Workers in the Urban Honolulu Metropolitan Statistical Area had an average (mean) hourly wage of $23.71 in May 2015, about 2 percent above the nationwide average of $23.23, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Assistant Commissioner for Regional Operations Richard Holden noted that, after testing for statistical significance, wages in the local area were higher than their respective national averages in 11 of the 22 major occupational groups, including construction and extraction; healthcare practitioners and technical; and transportation and material moving. Seven groups had significantly lower wages than their respective national averages, including legal; management; and computer and mathematical.

When compared to the nationwide distribution, local employment was more highly concentrated in 8 of the 22 occupational groups, including food preparation and serving related; building and grounds cleaning and maintenance; and education, training, and library. Conversely, eight groups had employment shares significantly below their national representation, including production; computer and mathematical; and office and administrative support. (See table A and box note at end of release.)

One occupational group—food preparation and serving related—was chosen to illustrate the diversity of data available for any of the 22 major occupational categories. Urban Honolulu had 52,270 jobs in food preparation and serving related, accounting for 11.5 percent of local area employment, significantly higher than the 9.1-percent share nationally. The average hourly wage for this occupational group locally was $13.01, significantly above the national wage of $10.98.

Some of the largest detailed occupations within the food preparation and serving related group included waiters and waitresses (9,360), combined food preparation and serving workers, including fast food (8,880), and food preparation workers (6,350). Among the higher paying jobs were chefs and head cooks and first-line supervisors of food preparation and serving workers, with mean hourly wages of $19.02 and $18.11, respectively. At the lower end of the wage scale were combined food preparation and serving workers, including fast food ($10.79) and cafeteria, food concession, and coffee shop counter attendants ($11.10). (Detailed occupational data for food preparation and serving related are presented in table 1; for a complete listing of detailed occupations available go to www.bls.gov/oes/2015/may/oes_46520.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 Urban Honolulu Metropolitan Statistical Area, above-average concentrations of employment were found in many of the occupations within the food preparation and serving related group. For instance, food preparation workers were employed at 2.2 times the national rate in Urban Honolulu, and dining room and cafeteria attendants and bartender helpers, at 2.1 times the U.S. average. On the other hand, first-line supervisors of food preparation and serving workers had a location quotient of 1.1 in Urban Honolulu, 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 Hawaii Department of Labor & Industrial Relations.

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 program produces employment and wage estimates for over 800 occupations for all industries combined in the nation; the 50 states and the District of Columbia; 432 metropolitan areas and divisions; 167 nonmetropolitan areas; and Guam, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. National estimates are also available by industry for NAICS sectors, 3-, 4-, and selected 5- and 6-digit industries, and 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. Forms are mailed to approximately 200,000 sampled establishments in May and November each year. May 2015 estimates are based on responses from six semiannual panels collected over a 3-year period: May 2015, November 2014, May 2014, November 2013, May 2013, and November 2012. The overall national response rate for the six panels is 73.5 percent based on establishments and 69.6 percent based on weighted sampled employment. The unweighted employment of sampled establishments across all six semiannual panels represents approximately 57.9 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 Urban Honolulu Metropolitan Statistical Area included 3,288 establishments with a response rate of 64 percent. For more information about OES concepts and methodology, go to www.bls.gov/news.release/ocwage.tn.htm.

The May 2015 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 Urban Honolulu, Hawaii Metropolitan Statistical Area  includes Honolulu 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/2015/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, Urban Honolulu Metropolitan Statistical Area, May 2015

Occupation (1)	Employment		Mean wages
	Level (2)	Location quotient (3)	Hourly	Annual (4)
Food Preparation and Serving Related Occupations	52,270	1.3	$13.01	$27,060
Chefs and Head Cooks	1,250	2.9	19.02	39,550
First-Line Supervisors of Food Preparation and Serving Workers	3,170	1.1	18.11	37,680
Cooks, Fast Food	1,680	1.0	11.76	24,470
Cooks, Institution and Cafeteria	1,260	0.9	14.57	30,310
Cooks, Restaurant	4,980	1.3	13.48	28,030
Cooks, Short Order	(5)	(5)	13.93	28,980
Cooks, All Other	180	3.6	14.11	29,340
Food Preparation Workers	6,350	2.2	11.14	23,180
Bartenders	2,080	1.1	14.51	30,180
Combined Food Preparation and Serving Workers, Including Fast Food	8,880	0.8	10.79	22,450
Counter Attendants, Cafeteria, Food Concession, and Coffee Shop	3,370	2.1	11.10	23,090
Waiters and Waitresses	9,360	1.1	14.68	30,540
Food Servers, Nonrestaurant	990	1.2	12.20	25,380
Dining Room and Cafeteria Attendants and Bartender Helpers	2,900	2.1	13.03	27,110
Dishwashers	2,670	1.6	11.83	24,610
Hosts and Hostesses, Restaurant, Lounge, and Coffee Shop	2,310	1.8	11.66	24,250
Food Preparation and Serving Related Workers, All Other	240	1.4	10.87	22,600
Footnotes: (1) For a complete listing of all detailed occupations in Urban Honolulu, HI, see www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_46520.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.