Internet: www.bls.gov/ro3/ PLS –  4424
FOR RELEASE:
THURSDAY, JUNE 26, 2008
INFORMATION: Gerald Perrins
(215) 597-3282
MEDIA CONTACT: Sheila Watkins
(215) 861-5600

Highlights of Richmond, VA National Compensation Survey
October 2007 (PDF)

Workers in the Richmond metropolitan area earned an average of $19.61 per hour in October 2007, according to new survey results from the National Compensation Survey (NCS) released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor.  Sheila Watkins, the Bureau’s regional commissioner, noted that wage data were reported for workers in a wide range of occupational groups, including average hourly earnings of $15.76 for office and administrative support occupations and $23.78 for healthcare practitioner and technical occupations.  Another occupational group, computer and mathematical science, had a mean hourly wage rate of $33.38.  The NCS data available for the Richmond area include earnings for 21 major occupational groups with additional detail for selected occupations within those groups.  (See table 1.)

Customer service representatives, part of the office and administrative support occupational group, earned $17.22 per hour, while stock clerks and order fillers earned $9.97.  Within the healthcare practitioner and technical occupational group, registered nurses were paid $27.89 per hour and licensed practical and licensed vocational nurses earned $18.82.  Computer programmers, an occupation within the computer and mathematical science group, registered an average hourly rate of $35.57.  

Broad coverage of selected occupational characteristics is available from NCS for the local area.  Full-time workers averaged $20.97 per hour while their part-time counterparts earned $10.47.  Union workers earned $20.53 and non-union workers, $19.55.  Workers in establishments with 1-99 workers averaged $17.37 per hour, those in establishments with 100-499 workers earned $20.32, and those in establishments with 500 or more employees earned $22.82.

The occupational wage data available from NCS 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.  NCS results also include the work level and respective earnings for occupations determined by a point factor leveling process.  The four occupational leveling factors are:  knowledge, job controls and complexity, contacts, and physical environment.  Details on the NCS are available at www.bls.gov/ncs/. 

The NCS data reported here covered 395 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 sample of establishments represented 564,000 workers in the Richmond Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) which comprises Colonial Heights, Hopewell, Petersburg, and Richmond Cites and Amelia, Caroline, Charles City, Chesterfield, Cumberland, Dinwiddie, Goochland, Hanover, Henrico, King and Queen, King William, Louisa, New Kent, Powhatan, Price George, and Sussex Counties in Virginia.

Survey Availability

Complete survey results are contained in the Richmond, VA National Compensation Survey October 2007 which is available on the Internet in both text and PDF formats at www.bls.gov/ncs/ocs/compub.htm. 

For personal assistance or further information on the National Compensation Survey data, as well as other Bureau data, contact the Mid-Atlantic Information Office by calling (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. Civilian workers: Mean hourly earnings(1) for full-time and part-time workers(2), Richmond, VA, October 2007
Occupation(3) Total Full-time workers Part-time workers
Mean Relative error(4) (percent) Mean Relative error(4) (percent) Mean Relative error(4) (percent)

All workers

 $19.61 3.9 $20.97 3.6 $10.47 5.1

Management occupations

 38.36 10.0 38.36 10.0 – –

Computer and information systems managers

 55.06 14.7 55.06 14.7 – –

Financial managers

 48.64 20.0 48.64 20.0 – –

Business and financial operations occupations

 28.96 10.1 28.96 10.1 – –

Management analysts

 26.32 19.6 26.32 19.6 – –

Accountants and auditors

 27.02 8.1 27.02 8.1 – –

Computer and mathematical science occupations

 33.38 5.6 34.03 5.7 – –

Computer programmers

 35.57 5.0 35.57 5.0 – –

Computer software engineers

 35.98 4.9 35.98 4.9 – –

Computer systems analysts

 41.37 9.5 41.37 9.5 – –

Architecture and engineering occupations

 41.84 12.1 41.84 12.1 – –

Engineers

 46.41 9.8 46.41 9.8 – –

Life, physical, and social science occupations

 22.94 5.5 24.20 2.9 – –

Community and social services occupations

 20.67 7.3 20.65 7.5 – –

Counselors

 22.65 9.7 22.65 9.7 – –

Legal occupations

 33.73 26.6 33.73 26.6 – –

Education, training, and library occupations

 27.00 1.7 27.43 2.0 14.16 9.4

Postsecondary teachers

 30.84 7.9 30.82 8.0 – –

Miscellaneous postsecondary teachers

 29.62 1.3 – – – –

Primary, secondary, and special education school teachers

 27.89 1.9 28.05 2.1 – –

Elementary and middle school teachers

 28.24 4.8 28.48 5.5 – –

Elementary school teachers, except special education

 27.80 4.5 28.07 5.1 – –

Secondary school teachers

 28.31 1.2 28.47 0.6 – –

Secondary school teachers, except special and vocational education

 28.31 1.2 28.47 0.6 – –

Special education teachers

 26.36 1.9 26.36 1.9 – –

Arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media occupations

 21.55 4.1 20.12 3.5 – –

Healthcare practitioner and technical occupations

 23.78 9.7 23.68 11.8 24.44 10.0

Registered nurses

 27.89 4.7 27.82 5.3 28.11 5.6

Therapists

 32.59 15.3 – – – –

Health diagnosing and treating practitioner support technicians

 13.35 17.6 – – – –

Licensed practical and licensed vocational nurses

 18.82 5.0 18.84 2.5 – –

Healthcare support occupations

 12.40 16.3 13.36 14.5 9.25 10.7

Nursing, psychiatric, and home health aides

 10.74 4.5 11.37 1.3 9.27 12.4

Nursing aides, orderlies, and attendants

 11.29 2.4 11.39 1.6 – –

Miscellaneous healthcare support occupations

 13.65 19.8 14.45 18.0 – –

Protective service occupations

 17.13 10.3 17.31 10.5 – –

Police officers

 22.25 7.8 22.25 7.8 – –

Police and sheriff's patrol officers

 22.25 7.8 22.25 7.8 – –

Security guards and gaming surveillance officers

 11.20 3.9 – – – –

Security guards

 11.20 3.9 – – – –

Food preparation and serving related occupations

 7.86 2.8 9.33 4.1 6.72 4.9

Cooks

 9.47 4.7 – – 8.52 3.5

Cooks, restaurant

 10.06 7.4 – – – –

Food service, tipped

 6.74 11.9 7.86 20.8 5.09 14.1

Waiters and waitresses

 3.35 33.7 – – 4.08 13.5

Dining room and cafeteria attendants and bartender helpers

 7.58 12.0 – – – –

Fast food and counter workers

 7.31 7.3 10.22 13.7 6.50 5.2

Combined food preparation and serving workers, including fast food

 6.90 3.7 – – 6.50 5.3

Building and grounds cleaning and maintenance occupations

 12.75 16.0 13.04 17.3 9.07 2.4

Building cleaning workers

 10.32 2.9 10.38 3.0 – –

Janitors and cleaners, except maids and housekeeping cleaners

 11.45 3.1 11.54 3.3 – –

Maids and housekeeping cleaners

 8.94 1.3 8.94 1.4 – –

Grounds maintenance workers

 11.11 3.8 11.51 4.2 – –

Landscaping and groundskeeping workers

 11.31 5.2 11.51 4.2 – –

Personal care and service occupations

 9.31 15.7 – – 8.46 8.4

Sales and related occupations

 19.16 16.9 21.87 18.9 8.97 8.1

First-line supervisors/managers, sales workers

 26.17 17.8 26.17 17.8 – –

Retail sales workers

 11.91 8.4 13.70 6.6 8.99 8.9

Cashiers, all workers

 9.02 7.3 10.69 10.3 7.86 3.0

Cashiers

 9.02 7.3 10.69 10.3 7.86 3.0

Retail salespersons

 13.16 10.1 14.16 5.5 10.40 22.9

Securities, commodities, and financial services sales agents

 105.28 39.7 105.28 39.7 – –

Sales representatives, wholesale and manufacturing

 22.04 14.6 22.04 14.6 – –

Sales representatives, wholesale and manufacturing, except technical and scientific products

 22.10 14.6 22.10 14.6 – –

Office and administrative support occupations

 15.76 2.5 16.25 2.5 12.26 5.5

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

 21.97 7.3 21.97 7.3 – –

Financial clerks

 14.53 3.8 14.86 4.2 12.52 3.6

Bookkeeping, accounting, and auditing clerks

 14.79 4.3 14.97 4.5 – –

Tellers

 11.58 5.9 – – – –

Customer service representatives

 17.22 8.6 17.56 9.1 14.09 20.2

Receptionists and information clerks

 13.14 14.2 13.76 15.9 – –

Stock clerks and order fillers

 9.97 7.1 – – 8.26 2.7

Secretaries and administrative assistants

 18.45 5.5 18.98 4.8 – –

Executive secretaries and administrative assistants

 19.09 7.0 19.35 7.5 – –

Secretaries, except legal, medical, and executive

 13.01 10.7 – – – –

Insurance claims and policy processing clerks

 16.35 7.2 16.35 7.2 – –

Mail clerks and mail machine operators, except postal service

 10.99 9.6 – – – –

Office clerks, general

 14.85 5.1 15.55 5.0 12.11 9.7

Construction and extraction occupations

 16.92 6.8 16.92 6.8 – –

Installation, maintenance, and repair occupations

 20.69 4.1 20.69 4.1 – –

Automotive technicians and repairers

 21.33 12.5 21.33 12.5 – –

Automotive service technicians and mechanics

 21.02 14.8 21.02 14.8 – –

Industrial machinery installation, repair, and maintenance workers

 18.97 14.2 18.97 14.2 – –

Industrial machinery mechanics

 24.16 3.5 24.16 3.5 – –

Maintenance workers, machinery

 24.01 9.1 24.01 9.1 – –

Production occupations

 16.61 6.2 16.79 6.2 10.93 15.7

First-line supervisors/managers of production and operating workers

 27.43 19.2 27.43 19.2 – –

Miscellaneous assemblers and fabricators

 11.80 14.7 12.58 12.1 – –

Printers

 18.20 23.0 18.20 23.0 – –

Miscellaneous production workers

 14.20 17.3 14.38 18.3 – –

Transportation and material moving occupations

 14.14 3.8 15.29 3.4 10.27 4.8

Bus drivers

 14.02 8.1 – – – –

Bus drivers, school

 14.02 8.1 – – – –

Driver/sales workers and truck drivers

 14.53 4.4 15.13 2.2 – –

Truck drivers, heavy and tractor-trailer

 15.15 2.8 15.17 2.8 – –

Industrial truck and tractor operators

 14.51 3.9 14.87 3.1 – –

Laborers and material movers, hand

 11.54 6.7 12.49 8.1 10.16 5.1

Laborers and freight, stock, and material movers, hand

 12.41 9.2 13.77 6.2 10.18 12.0

Packers and packagers, hand

 8.75 5.4 – – – –

Footnotes:
(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.
(2) 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.
(3) Workers are classified by occupation using the 2000 Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) system.
(4) 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.

 

Last Modified Date: July 7, 2008