Workers in the Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX Metropolitan Statistical Area had an average (mean) hourly wage of $32.89 in May 2024, compared to the nationwide average of $32.66, 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 ($68.53), legal ($63.75), and computer and mathematical ($55.92). Lower paying occupations included food preparation and serving related ($15.69), personal care and service ($17.23), and building and grounds cleaning and maintenance ($17.48). (See table A.)

Occupational groups with the highest employment in the Dallas area included office and administrative support (12.7 percent), transportation and material moving (10.2 percent), and management (9.4 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 (0.9 percent).

One occupational group—transportation and material moving—was chosen to illustrate the diversity of data available for any of the 22 major occupational categories. Dallas had 408,710 jobs in transportation and material moving, accounting for 10.2 percent of local area employment, compared to the 8.9-percent share nationally. The average hourly wage for this occupational group locally was $23.66, compared to the national wage of $23.44.

Some of the larger detailed occupations within the transportation and material moving group included stockers and order fillers (91,070), hand laborers and freight, stock, and material movers (80,360), and heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers (59,200). Among the higher paying jobs in this group were air traffic controllers ($82.81) and transportation inspectors ($50.34). At the lower end of the wage scale were parking attendants ($15.77) and cleaners of vehicles and equipment ($16.32). (Detailed data for the transportation and material moving occupations are presented in table 1; for a complete listing of detailed occupations available go to https://data.bls.gov/oes/#/area/0019100.)

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 2.00 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 transportation and material moving group. For instance, aircraft cargo handling supervisors were employed at 2.19 times the national rate in Dallas, and industrial truck and tractor operators, at 2.11 times the U.S. average. Cleaners of vehicles and equipment had a location quotient of 1.04 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 530 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 65.7 percent based on establishments and 65.9 percent based on weighted sampled employment. The sample in the Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX Metropolitan Statistical Area included 11,097 establishments with a response rate of 46 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, Hunt County, Johnson County, Kaufman County, Parker County, Rockwall 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 transportation and material moving occupations, Dallas metropolitan area, May 2024

Occupation (1)	Employment		Mean wages ($)
	Level (2)	Location quotient (3)	Hourly	Annual (4)
Transportation and material moving occupations	408,710	1.15	23.66	49,210
Aircraft cargo handling supervisors	580	2.19	33.68	70,050
First-line supervisors of transportation and material moving workers, except aircraft cargo handling supervisors	18,610	1.18	30.58	63,600
Airline pilots, copilots, and flight engineers	4,950	1.92	(6)	248,940
Commercial pilots	2,480	1.84	(6)	192,130
Air traffic controllers	780	1.34	82.81	172,250
Flight attendants	6,990	2.07	(6)	57,260
Ambulance drivers and attendants, except emergency medical technicians	90	0.28	14.91	31,010
Driver/sales workers	9,500	0.88	20.44	42,520
Heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers	59,200	1.10	28.88	60,060
Light truck drivers	22,620	0.88	23.68	49,260
Bus drivers, school	8,500	0.84	21.91	45,570
Bus drivers, transit and intercity	1,830	0.47	26.89	55,940
Shuttle drivers and chauffeurs	3,830	0.64	17.73	36,890
Motor vehicle operators, all other	890	0.68	18.68	38,850
Locomotive engineers	240	0.29	28.72	59,730
Railroad conductors and yardmasters	50	0.04	30.93	64,330
Captains, mates, and pilots of water vessels	240	0.26	44.69	92,950
Parking attendants	4,960	1.42	15.77	32,800
Automotive and watercraft service attendants	2,260	0.89	16.50	34,320
Aircraft service attendants	930	1.31	20.25	42,130
Traffic technicians	180	0.92	27.14	56,450
Transportation inspectors	980	1.62	50.34	104,700
Passenger attendants	(5)	(5)	15.25	31,730
Transportation workers, all other	(5)	(5)	16.96	35,270
Conveyor operators and tenders	670	1.00	21.40	44,500
Crane and tower operators	1,380	1.27	33.63	69,950
Hoist and winch operators	30	0.49	19.04	39,600
Industrial truck and tractor operators	44,250	2.11	22.82	47,460
Cleaners of vehicles and equipment	10,060	1.04	16.32	33,950
Laborers and freight, stock, and material movers, hand	80,360	1.04	19.12	39,760
Machine feeders and offbearers	1,180	0.97	21.24	44,180
Packers and packagers, hand	20,510	1.31	16.51	34,340
Stockers and order fillers	91,070	1.26	18.51	38,510
Gas compressor and gas pumping station operators	110	0.82	35.65	74,160
Pump operators, except wellhead pumpers	560	1.71	31.65	65,820
Wellhead pumpers	920	2.04	37.41	77,800
Refuse and recyclable material collectors	2,520	0.70	22.86	47,550
Tank car, truck, and ship loaders	210	0.74	28.46	59,190
Material moving workers, all other	740	1.12	21.48	44,680
(1) For a complete listing of all detailed occupations in the Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX Metropolitan Statistical Area, see https://data.bls.gov/oes/#/area/0019100. (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.