Workers in the Houma-Thibodaux, LA Metropolitan Statistical Area had an average (mean) hourly wage of $26.11 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 ($56.39), legal ($52.59), and healthcare practitioners and technical ($43.30). Lower paying occupations included food preparation and serving related ($12.67), building and grounds cleaning and maintenance ($13.10), and personal care and service ($13.53). (See table A.)

Occupational groups with the highest employment in the Houma area included transportation and material moving (14.6 percent), office and administrative support (11.4 percent), and sales and related (8.8 percent). Major occupational groups on the lower end of local employment included legal (0.3 percent); arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media (0.4 percent); and life, physical, and social science (0.7 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. Houma had 11,750 jobs in transportation and material moving, accounting for 14.6 percent of local area employment, compared to the 9.1-percent share nationally. The average hourly wage for this occupational group locally was $28.87, compared to the national wage of $22.45.

Some of the larger detailed occupations within the transportation and material moving group included sailors and marine oilers (2,350), captains, mates, and pilots of water vessels (1,880), and hand laborers and freight, stock, and material movers (1,570). Among the higher-paying jobs in this group were captains, mates, and pilots of water vessels and ship engineers, with mean hourly wages of $65.04 and $48.22, respectively. At the lower end of the wage scale were hand packers and packagers ($10.90) and school bus drivers ($14.64). (Detailed data for the transportation and material moving occupations are presented in table 1; for a complete listing of detailed occupations available go to www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_26380.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 Houma area, above-average concentrations of employment were found in many of the occupations within the transportation and material moving group. For instance, sailors and marine oilers were employed at 147.5 times the national rate in Houma, and captains, mates, and pilots of water vessels, at 102.8 times the U.S. average. Stockers and order fillers had a location quotient of 1.0 in Houma, 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 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. 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 Houma-Thibodaux, LA Metropolitan Statistical Area included 1,211 establishments with a response rate of 66 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 Houma-Thibodaux, LA Metropolitan Statistical Area includes Lafourche Parish and Terrebonne Parish.

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, Houma metropolitan area, May 2023

Occupation (1)	Employment		Mean wages ($)
	Level (2)	Location quotient (3)	Hourly	Annual (4)
Transportation and material moving occupations	11,750	1.6	28.87	60,050
First-line supervisors of transportation and material moving workers, except aircraft cargo handling supervisors	360	1.1	33.71	70,110
Commercial pilots	250	8.9	(6)	132,550
Heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers	1,270	1.2	23.21	48,270
Light truck drivers	600	1.1	19.35	40,240
Bus drivers, school	240	1.2	14.64	30,450
Shuttle drivers and chauffeurs	80	0.7	16.57	34,460
Sailors and marine oilers	2,350	147.5	23.38	48,630
Captains, mates, and pilots of water vessels	1,880	102.8	65.04	135,290
Ship engineers	160	34.4	48.22	100,290
Bridge and lock tenders	100	54.6	14.67	30,510
Automotive and watercraft service attendants	40	0.9	14.92	31,030
Transportation workers, all other	50	8.9	17.33	36,050
Crane and tower operators	280	12.7	28.79	59,880
Industrial truck and tractor operators	250	0.6	18.97	39,470
Cleaners of vehicles and equipment	130	0.7	15.01	31,220
Laborers and freight, stock, and material movers, hand	1,570	1.0	16.21	33,720
Packers and packagers, hand	90	0.3	10.90	22,670
Stockers and order fillers	1,470	1.0	15.56	32,360
Tank car, truck, and ship loaders	50	7.9	28.27	58,800
Material moving workers, all other	70	5.5	(5)	(5)
(1) For a complete listing of all detailed occupations in the Houma-Thibodaux, LA Metropolitan Statistical Area, see www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_26380.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.