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News Release Information

24-1517-SAN
Thursday, July 25, 2024

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

Occupational Employment and Wages in Albany — May 2023

Workers in the Albany, OR Metropolitan Statistical Area had an average (mean) hourly wage of $27.75 in May 2023, compared to the nationwide average of $31.48, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Regional Commissioner Chris Rosenlund noted that higher paying major occupational groups included healthcare practitioners and technical ($55.18), management ($50.63), and legal ($44.22). Lower paying occupations included food preparation and serving related ($16.56), personal care and service ($18.41), and building and grounds cleaning and maintenance ($19.14). (See table A.)

Occupational groups with the highest employment in the Albany area included transportation and material moving (13.6 percent), production (11.2 percent), and office and administrative support (11.1 percent). Major occupational groups on the lower end of local employment included legal (0.3 percent); life, physical, and social science (0.8 percent); and arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media (0.9 percent). (See table A.)

Table A. Occupational employment and wages by major occupational group, United States and the Albany metropolitan area, May 2023
Major occupational group Percent of total employment Mean hourly wage ($)
United States Albany United States Albany

Total, all occupations

100.0 100.0 31.48 27.75

Management

6.9 5.6 66.23 50.63

Business and financial operations

6.6 3.6 43.55 35.37

Computer and mathematical

3.4 1.1 54.39 43.45

Architecture and engineering

1.7 1.3 47.64 42.34

Life, physical, and social science

0.9 0.8 42.24 36.29

Community and social service

1.6 2.6 28.36 28.79

Legal

0.8 0.3 64.34 44.22

Educational instruction and library

5.8 6.3 31.92 31.99

Arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media

1.4 0.9 36.31 27.49

Healthcare practitioners and technical

6.1 3.8 49.07 55.18

Healthcare support

4.7 5.2 18.37 20.66

Protective service

2.3 1.5 27.74 31.70

Food preparation and serving related

8.7 7.5 16.58 16.56

Building and grounds cleaning and maintenance

2.9 2.4 18.43 19.14

Personal care and service

2.0 3.1 18.48 18.41

Sales and related

8.8 7.3 25.62 21.34

Office and administrative support

12.2 11.1 23.05 22.96

Farming, fishing, and forestry

0.3 1.0 19.22 24.61

Construction and extraction

4.1 5.0 29.57 29.81

Installation, maintenance, and repair

3.9 4.8 28.13 31.29

Production

5.8 11.2 22.90 26.00

Transportation and material moving

9.1 13.6 22.45 22.10

One occupational group—transportation and material moving—was chosen to illustrate the diversity of data available for any of the 22 major occupational categories. Albany had 6,440 jobs in transportation and material moving, accounting for 13.6 percent of local area employment, compared to the 9.1-percent share nationally. The average hourly wage for this occupational group locally was $22.10, compared to the national wage of $22.45.

Some of the larger detailed occupations within the transportation and material moving group included hand laborers and freight, stock, and material movers (1,970), stockers and order fillers (1,700), and heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers (850). Among the higher-paying jobs in this group were first-line supervisors of transportation and material moving workers, except aircraft cargo handling supervisors and heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers, with mean hourly wages of $30.12 and $27.79, respectively. At the lower end of the wage scale were automotive and watercraft service attendants ($16.90) and cleaners of vehicles and equipment ($17.34). (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_10540.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 Albany area, above-average concentrations of employment were found in many of the occupations within the transportation and material moving group. For instance, hand laborers and freight, stock, and material movers were employed at 2.1 times the national rate in Albany, and stockers and order fillers, at 1.9 times the U.S. average. First-line supervisors of transportation and material moving workers, except aircraft cargo handling supervisors had a location quotient of 1.3 in Albany, indicating that this particular occupation’s local and national employment shares were similar.

The statistics in this release are from the Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) survey, a cooperative effort between BLS and the State Workforce Agencies (SWAs). BLS funds the survey and provides the procedures and technical support. State Workforce Agencies collect most of the data: in this case, the Oregon Employment Department.


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. Full OEWS data tables are available online.

Additional information about the OEWS estimates and methodology are available in the national Technical Notes. The overall national response rate for the six panels, based on the 50 states and the District of Columbia, is 65.8 percent based on establishments and 64.3 percent based on weighted sampled employment. The sample in the Albany, OR Metropolitan Statistical Area included 864 establishments with a response rate of 69 percent.

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 Albany, OR Metropolitan Statistical Area includes Linn County.

For more information

Answers to frequently asked questions about the OEWS data, as well as general program documentation, are available on the OEWS website.

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, Albany metropolitan area, May 2023
Occupation (1) Employment Mean wages ($)
Level (2) Location quotient (3) Hourly Annual (4)

Transportation and material moving occupations

6,440 1.5 22.10 45,960

First-line supervisors of transportation and material moving workers, except aircraft cargo handling supervisors

240 1.3 30.12 62,640

Driver/sales workers

80 0.6 18.47 38,420

Heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers

850 1.3 27.79 57,790

Light truck drivers

210 0.7 21.08 43,840

Shuttle drivers and chauffeurs

110 1.8 17.46 36,330

Automotive and watercraft service attendants

190 6.4 16.90 35,160

Industrial truck and tractor operators

440 1.8 22.95 47,740

Cleaners of vehicles and equipment

130 1.1 17.34 36,060

Laborers and freight, stock, and material movers, hand

1,970 2.1 21.68 45,100

Machine feeders and offbearers

120 8.5 21.30 44,300

Packers and packagers, hand

140 0.7 18.32 38,100

Stockers and order fillers

1,700 1.9 19.39 40,340

Footnotes:
(1) For a complete listing of all detailed occupations in the Albany, OR Metropolitan Statistical Area, see www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_10540.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.

 

Last Modified Date: Thursday, July 25, 2024