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News Release Information

15-1078-SAN
Wednesday, June 24, 2015

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

Occupational Employment and Wages in Bakersfield-Delano, May 2014

Workers in the Bakersfield-Delano Metropolitan Statistical Area had an average (mean) hourly wage of $21.35 in May 2014, about 6 percent below the nationwide average of $22.71, 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 higher than their respective national averages in 8 of the 22 major occupational groups, including protective service; architecture and engineering; and life, physical, and social science. Six groups had significantly lower wages than their respective national averages, including arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media; sales and related; and management.

When compared to the nationwide distribution, local employment was more highly concentrated in 8 of the 22 occupational groups, including construction and extraction; protective service; and architecture and engineering. Conversely, 13 groups had employment shares significantly below their national representation, including office and administrative support; production; and sales and related. (See table A and box note at end of release.)

Table A. Occupational employment and wages by major occupational group, United States and the Bakersfield-Delano Metropolitan Statistical Area, and measures of statistical significance, May 2014
Major occupational groupPercent of total employmentMean hourly wage
United StatesBakersfieldUnited StatesBakersfieldPercent difference (1)

Total, all occupations

100.0%100.0%$22.71$21.35*-6

Management

5.03.8*54.0852.51*-3

Business and financial operations

5.13.6*34.8133.88-3

Computer and mathematical

2.81.5*40.3740.811

Architecture and engineering

1.82.5*39.1945.32*16

Life, physical, and social science

0.80.933.6937.95*13

Community and social services

1.41.9*21.7924.47*12

Legal

0.80.3*48.6149.342

Education, training, and library

6.26.9*25.1023.98-4

Arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media

1.30.8*26.8221.44*-20

Healthcare practitioner and technical

5.84.3*36.5439.33*8

Healthcare support

2.92.1*13.8613.37*-4

Protective service

2.43.3*21.1430.41*44

Food preparation and serving related

9.17.1*10.5710.51-1

Building and grounds cleaning and maintenance

3.22.3*12.6812.922

Personal care and service

3.11.7*12.0111.15*-7

Sales and related

10.58.0*18.5916.74*-10

Office and administrative support

16.012.1*17.0816.99-1

Farming, fishing, and forestry

0.314.5*12.099.65*-20

Construction and extraction

3.96.2*22.4023.43*5

Installation, maintenance, and repair

3.94.5*21.7423.68*9

Production

6.63.9*17.0619.86*16

Transportation and material moving

6.87.6*16.5716.741

Footnotes:
(1) A positive percent difference measures how much the mean wage in Bakersfield 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—construction and extraction—was chosen to illustrate the diversity of data available for any of the 22 major occupational categories. Bakersfield-Delano had 18,450 jobs in construction and extraction, accounting for 6.2 percent of local area employment, significantly higher than the 3.9-percent share nationally. The average hourly wage for this occupational group locally was $23.43, significantly above the national wage of $22.40.

Some of the largest detailed occupations within the construction and extraction group included construction laborers (2,760), oil and gas roustabouts (2,620), and first-line supervisors of construction trades and extraction workers (2,150). Among the higher paying jobs were oil and gas rotary drill operators, and first-line supervisors of construction trades and extraction workers, with mean hourly wages of $36.90 and $34.67, respectively. At the lower end of the wage scale were septic tank servicers and sewer pipe cleaners ($12.77) and helpers of pipelayers, plumbers, pipefitters, and steamfitters ($14.74). (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/2014/may/oes_12540.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 Bakersfield-Delano Metropolitan Statistical Area, above-average concentrations of employment were found in many of the occupations within the construction and extraction group. For instance, oil and gas roustabouts were employed at 16.3 times the national rate in Bakersfield, and oil and gas derrick operators, at 13.7 times the U.S. average. On the other hand, electricians had a location quotient of 0.9 in Bakersfield, 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

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. May 2014 estimates are based on responses from six semiannual panels collected over a 3-year period: May 2014, November 2013, May 2013, November 2012, May 2012, and November 2011. The overall national response rate for the six panels is 74.3 percent based on establishments and 70.5 percent based on weighted sampled employment. The unweighted employment of sampled establishments across all six semiannual panels represents approximately 57.1 percent of total national employment. (Response rates are slightly lower for these estimates due to the federal shutdown in October 2013.) The sample in the Bakersfield-Delano Metropolitan Statistical Area included 2,419 establishments with a response rate of 74 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 2014 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 Bakersfield-Delano, Calif. Metropolitan Statistical Area  includes Kern County.

Additional information

OES data are available on our regional web page at www.bls.gov/regions/west. 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/2014/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: 800-877-8339.

Table 1. Employment and wage data from the Occupational Employment Statistics survey, by occupation, Bakersfield-Delano Metropolitan Statistical Area, May 2014
Occupation (1)EmploymentMean wages
Level (2)Location quotient (3)HourlyAnnual (4)

Construction and Extraction Occupations

18,4501.6$23.43$48,730

First-Line Supervisors of Construction Trades and Extraction Workers

2,1502.034.6772,120

Brickmasons and Blockmasons

400.329.9762,340

Carpenters

7000.522.4646,710

Carpet Installers

(5)(5)22.0245,790

Cement Masons and Concrete Finishers

6101.821.1844,050

Construction Laborers

2,7601.517.0135,390

Paving, Surfacing, and Tamping Equipment Operators

1000.921.4344,570

Operating Engineers and Other Construction Equipment Operators

1,5902.124.9551,890

Drywall and Ceiling Tile Installers

2801.523.6549,190

Electricians

1,1000.932.7268,070

Glaziers

(5)(5)28.6959,680

Insulation Workers, Floor, Ceiling, and Wall

(5)(5)16.3734,050

Painters, Construction and Maintenance

3300.820.0241,630

Pipelayers

1201.319.9441,470

Plumbers, Pipefitters, and Steamfitters

4000.522.9647,760

Plasterers and Stucco Masons

1102.521.0543,790

Roofers

1600.717.5536,500

Sheet Metal Workers

1500.524.0149,930

Structural Iron and Steel Workers

800.623.9049,700

Helpers--Brickmasons, Blockmasons, Stonemasons, and Tile and Marble Setters

500.918.4738,420

Helpers--Electricians

400.315.2231,650

Helpers--Pipelayers, Plumbers, Pipefitters, and Steamfitters

(5)(5)14.7430,650

Helpers, Construction Trades, All Other

1503.518.7338,960

Construction and Building Inspectors

2701.430.0962,580

Hazardous Materials Removal Workers

1501.629.8362,050

Highway Maintenance Workers

1400.521.5544,830

Septic Tank Servicers and Sewer Pipe Cleaners

701.212.7726,570

Derrick Operators, Oil and Gas

62013.727.9058,030

Rotary Drill Operators, Oil and Gas

4207.236.9076,750

Service Unit Operators, Oil, Gas, and Mining

1,68012.425.5153,050

Roustabouts, Oil and Gas

2,62016.315.9633,190

Helpers--Extraction Workers

(5)(5)20.6743,000

Extraction Workers, All Other

(5)(5)14.3729,890

Footnotes:
(1) For a complete listing of all detailed occupations in Bakersfield-Delano, CA, see www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_12540.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.
 

 

Last Modified Date: Wednesday, June 24, 2015