Workers in the College Station-Bryan, TX Metropolitan Statistical Area had an average (mean) hourly wage of $26.96 in May 2023, compared to the nationwide average of $31.48, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Assistant Commissioner for Regional Operations Michael Hirniak noted that higher paying major occupational groups included management ($52.54), legal ($47.89), and educational instruction and library ($40.90). Lower paying occupations included food preparation and serving related ($13.82), personal care and service ($14.62), and building and grounds cleaning and maintenance ($15.13). (See table A.)

Occupational groups with the highest employment in the College Station area included office and administrative support (13.1 percent), food preparation and serving related (11.5 percent), and educational instruction and library (11.1 percent). Major occupational groups on the lower end of local employment included legal (0.6 percent); arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media (1.0 percent); and architecture and engineering (1.2 percent).

One occupational group—educational instruction and library—was chosen to illustrate the diversity of data available for any of the 22 major occupational categories. College Station had 14,280 jobs in educational instruction and library, accounting for 11.1 percent of local area employment, compared to the 5.8-percent share nationally. The average annual wage for this occupational group locally was $85,070, compared to the national wage of $66,400.

Some of the larger detailed occupations within the educational instruction and library group included postsecondary health specialties teachers (2,000), teaching assistants, except postsecondary (1,480), and postsecondary teaching assistants (1,160). Among the higher-paying jobs in this group were postsecondary health specialties teachers and postsecondary engineering teachers, with mean annual wages of $196,370 and $122,240, respectively. At the lower end of the wage scale were short-term substitute teachers ($27,060) and self-enrichment teachers ($32,500). (Detailed data for the educational instruction and library occupations are presented in table 1; for a complete listing of detailed occupations available go to www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_17780.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 College Station area, above-average concentrations of employment were found in many of the occupations within the educational instruction and library group. For instance, postsecondary engineering teachers were employed at 11.6 times the national rate in College Station, and postsecondary health specialties teachers at 10.5 times the U.S. average. Secondary school teachers, except special and career/technical education, had a location quotient of 1.0 in College Station, indicating that this particular occupation’s local and national employment shares were similar.

The statistics in this release are from the Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) survey, a cooperative effort between BLS and the State Workforce Agencies (SWAs). BLS funds the survey and provides the procedures and technical support. State Workforce Agencies collect most of the data: in this case, the Texas 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. Full OEWS data tables are available online.

Additional information about the OEWS estimates and methodology are available in the national Technical Notes. The overall national response rate for the six panels, based on the 50 states and the District of Columbia, is 65.8 percent based on establishments and 64.3 percent based on weighted sampled employment. The sample in the College Station-Bryan, TX Metropolitan Statistical Area included 1,285 establishments with a response rate of 56 percent.

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 College Station-Bryan, TX Metropolitan Statistical Area includes Brazos County, Burleson County, and Robertson County.

For more information

Answers to frequently asked questions about the OEWS data, as well as general program documentation, are available on the OEWS website.

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 educational instruction and library occupations, College Station metropolitan area, May 2023

Occupation (1)	Employment		Mean wages ($)
	Level (2)	Location quotient (3)	Hourly	Annual (4)
Educational instruction and library occupations	14,280	1.9	40.90	85,070
Business teachers, postsecondary	420	5.9	(5)	119,180
Engineering teachers, postsecondary	380	11.6	(5)	122,240
Health specialties teachers, postsecondary	2,000	10.5	(5)	196,370
Nursing instructors and teachers, postsecondary	310	5.1	(5)	93,030
Criminal justice and law enforcement teachers, postsecondary	30	2.8	(5)	75,180
Recreation and fitness studies teachers, postsecondary	70	6.0	(5)	66,420
Career/technical education teachers, postsecondary	830	8.8	39.01	81,140
Postsecondary teachers, all other	130	0.9	(5)	108,030
Preschool teachers, except special education	340	0.9	17.18	35,730
Kindergarten teachers, except special education	170	1.7	(5)	55,420
Elementary school teachers, except special education	1,080	0.9	(5)	59,690
Middle school teachers, except special and career/technical education	560	1.1	(5)	55,610
Secondary school teachers, except special and career/technical education	850	1.0	(5)	56,290
Career/technical education teachers, secondary school	150	1.9	(5)	65,100
Special education teachers, kindergarten and elementary school	110	0.6	(5)	53,890
Special education teachers, middle school	60	0.7	(5)	56,140
Special education teachers, secondary school	60	0.4	(5)	56,520
Special education teachers, all other	230	6.1	(5)	65,790
Self-enrichment teachers	120	0.5	15.63	32,500
Substitute teachers, short-term	150	0.4	13.01	27,060
Tutors	110	0.8	19.34	40,230
Teachers and instructors, all other	80	0.8	(5)	50,530
Librarians and media collections specialists	140	1.2	29.52	61,400
Library technicians	90	1.4	16.94	35,240
Instructional coordinators	360	2.1	30.95	64,380
Teaching assistants, postsecondary	1,160	9.4	(5)	57,710
Teaching assistants, except postsecondary	1,480	1.3	(5)	33,500
Educational instruction and library workers, all other	310	3.3	22.98	47,790
(1) For a complete listing of all detailed occupations in the College Station-Bryan, TX Metropolitan Statistical Area, see www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_17780.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) 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.