Internet: www.bls.gov/ro3/ PLS - 4339
FOR RELEASE:
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 21, 2007
INFORMATION: Gerald Perrins
(215) 597-3282
MEDIA CONTACT: Sheila Watkins
(215) 861-5600

Highlights of Pittsburgh-New Castle, Pa.
National Compensation Survey January 2007 (PDF)

Workers in the Pittsburgh-New Castle metropolitan area averaged $18.38 per hour during January 2007, according to new survey results from the National Compensation Survey (NCS) released by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).  Regional Commissioner Sheila Watkins reported average hourly earnings of $28.34 for management, professional, and related workers and $18.67 for natural resources, construction, and maintenance workers.  Production, transportation, and material moving workers earned $15.68 an hour; sales and office workers averaged $13.42; and service workers, $10.51.  [See table 1.  Note:  Occupational aggregations are now based on the 2000 Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) system.]

In the Pittsburgh area, management, professional, and related workers made up the largest occupational group, accounting for 30 percent of the workforce, followed by sales and office workers (27 percent), service workers (20 percent), and production, transportation, and material moving workers (14 percent).  Natural resources, construction, and maintenance represented the smallest group in the survey at 9 percent. 

The NCS provides straight-time earnings for occupations in establishments with one or more workers in private industry and State and local governments.  Agricultural establishments, private households, the self-employed, and the Federal Government were excluded from the survey.  This NCS survey covered 539 establishments representing 1,064,700 workers in the Pittsburgh-New Castle Combined Statistical Area which is comprised of Allegheny, Armstrong, Beaver, Butler, Fayette, Lawrence, Washington, and Westmoreland Counties in Pennsylvania.

In the Pittsburgh area, average hourly wages were published for full-time workers in a number of detailed occupations.  Within the management, professional, and related occupations, registered nurses averaged $27.66, while accountants and auditors averaged $26.53.  In the sales and office occupations, secretaries and administrative assistants averaged $15.46, and retail sales workers earned $10.58 per hour.  Fast food and counter workers, part of the service occupational group, earned $9.29.  (See table 2.)

The NCS also provides broad coverage of selected occupational characteristics.  Establishments in the Pittsburgh area with 1-99 workers averaged $15.51 and those in establishments with 100-499 workers earned $18.55; workers in establishments with 500 or more employees earned $23.20.  Full-time workers averaged $20.01 per hour while their part-time counterparts earned $9.82.  (See tables 1 and 2.)  

The NCS provides comprehensive measures of occupational earnings, compensation cost trends, benefit incidence, and detailed plan provisions.  In addition to the locality occupational earnings shown in this release, the Employment Cost Index (ECI) component measures changes in labor costs at the national and regional levels.  Similarly, average employer costs for employee compensation are available from the Employer Cost for Employee Compensation (ECEC) series and details on benefits incidences and provisions are available from the Employee Benefits Survey (EBS).  The occupational wage data may be used by businesses for establishing pay plans, making decisions concerning plant relocation, and in collective bargaining negotiations.  Individuals may use such data to help choose potential careers.  Details on the NCS are available at www.bls.gov/ncs/.

Survey Availability

Complete survey results are contained in the Pittsburgh-New Castle, PA National Compensation Survey 2007 (Bulletin 3140-08).  While supplies last, single copies of the bulletin are available from the Mid-Atlantic Information Office by calling 215-597-3282.  In addition, data contained in the bulletin are available on the Internet in both text and PDF formats at http://www.bls.gov/ncs/.

For personal assistance or further information on the National Compensation Survey, as well as other Bureau programs, contact the Mid-Atlantic Information Office at 215-597-3282 from 8:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. and 1:00 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. ET.

 
Table 1. Summary: Mean hourly earnings(1) and weekly hours for selected worker and establishment characteristics, Pittsburgh-New Castle, PA CSA, January 2007
Worker and establishment characteristics Civilian workers Private industry workers State and local government workers
Hourly earnings Mean weekly hours (3) Hourly earnings Mean weekly hours (3) Hourly earnings Mean weekly hours (3)
Mean Relative error (2) (percent) Mean Relative error(2) (percent) Mean Relative error(2) (percent)

All workers

 $18.38 2.3 35.0 $17.60 2.3 35.0 $25.84 6.5 34.8
Worker characteristics (4)(5)

Management, professional, and related

 28.34 3.1 36.4 27.25 3.2 36.5 34.00 6.6 35.6

Management, business, and financial

 28.74 4.9 39.7 28.46 5.3 39.9 32.96 9.4 37.4

Professional and related

 28.20 3.4 35.2 26.72 3.7 35.2 34.12 6.7 35.4

Service

 10.51 3.7 30.3 9.93 3.6 30.1 18.03 9.7 33.2

Sales and office

 13.42 3.4 34.9 13.25 3.4 35.0 16.06 15.7 32.4

Sales and related

 12.85 6.1 32.7 12.85 6.1 32.7 – – –

Office and administrative support

 13.71 4.1 36.0 13.47 3.9 36.4 16.06 15.7 32.4

Natural resources, construction, and maintenance

 18.67 6.1 38.3 18.87 6.6 38.3 16.48 11.9 38.7

Construction and extraction

 18.94 12.0 39.0 19.49 12.9 39.1 14.59 15.2 38.1

Installation, maintenance, and repair

 18.40 4.2 37.8 18.30 4.5 37.6 20.11 6.7 40.0

Production, transportation, and material moving

 15.68 7.1 37.0 15.69 7.4 37.1 15.43 12.1 34.7

Production

 15.81 6.2 38.5 15.74 6.3 38.5 – – –

Transportation and material moving

 15.55 12.7 35.7 15.64 13.6 35.8 14.47 9.0 33.8

Full time

 20.01 2.7 39.4 19.17 2.7 39.5 27.48 5.8 38.1

Part time

 9.82 4.2 22.2 9.79 4.4 22.4 10.24 9.2 19.2

Union

 21.60 4.4 36.7 19.32 6.2 36.4 26.34 4.4 37.4

Nonunion

 17.52 2.6 34.6 17.29 2.4 34.8 24.52 24.4 29.4

Time

 18.34 2.5 34.9 17.52 2.5 34.9 25.84 6.5 34.8

Incentive

 19.20 6.6 38.0 19.20 6.6 38.0 – – –
Establishment characteristics

Goods producing

 (6) (6) (6) 19.73 4.8 39.0 (6) (6) (6)

Service providing

 (6) (6) (6) 17.11 2.7 34.2 (6) (6) (6)

1-99 workers

 15.51 5.2 33.6 15.45 5.4 33.7 17.02 21.9 32.0

100-499 workers

 18.55 6.7 36.1 17.39 6.9 36.4 30.78 13.3 33.0

500 workers or more

 23.20 4.4 36.6 22.36 5.5 36.6 26.61 3.5 36.8

1 Earnings are the straight-time hourly wages or salaries paid to employees. They include incentive pay, cost-of-living adjustments, and hazard pay. Excluded are premium pay for overtime, vacations, holidays, nonproduction bonuses, and tips. The mean is computed by totaling the pay of all workers and dividing by the number of workers, weighted by hours. See appendix A for more information.

2 The relative standard error (RSE) is the standard error expressed as a percent of the estimate. It can be used to calculate a "confidence interval" around a sample estimate. For more information about RSEs, see appendix A.

3 Mean weekly hours are the hours an employee is scheduled to work in a week, exclusive of overtime.

4 Employees are classified as working either a full-time or a part-time schedule based on the definition used by each establishment. Union workers are those whose wages are determined through collective bargaining. Wages of time workers are based solely on hourly rate or salary; incentive workers are those whose wages are at least partially based on productivity payments such as piece rates, commissions, and production bonuses.

5 Workers are classified by occupation using the 2000 Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) system. See appendix B for more information.

6 Classification of establishments into goods-producing and service-providing industries applies to private industry only. Industries are determined by the 2002 North American Industry Classification System (NAICS).

NOTE: Dashes indicate that no data were reported or that data did not meet publication criteria.
SOURCE: Bureau of Labor Statistics, National Compensation Survey.

Table 2. Full-time(1) civilian workers: Mean and median hourly, weekly, and annual earnings and mean weekly and annual hours, Pittsburgh-New Castle, PA CSA, January 2007
Occupation(2) Hourly earnings (3) Weekly earnings (4) Annual earnings (5)
Mean Median Mean Median Mean weekly hours Mean Median Mean annual hours

All workers

 $20.01 $16.55 $787 $648 39.4 $39,873 $33,369 1,993

Management occupations

 31.76 28.03 1,287 1,200 40.5 66,894 62,400 2,106

General and operations managers

 30.57 30.50 1,360 1,309 44.5 70,739 68,053 2,314

Financial managers

 35.77 33.70 1,421 1,264 39.7 73,888 65,705 2,066

Education administrators

 21.10 23.11 845 866 40.1 43,750 45,057 2,073

Medical and health services managers

 28.46 29.89 1,138 1,196 40.0 59,189 62,171 2,080

Business and financial operations occupations

 24.58 22.55 965 890 39.2 50,174 46,280 2,041

Buyers and purchasing agents

 24.79 23.81 1,029 1,000 41.5 53,525 52,000 2,159

Human resources, training, and labor relations specialists

 22.04 19.57 842 771 38.2 43,784 40,071 1,987

Training and development specialists

 23.31 25.07 915 1,003 39.2 47,558 52,152 2,040

Accountants and auditors

 26.53 23.78 1,048 951 39.5 54,499 49,454 2,054

Computer and mathematical science occupations

 35.33 35.15 1,387 1,368 39.3 72,106 71,113 2,041

Computer software engineers

 34.89 35.03 1,368 1,368 39.2 71,145 71,113 2,039

Computer software engineers, applications

 38.93 38.41 1,500 1,451 38.5 77,994 75,475 2,004

Computer support specialists

 32.44 30.25 1,288 1,210 39.7 66,953 62,916 2,064

Computer systems analysts

 29.78 32.01 1,152 1,280 38.7 59,927 66,577 2,012

Network and computer systems administrators

 32.21 25.70 1,258 964 39.1 65,434 50,113 2,032

Architecture and engineering occupations

 28.30 26.70 1,129 1,068 39.9 58,723 55,536 2,075

Engineers

 34.77 34.78 1,391 1,391 40.0 72,329 72,342 2,080

Electrical and electronics engineers

 37.86 39.57 1,514 1,583 40.0 78,740 82,306 2,080

Electrical engineers

 37.86 39.57 1,514 1,583 40.0 78,740 82,306 2,080

Drafters

 21.60 22.00 864 880 40.0 44,919 45,760 2,080

Life, physical, and social science occupations

 28.55 31.89 1,124 1,276 39.4 57,456 66,335 2,012

Community and social services occupations

 15.05 13.46 596 524 39.6 30,350 27,267 2,017

Counselors

 15.21 13.98 580 524 38.1 29,997 27,267 1,972

Social workers

 14.93 12.76 586 509 39.3 29,409 26,478 1,970

Legal occupations

 42.00 36.70 1,648 1,284 39.2 85,687 66,792 2,040

Lawyers

 47.14 41.96 2,052 2,019 43.5 106,702 105,000 2,263

Education, training, and library occupations

 31.52 30.29 1,178 1,130 37.4 48,063 45,318 1,525

Postsecondary teachers

 53.38 48.04 2,014 1,817 37.7 80,036 74,734 1,499

Arts, communications, and humanities teachers, postsecondary

 51.20 48.04 1,931 1,802 37.7 72,201 59,450 1,410

Primary, secondary, and special education school teachers

 35.35 33.94 1,320 1,282 37.3 51,095 48,746 1,445

Elementary and middle school teachers

 38.05 36.15 1,430 1,356 37.6 53,995 50,729 1,419

Elementary school teachers, except special education

 37.84 35.83 1,423 1,339 37.6 53,864 50,693 1,424

Middle school teachers, except special and vocational education

 38.64 36.62 1,449 1,373 37.5 54,355 51,256 1,407

Secondary school teachers

 34.99 33.11 1,325 1,255 37.9 50,083 47,417 1,431

Secondary school teachers, except special and vocational education

 34.99 33.11 1,325 1,255 37.9 50,083 47,417 1,431

Special education teachers

 43.35 49.48 1,581 1,856 36.5 59,388 68,655 1,370

Special education teachers, preschool, kindergarten, and elementary school

 44.76 49.48 1,630 1,856 36.4 61,184 68,655 1,367

Teacher assistants

 9.84 9.00 364 360 37.0 16,650 16,640 1,692

Arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media occupations

 22.63 21.33 850 747 37.6 44,173 38,821 1,952

Healthcare practitioner and technical occupations

 23.96 22.77 949 885 39.6 48,963 46,020 2,043

Pharmacists

 40.36 41.39 1,620 1,656 40.1 84,255 86,091 2,088

Registered nurses

 27.66 26.05 1,074 1,030 38.8 54,808 53,061 1,982

Therapists

 22.04 21.67 870 860 39.5 45,235 44,699 2,052

Medical and clinical laboratory technologists

 24.05 24.25 962 970 40.0 50,033 50,440 2,080

Diagnostic related technologists and technicians

 19.92 20.27 796 811 40.0 41,398 42,151 2,079

Radiologic technologists and technicians

 22.33 22.40 892 896 40.0 46,386 46,592 2,078

Health diagnosing and treating practitioner support technicians

 13.67 14.12 547 565 40.0 28,437 29,370 2,080

Licensed practical and licensed vocational nurses

 16.88 16.40 651 638 38.6 33,863 33,176 2,007

Medical records and health information technicians

 13.35 12.73 534 509 40.0 27,766 26,478 2,080

Healthcare support occupations

 11.52 11.30 453 442 39.4 23,566 22,984 2,046

Nursing, psychiatric, and home health aides

 11.05 11.28 437 440 39.5 22,703 22,880 2,054

Nursing aides, orderlies, and attendants

 11.07 11.33 437 442 39.5 22,719 22,984 2,053

Miscellaneous healthcare support occupations

 12.71 11.86 501 472 39.4 26,034 24,523 2,049

Protective service occupations

 15.42 13.07 614 523 39.8 28,943 26,293 1,877

Food preparation and serving related occupations

 9.17 8.80 358 320 39.1 18,522 16,640 2,019

First-line supervisors/managers, food preparation and serving workers

 15.46 15.48 686 737 44.4 35,680 38,299 2,308

First-line supervisors/managers of food preparation and serving workers

 15.46 15.48 686 737 44.4 35,680 38,299 2,308

Cooks

 9.91 10.21 390 400 39.3 20,230 20,592 2,042

Cooks, restaurant

 9.27 10.00 360 360 38.9 18,681 18,720 2,016

Food service, tipped

 4.11 3.01 144 120 35.1 7,496 6,265 1,825

Waiters and waitresses

 3.38 2.98 117 116 34.6 6,067 6,032 1,797

Fast food and counter workers

 9.29 9.00 351 316 37.8 17,281 15,516 1,860

Combined food preparation and serving workers, including fast food

 9.29 9.00 351 316 37.8 17,281 15,516 1,860

Building and grounds cleaning and maintenance occupations

 13.02 12.41 518 490 39.8 26,738 25,106 2,054

Building cleaning workers

 12.64 12.87 495 480 39.2 25,511 24,960 2,019

Janitors and cleaners, except maids and housekeeping cleaners

 13.38 13.79 534 552 39.9 27,402 28,683 2,047

Maids and housekeeping cleaners

 10.59 10.93 396 422 37.4 20,596 21,938 1,944

Personal care and service occupations

 17.07 10.68 611 522 35.8 28,093 21,902 1,645

Child care workers

 11.82 10.20 471 408 39.9 24,180 21,206 2,045

Sales and related occupations

 15.33 12.00 620 496 40.4 32,072 25,911 2,091

First-line supervisors/managers, sales workers

 15.59 12.40 648 512 41.6 33,701 26,642 2,162

First-line supervisors/managers of retail sales workers

 12.46 11.18 514 496 41.3 26,726 25,792 2,146

Retail sales workers

 10.58 9.45 419 372 39.6 21,802 19,344 2,060

Cashiers, all workers

 8.95 8.61 355 344 39.7 18,475 17,905 2,063

Cashiers

 8.95 8.61 355 344 39.7 18,475 17,905 2,063

Retail salespersons

 11.36 9.49 450 376 39.6 23,393 19,552 2,059

Sales representatives, wholesale and manufacturing

 27.08 24.69 1,083 988 40.0 54,360 51,355 2,008

Office and administrative support occupations

 14.11 13.22 556 520 39.4 28,891 27,040 2,047

First-line supervisors/managers of office and administrative support workers

 17.38 15.77 685 631 39.4 35,653 32,802 2,051

Financial clerks

 14.14 14.16 557 556 39.4 28,935 28,933 2,047

Billing and posting clerks and machine operators

 12.98 12.00 519 480 40.0 26,782 24,960 2,064

Bookkeeping, accounting, and auditing clerks

 14.24 14.16 557 542 39.1 28,957 28,159 2,034

Customer service representatives

 16.84 15.13 657 584 39.0 34,151 30,368 2,028

File clerks

 11.65 11.99 462 480 39.7 24,041 24,939 2,063

Order clerks

 14.30 14.81 569 593 39.8 29,612 30,813 2,070

Receptionists and information clerks

 11.77 11.00 458 413 38.9 23,792 21,450 2,022

Shipping, receiving, and traffic clerks

 10.85 10.05 434 402 40.0 22,456 20,904 2,071

Stock clerks and order fillers

 11.99 12.47 459 477 38.3 23,906 24,824 1,993

Secretaries and administrative assistants

 15.46 14.42 606 576 39.2 31,427 29,867 2,033

Executive secretaries and administrative assistants

 18.31 18.75 722 696 39.4 37,522 36,200 2,049

Legal secretaries

 16.21 15.50 633 620 39.1 32,942 32,246 2,032

Medical secretaries

 13.15 13.00 525 520 40.0 27,325 27,040 2,078

Secretaries, except legal, medical, and executive

 14.01 14.17 547 553 39.1 28,248 28,001 2,016

Data entry and information processing workers

 12.50 11.53 493 460 39.4 25,646 23,920 2,051

Word processors and typists

 12.25 12.19 476 474 38.8 24,732 24,648 2,019

Insurance claims and policy processing clerks

 13.06 13.00 514 520 39.3 26,713 27,040 2,046

Office clerks, general

 11.87 10.98 469 420 39.5 24,390 21,840 2,054

Construction and extraction occupations

 19.23 19.00 753 731 39.1 37,498 36,400 1,950

Carpenters

 19.35 19.36 714 760 36.9 36,795 39,520 1,902

Pipelayers, plumbers, pipefitters, and steamfitters

 22.30 23.07 860 923 38.6 44,716 47,981 2,005

Plumbers, pipefitters, and steamfitters

 22.50 23.07 866 923 38.5 45,039 47,981 2,002

Installation, maintenance, and repair occupations

 19.10 17.83 761 713 39.8 39,383 37,093 2,062

Automotive technicians and repairers

 19.84 17.83 784 713 39.5 40,789 37,093 2,056

Automotive body and related repairers

 18.19 15.50 716 620 39.4 37,251 32,240 2,048

Automotive service technicians and mechanics

 21.04 17.83 834 713 39.7 43,372 37,093 2,062

Industrial machinery installation, repair, and maintenance workers

 17.59 17.55 699 702 39.7 36,255 35,930 2,061

Industrial machinery mechanics

 19.53 21.03 781 841 40.0 40,632 43,742 2,080

Maintenance and repair workers, general

 17.24 17.31 682 692 39.6 35,475 36,005 2,057

Miscellaneous installation, maintenance, and repair workers

 11.85 11.87 472 475 39.9 24,554 24,690 2,073

Production occupations

 16.69 15.82 657 627 39.4 33,706 32,427 2,019

Electrical, electronics, and electromechanical assemblers

 16.37 14.30 655 572 40.0 34,059 29,734 2,080

Electrical and electronic equipment assemblers

 16.65 14.30 666 572 40.0 34,636 29,734 2,080

Machine tool cutting setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic

 19.08 20.03 673 681 35.3 34,977 35,402 1,833

Machinists

 17.50 17.06 695 682 39.7 36,123 35,485 2,064

Welding, soldering, and brazing workers

 15.44 13.52 611 540 39.6 31,795 28,080 2,060

Welders, cutters, solderers, and brazers

 15.44 13.52 611 540 39.6 31,795 28,080 2,060

Miscellaneous metalworkers and plastic workers

 15.98 14.67 639 587 40.0 32,829 30,514 2,055

Inspectors, testers, sorters, samplers, and weighers

 17.99 17.63 720 705 40.0 37,426 36,670 2,080

Miscellaneous production workers

 16.16 15.55 646 622 40.0 33,609 32,344 2,080

Transportation and material moving occupations

 16.90 15.29 662 612 39.2 34,004 31,803 2,012

Driver/sales workers and truck drivers

 15.08 15.29 603 612 40.0 31,351 31,803 2,078

Truck drivers, heavy and tractor-trailer

 15.65 15.29 626 612 40.0 32,560 31,803 2,080

Truck drivers, light or delivery services

 13.74 11.00 548 440 39.9 28,507 22,880 2,074

Industrial truck and tractor operators

 15.96 15.29 638 612 40.0 33,194 31,803 2,080

Laborers and material movers, hand

 12.60 13.61 497 498 39.4 25,788 25,917 2,047

Laborers and freight, stock, and material movers, hand

 14.71 16.39 579 647 39.4 30,114 33,668 2,048

1 Employees are classified as working either a full-time or a part-time schedule based on the definition used by each establishment. Therefore,a worker with a 35-hour-per-week schedule might be considered a full-time employee in one establishment, but classified as part-time in another firm, where a 40-hour week is the minimum full-time schedule.

2 Workers are classified by occupation using the 2000 Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) system. See appendix B for more information.

3 Earnings are the straight-time hourly wages or salaries paid to employees. They include incentive pay, cost-of-living adjustments, and hazard pay. Excluded are premium pay for overtime, vacations, holidays, nonproduction bonuses, and tips. The mean is computed by totaling the pay of all workers and dividing by the number of workers, weighted by hours. See appendix A for more information.

4 Mean weekly earnings are the straight-time weekly wages or salaries paid to employees. Median weekly earnings designates position - one-half of the hours are paid the same as or more than the rate shown. Mean weekly hours are the hours an employee is scheduled to work in a week,exclusive of overtime.

5 Mean annual earnings are the straight-time annual wages or salaries paid to employees. Median annual earnings designates position - one-half of the hours are paid the same as or more than the rate shown. Mean annual hours are the hours an employee is scheduled to work in a year, exclusive of overtime.

NOTE: Dashes indicate that no data were reported or that data did not meet publication criteria. Overall occupational groups may include data for categories not shown separately.
SOURCE: Bureau of Labor Statistics, National Compensation Survey.

 

Last Modified Date: July 7, 2008