Workers in the Fairbanks, AK Metropolitan Statistical Area had an average (mean) hourly wage of $32.00 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 management ($56.76), healthcare practitioners and technical ($52.26), and legal ($49.14). Lower paying occupations included food preparation and serving related ($17.43), building and grounds cleaning and maintenance ($19.59), and personal care and service ($21.34). (See table A.)

Occupational groups with the highest employment in the Fairbanks area included office and administrative support (12.7 percent), food preparation and serving related (9.2 percent), and transportation and material moving (8.3 percent). Major occupational groups on the lower end of local employment included legal (0.6 percent); arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media (1.1 percent); and computer and mathematical (1.7 percent). (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. Fairbanks had 2,480 jobs in construction and extraction, accounting for 7.0 percent of local area employment, compared to the 4.1-percent share nationally. The average hourly wage for this occupational group locally was $35.85, compared to the national wage of $29.57.

Some of the larger detailed occupations within the construction and extraction group included operating engineers and other construction equipment operators (470), first-line supervisors of construction trades and extraction workers (370), and construction laborers (360). 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 $43.64 and $42.70, respectively. At the lower end of the wage scale were carpenters helpers ($17.65) and extraction workers helpers ($18.85). (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_21820.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 Fairbanks area, above-average concentrations of employment were found in many of the occupations within the construction and extraction group. For instance, operating engineers and other construction equipment operators were employed at 4.5 times the national rate in Fairbanks, and first-line supervisors of construction trades and extraction workers, at 2.0 times the U.S. average. Electricians had a location quotient of 1.4 in Fairbanks, 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 Alaska Department of Labor & Workforce Development.

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 Fairbanks, AK Metropolitan Statistical Area included 664 establishments with a response rate of 77 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 Fairbanks, AK Metropolitan Statistical Area includes Fairbanks North Star Borough.

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 construction and extraction occupations, Fairbanks metropolitan area, May 2023

Occupation (1)	Employment		Mean wages ($)
	Level (2)	Location quotient (3)	Hourly	Annual (4)
Construction and extraction occupations	2,480	1.7	35.85	74,570
First-line supervisors of construction trades and extraction workers	370	2.0	43.64	90,770
Carpenters	280	1.7	36.87	76,690
Construction laborers	360	1.5	28.13	58,510
Operating engineers and other construction equipment operators	470	4.5	36.05	74,990
Electricians	230	1.4	39.91	83,000
Painters, construction and maintenance	40	0.8	31.33	65,160
Plumbers, pipefitters, and steamfitters	170	1.7	38.28	79,610
Sheet metal workers	50	1.8	42.61	88,620
Helpers--carpenters	40	7.5	17.65	36,720
Construction and building inspectors	30	1.1	42.70	88,820
Earth drillers, except oil and gas	60	14.9	31.17	64,830
Helpers--extraction workers	50	30.9	18.85	39,220
Footnotes: (1) For a complete listing of all detailed occupations in the Fairbanks, AK Metropolitan Statistical Area, see www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_21820.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.