Workers in the Walla Walla, WA Metropolitan Statistical Area had an average (mean) hourly wage of $29.13 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 ($58.48), healthcare practitioners and technical ($48.29), and architecture and engineering ($46.76). Lower paying occupations included food preparation and serving related ($19.37), healthcare support ($19.74), and building and grounds cleaning and maintenance ($20.12). (See table A.)

Occupational groups with the highest employment in the Walla Walla area included office and administrative support (10.8 percent), production (9.6 percent), and food preparation and serving related (9.3 percent). Major occupational groups on the lower end of local employment included legal (0.4 percent); personal care and service (1 percent); and life, physical, and social science (1.3 percent). (See table A.)

One occupational group—office and administrative support—was chosen to illustrate the diversity of data available for any of the 22 major occupational categories. Walla Walla had 2,930 jobs in office and administrative support, accounting for 10.8 percent of local area employment, compared to the 12.2-percent share nationally. The average hourly wage for this occupational group locally was $23.22, compared to the national wage of $23.05.

Some of the larger detailed occupations within the office and administrative support group included general office clerks (510), secretaries and administrative assistants, except legal, medical, and executive (330), and bookkeeping, accounting, and auditing clerks (250). Among the higher-paying jobs in this group were first-line supervisors of office and administrative support workers and executive secretaries and executive administrative assistants, with mean hourly wages of $34.45 and $30.04, respectively. At the lower end of the wage scale were hotel, motel, and resort desk clerks ($16.90) and receptionists and information clerks ($18.63). (Detailed data for the office and administrative support occupations are presented in table 1; for a complete listing of detailed occupations available go to www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_47460.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 Walla Walla area, above-average concentrations of employment were found in some of the occupations within the office and administrative support group. For instance, tellers were employed at 2.2 times the national rate in Walla Walla. Secretaries and administrative assistants, except legal, medical, and executive had a location quotient of 1.0 in Walla Walla, 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 Washington Employment Security 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 Walla Walla, WA Metropolitan Statistical Area included 523 establishments with a response rate of 73 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 Walla Walla, WA Metropolitan Statistical Area includes Columbia County and Walla Walla 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 office and administrative support occupations, Walla Walla metropolitan area, May 2023

Occupation (1)	Employment		Mean wages ($)
	Level (2)	Location quotient (3)	Hourly	Annual (4)
Office and administrative support occupations	2,930	0.9	23.22	48,290
First-line supervisors of office and administrative support workers	210	0.8	34.45	71,650
Billing and posting clerks	60	0.8	21.71	45,150
Bookkeeping, accounting, and auditing clerks	250	0.9	23.98	49,880
Payroll and timekeeping clerks	30	1.1	26.79	55,720
Tellers	130	2.2	20.90	43,480
Court, municipal, and license clerks	40	1.6	26.91	55,970
Customer service representatives	230	0.5	20.85	43,360
Hotel, motel, and resort desk clerks	60	1.4	16.90	35,150
Loan interviewers and clerks	40	1.0	24.31	50,560
Receptionists and information clerks	150	0.8	18.63	38,750
Information and record clerks, all other	90	3.5	22.79	47,400
Postal service mail carriers	70	1.1	27.17	56,500
Production, planning, and expediting clerks	50	0.8	26.03	54,150
Shipping, receiving, and inventory clerks	120	0.8	21.07	43,820
Executive secretaries and executive administrative assistants	60	0.8	30.04	62,490
Legal secretaries and administrative assistants	40	1.6	20.04	41,680
Medical secretaries and administrative assistants	70	0.5	22.59	46,980
Secretaries and administrative assistants, except legal, medical, and executive	330	1.0	22.78	47,390
Office clerks, general	510	1.2	21.51	44,740
Office and administrative support workers, all other	60	2.0	21.41	44,540
Footnotes: (1) For a complete listing of all detailed occupations in the Walla Walla, WA Metropolitan Statistical Area, see www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_47460.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.