Workers in the Boise City, ID Metropolitan Statistical Area had an average (mean) hourly wage of $23.77 in May 2021, about 15 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 all of the 22 major occupational groups.

When compared to the nationwide distribution, Boise City area employment was more highly concentrated in 7 of the 22 occupational groups, including construction and extraction, office and administrative support, and management. Nine groups had employment shares significantly below their national representation, including transportation and material moving, educational instruction and library, and business and financial operations. (See table A.)

One occupational group—construction and extraction—was chosen to illustrate the diversity of data available for any of the 22 major occupational categories. Boise City had 20,300 jobs in construction and extraction, accounting for 6.0 percent of local area employment, significantly higher than the 4.2-percent share nationally. The average hourly wage for this occupational group locally was $21.73, significantly below the national wage of $26.87.

Some of the larger detailed occupations within the construction and extraction group included carpenters (4,320), construction laborers (2,890), and electricians (2,230). Among the higher-paying jobs in this group were first-line supervisors of construction trades and extraction workers and construction and building inspectors, with mean hourly wages of $29.35 and $27.13, respectively. At the lower end of the wage scale were hazardous materials removal workers ($17.03) and construction laborers ($17.84). (Detailed data for the construction and extraction occupations are presented in table 1; for a complete listing of detailed occupations available go to www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_14260.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 Boise City area, above-average concentrations of employment were found in many of the occupations within the construction and extraction group. For instance, drywall and ceiling tile installers were employed at 3.2 times the national rate in Boise City, and cement masons and concrete finishers, at 2.9 times the U.S. average. Plumbers, pipefitters, and steamfitters had a location quotient of 1.0 in Boise City, 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 Idaho Department of Labor.

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 Boise City, ID Metropolitan Statistical Area included 2,755 establishments with a response rate of 59 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 Boise City, ID Metropolitan Statistical Area includes Ada County, Boise County, Canyon County, Gem County, and Owyhee 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 construction and extraction occupations, Boise City metropolitan area, May 2021

Occupation (1)	Employment		Mean wages
	Level (2)	Location quotient (3)	Hourly	Annual (4)
Construction and extraction occupations	20,300	1.4	$21.73	$45,200
First-line supervisors of construction trades and extraction workers	1,940	1.2	29.35	61,040
Brickmasons and blockmasons	80	0.6	24.65	51,270
Carpenters	4,320	2.7	19.72	41,030
Floor layers, except carpet, wood, and hard tiles	(5)	(5)	20.26	42,130
Tile and stone setters	160	1.6	23.51	48,910
Cement masons and concrete finishers	1,310	2.9	20.76	43,170
Construction laborers	2,890	1.2	17.84	37,110
Paving, surfacing, and tamping equipment operators	60	0.6	23.41	48,690
Operating engineers and other construction equipment operators	1,710	1.8	22.99	47,820
Drywall and ceiling tile installers	740	3.2	20.66	42,970
Electricians	2,230	1.4	25.20	52,410
Glaziers	270	2.2	18.23	37,910
Insulation workers, floor, ceiling, and wall	100	1.4	23.37	48,610
Painters, construction and maintenance	900	1.7	17.96	37,350
Pipelayers	70	0.8	20.90	43,460
Plumbers, pipefitters, and steamfitters	970	1.0	24.58	51,130
Plasterers and stucco masons	140	2.1	20.16	41,940
Roofers	530	1.7	19.38	40,310
Sheet metal workers	140	0.5	21.64	45,010
Structural iron and steel workers	260	1.6	22.34	46,470
Construction and building inspectors	230	0.8	27.13	56,430
Hazardous materials removal workers	140	1.3	17.03	35,420
Highway maintenance workers	140	0.4	20.40	42,420
Earth drillers, except oil and gas	80	2.0	23.43	48,730
Footnotes: (1) For a complete listing of all detailed occupations in the Boise City, ID Metropolitan Statistical Area, see www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_14260.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.