Workers in Guam had an average (mean) hourly wage of $20.29 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 legal ($43.36), healthcare practitioners and technical ($38.74), and management ($36.75). Lower paying occupations included food preparation and serving related ($11.03), building and grounds cleaning and maintenance ($11.48), and personal care and service ($11.89). (See table A.)

Occupational groups with the highest employment in the Guam area included office and administrative support (14.1 percent), construction and extraction (11 percent), and food preparation and serving related (10.9 percent). Major occupational groups on the lower end of local employment included legal (0.5 percent); arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media (0.7 percent); and life, physical, and social science (1.1 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. Guam had 7,110 jobs in construction and extraction, accounting for 11.0 percent of local area employment, compared to the 4.1-percent share nationally. The average hourly wage for this occupational group locally was $18.30, compared to the national wage of $29.57.

Some of the larger detailed occupations within the construction and extraction group included carpenters (1,630), construction laborers (1,050), and electricians (720). Among the higher-paying jobs in this group were hazardous materials removal workers and first-line supervisors of construction trades and extraction workers, with mean hourly wages of $26.86 and $26.08, respectively. At the lower end of the wage scale were construction laborers ($13.68) and helpers of pipelayers, plumbers, pipefitters, and steamfitters ($14.09). (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_gu.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 Guam area, above-average concentrations of employment were found in many of the occupations within the construction and extraction group. For instance, reinforcing iron and rebar workers were employed at 58.0 times the national rate in Guam, and cement masons and concrete finishers, at 8.1 times the U.S. average. First-line supervisors of construction trades and extraction workers had a location quotient of 1.2 in Guam, 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 Guam 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. 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.

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, Guam, May 2023

Occupation (1)	Employment		Mean wages ($)
	Level (2)	Location quotient (3)	Hourly	Annual (4)
Construction and extraction occupations	7,110	2.7	18.30	38,060
First-line supervisors of construction trades and extraction workers	410	1.2	26.08	54,240
Carpenters	1,630	5.5	18.34	38,150
Cement masons and concrete finishers	700	8.1	17.51	36,420
Construction laborers	1,050	2.4	13.68	28,460
Operating engineers and other construction equipment operators	530	2.8	18.97	39,460
Electricians	720	2.4	21.02	43,720
Painters, construction and maintenance	420	4.6	19.82	41,230
Plumbers, pipefitters, and steamfitters	300	1.6	19.48	40,520
Reinforcing iron and rebar workers	430	58.0	16.98	35,320
Roofers	40	0.8	16.31	33,920
Sheet metal workers	120	2.3	20.44	42,520
Structural iron and steel workers	110	4.1	17.34	36,070
Helpers--electricians	60	1.9	15.14	31,480
Helpers--painters, paperhangers, plasterers, and stucco masons	(5)	(5)	16.95	35,260
Helpers--pipelayers, plumbers, pipefitters, and steamfitters	70	3.9	14.09	29,300
Helpers, construction trades, all other	30	2.8	16.12	33,520
Construction and building inspectors	40	0.7	25.24	52,500
Hazardous materials removal workers	30	1.6	26.86	55,880
Septic tank servicers and sewer pipe cleaners	(5)	(5)	22.02	45,800
Footnotes: (1) For a complete listing of all detailed occupations in Guam, see www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_gu.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.