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Friday, September 27, 2024
Workers in the Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX Metropolitan Statistical Area had an average (mean) hourly wage of $30.54 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 legal ($65.39), management ($64.00), and architecture and engineering ($50.48). Lower paying occupations included food preparation and serving related ($14.14), healthcare support ($15.51), and building and grounds cleaning and maintenance ($15.74). (See table A.)
Occupational groups with the highest employment in the Houston area included office and administrative support (12.2 percent), transportation and material moving (9.6 percent), and food preparation and serving related (9.1 percent). Major occupational groups on the lower end of local employment included legal (0.7 percent); arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media (0.9 percent); and community and social service (1.0 percent).
Major occupational group | Percent of total employment | Mean hourly wage ($) | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
United States | Houston | United States | Houston | ||
Total, all occupations |
100.0 | 100.0 | 31.48 | 30.54 | |
Management |
6.9 | 8.5 | 66.23 | 64.00 | |
Business and financial operations |
6.6 | 5.7 | 43.55 | 42.26 | |
Computer and mathematical |
3.4 | 2.7 | 54.39 | 50.41 | |
Architecture and engineering |
1.7 | 2.3 | 47.64 | 50.48 | |
Life, physical, and social science |
0.9 | 1.0 | 42.24 | 40.11 | |
Community and social service |
1.6 | 1.0 | 28.36 | 27.52 | |
Legal |
0.8 | 0.7 | 64.34 | 65.39 | |
Educational instruction and library |
5.8 | 6.0 | 31.92 | 31.07 | |
Arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media |
1.4 | 0.9 | 36.31 | 32.43 | |
Healthcare practitioners and technical |
6.1 | 5.7 | 49.07 | 47.15 | |
Healthcare support |
4.7 | 3.8 | 18.37 | 15.51 | |
Protective service |
2.3 | 2.3 | 27.74 | 24.79 | |
Food preparation and serving related |
8.7 | 9.1 | 16.58 | 14.14 | |
Building and grounds cleaning and maintenance |
2.9 | 2.7 | 18.43 | 15.74 | |
Personal care and service |
2.0 | 1.7 | 18.48 | 16.24 | |
Sales and related |
8.8 | 8.5 | 25.62 | 24.23 | |
Office and administrative support |
12.2 | 12.2 | 23.05 | 22.07 | |
Farming, fishing, and forestry |
0.3 | 0.1 | 19.22 | 20.26 | |
Construction and extraction |
4.1 | 5.6 | 29.57 | 26.08 | |
Installation, maintenance, and repair |
3.9 | 4.7 | 28.13 | 28.15 | |
Production |
5.8 | 5.3 | 22.90 | 24.63 | |
Transportation and material moving |
9.1 | 9.6 | 22.45 | 22.79 |
One occupational group—management—was chosen to illustrate the diversity of data available for any of the 22 major occupational categories. Houston had 268,670 jobs in management, accounting for 8.5 percent of local area employment, compared to the 6.9-percent share nationally. The average hourly wage for this occupational group locally was $64.00, compared to the national wage of $66.23.
Some of the larger detailed occupations within the management group included general and operations managers (104,860), sales managers (18,460), and financial managers (15,470). Among the higher-paying jobs in this group were chief executives and financial managers, with mean hourly wages of $156.28 and $89.32, respectively. At the lower end of the wage scale were education and childcare administrators, preschool and daycare ($24.71) and funeral home managers ($30.98). (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_26420.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 Houston area, above-average concentrations of employment were found in some of the occupations within the management group. For instance, construction managers were employed at 2.1 times the national rate in Houston, and transportation, storage, and distribution managers, at 1.7 times the U.S. average. Human resources managers had a location quotient of 1.0 in Houston, 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.
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 Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX Metropolitan Statistical Area included 9,698 establishments with a response rate of 42 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 Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX Metropolitan Statistical Area includes Austin County, Brazoria County, Chambers County, Fort Bend County, Galveston County, Harris County, Liberty County, Montgomery County, and Waller 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.
Occupation (1) | Employment | Mean wages ($) | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
Level (2) | Location quotient (3) | Hourly | Annual (4) | |
Management occupations |
268,670 | 1.2 | 64.00 | 133,110 |
Chief executives |
1,520 | 0.3 | 156.28 | 325,060 |
General and operations managers |
104,860 | 1.4 | 61.96 | 128,870 |
Legislators |
170 | 0.3 | (6) | 68,100 |
Advertising and promotions managers |
350 | 0.8 | 56.34 | 117,180 |
Marketing managers |
7,890 | 1.0 | 74.15 | 154,220 |
Sales managers |
18,460 | 1.5 | 71.18 | 148,060 |
Public relations managers |
1,710 | 1.1 | 64.77 | 134,710 |
Fundraising managers |
570 | 0.9 | 54.54 | 113,430 |
Administrative services managers |
(5) | (5) | 60.24 | 125,300 |
Facilities managers |
2,390 | 0.9 | 54.72 | 113,820 |
Computer and information systems managers |
11,760 | 1.0 | 82.77 | 172,160 |
Financial managers |
15,470 | 0.9 | 89.32 | 185,790 |
Industrial production managers |
6,080 | 1.3 | 67.05 | 139,460 |
Purchasing managers |
2,030 | 1.3 | 67.51 | 140,410 |
Transportation, storage, and distribution managers |
6,980 | 1.7 | 53.00 | 110,230 |
Compensation and benefits managers |
360 | 0.9 | 66.04 | 137,360 |
Human resources managers |
4,220 | 1.0 | 72.24 | 150,260 |
Training and development managers |
1,380 | 1.6 | 63.65 | 132,400 |
Farmers, ranchers, and other agricultural managers |
60 | 0.5 | 38.57 | 80,230 |
Construction managers |
14,660 | 2.1 | 53.35 | 110,970 |
Education and childcare administrators, preschool and daycare |
2,100 | 1.6 | 24.71 | 51,390 |
Education administrators, kindergarten through secondary |
7,850 | 1.2 | (6) | 99,060 |
Education administrators, postsecondary |
2,240 | 0.6 | 57.56 | 119,720 |
Education administrators, all other |
870 | 0.8 | 39.17 | 81,460 |
Architectural and engineering managers |
5,760 | 1.3 | 88.70 | 184,500 |
Food service managers |
(5) | (5) | 34.99 | 72,780 |
Entertainment and recreation managers, except gambling |
510 | 0.8 | 36.03 | 74,940 |
Lodging managers |
500 | 0.6 | 35.56 | 73,960 |
Medical and health services managers |
11,620 | 1.1 | 60.13 | 125,070 |
Natural sciences managers |
2,840 | 1.4 | 56.02 | 116,520 |
Postmasters and mail superintendents |
80 | 0.3 | 46.53 | 96,780 |
Property, real estate, and community association managers |
8,570 | 1.4 | 40.84 | 84,940 |
Social and community service managers |
2,090 | 0.6 | 38.68 | 80,450 |
Emergency management directors |
260 | 1.0 | 52.53 | 109,250 |
Funeral home managers |
470 | 1.6 | 30.98 | 64,430 |
Managers, all other |
11,220 | 0.9 | 73.11 | 152,070 |
(1) For a complete listing of all detailed occupations in the Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX Metropolitan Statistical Area, see www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_26420.htm. |
Last Modified Date: Friday, September 27, 2024