Workers in the Oklahoma City Metropolitan Statistical Area had an average (mean) hourly wage of $22.15 in May 2017, about 9 percent below the nationwide average of $24.34, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Assistant Commissioner for Regional Operations Stanley W. Suchman noted that, after testing for statistical significance, no wages in the local area were higher than their respective national averages in 22 major occupational groups. Eighteen groups had significantly lower wages than their respective national averages, including legal; management; and arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media.

When compared to the nationwide distribution, local employment was more highly concentrated in 9 of the 22 occupational groups, including office and administrative support; food preparation and serving related; and construction and extraction. Conversely, 11 groups had employment shares significantly below their national representation, including production; personal care and service; and transportation and material moving. (See table A and box note at end of release.)

One occupational group—construction and extraction—was chosen to illustrate the diversity of data available for any of the 22 major occupational categories. Oklahoma City had 30,240 jobs in construction and extraction, accounting for 5.0 percent of local area employment, significantly higher than the 4.0-percent share nationally. The average hourly wage for this occupational group locally was $21.45, significantly below the national wage of $24.01.

Some of the larger detailed occupations within the construction and extraction group included first-line supervisors of construction trades and extraction workers (3,710), construction laborers (3,330), and plumbers, pipefitters, and steamfitters (2,780). Among the higher paying jobs were first-line supervisors of construction trades and extraction workers and rotary drill operators, oil and gas, with mean hourly wages of $31.50 and $30.98, respectively. At the lower end of the wage scale were carpet installers ($13.88) and cement masons and concrete finishers ($14.20). (Detailed occupational data for construction and extraction are presented in table 1; for a complete listing of detailed occupations available go to www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_36420.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 Oklahoma City Metropolitan Statistical Area, above-average concentrations of employment were found in many of the occupations within the construction and extraction group. For instance, rotary drill operators, oil and gas, were employed at 10.9 times the national rate in Oklahoma City, and roustabouts, oil and gas, at 6.7 times the U.S. average. Oklahoma City's location quotient for rotary drill operators, oil and gas, was among the highest in all metropolitan areas for this occupation. On the other hand, construction laborers had a location quotient of 0.8 in Oklahoma City, indicating that this particular occupation’s local and national employment shares were similar.

These statistics are from the Occupational Employment Statistics (OES) survey, a federal-state cooperative program between BLS and State Workforce Agencies, in this case, the Oklahoma Employment Security Commission.

Technical Note

The Occupational Employment Statistics (OES) survey is a semiannual mail survey measuring occupational employment and wage rates for wage and salary workers in nonfarm establishments in the United States. The OES data available from BLS include cross-industry occupational employment and wage estimates for the nation; over 650 areas, including states and the District of Columbia, metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs), metropolitan divisions, nonmetropolitan areas, and territories; national industry-specific estimates at the NAICS sector, 3-, 4-, and selected 5- and 6-digit industry levels, and national estimates by ownership across all industries and for schools and hospitals. OES data are available at www.bls.gov/oes/tables.htm.

OES estimates are constructed from a sample of about 1.2 million establishments. Each year, two semiannual panels of approximately 200,000 sampled establishments are contacted, one panel in May and the other in November. Responses are obtained by mail, Internet or other electronic means, email, telephone, or personal visit. The May 2017 estimates are based on responses from six semiannual panels collected over a 3-year period: May 2017, November 2016, May 2016, November 2015, May 2015, and November 2014. The overall national response rate for the six panels, based on the 50 states and the District of Columbia, is 72 percent based on establishments and 68 percent based on weighted sampled employment. The unweighted sample employment of 82 million across all six semiannual panels represents approximately 58 percent of total national employment. The sample in the Oklahoma City Metropolitan Statistical Area included 4,022 establishments with a response rate of 78 percent. For more information about OES concepts and methodology, go to www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_tec.htm.

The May 2017 OES estimates are based on the 2010 Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) system and the 2012 North American Industry Classification System (NAICS). Information about the 2010 SOC is available on the BLS website at www.bls.gov/soc and information about the 2012 NAICS is available at www.bls.gov/bls/naics.htm.

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 Oklahoma City Metropolitan Statistical Area includes Canadian, Cleveland, Grady, Lincoln, Logan, McClain, and Oklahoma Counties in Oklahoma.

Additional information

OES data are available on our regional web page at www.bls.gov/regions/southwest. Answers to frequently asked questions about the OES data are available at www.bls.gov/oes/oes_ques.htm. Detailed technical information about the OES survey is available in our Survey Methods and Reliability Statement on the BLS website at www.bls.gov/oes/current/methods_statement.pdf.

Information in this release will be made available to sensory impaired individuals upon request. Voice phone: (202) 691-5200; Federal Relay Service: (800) 877-8339.

Table 1. Employment and wage data from the Occupational Employment Statistics survey, by occupation, Oklahoma City Metropolitan Statistical Area, May 2017

Occupation (1)	Employment		Mean wages
	Level (2)	Location quotient (3)	Hourly	Annual (4)
Construction and extraction occupations	30,240	1.3	$21.45	$44,610
First-line supervisors of construction trades and extraction workers	3,710	1.6	31.50	65,520
Brickmasons and blockmasons	(5)	(5)	20.53	42,710
Carpenters	1,820	0.6	19.84	41,270
Carpet installers	(5)	(5)	13.88	28,880
Floor layers, except carpet, wood, and hard tiles	100	1.9	18.50	38,480
Tile and marble setters	120	0.7	15.50	32,240
Cement masons and concrete finishers	1,110	1.5	14.20	29,530
Construction laborers	3,330	0.8	14.79	30,760
Paving, surfacing, and tamping equipment operators	470	2.2	16.72	34,770
Operating engineers and other construction equipment operators	1,850	1.2	20.40	42,430
Drywall and ceiling tile installers	(5)	(5)	19.60	40,770
Electricians	2,030	0.8	21.63	44,980
Glaziers	210	1.1	17.57	36,540
Insulation workers, floor, ceiling, and wall	(5)	(5)	22.66	47,130
Insulation workers, mechanical	130	1.2	25.42	52,880
Painters, construction and maintenance	1,210	1.3	20.39	42,420
Paperhangers	(5)	(5)	14.28	29,710
Pipelayers	140	0.8	20.74	43,140
Plumbers, pipefitters, and steamfitters	2,780	1.5	23.34	48,540
Plasterers and stucco masons	(5)	(5)	16.11	33,500
Roofers	460	0.9	17.09	35,540
Sheet metal workers	2,390	4.3	25.05	52,110
Structural iron and steel workers	300	0.9	17.92	37,270
Helpers-carpenters	90	0.6	16.44	34,190
Helpers-electricians	690	2.3	16.61	34,550
Helpers-pipelayers, plumbers, pipefitters, and steamfitters	240	1.0	14.31	29,760
Helpers, construction trades, all other	(5)	(5)	15.19	31,590
Construction and building inspectors	880	2.1	28.40	59,060
Hazardous materials removal workers	60	0.3	19.36	40,270
Highway maintenance workers	920	1.5	16.40	34,120
Septic tank servicers and sewer pipe cleaners	210	1.9	16.69	34,710
Miscellaneous construction and related workers	240	1.6	15.29	31,790
Derrick operators, oil and gas	460	11.4	23.66	49,220
Rotary drill operators, oil and gas	710	10.9	30.98	64,430
Service unit operators, oil, gas, and mining	510	3.1	19.47	40,490
Earth drillers, except oil and gas	70	1.0	18.68	38,860
Roustabouts, oil and gas	1,360	6.7	19.04	39,600
Helpers-extraction workers	(5)	(5)	16.98	35,310
Footnotes: (1) For a complete listing of all detailed occupations in the Oklahoma City Metropolitan Statistical Area see www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_36420.htm. (2) Estimates for detailed occupations do not sum to the totals because the totals include occupations 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.