Workers in the Kansas City Metropolitan Statistical Area had an average (mean) hourly wage of $21.66 in May 2011, similar to 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, wages in the local area were significantly higher than their respective national averages in 4 of the 22 major occupational groups, including construction and extraction, and production. Eleven groups had significantly lower wages than their respective national averages, including legal, management, and education, training, and library.

When compared to the nationwide distribution, local employment was more highly concentrated in 5 of the 22 occupational groups, including business and financial operations, office and administrative support, and computer and mathematical. Conversely, nine groups had employment shares significantly below their national representation, including education, training, and library, production, and healthcare support. (See table A and box note at end of release.)

One occupational group—business and financial operations—was chosen to illustrate the diversity of data available for any of the 22 major occupational categories. Kansas City had 58,530 jobs in business and financial operations, accounting for 6.1 percent of local area employment, significantly higher than the 4.8-percent share nationally. The average hourly wage for this occupational group locally was $31.02, measurably below the national wage of $33.05.

With employment of 11,030, accountants and auditors was the largest occupation within the business and financial operations group. Management analysts (4,600) and claims adjusters, examiners, and investigators (3,660) were also among the largest occupations within the group. Among the higher paying jobs were personal financial advisors and financial examiners, with mean hourly wages of $44.07 and $42.71, respectively. At the lower end of the wage scale were tax preparers ($15.09) and tax examiners and collectors, and revenue agents ($21.10). (Detailed occupational data for sales and related are presented in table 1; for a complete listing of detailed occupations available go to www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_28140.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 Kansas City Metropolitan Statistical Area, above average concentrations of employment were found in a number of the occupations within the business and financial operations group. For instance, tax examiners and collectors, and revenue agents were employed at 2.9 times the national rate in Kansas City, and claims adjusters, examiners, and investigators, at 1.9 times the U.S. average. On the other hand, financial analysts had a location quotient of 1.0 in Kansas City, 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 Missouri Department of Economic Development. 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.

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 also are 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 Kansas City Metropolitan Statistical Area included 7,781 establishments with a response rate of 76 percent. For more information about OES concepts and methodology, go to www.bls.gov/news.release/ocwage.tn.htm.

The May 2011 OES estimates mark the first set of estimates 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 Kansas City, Mo. Metropolitan Statistical Area includes Bates, Caldwell, Cass, Clay, Clinton, Jackson, Lafayette, Platte, and Ray Counties of Missouri, and Franklin, Johnson, Leavenworth, Linn, Miami, and Wyandotte Counties of Kansas.

Additional information

OES data are available on our regional web page at www.bls.gov/ro7/home.htm. If you have additional questions, contact the Mountain-Plains Economic Analysis and Information Unit at (816) 285-7000. 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.

Table 1. Employment and wage data from the Occupational Employment Statistics survey, by occupation, Kansas City Metropolitan Statistical Area, May 2011

Occupation(1)	Employment		Mean Wages
	Level(2)	Location quotient(3)	Hourly	Annual
Business and financial operations occupations	58,530	1.3	$31.02	$64,530
Agents and business managers of artists, performers, and athletes	40	0.4	25.68	53,420
Buyers and purchasing agents, farm products	120	1.6	41.74	86,830
Wholesale and retail buyers, except farm products	1,170	1.5	24.61	51,190
Purchasing agents, except wholesale, retail, and farm products	3,180	1.6	26.86	55,870
Claims adjusters, examiners, and investigators	3,660	1.9	29.20	60,740
Insurance appraisers, auto damage	130	1.6	25.40	52,840
Compliance officers	1,860	1.2	29.32	60,990
Cost estimators	1,780	1.3	31.60	65,730
Human resources, training, and labor relations specialists, all other*	3,940	1.2	26.32	54,740
Logisticians	920	1.1	33.94	70,590
Management analysts	4,600	1.1	37.17	77,320
Meeting, convention, and event planners*	600	1.3	21.57	44,860
Compensation, benefits, and job analysis specialists	680	1.0	28.52	59,320
Training and development specialists	2,490	1.6	26.97	56,090
Market research analysts and marketing specialists*	2,730	1.2	29.88	62,140
Business operations specialists, all other*	8,090	1.1	35.08	72,970
Accountants and auditors	11,030	1.4	29.67	61,710
Appraisers and assessors of real estate	680	1.5	31.20	64,910
Budget analysts	400	0.9	29.97	62,330
Credit analysts	420	1.0	30.57	63,570
Financial analysts	1,640	1.0	35.68	74,210
Personal financial advisors	1,280	1.1	44.07	91,670
Insurance underwriters	1,240	1.8	31.21	64,910
Financial examiners	380	1.8	42.71	88,840
Credit counselors	110	0.5	19.43	40,420
Loan officers	2,640	1.3	37.26	77,510
Tax examiners and collectors, and revenue agents	1,460	2.9	21.10	43,890
Tax preparers	460	1.1	15.09	31,390
Financial specialists, all other	790	0.7	28.20	58,660
Footnotes: (1) For a complete listing of all detailed occupations in the Kansas City, MO-KS MSA, see http://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_28140.htm. (2) Estimates for detailed occupations do not sum to the totals because the totals include occupations 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.
* Occupation titles followed by an asterisk (*) have similar titles, but not necessarily the same content as 2010 SOC occupations.

Last Modified Date: April 11, 2012