Workers in the Stockton-Lodi Metropolitan Statistical Area had an average (mean) hourly wage of $22.13 in May 2016, about 7 percent below the nationwide average of $23.86, 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 lower than their respective national averages in 7 of the 22 major occupational groups, including legal; computer and mathematical; and arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media. Seven groups had significantly higher wages than their respective national averages, including healthcare practitioners and technical; healthcare support; and construction and extraction.

When compared to the nationwide distribution, local employment was more highly concentrated in 3 of the 22 occupational groups, including transportation and material moving; and education, training, and library. Conversely, 12 groups had employment shares significantly below their national representation, including business and financial operations; computer and mathematical; and architecture and engineering. (See table A and box note at end of release.)

One occupational group—transportation and material moving—was chosen to illustrate the diversity of data available for any of the 22 major occupational categories. Stockton-Lodi had 28,330 jobs in transportation and material moving, accounting for 12.4 percent of local area employment, significantly higher than the 6.9-percent share nationally. The average hourly wage for this occupational group locally was $18.01, significantly above the national wage of $17.34.

Some of the larger detailed occupations within the transportation and material moving group included laborers and freight, stock, and material movers by hand (9,410), heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers (6,020), and industrial truck and tractor operators (3,110). Among the higher paying jobs were crane and tower operators and first-line supervisors of helpers, laborers, and material movers by hand, with mean hourly wages of $31.83 and $27.56, respectively. At the lower end of the wage scale were parking lot attendants ($11.49) and packers and packagers, hand ($12.51). (Detailed occupational data for transportation and material moving are presented in table 1; for a complete listing of detailed occupations available go to www.bls.gov/oes/2016/may/oes_44700.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 Stockton-Lodi Metropolitan Statistical Area, above-average concentrations of employment were found in many of the occupations within the transportation and material moving group. For instance, industrial truck and tractor operators were employed at 3.5 times the national rate in Stockton, and first-line supervisors of helpers, laborers, and material movers by hand, at 2.6 times the U.S. average. 

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. The OES data available from BLS include cross-industry occupational employment and wage estimates for the nation; over 650 areas, including states and the District of Columbia, metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs), metropolitan divisions, nonmetropolitan areas, and territories; national industry-specific estimates at the NAICS sector, 3-, 4-, and selected 5- and 6-digit industry levels, and national estimates 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. Each year, two semiannual panels of approximately 200,000 sampled establishments are contacted, one panel in May and the other in November. Responses are obtained by mail, Internet or other electronic means, email, telephone, or personal visit. The May 2016 estimates are based on responses from six semiannual panels collected over a 3-year period: May 2016, November 2015, May 2015, November 2014, May 2014, and November 2013. The overall national response rate for the six panels, based on the 50 states and the District of Columbia, is 73 percent based on establishments and 69 percent based on weighted sampled employment. The unweighted employment of sampled establishments across all six semiannual panels represents approximately 58 percent of total national employment. The sample in the Stockton-Lodi Metropolitan Statistical Area included 2,120 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 May 2016 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 Stockton-Lodi, Calif. Metropolitan Statistical Area  includes San Joaquin 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/current/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, Stockton-Lodi Metropolitan Statistical Area, May 2016

Occupation (1)	Employment		Mean wages
	Level (2)	Location quotient (3)	Hourly	Annual (4)
Transportation and material moving occupations	28,330	1.8	$18.01	$37,470
First-line supervisors of helpers, laborers, and material movers, hand	770	2.6	27.56	57,330
First-line supervisors of transportation and material-moving machine and vehicle operators	630	1.9	27.13	56,420
Bus drivers, transit and intercity	270	1.0	20.19	42,000
Bus drivers, school or special client	500	0.6	16.09	33,470
Driver/sales workers	430	0.6	20.67	42,990
Heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers	6,020	2.2	19.48	40,520
Light truck or delivery services drivers	2,210	1.6	18.85	39,210
Taxi drivers and chauffeurs	150	0.5	15.67	32,600
Parking lot attendants	40	0.2	11.49	23,900
Automotive and watercraft service attendants	230	1.3	12.92	26,870
Transportation inspectors	70	1.6	21.14	43,980
Transportation workers, all other	40	0.7	12.85	26,720
Conveyor operators and tenders	(5)	(5)	17.93	37,300
Crane and tower operators	70	0.9	31.83	66,220
Industrial truck and tractor operators	3,110	3.5	18.42	38,310
Cleaners of vehicles and equipment	1,070	1.9	12.73	26,470
Laborers and freight, stock, and material movers, hand	9,410	2.2	16.74	34,810
Machine feeders and offbearers	410	2.9	(5)	(5)
Packers and packagers, hand	1,830	1.6	12.51	26,020
Refuse and recyclable material collectors	290	1.6	20.58	42,810
Material moving workers, all other	170	4.5	12.45	25,890
Footnotes: (1) For a complete listing of all detailed occupations in the Stockton-Lodi Metropolitan Statistical Area, see www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_44700.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.