News Release Information
12-1471-PHI
Wednesday, July 18, 2012
Contacts
Technical information:
- (215) 597-3282
- BLSInfoPhiladelphia@bls.gov
- www.bls.gov/ro3
Media contact:
- (215) 861-5600
- BLSMediaPhiladelphia@bls.gov
Occupational Employment and Wages in Roanoke – May 2011
Workers in the Roanoke Metropolitan Statistical Area had an average (mean) hourly wage of $18.70 in May 2011, measurably lower than the nationwide average of $21.74, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Sheila Watkins, the Bureau’s regional commissioner, noted that, after testing for statistical significance, wages in the local area were significantly lower than their respective national averages in 20 of the 22 major occupational groups, including architecture and engineering, legal, and computer and mathematical. (See table A and box note at end of release.)
Major occupational group | Percent of total employment | Mean hourly wage | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
United States | Roanoke | United States | Roanoke | Percent difference(1) | |
Total, all occupations |
100.0 | 100.0 |
$21.74 | $18.70* |
-14 |
Management |
4.8 | 3.6* |
51.64 | 45.69* |
-12 |
Business and financial operations |
4.8 | 4.2* |
33.05 | 27.14* |
-18 |
Computer and mathematical |
2.7 | 1.5* |
37.85 | 30.51* |
-19 |
Architecture and engineering |
1.8 | 1.2* |
37.08 | 27.71* |
-25 |
Life, physical, and social science |
0.8 | 0.3* |
32.44 | 26.94* |
-17 |
Community and social service |
1.5 | 1.8* |
21.07 | 19.54* |
-7 |
Legal |
0.8 | 0.5* |
47.30 | 37.93* |
-20 |
Education, training, and library |
6.6 | 5.5 |
24.46 | 22.27* |
-9 |
Arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media |
1.3 | 0.9* |
25.89 | 19.57* |
-24 |
Healthcare practitioners and technical |
5.9 | 7.2* |
34.97 | 32.73* |
-6 |
Healthcare support |
3.1 | 3.1 |
13.16 | 12.46* |
-5 |
Protective service |
2.5 | 2.6 |
20.54 | 17.18* |
-16 |
Food preparation and serving related |
8.7 | 9.1 |
10.30 | 9.79* |
-5 |
Building and grounds cleaning and maintenance |
3.3 | 2.6* |
12.29 | 10.98* |
-11 |
Personal care and service |
2.8 | 2.5* |
11.84 | 11.13* |
-6 |
Sales and related |
10.6 | 10.6 |
18.04 | 17.68 |
-2 |
Office and administrative support |
16.7 | 18.8* |
16.40 | 14.95* |
-9 |
Farming, fishing, and forestry |
0.3 | 0.1* |
11.68 | 15.52* |
33 |
Construction and extraction |
3.9 | 4.3 |
21.46 | 16.47* |
-23 |
Installation, maintenance, and repair |
3.9 | 4.5* |
20.86 | 18.53* |
-11 |
Production |
6.5 | 7.4* |
16.45 | 14.81* |
-10 |
Transportation and material moving |
6.7 | 7.5* |
15.96 | 14.00* |
-12 |
* 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. |
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Footnotes: |
When compared to the nationwide distribution, Roanoke employment was more highly concentrated in 6 of the 22 occupational groups including office and administrative support, healthcare practitioners and technical, and production. Conversely, 10 groups had employment shares significantly below their national representation; these groups included management, computer and mathematical, and building and grounds cleaning and maintenance.
One occupational group—office and administrative support—was chosen to illustrate the diversity of data available for any of the 22 major occupational categories. Roanoke had 27,580 jobs in office and administrative support, accounting for 18.8 percent of local area employment, significantly above the 16.7-percent share nationally. The average hourly wage for this occupational group locally was $14.95, which was significantly below the national average of $16.40.
With employment of 4,240, general office clerks was the largest occupation within the office and administrative support group, followed by customer service representatives (3,760). Among the higher-paying jobs were first-line supervisors of office and administrative support workers with a mean hourly wages of $23.14 and executive secretaries and executive administrative assistants with a wage of $20.17. At the lower end of the wage scale were stock clerks and order fillers ($11.63) and receptionists and information clerks ($11.79). (Detailed occupational data for the business and financial operations group are presented in table 1; for a complete listing of detailed occupations available go to www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_40220.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 as it does nationally. In Roanoke, above-average concentrations of employment were found in several of the occupations within the office and administrative support group. For instance, insurance claims and policy processing clerks were employed at more than twice the national rate in Roanoke, and customer service representatives at one-and-a-half times the U.S. average. On the other hand, receptionists and information clerks had a location quotient of 1.0 in Roanoke, indicating that this particular occupation’s local and national employment shares were similar.
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 Virginia Employment Commission. The OES survey provides estimates of employment and hourly and annual wages for wage and salary workers in 22 major occupational groups and about 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 Roanoke 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 the national estimates. 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 Roanoke Metropolitan Statistical Area included 1,806 establishments with a response rate of 80 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.
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 Roanoke, Va. Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) includes Botetourt, Craig, Franklin, and Roanoke Counties and Roanoke and Salem Cities in Virginia.
Additional information
Information in this release will be made available to sensory impaired individuals upon request. Voice phone: 202-691-5200; TDD message referral phone number: 1-800-877-8339.
Occupation(1) | Employment(2) | Mean wage | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Level | Location quotient(3) | Hourly | Annual(4) | ||
Office and administrative support |
27,580 | 1.1 | $14.95 | $31,100 | |
First-line supervisors of office and administrative support workers |
1,800 | 1.1 | 23.14 | 48,130 | |
Switchboard operators, including answering service |
140 | 0.9 | 11.31 | 23,520 | |
Bill and account collectors |
590 | 1.3 | 14.84 | 30,860 | |
Billing and posting clerks |
660 | 1.2 | 15.15 | 31,510 | |
Bookkeeping, accounting, and auditing clerks |
2,330 | 1.2 | 15.47 | 32,180 | |
Payroll and timekeeping clerks |
180 | 0.9 | 17.71 | 36,830 | |
Procurement clerks |
90 | 1.1 | 16.81 | 34,960 | |
Tellers |
640 | 1.0 | 11.75 | 24,440 | |
Brokerage clerks |
80 | 1.2 | 17.79 | 37,010 | |
Correspondence clerks |
40 | 3.9 | 14.37 | 29,890 | |
Court, municipal, and license clerks |
120 | 0.9 | (5) | (5) | |
Credit authorizers, checkers, and clerks |
(5) | (5) | 12.87 | 26,770 | |
Customer service representatives |
3,760 | 1.5 | 14.29 | 29,720 | |
Eligibility interviewers, government programs |
270 | 2.0 | 16.90 | 35,160 | |
File clerks |
160 | 0.8 | 12.35 | 25,690 | |
Hotel, motel, and resort desk clerks |
290 | 1.1 | 9.80 | 20,380 | |
Interviewers, except eligibility and loan |
80 | 0.3 | 12.77 | 26,560 | |
Library assistants, clerical |
90 | 0.8 | 11.81 | 24,560 | |
Loan interviewers and clerks |
410 | 1.9 | 16.01 | 33,300 | |
New accounts clerks |
130 | 1.9 | 14.72 | 30,620 | |
Order clerks |
230 | 0.9 | 13.96 | 29,030 | |
Human resources assistants, except payroll and timekeeping |
190 | 1.1 | 16.91 | 35,180 | |
Receptionists and information clerks |
1,140 | 1.0 | 11.79 | 24,530 | |
Information and record clerks, all other |
400 | 1.8 | 15.53 | 32,290 | |
Cargo and freight agents |
(5) | (5) | 18.14 | 37,720 | |
Couriers and messengers |
110 | 1.1 | 12.31 | 25,610 | |
Police, fire, and ambulance dispatchers |
110 | 1.0 | 17.16 | 35,690 | |
Dispatchers, except police, fire, and ambulance |
200 | 1.0 | 15.70 | 32,650 | |
Postal service clerks |
70 | 0.9 | 25.61 | 53,260 | |
Postal service mail carriers |
340 | 0.9 | 24.56 | 51,080 | |
Postal service mail sorters, processors, and processing machine operators |
270 | 1.7 | 23.83 | 49,560 | |
Production, planning, and expediting clerks |
290 | 0.9 | 19.39 | 40,330 | |
Shipping, receiving, and traffic clerks |
1,040 | 1.3 | 13.40 | 27,870 | |
Stock clerks and order fillers |
2,840 | 1.4 | 11.63 | 24,190 | |
Weighers, measurers, checkers, and samplers, recordkeeping |
(5) | (5) | 13.24 | 27,530 | |
Executive secretaries and executive administrative assistants |
700 | 0.6 | 20.17 | 41,950 | |
Legal secretaries |
140 | 0.6 | 18.58 | 38,650 | |
Medical secretaries |
380 | 0.7 | 14.42 | 29,990 | |
Secretaries and administrative assistants, except legal, medical, and executive |
1,330 | 0.6 | 14.77 | 30,720 | |
Computer operators |
100 | 1.1 | 16.07 | 33,420 | |
Data entry keyers |
420 | 1.7 | 11.91 | 24,770 | |
Insurance claims and policy processing clerks |
530 | 2.1 | 17.82 | 37,060 | |
Mail clerks and mail machine operators, except postal service |
80 | 0.6 | 13.28 | 27,630 | |
Office clerks, general |
4,240 | 1.3 | 13.12 | 27,290 | |
Office machine operators, except computer |
40 | 0.5 | 13.33 | 27,720 | |
Office and administrative support workers, all other* |
290 | 0.9 | 15.61 | 32,460 | |
* This occupation has the same title, but not necessarily the same content, as the 2010 SOC occupation. |
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Footnotes: |
Last Modified Date: July 18, 2012