Workers in the Santa Ana-Anaheim-Irvine Metropolitan Division had an average (mean) hourly wage of $25.49 in May 2014, about 12 percent above 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 14 of the 22 major occupational groups, including healthcare practitioners and technical; management; and life, physical, and social science.

When compared to the nationwide distribution, local employment was more highly concentrated in 10 of the 22 occupational groups, including business and financial operations; management; and office and administrative support. 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.)

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 97,150 jobs in business and financial operations, accounting for 6.5 percent of local area employment, significantly higher than the 5.1-percent share nationally. The average hourly wage for this occupational group locally was $37.55, significantly above the national wage of $34.81.

Some of the largest detailed occupations within the business and financial operations group included accountants and auditors (15,700), management analysts (9,040), and market research analysts and marketing specialists (8,600). Among the higher paying jobs were personal financial advisors and loan officers, with mean hourly wages of $54.49 and $43.65, respectively. At the lower end of the wage scale were credit counselors ($23.28) and tax preparers ($25.56). (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 2.2 times the national rate in Santa Ana, and personal financial advisors, at 1.7 times the U.S. average. On the other hand, training and development specialists had a location quotient of 0.9 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.

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 Santa Ana-Anaheim-Irvine Metropolitan Division included 7,116 establishments with a response rate of 62 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 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. 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, Santa Ana-Anaheim-Irvine Metropolitan Division, May 2014

Occupation (1)	Employment		Mean wages
	Level (2)	Location quotient (3)	Hourly	Annual (4)
Business and Financial Operations Occupations	97,150	1.3	$37.55	$78,100
Agents and Business Managers of Artists, Performers, and Athletes	60	0.5	26.44	55,000
Buyers and Purchasing Agents, Farm Products	200	1.6	33.25	69,160
Wholesale and Retail Buyers, Except Farm Products	1,860	1.5	29.85	62,090
Purchasing Agents, Except Wholesale, Retail, and Farm Products	4,130	1.3	31.97	66,500
Claims Adjusters, Examiners, and Investigators	3,280	1.1	33.33	69,330
Insurance Appraisers, Auto Damage	180	1.2	29.55	61,470
Compliance Officers	3,310	1.2	37.33	77,650
Cost Estimators	3,040	1.3	33.64	69,970
Human Resources Specialists	5,490	1.1	36.29	75,480
Labor Relations Specialists	700	0.8	35.27	73,360
Logisticians	1,570	1.1	38.74	80,580
Management Analysts	9,040	1.4	42.62	88,660
Meeting, Convention, and Event Planners	1,120	1.3	28.08	58,400
Fundraisers	270	0.4	28.74	59,790
Compensation, Benefits, and Job Analysis Specialists	1,060	1.2	32.66	67,930
Training and Development Specialists	2,430	0.9	32.98	68,590
Market Research Analysts and Marketing Specialists	8,600	1.7	35.04	72,890
Business Operations Specialists, All Other	12,770	1.2	36.99	76,940
Accountants and Auditors	15,700	1.2	36.46	75,830
Appraisers and Assessors of Real Estate	570	0.8	33.85	70,410
Budget Analysts	660	1.0	41.55	86,430
Credit Analysts	1,180	1.6	37.76	78,540
Financial Analysts	3,590	1.2	41.58	86,500
Personal Financial Advisors	3,760	1.7	54.49	113,330
Insurance Underwriters	1,180	1.2	32.24	67,050
Financial Examiners	660	1.6	42.91	89,250
Credit Counselors	580	1.8	23.28	48,430
Loan Officers	7,380	2.2	43.65	90,780
Tax Examiners and Collectors, and Revenue Agents	500	0.7	37.43	77,850
Tax Preparers	770	1.0	25.56	53,160
Financial Specialists, All Other	1,520	1.0	36.89	76,730
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.