Workers in the Baton Rouge Metropolitan Statistical Area had an average (mean) hourly wage of $21.73 in May 2018, about 13 percent below the nationwide average of $24.98, 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 computer and mathematical; legal; and protective service. One group had significantly higher wages than its respective national average: production.

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 protective service. 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 notes at end of release.)

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 42,490 jobs in construction and extraction, accounting for 10.7 percent of local area employment, significantly higher than the 4.1-percent share nationally. The average hourly wage for this occupational group locally was $22.92, significantly below the national wage of $24.62.

Some of the larger detailed occupations within the construction and extraction group included construction laborers (6,350), carpenters (5,340), and first-line supervisors of construction trades and extraction workers (4,560). Among the higher-paying jobs in this group were first-line supervisors of construction trades and extraction workers, and plumbers, pipefitters and steamfitters, with mean hourly wages of $31.92 and $28.13, respectively. At the lower end of the wage scale were highway maintenance workers ($14.68) and electrician helpers ($14.79). (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 Metropolitan Statistical 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 25.7 times the national rate in Baton Rouge, and floor, ceiling and wall insulation workers, at 9.7 times the U.S. average. These two location quotients in Baton Rouge were among the highest in all the published metropolitan areas nationwide for these particular occupations. On the other hand, tile and marble setters 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 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 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 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. OES data are available at www.bls.gov/oes/tables.htm.

The OES 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. OES estimates are constructed from a sample of about 1.2 million establishments. Each year, two semiannual panels of approximately 180,000 to 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 2018 estimates are based on responses from six semiannual panels collected over a 3-year period: May 2018, November 2017, May 2017, November 2016, May 2016, and November 2015. The unweighted sample employment of 83 million across all six semiannual panels represents approximately 58 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 71 percent based on establishments and 68 percent based on weighted sampled employment. The sample in the Baton Rouge Metropolitan Statistical Area included 3,152 establishments with a response rate of 73 percent. For more information about OES 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.

The May 2018 OES estimates are based on the 2010 Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) system and the 2017 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 2017 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 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, Baton Rouge Metropolitan Statistical Area, May 2018

Occupation (1)	Employment		Mean wages
	Level (2)	Location quotient (3)	Hourly	Annual (4)
Construction and extraction occupations	42,490	2.6	$22.92	$47,680
First-line supervisors of construction trades and extraction workers	4,560	2.8	31.92	66,400
Boilermakers	310	8.1	29.74	61,850
Brickmasons and blockmasons	270	1.5	21.13	43,950
Carpenters	5,340	2.7	22.77	47,350
Tile and marble setters	100	1.0	16.85	35,060
Construction laborers	6,350	2.3	16.78	34,900
Paving, surfacing, and tamping equipment operators	180	1.4	21.66	45,050
Pile-driver operators	170	17.6	22.14	46,060
Operating engineers and other construction equipment operators	3,140	3.0	21.92	45,600
Electricians	3,810	2.1	25.43	52,900
Insulation workers, floor, ceiling, and wall	850	9.7	21.14	43,980
Insulation workers, mechanical	1,730	25.7	23.63	49,160
Painters, construction and maintenance	1,480	2.4	21.79	45,330
Pipelayers	70	0.7	15.61	32,470
Plumbers, pipefitters, and steamfitters	3,150	2.6	28.13	58,510
Reinforcing iron and rebar workers	190	3.8	28.69	59,680
Roofers	130	0.4	20.23	42,090
Sheet metal workers	520	1.4	21.78	45,310
Structural iron and steel workers	930	4.4	25.18	52,380
Helpers – carpenters	820	9.1	15.78	32,830
Helpers – electricians	1,370	6.6	14.79	30,750
Helpers – painters, paperhangers, plasterers, and stucco masons	260	8.9	15.89	33,060
Helpers – pipelayers, plumbers, pipefitters, and steamfitters	560	3.8	17.21	35,800
Helpers, construction trades, all other	1,590	22.2	17.47	36,330
Construction and building inspectors	210	0.7	30.31	63,040
Hazardous materials removal workers	(5)	(5)	19.01	39,540
Highway maintenance workers	130	0.3	14.68	30,540
Miscellaneous construction and related workers	1,480	16.2	22.03	45,830
Derrick operators, oil and gas	(5)	(5)	23.04	47,930
Rotary drill operators, oil and gas	50	0.9	21.56	44,850
Service unit operators, oil, gas, and mining	(5)	(5)	27.29	56,760
Helpers – extraction workers	(5)	(5)	14.78	30,740
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) Estimate not released.