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News Release Information

14-938-SAN
Tuesday, June 03, 2014

Contacts Technical information: Media contact:
  • (415) 625-2270

Occupational Employment and Wages in Santa Ana-Anaheim-Irvine, May 2013

Workers in the Santa Ana-Anaheim-Irvine Metropolitan Division had an average (mean) hourly wage of $25.28 in May 2013, about 13 percent above 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 17 of the 22 major occupational groups, including management, healthcare practitioners and technical, and legal.

When compared to the nationwide distribution, local employment was more highly concentrated in 9 of the 22 occupational groups, including office and administrative support, business and financial operations, and management. Conversely, nine groups had employment shares significantly below their national representation, including transportation and material moving; healthcare practitioners and technical; and education, training, and library. (See table A and box note at end of release.)

Table A. Occupational employment and wages by major occupational group, United States and the Santa Ana-Anaheim-Irvine Metropolitan Division, and measures of statistical significance, May 2013
Major occupational group Percent of total employment Mean hourly wage
United States Santa Ana United States Santa Ana Percent difference (1)

Total, all occupations

100.0% 100.0% $22.33 $25.28* 13

Management

4.9 6.2* 53.15 61.02* 15

Business and financial operations

5.0 6.6* 34.14 36.30* 6

Computer and mathematical

2.8 3.3* 39.43 42.60* 8

Architecture and engineering

1.8 2.4* 38.51 42.76* 11

Life, physical, and social science

0.9 1.0 33.37 36.58* 10

Community and social services

1.4 1.1* 21.50 24.01* 12

Legal

0.8 0.8 47.89 52.83* 10

Education, training, and library

6.3 5.0* 24.76 28.45* 15

Arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media

1.3 1.4 26.72 27.41 3

Healthcare practitioner and technical

5.8 4.5* 35.93 41.86* 17

Healthcare support

3.0 2.3* 13.61 16.18* 19

Protective service

2.5 1.6* 20.92 24.10* 15

Food preparation and serving related

9.0 9.4* 10.38 11.16* 8

Building and grounds cleaning and maintenance

3.2 3.7* 12.51 12.55 0

Personal care and service

3.0 2.5* 11.88 12.91* 9

Sales and related

10.6 11.1* 18.37 21.31* 16

Office and administrative support

16.2 17.7* 16.78 18.92* 13

Farming, fishing, and forestry

0.3 0.1* 11.70 10.73 -8

Construction and extraction

3.8 3.9 21.94 25.40* 16

Installation, maintenance, and repair

3.9 3.0* 21.35 23.31* 9

Production

6.6 7.2* 16.79 15.97* -5

Transportation and material moving

6.8 5.0* 16.28 14.67* -10

Footnotes:
(1) A positive percent difference measures how much the mean wage in Santa Ana 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—business and financial operations—was chosen to illustrate the diversity of data available for any of the 22 major occupational categories. Santa Ana-Anaheim-Irvine had 95,750 jobs in business and financial operations, accounting for 6.6 percent of local area employment, significantly higher than the 5.0-percent share nationally. The average hourly wage for this occupational group locally was $36.30, measurably above the national wage of $34.14.

Some of the largest detailed occupations within the business and financial operations group included accountants and auditors (15,780), management analysts (8,390), and market research analysts and marketing specialists (8,180). Among the higher paying jobs were personal financial advisors and management analysts, with mean hourly wages of $48.38 and $41.21, respectively. At the lower end of the wage scale were credit counselors ($23.50) and tax preparers ($23.66). (Detailed occupational data for business and financial operations are presented in table 1; for a complete listing of detailed occupations available go to https://www.bls.gov/oes/tables.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 Santa Ana-Anaheim-Irvine Metropolitan Division, above average concentrations of employment were found in some of the occupations within the business and financial operations group. For instance, loan officers were employed at 2.1 times the national rate in Santa Ana, and market research analysts and marketing specialists, at 1.7 times the U.S. average. On the other hand, training and development specialists had a location quotient of 1.1 in Santa Ana, 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 California Employment Development Department.

Note

OES wage and employment data for the 22 major occupational groups in the Santa Ana metropolitan division were compared to their respective national averages based on statistical significance testing. Only those occupations with wages or employment shares above or below the national wage or share after testing for significance at the 90-percent confidence level meet the criteria.

NOTE: A value that is statistically different from another does not necessarily mean that the difference has economic or practical significance. Statistical significance is concerned with the ability to make confident statements about a universe based on a sample. It is entirely possible that a large difference between two values is not significantly different statistically, while a small difference is, since both the size and heterogeneity of the sample affect the relative error of the data being tested.


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 Santa Ana-Anaheim-Irvine Metropolitan Division included 7,148 establishments with a response rate of 66 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 Santa Ana-Anaheim-Irvine, Calif. Metropolitan Division  includes Orange County.

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, Santa Ana-Anaheim-Irvine Metropolitan Division, May 2013
Occupation (1) Employment Mean wages
Level (2) Location quotient (3) Hourly Annual(4)

Business and Financial Operations Occupations

95,750 1.3 $36.30 $75,500

Agents and Business Managers of Artists, Performers, and Athletes

60 0.5 38.48 80,040

Buyers and Purchasing Agents, Farm Products

300 2.4 30.90 64,260

Wholesale and Retail Buyers, Except Farm Products

1,650 1.3 29.80 61,980

Purchasing Agents, Except Wholesale, Retail, and Farm Products

4,140 1.3 31.91 66,380

Claims Adjusters, Examiners, and Investigators

3,770 1.3 30.45 63,350

Insurance Appraisers, Auto Damage

130 0.9 31.90 66,350

Compliance Officers

3,470 1.3 35.76 74,370

Cost Estimators

2,850 1.3 33.08 68,800

Human Resources Specialists

5,350 1.2 33.45 69,570

Labor Relations Specialists

520 0.6 34.18 71,100

Logisticians

1,530 1.2 40.28 83,780

Management Analysts

8,390 1.4 41.21 85,720

Meeting, Convention, and Event Planners

700 0.9 25.09 52,180

Fundraisers

240 0.4 28.15 58,550

Compensation, Benefits, and Job Analysis Specialists

1,110 1.2 32.65 67,920

Training and Development Specialists

2,580 1.1 32.03 66,620

Market Research Analysts and Marketing Specialists

8,180 1.7 34.74 72,260

Business Operations Specialists, All Other

12,560 1.2 36.32 75,540

Accountants and Auditors

15,780 1.2 36.73 76,400

Appraisers and Assessors of Real Estate

890 1.4 33.44 69,560

Budget Analysts

800 1.2 41.09 85,470

Credit Analysts

1,110 1.5 36.80 76,540

Financial Analysts

3,450 1.3 40.94 85,160

Personal Financial Advisors

3,390 1.7 48.38 100,640

Insurance Underwriters

1,260 1.2 34.39 71,530

Financial Examiners

540 1.6 40.38 83,980

Credit Counselors

620 2.0 23.50 48,890

Loan Officers

7,010 2.1 41.15 85,580

Tax Examiners and Collectors, and Revenue Agents

530 0.8 36.70 76,340

Tax Preparers

970 1.3 23.66 49,210

Financial Specialists, All Other

1,880 1.2 31.37 65,250

Footnotes:
(1) For a complete listing of all detailed occupations in Santa Ana-Anaheim-Irvine, CA Metropolitan Division, see https://www.bls.gov/oes/tables.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.
 

 

Last Modified Date: Tuesday, June 03, 2014