Workers in the Phoenix-Mesa-Glendale Metropolitan Statistical Area had an average (mean) hourly wage of $21.96 in May 2013, about 2 percent below the nationwide average of $22.33, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Regional Commissioner Richard J. Holden noted that, after testing for statistical significance, wages in the local area were significantly higher than their respective national averages in 3 of the 22 major occupational groups: healthcare support, healthcare practitioners and technical, and food preparation and serving related. Eleven groups had significantly lower wages than their respective national averages, including life, physical, and social science; arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media; and business and financial operations.

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

Table A. Occupational employment and wages by major occupational group, United States and the Phoenix-Mesa-Glendale Metropolitan Statistical Area, and measures of statistical significance, May 2013

Major occupational group	Percent of total employment		Mean hourly wage
	United States	Phoenix	United States	Phoenix	Percent difference (1)
Total, all occupations	100.0%	100.0%	$22.33	$21.96*	-2
Management	4.9	5.5*	53.15	49.82*	-6
Business and financial operations	5.0	5.2*	34.14	30.81*	-10
Computer and mathematical	2.8	3.4*	39.43	37.58*	-5
Architecture and engineering	1.8	2.2*	38.51	36.78*	-4
Life, physical, and social science	0.9	0.5*	33.37	28.89*	-13
Community and social services	1.4	1.4	21.50	20.51*	-5
Legal	0.8	0.7	47.89	48.70	2
Education, training, and library	6.3	5.4*	24.76	22.11*	-11
Arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media	1.3	1.2	26.72	23.32*	-13
Healthcare practitioner and technical	5.8	5.3*	35.93	37.20*	4
Healthcare support	3.0	2.7*	13.61	14.94*	10
Protective service	2.5	2.7*	20.92	20.60	-2
Food preparation and serving related	9.0	9.1	10.38	10.82*	4
Building and grounds cleaning and maintenance	3.2	3.1*	12.51	11.53*	-8
Personal care and service	3.0	3.2*	11.88	12.00	1
Sales and related	10.6	11.8*	18.37	18.37	0
Office and administrative support	16.2	17.6*	16.78	16.80	0
Farming, fishing, and forestry	0.3	0.1*	11.70	10.57*	-10
Construction and extraction	3.8	4.4*	21.94	19.79*	-10
Installation, maintenance, and repair	3.9	3.8	21.35	21.58	1
Production	6.6	4.4*	16.79	16.56	-1
Transportation and material moving	6.8	6.1*	16.28	17.09	5
Footnotes: (1) A positive percent difference measures how much the mean wage in Phoenix is above the national mean wage, while a negative difference reflects a lower wage. * The percent share of employment or mean hourly wage for this area is significantly different from the national average of all areas at the 90-percent confidence level.

One occupational group—office and administrative support—was chosen to illustrate the diversity of data available for any of the 22 major occupational categories. Phoenix-Mesa-Glendale had 313,670 jobs in office and administrative support, accounting for 17.6 percent of local area employment, significantly higher than the 16.2-percent share nationally. The average hourly wage for this occupational group locally was $16.80, compared to the national wage of $16.78.

Some of the largest detailed occupations within the office and administrative support group included customer service representatives (51,440), general office clerks (32,940), and secretaries and administrative assistants, except legal, medical, and executive (28,610). Among the higher paying jobs were postal service mail carriers and postal service clerks, with mean hourly wages of $25.01 and $24.92, respectively. At the lower end of the wage scale were hotel, motel, and resort desk clerks ($11.04) and tellers ($12.48). (Detailed occupational data for office and administrative support are presented in table 1; for a complete listing of detailed occupations available go to www.bls.gov/oes/2013/may/oes_38060.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 Phoenix-Mesa-Glendale Metropolitan Statistical Area, above average concentrations of employment were found in some of the occupations within the office and administrative support group. For instance, loan interviewers and clerks were employed at 2.5 times the national rate in Phoenix, and bill and account collectors, at 1.9 times the U.S. average. On the other hand, secretaries and administrative assistants, except legal, medical, and executive, had a location quotient of 1.0 in Phoenix, 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 Arizona Department of Commerce.

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. Guam, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands are also surveyed, but their data are not included in the national estimates. OES estimates are constructed from a sample of about 1.2 million establishments. Forms are mailed to approximately 200,000 sampled establishments in May and November each year for a 3-year period. May 2013 estimates are based on responses from six semiannual panels collected in May 2013, November 2012, May 2012, November 2011, May 2011, and November 2010. The overall national response rate for the six panels is 75.3 percent based on establishments and 71.6 percent based on employment. The sample in the Phoenix-Mesa-Glendale Metropolitan Statistical Area included 7,181 establishments with a response rate of 76 percent. For more information about OES concepts and methodology, go to www.bls.gov/news.release/ocwage.tn.htm.

The OES survey provides estimates of employment and hourly and annual wages for wage and salary workers in 22 major occupational groups and 821 detailed occupations for the nation, states, metropolitan statistical areas, metropolitan divisions, and nonmetropolitan areas. In addition, employment and wage estimates for 94 minor groups and 458 broad occupations are available in the national data. OES data by state and metropolitan/nonmetropolitan area are available from www.bls.gov/oes/current/oessrcst.htm and www.bls.gov/oes/current/oessrcma.htm , respectively.

The May 2013 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 .

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 Phoenix-Mesa-Glendale, Ariz. Metropolitan Statistical Area  includes Maricopa and Pinal Counties.

Additional information

OES data are available on our regional web page at www.bls.gov/regions/west/home.htm. 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/2013/may/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: 1-800-877-8339.

Table 1. Employment and wage data from the Occupational Employment Statistics survey, by occupation, Phoenix-Mesa-Glendale Metropolitan Statistical Area, May 2013

Occupation (1)	Employment		Mean wages
	Level (2)	Location quotient (3)	Hourly	Annual(4)
Office and Administrative Support Occupations	313,670	1.1	$16.80	$34,930
First-Line Supervisors of Office and Administrative Support Workers	25,960	1.4	23.93	49,770
Switchboard Operators, Including Answering Service	1,140	0.7	12.91	26,850
Telephone Operators	100	0.7	13.10	27,240
Bill and Account Collectors	9,320	1.9	16.42	34,160
Billing and Posting Clerks	7,890	1.2	16.92	35,200
Bookkeeping, Accounting, and Auditing Clerks	17,620	0.8	17.55	36,500
Gaming Cage Workers	350	1.5	12.65	26,300
Payroll and Timekeeping Clerks	1,940	0.9	17.71	36,830
Procurement Clerks	1,080	1.2	18.13	37,700
Tellers	4,580	0.7	12.48	25,960
Financial Clerks, All Other	2,000	3.6	19.05	39,620
Brokerage Clerks	1,640	2.0	23.61	49,110
Correspondence Clerks	160	1.5	19.37	40,280
Court, Municipal, and License Clerks	2,100	1.2	16.64	34,610
Credit Authorizers, Checkers, and Clerks	1,440	2.1	17.94	37,310
Customer Service Representatives	51,440	1.6	15.62	32,490
Eligibility Interviewers, Government Programs	730	0.4	18.21	37,870
File Clerks	2,100	1.0	14.59	30,350
Hotel, Motel, and Resort Desk Clerks	2,510	0.8	11.04	22,970
Interviewers, Except Eligibility and Loan	2,140	0.8	12.74	26,500
Library Assistants, Clerical	780	0.6	12.69	26,390
Loan Interviewers and Clerks	7,030	2.5	18.61	38,720
New Accounts Clerks	970	1.3	18.49	38,460
Order Clerks	3,610	1.3	14.28	29,710
Human Resources Assistants, Except Payroll and Timekeeping	1,610	0.9	17.58	36,570
Receptionists and Information Clerks	11,170	0.9	13.44	27,950
Reservation and Transportation Ticket Agents and Travel Clerks	2,380	1.3	18.26	37,970
Information and Record Clerks, All Other	3,090	1.3	17.61	36,620
Cargo and Freight Agents	200	0.2	20.91	43,490
Couriers and Messengers	580	0.6	13.08	27,200
Police, Fire, and Ambulance Dispatchers	1,150	0.9	21.80	45,340
Dispatchers, Except Police, Fire, and Ambulance	3,400	1.4	15.17	31,540
Meter Readers, Utilities	330	0.6	23.41	48,690
Postal Service Clerks	550	0.6	24.92	51,830
Postal Service Mail Carriers	3,430	0.8	25.01	52,030
Postal Service Mail Sorters, Processors, and Processing Machine Operators	1,430	0.9	23.45	48,780
Production, Planning, and Expediting Clerks	5,030	1.3	21.03	43,740
Shipping, Receiving, and Traffic Clerks	8,710	1.0	14.79	30,760
Stock Clerks and Order Fillers	23,610	1.0	12.54	26,080
Weighers, Measurers, Checkers, and Samplers, Recordkeeping	840	0.9	14.50	30,150
Executive Secretaries and Executive Administrative Assistants	6,230	0.6	24.16	50,240
Legal Secretaries	2,520	0.9	20.34	42,300
Medical Secretaries	12,830	1.9	15.18	31,560
Secretaries and Administrative Assistants, Except Legal, Medical, and Executive	28,610	1.0	16.43	34,170
Computer Operators	1,400	1.6	17.47	36,340
Data Entry Keyers	3,250	1.2	14.06	29,250
Word Processors and Typists	470	0.4	15.18	31,570
Desktop Publishers	120	0.6	20.79	43,240
Insurance Claims and Policy Processing Clerks	4,080	1.3	16.80	34,930
Mail Clerks and Mail Machine Operators, Except Postal Service	1,790	1.3	13.30	27,660
Office Clerks, General	32,940	0.9	16.07	33,430
Office Machine Operators, Except Computer	1,080	1.2	13.82	28,750
Proofreaders and Copy Markers	60	0.4	16.66	34,640
Statistical Assistants	260	1.2	20.07	41,750
Office and Administrative Support Workers, All Other	1,850	0.6	15.27	31,760
Footnotes: (1) For a complete listing of all detailed occupations in Phoenix-Mesa-Glendale, AZ, see www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_38060.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.