News Release Information
12-590-DAL
Wednesday, April 18, 2012
Contacts
Further information:
- (972) 850-4800
- BLSInfoDallas@bls.gov
- www.bls.gov/ro6
Occupational Employment and Wages in
San Antonio-New Braunfels, May 2011
Workers in the San Antonio-New Braunfels Metropolitan Statistical Area had an average (mean) hourly
wage of $19.52 in May 2011, roughly 10 percent below the nationwide average of $21.74, according to
the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Regional Commissioner Stanley W. Suchman noted that, after
testing for statistical significance, no wages in the local area were significantly higher than their
respective national averages in 22 major occupational groups. Sixteen groups had significantly lower
wages than their respective national averages, including legal, management, and construction and
extraction.
When compared to the nationwide distribution, San Antonio employment was more highly concentrated
in 6 of the 22 occupational groups, including food preparation and serving related, office and
administrative support, and personal care and service. Conversely, nine groups had employment shares
significantly below their national representation, including production, transportation and material
moving, and management. (See table A and box note at end of release.)
One occupational group – office and administrative support – was chosen to illustrate the diversity of
data available for any of the 22 major occupational categories. San Antonio had 149,670 jobs in office
and administrative support, accounting for 17.7 percent of local area employment, significantly above
the national share of 16.7 percent. However, at $15.43 per hour, the local average hourly wage for this
occupational group was about six percent below the national average of $16.40.
With employment of 22,560, customer service representatives was the largest occupation within the
office and administrative support group, followed by general office clerks (20,030) and secretaries and
administrative assistants, excluding legal, medical, and executive (13,190). Among the higher paying
jobs were first-line supervisors of office and administrative support workers and executive secretaries
and executive administrative assistants, with mean hourly wages of $25.38 and $21.70, respectively. At
the lower end of the wage scale were stock clerks and order fillers ($11.62) and hotel, motel, and resort
desk clerks ($9.10). (Detailed occupational data for the office and administrative support group are
presented in table 1; for a complete listing of detailed occupations go to
www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_41700.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 San Antonio-New Braunfels metropolitan area, above average concentrations of
employment were found in a number of the detailed occupations within the office and administrative
support group. For instance, medical secretaries were employed at nearly twice the national rate in San
Antonio, and credit authorizers, checkers, and clerks at nearly four times the U.S. average. On the other
hand, tellers had a location quotient of 1.0 in San Antonio, meaning the local employment share in this
particular occupation matched the national average.
Major occupational group | Percent of total employment | Mean hourly wage | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
United States | San Antonio- New Braunfels |
United States | San Antonio- New Braunfels |
Percent difference(1) |
|||
Total, all occupations |
100.0% | 100.0% | $21.74 | $19.52 | * | -10 | |
Management |
4.8 | 4.1 | * | 51.64 | 45.91 | * | -11 |
Business and financial operations |
4.8 | 5.0 | 33.05 | 31.21 | * | -6 | |
Computer and mathematical |
2.7 | 2.6 | 37.85 | 35.68 | * | -6 | |
Architecture and engineering |
1.8 | 1.5 | * | 37.08 | 35.63 | -4 | |
Life, physical, and social science |
0.8 | 0.6 | * | 32.44 | 32.10 | -1 | |
Community and social service |
1.5 | 1.2 | * | 21.07 | 20.95 | -1 | |
Legal |
0.8 | 0.6 | * | 47.30 | 35.75 | * | -24 |
Education, training, and library |
6.6 | 6.9 | * | 24.46 | 24.28 | -1 | |
Arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media |
1.3 | 1.0 | * | 25.89 | 20.85 | * | -19 |
Healthcare practitioners and technical |
5.9 | 6.4 | 34.97 | 33.76 | -3 | ||
Healthcare support |
3.1 | 3.4 | * | 13.16 | 12.08 | * | -8 |
Protective service |
2.5 | 2.5 | 20.54 | 18.84 | * | -8 | |
Food preparation and serving related |
8.7 | 10.4 | * | 10.30 | 9.60 | * | -7 |
Building and grounds cleaning and maintenance |
3.3 | 3.5 | 12.29 | 10.57 | * | -14 | |
Personal care and service |
2.8 | 3.5 | * | 11.84 | 9.79 | * | -17 |
Sales and related |
10.6 | 10.6 | 18.04 | 16.32 | * | -10 | |
Office and administrative support |
16.7 | 17.7 | * | 16.40 | 15.43 | * | -6 |
Farming, fishing, and forestry |
0.3 | 0.1 | * | 11.68 | 11.13 | -5 | |
Construction and extraction |
3.9 | 4.0 | 21.46 | 16.45 | * | -23 | |
Installation, maintenance, and repair |
3.9 | 4.3 | * | 20.86 | 17.94 | * | -14 |
Production |
6.5 | 4.5 | * | 16.45 | 14.12 | * | -14 |
Transportation and material moving |
6.7 | 5.5 | * | 15.96 | 13.66 | * | -14 |
Footnotes: |
|||||||
* The percent share of employment or mean hourly wage for this area is significantly different from the national average of all areas at the 90-percent confidence level. |
These statistics are from the Occupational Employment Statistics (OES) survey, a federal-state cooperative program between BLS and State Workforce Agencies, in this case, the Texas Workforce Commission. The OES survey provides estimates of employment and hourly and annual wages for wage and salary workers in 22 major occupational groups and nearly 800 detailed occupations for the nation, states, metropolitan statistical areas, metropolitan divisions, and nonmetropolitan areas.
OES wage and employment data for the 22 major occupational groups in the San Antonio-New Braunfels Metropolitan Statistical Area were
compared to their respective national averages based on statistical significance testing. Only those occupations with wages or employment
shares above or below the national wage or share after testing for significance at the 90-percent confidence level meet the criteria.
NOTE: A value that is statistically different from another does not necessarily mean that the difference has economic or practical
significance. Statistical significance is concerned with the ability to make confident statements about a universe based on a sample.
It is entirely possible that a large difference between two values is not significantly different statistically, while a small difference is,
since both the size and heterogeneity of the sample affect the relative error of the data being tested.
Technical Note
The Occupational Employment Statistics (OES) survey is a semiannual mail survey measuring occupational employment and wage rates for wage and
salary workers in nonfarm establishments in the United States. Guam, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands are also surveyed, but their data are not
included in this release. OES estimates are constructed from a sample of about 1.2 million establishments. Forms are mailed to approximately 200,000
establishments in May and November of each year for a 3-year period. The nationwide response rate for the May 2011 survey was 77.3 percent based
on establishments and 73.3 percent based on employment. May 2011 estimates are based on responses from six semiannual panels collected over a
3-year period: May 2011, November 2010, May 2010, November 2009, May 2009, and November 2008. The sample in the San Antonio-New Braunfels Metropolitan
Statistical Area included 4,775 establishments with a response rate of 69 percent. For more information about OES concepts and methodology, go to
www.bls.gov/news.release/ocwage.tn.htm.
The May 2011 OES estimates are based in part on data collected using the 2010 Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) system. Nearly all the occupations
in this release are 2010 SOC occupations; however, some are not. The May 2012 OES data will reflect the full set of detailed occupations in the 2010 SOC.
For a list of all occupations, including 2010 SOC occupations, and how data collected on two structures were combined, see the OES Frequently Asked Questions
online at www.bls.gov/oes/oes_ques.htm#Ques41.
The substate area data published in this release reflect the standards and definitions established by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget.The San Antonio-New Braunfels, Texas, Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) includes Atascosa, Bandera, Bexar, Comal, Guadalupe, Kendall, Medina, and Wilson Counties in Texas.
Additional information
OES data are available on our regional web page at www.bls.gov/ro6. If you have additional questions, contact the Southwest Information Office at 972-850-4800. Information in this release will be made available to sensory impaired individuals upon request – Voice phone: 202-691-5200; TDD message referral phone: 1-800-877-8339.
Occupation(1) | Employment | Mean wages | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
Level(2) | Location quotient(3) |
Hourly | Annual(4) | |
Office and Administrative Support Occupations |
149,670 | 1.1 | $15.43 | $32,090 |
First-line supervisors of office and administrative support workers |
10,320 | 1.1 | 25.38 | 52,780 |
Switchboard operators, including answering service |
1,250 | 1.4 | 11.64 | 24,210 |
Telephone operators |
170 | 1.7 | (5) | (5) |
Bill and account collectors |
2,740 | 1.1 | 15.82 | 32,910 |
Billing and posting clerks |
3,840 | 1.2 | 14.89 | 30,970 |
Bookkeeping, accounting, and auditing clerks |
9,290 | 0.9 | 16.88 | 35,100 |
Payroll and timekeeping clerks |
1,120 | 1.0 | 16.34 | 33,980 |
Procurement clerks |
600 | 1.3 | 18.49 | 38,470 |
Tellers |
3,690 | 1.0 | 12.03 | 25,030 |
Brokerage clerks |
140 | 0.3 | 18.33 | 38,130 |
Correspondence clerks |
60 | 1.1 | 16.22 | 33,740 |
Credit authorizers, checkers, and alerks |
1,270 | 3.8 | 13.98 | 29,090 |
Customer service representatives |
22,560 | 1.6 | 14.19 | 29,520 |
Eligibility interviewers, government programs |
240 | 0.3 | 17.12 | 35,600 |
File clerks |
1,490 | 1.4 | 12.43 | 25,850 |
Hotel, motel, and resort desk clerks |
1,660 | 1.1 | 9.10 | 18,940 |
Interviewers, except eligibility and loan |
1,810 | 1.4 | 13.79 | 28,680 |
Library assistants, clerical |
560 | 0.8 | 11.91 | 24,770 |
Loan interviewers and clerks |
1,840 | 1.5 | 20.15 | 41,920 |
New accounts clerks |
690 | 1.7 | 15.00 | 31,190 |
Order clerks |
810 | 0.6 | 12.63 | 26,270 |
Human resources assistants, except payroll and timekeeping |
1,230 | 1.3 | 17.43 | 36,260 |
Receptionists and information clerks |
5,370 | 0.8 | 11.79 | 24,520 |
Reservation and transportation ticket agents and travel clerks |
510 | 0.6 | 15.51 | 32,260 |
Information and record clerks, all other |
1,790 | 1.4 | 17.31 | 36,010 |
Cargo and freight agents |
570 | 1.1 | 19.78 | 41,140 |
Couriers and messengers |
520 | 0.9 | 12.36 | 25,710 |
Police, fire, and ambulance dispatchers |
550 | 0.9 | 15.51 | 32,250 |
Dispatchers, except police, fire, and ambulance |
1,060 | 0.9 | 16.34 | 34,000 |
Meter readers, utilities |
250 | 0.9 | 13.75 | 28,600 |
Postal service clerks |
260 | 0.6 | 25.64 | 53,330 |
Postal service mail carriers |
1,600 | 0.8 | 24.92 | 51,830 |
Postal service mail sorters, processors, and processing machine operators |
740 | 0.8 | 23.51 | 48,910 |
Production, planning, and expediting clerks |
2,110 | 1.2 | 16.21 | 33,720 |
Shipping, receiving, and traffic clerks |
3,520 | 0.8 | 13.92 | 28,950 |
Stock clerks and order fillers |
10,870 | 0.9 | 11.62 | 24,180 |
Weighers, measurers, checkers, and samplers, recordkeeping |
240 | 0.5 | 11.93 | 24,810 |
Executive secretaries and executive administrative assistants |
6,370 | 1.0 | 21.70 | 45,140 |
Legal secretaries |
1,040 | 0.7 | 17.15 | 35,670 |
Medical secretaries |
5,480 | 1.7 | 13.55 | 28,190 |
Secretaries and administrative assistants, except legal, medical, and executive |
13,190 | 1.0 | 15.20 | 31,620 |
Computer operators |
360 | 0.7 | 18.07 | 37,580 |
Data entry keyers |
1,490 | 1.1 | 12.81 | 26,640 |
Word processors and typists |
300 | 0.5 | 16.33 | 33,970 |
Desktop publishers |
80 | 0.6 | 17.71 | 36,830 |
Insurance claims and policy processing clerks |
1,170 | 0.8 | 15.50 | 32,230 |
Mail clerks and mail machine operators, except postal service |
510 | 0.7 | 12.01 | 24,970 |
Office clerks, general |
20,030 | 1.1 | 13.07 | 27,190 |
Office machine operators, except computer |
(5) | (5) | 15.09 | 31,380 |
Proofreaders and copy markers |
50 | 0.7 | 12.01 | 24,970 |
Office and administrative support workers, all other* |
450 | 0.3 | 17.31 | 36,000 |
Footnotes: |
||||
* Occupation titles followed by an asterisk (*) have similar titles, but not necessarily the same content as 2010 SOC occupations. |
Last Modified Date: April 18, 2012