Workers in the Reno, NV Metropolitan Statistical Area had an average (mean) hourly wage of $25.36 in May 2021, about 9 percent below the nationwide average of $28.01, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Regional Commissioner Chris Rosenlund noted that, after testing for statistical significance, wages in the local area were lower than their respective national averages in 15 of the 22 major occupational groups, including computer and mathematical; management; and life, physical, and social science. Three groups had significantly higher wages than their respective national averages: healthcare practitioners and technical, community and social service, and protective service.

When compared to the nationwide distribution, Reno area employment was more highly concentrated in 9 of the 22 occupational groups, including transportation and material moving, construction and extraction, and production. Eleven groups had employment shares significantly below their national representation, including healthcare support, business and financial operations, and educational instruction and library. (See table A.)

One occupational group—transportation and material moving—was chosen to illustrate the diversity of data available for any of the 22 major occupational categories. Reno had 29,550 jobs in transportation and material moving, accounting for 12.5 percent of local area employment, significantly higher than the 9.0-percent share nationally. The average hourly wage for this occupational group locally was $19.10, significantly below the national wage of $19.88.

Some of the larger detailed occupations within the transportation and material moving group included hand laborers and freight, stock, and material movers (10,410), stockers and order fillers (4,840), and heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers (4,530). Among the higher-paying jobs in this group were transportation inspectors and first-line supervisors of transportation and material moving workers, except aircraft cargo handling supervisors, with mean hourly wages of $29.20 and $26.88, respectively. At the lower end of the wage scale were school bus drivers ($10.49) and parking attendants ($11.27). (Detailed data for the transportation and material moving occupations are presented in table 1; for a complete listing of detailed occupations available go to www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_39900.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 Reno area, above-average concentrations of employment were found in some of the occupations within the transportation and material moving group. For instance, hand laborers and freight, stock, and material movers were employed at 2.3 times the national rate in Reno, and hand packers and packagers, at 1.8 times the U.S. average. Industrial truck and tractor operators had a location quotient of 1.1 in Reno, indicating that this particular occupation’s local and national employment shares were similar.

These statistics are from the Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) survey, a federal-state cooperative program between BLS and State Workforce Agencies, in this case, the Nevada Department of Employment, Training & Rehabilitation.

Technical Note

The Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) survey is a semiannual survey measuring occupational employment and wage rates for wage and salary workers in nonfarm establishments in the United States. The OEWS data available from BLS include cross-industry occupational employment and wage estimates for the nation; over 580 areas, including states and the District of Columbia, metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs), nonmetropolitan areas, and territories; national industry-specific estimates at the NAICS sector, 3-digit, most 4-digit, and selected 5- and 6-digit industry levels, and national estimates by ownership across all industries and for schools and hospitals. OEWS data are available at www.bls.gov/oes/tables.htm.

The OEWS survey is a cooperative effort between BLS and the State Workforce Agencies (SWAs). BLS funds the survey and provides the procedures and technical support, while the State Workforce Agencies collect most of the data. OEWS estimates are constructed from a sample of about 1.1 million establishments. Each year, two semiannual panels of approximately 179,000 to 187,000 sampled establishments are contacted, one panel in May and the other in November. Responses are obtained by Internet or other electronic means, mail, email, telephone, or personal visit. The May 2021 estimates are based on responses from six semiannual panels collected over a 3-year period: May 2021, November 2020, May 2020, November 2019, May 2019, and November 2018. The unweighted sampled employment of 82 million across all six semiannual panels represents approximately 62 percent of total national employment. The overall national response rate for the six panels, based on the 50 states and the District of Columbia, is 67.2 percent based on establishments and 64.5 percent based on weighted sampled employment. The sample in the Reno, NV Metropolitan Statistical Area included 2,279 establishments with a response rate of 68 percent. For more information about OEWS concepts and methodology, go to www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_tec.htm.

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.

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 Reno, NV Metropolitan Statistical Area includes Storey County and Washoe County.

For more information

Answers to frequently asked questions about the OEWS data are available at www.bls.gov/oes/oes_ques.htm. Detailed information about the OEWS program is available at www.bls.gov/oes/oes_doc.htm.

Information in this release will be made available to individuals with sensory impairments upon request. Voice phone: (202) 691-5200; Telecommunications Relay Service: 7-1-1.

Table 1. Employment and wage data for transportation and material moving occupations, Reno metropolitan area, May 2021

Occupation (1)	Employment		Mean wages
	Level (2)	Location quotient (3)	Hourly	Annual (4)
Transportation and material moving occupations	29,550	1.4	$19.10	$39,730
First-line supervisors of transportation and material moving workers, except aircraft cargo handling supervisors	1,330	1.4	26.88	55,920
Airline pilots, copilots, and flight engineers	30	0.2	(6)	88,810
Driver/sales workers	490	0.6	15.13	31,460
Heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers	4,530	1.4	24.77	51,530
Light truck drivers	2,390	1.4	19.76	41,100
Bus drivers, school	530	0.9	10.49	21,830
Bus drivers, transit and intercity	170	0.7	20.04	41,680
Shuttle drivers and chauffeurs	200	0.7	13.97	29,060
Motor vehicle operators, all other	80	1.0	13.72	28,530
Parking attendants	110	0.7	11.27	23,440
Automotive and watercraft service attendants	150	0.8	14.63	30,420
Transportation inspectors	50	1.2	29.20	60,740
Transportation workers, all other	(5)	(5)	19.04	39,590
Industrial truck and tractor operators	1,360	1.1	20.22	42,060
Cleaners of vehicles and equipment	520	0.9	13.35	27,770
Laborers and freight, stock, and material movers, hand	10,410	2.3	17.25	35,880
Machine feeders and offbearers	80	0.8	16.95	35,250
Packers and packagers, hand	1,770	1.8	16.30	33,900
Stockers and order fillers	4,840	1.2	17.72	36,860
Material moving workers, all other	100	2.5	18.83	39,160
Footnotes: (1) For a complete listing of all detailed occupations in the Reno, NV Metropolitan Statistical Area, see www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_39900.htm. (2) Estimates for detailed occupations may not sum to the totals due to rounding, and because the totals may include occupations that are 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. (6) Wages for some occupations that do not generally work year-round, full time, are reported either as hourly wages or annual salaries depending on how they are typically paid.