Workers in the Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX Metropolitan Statistical Area had an average (mean) hourly wage of $31.66 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 ($65.92), legal ($65.53), and computer and mathematical ($53.37). Lower paying occupations included food preparation and serving related ($15.19), building and grounds cleaning and maintenance ($16.74), and healthcare support ($16.94). (See table A.)

Occupational groups with the highest employment in the Dallas area included office and administrative support (13.2 percent), transportation and material moving (10.4 percent), and sales and related (9.3 percent). Major occupational groups on the lower end of local employment included life, physical, and social science (0.6 percent); legal (0.7 percent); and community and social service (0.8 percent).

One occupational group—management—was chosen to illustrate the diversity of data available for any of the 22 major occupational categories. Dallas had 350,940 jobs in management, accounting for 8.8 percent of local area employment, compared to the 6.9-percent share nationally. The average hourly wage for this occupational group locally was $65.92, compared to the national wage of $66.23.

Some of the larger detailed occupations within the management group included general and operations managers (132,590), sales managers (27,840), and computer and information systems managers (24,680). Among the higher-paying jobs in this group were chief executives and architectural and engineering managers, with mean hourly wages of $161.44 and $92.49, respectively. At the lower end of the wage scale were preschool and daycare education and childcare administrators ($26.64) and food service managers ($32.17). (Detailed data for the management occupations are presented in table 1; for a complete listing of detailed occupations available go to www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_19100.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 Dallas area, above-average concentrations of employment were found in some of the occupations within the management group. For instance, sales managers were employed at 1.9 times the national rate in Dallas, and transportation, storage, and distribution managers, at 1.8 times the U.S. average. Preschool and daycare education and childcare administrators had a location quotient of 1.0 in Dallas, 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 Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX Metropolitan Statistical Area included 10,946 establishments with a response rate of 45 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 Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX Metropolitan Statistical Area includes Collin County, Dallas County, Denton County, Ellis County, Hood County, Hunt County, Johnson County, Kaufman County, Parker County, Rockwall County, Somervell County, Tarrant County, and Wise 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 management occupations, Dallas metropolitan area, May 2023

Occupation (1)	Employment		Mean wages ($)
	Level (2)	Location quotient (3)	Hourly	Annual (4)
Management occupations	350,940	1.3	65.92	137,110
Chief executives	2,030	0.4	161.44	335,780
General and operations managers	132,590	1.5	64.11	133,350
Legislators	210	0.2	(6)	79,500
Advertising and promotions managers	980	1.8	58.14	120,930
Marketing managers	13,790	1.4	73.67	153,230
Sales managers	27,840	1.9	71.00	147,670
Public relations managers	2,640	1.4	63.03	131,100
Fundraising managers	750	0.9	52.27	108,730
Administrative services managers	5,710	0.9	65.51	136,250
Facilities managers	3,030	0.9	55.30	115,020
Computer and information systems managers	24,680	1.6	84.53	175,830
Financial managers	23,520	1.1	84.02	174,770
Industrial production managers	5,450	0.9	61.05	126,990
Purchasing managers	2,580	1.3	68.96	143,430
Transportation, storage, and distribution managers	9,380	1.8	53.10	110,450
Compensation and benefits managers	(5)	(5)	63.58	132,250
Human resources managers	6,650	1.3	72.50	150,800
Training and development managers	1,870	1.7	64.11	133,360
Farmers, ranchers, and other agricultural managers	90	0.6	32.03	66,610
Construction managers	12,320	1.4	52.00	108,160
Education and childcare administrators, preschool and daycare	1,650	1.0	26.64	55,410
Education administrators, kindergarten through secondary	9,710	1.2	(6)	98,960
Education administrators, postsecondary	3,610	0.8	58.12	120,900
Education administrators, all other	1,260	1.0	45.96	95,590
Architectural and engineering managers	5,930	1.1	92.49	192,370
Food service managers	(5)	(5)	32.17	66,920
Entertainment and recreation managers, except gambling	700	0.9	41.78	86,910
Lodging managers	1,280	1.2	34.22	71,180
Medical and health services managers	14,390	1.1	63.16	131,370
Natural sciences managers	1,540	0.6	63.48	132,030
Postmasters and mail superintendents	110	0.3	47.76	99,350
Property, real estate, and community association managers	10,420	1.4	36.00	74,870
Social and community service managers	2,300	0.5	40.33	83,890
Emergency management directors	270	0.9	50.74	105,540
Funeral home managers	390	1.0	32.46	67,510
Managers, all other	14,950	1.0	71.31	148,320
(1) For a complete listing of all detailed occupations in the Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX Metropolitan Statistical Area, see www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_19100.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. (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.