitan areas, and territories; national industry-specific estimates at the NAICS sector, 3-digit, most 4-digit, and selected 5- and 6-digit industry levels, and national estimates by ownership across all industries and for schools and hospitals. OEWS data are available at www.bls.gov/oes/tables.htm.

The OEWS survey is a cooperative effort between BLS and the State Workforce Agencies (SWAs). BLS funds the survey and provides the procedures and technical support, while the State Workforce Agencies collect most of the data. OEWS estimates are constructed from a sample of about 1.1 million establishments. Each year, two semiannual panels of approximately 179,000 to 187,000 sampled establishments are contacted, one panel in May and the other in November. Responses are obtained by Internet or other electronic means, mail, email, telephone, or personal visit. The May 2021 estimates are based on responses from six semiannual panels collected over a 3-year period: May 2021, November 2020, May 2020, November 2019, May 2019, and November 2018. The unweighted sampled employment of 82 million across all six semiannual panels represents approximately 62 percent of total national employment. The overall national response rate for the six panels, based on the 50 states and the District of Columbia, is 67.2 percent based on establishments and 64.5 percent based on weighted sampled employment. The sample in the Baton Rouge, LA Metropolitan Statistical Area included 2,891 establishments with a response rate of 68 percent. For more information about OEWS concepts and methodology, go to www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_tec.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.

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, LA Metropolitan Statistical Area includes Ascension Parish, East Baton Rouge Parish, East Feliciana Parish, Iberville Parish, Livingston Parish, Pointe Coupee Parish, St. Helena Parish, West Baton Rouge Parish, and West Feliciana Parish.

For more information

Answers to frequently asked questions about the OEWS data are available at www.bls.gov/oes/oes_ques.htm. Detailed information about the OEWS program is available at www.bls.gov/oes/oes_doc.htm.

Information in this release will be made available to individuals with sensory impairments upon request. Voice phone: (202) 691-5200; Telecommunications Relay Service: 7-1-1.

Table 1. Employment and wage data for construction and extraction occupations, Baton Rouge metropolitan area, May 2021

Occupation (1)	Employment		Mean wages
	Level (2)	Location quotient (3)	Hourly	Annual (4)
Construction and extraction occupations	27,830	1.8	$24.46	$50,870
First-line supervisors of construction trades and extraction workers	3,390	2.0	34.06	70,830
Boilermakers	680	20.3	31.71	65,950
Carpenters	2,330	1.3	23.00	47,840
Tile and stone setters	60	0.5	21.28	44,260
Cement masons and concrete finishers	270	0.6	20.01	41,620
Construction laborers	4,860	1.9	18.09	37,620
Pile driver operators	(5)	(5)	28.91	60,130
Operating engineers and other construction equipment operators	1,760	1.7	24.43	50,810
Drywall and ceiling tile installers	310	1.2	18.10	37,650
Electricians	3,220	1.9	27.65	57,520
Glaziers	150	1.1	23.86	49,620
Insulation workers, floor, ceiling, and wall	620	7.8	20.10	41,810
Insulation workers, mechanical	250	3.5	24.17	50,280
Painters, construction and maintenance	830	1.5	20.71	43,070
Pipelayers	70	0.8	21.98	45,710
Plumbers, pipefitters, and steamfitters	2,810	2.6	30.30	63,030
Plasterers and stucco masons	50	0.7	20.28	42,190
Reinforcing iron and rebar workers	140	3.4	(5)	(5)
Roofers	160	0.5	21.08	43,850
Sheet metal workers	320	1.0	22.36	46,510
Structural iron and steel workers	310	1.8	25.56	53,160
Helpers--carpenters	200	2.8	17.19	35,760
Helpers--electricians	970	5.2	20.11	41,830
Helpers--painters, paperhangers, plasterers, and stucco masons	(5)	(5)	16.69	34,710
Helpers--pipelayers, plumbers, pipefitters, and steamfitters	580	4.8	17.37	36,140
Helpers, construction trades, all other	840	11.8	19.30	40,140
Construction and building inspectors	220	0.7	32.24	67,050
Fence erectors	80	1.2	19.65	40,870
Hazardous materials removal workers	310	2.7	18.76	39,020
Highway maintenance workers	200	0.5	15.21	31,630
Miscellaneous construction and related workers	710	8.8	22.34	46,470
Rotary drill operators, oil and gas	(5)	(5)	21.90	45,550
Service unit operators, oil and gas	60	0.7	24.90	51,800
Excavating and loading machine and dragline operators, surface mining	150	1.7	21.26	44,210
Roustabouts, oil and gas	170	1.8	21.65	45,020
Extraction workers, all other	80	5.7	22.90	47,640
(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 may not sum to the totals due to rounding, and because the totals may include occupations that are 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.