News Release Information
12-1042-DAL
Wednesday, May 23, 2012
Contacts
Further information:
- (972) 850-4800
- BLSInfoDallas@bls.gov
- www.bls.gov/ro6
Occupational Employment and Wages in
Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers, May 2011
Workers in the Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers Metropolitan Statistical Area had an average (mean)
hourly wage of $19.42 in May 2011, about 11 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, wages in the local area were significantly lower than their
respective national averages in 18 of the 22 major occupational groups, including legal, architecture and
engineering, and life, physical, and social science.
When compared to the nationwide distribution, local employment was more highly concentrated in 5 of
the 22 occupational groups, including production, transportation and material moving, and business and
financial operations. Conversely, 13 groups had employment shares significantly below their national
representation, including healthcare practitioners and technical, protective service, and healthcare
support. (See table A and box note at end of release.)
Major occupational group | Percent of total employment | Mean hourly wage | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
United States | Fayetteville- Springdale-Rogers |
United States | Fayetteville- Springdale-Rogers |
Percent difference(1) |
|||
Total, all occupations |
100.0% | 100.0% | $21.74 | $19.42 | * | -11 | |
Management |
4.8 | 5.3 | * | 51.64 | 49.60 | -4 | |
Business and financial operations |
4.8 | 5.6 | * | 33.05 | 30.47 | * | -8 |
Computer and mathematical |
2.7 | 3.2 | * | 37.85 | 32.37 | * | -14 |
Architecture and engineering |
1.8 | 1.2 | * | 37.08 | 27.73 | * | -25 |
Life, physical, and social science |
0.8 | 0.6 | * | 32.44 | 23.13 | * | -29 |
Community and social service |
1.5 | 0.9 | * | 21.07 | 19.06 | * | -10 |
Legal |
0.8 | 0.7 | * | 47.30 | 35.47 | * | -25 |
Education, training, and library |
6.6 | 5.9 | * | 24.46 | 23.41 | -4 | |
Arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media |
1.3 | 0.8 | * | 25.89 | 20.35 | * | -21 |
Healthcare practitioners and technical |
5.9 | 4.6 | * | 34.97 | 32.89 | * | -6 |
Healthcare support |
3.1 | 2.1 | * | 13.16 | 12.23 | * | -7 |
Protective service |
2.5 | 1.3 | * | 20.54 | 17.41 | * | -15 |
Food preparation and serving related |
8.7 | 8.2 | * | 10.30 | 9.27 | * | -10 |
Building and grounds cleaning and maintenance |
3.3 | 3.2 | 12.29 | 10.69 | * | -13 | |
Personal care and service |
2.8 | 2.6 | * | 11.84 | 10.21 | * | -14 |
Sales and related |
10.6 | 10.8 | 18.04 | 17.11 | -5 | ||
Office and administrative support |
16.7 | 15.9 | * | 16.40 | 14.81 | * | -10 |
Farming, fishing, and forestry |
0.3 | 0.4 | 11.68 | 13.78 | * | 18 | |
Construction and extraction |
3.9 | 3.3 | * | 21.46 | 16.58 | * | -23 |
Installation, maintenance, and repair |
3.9 | 4.0 | 20.86 | 18.17 | * | -13 | |
Production |
6.5 | 10.1 | * | 16.45 | 13.48 | * | -18 |
Transportation and material moving |
6.7 | 9.2 | * | 15.96 | 14.76 | * | -8 |
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. |
One occupational group—transportation and material moving—was chosen to illustrate the diversity of
data available for any of the 22 major occupational categories. Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers had
18,240 jobs in transportation and material moving, accounting for 9.2 percent of local area employment,
significantly higher than the 6.7-percent share nationally. The average hourly wage for this occupational
group locally was $14.76, measurably below the national wage of $15.96.
With employment of 6,590, heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers was the largest occupation within the
transportation and material moving group, followed by hand laborers and freight, stock, and material
movers (3,760) and industrial truck and tractor operators (1,310). Among the higher paying jobs were
first-line supervisors of transportation and material-moving machine and vehicle operators and first-line
supervisors of helpers, laborers, and hand material movers, with mean hourly wages of $22.00 and
$21.08, respectively. Excluding supervisory positions, heavy and tractor-trailer truckdrivers were among
the higher paid workers at $17.87 per hour. At the lower end of the wage scale were taxi drivers and
chauffeurs ($8.52) and hand packers and packagers ($10.22). (Detailed occupational data for transportation
and material moving are presented in table 1; for a complete listing of all detailed
occupations see www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_22220.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 Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers Metropolitan Statistical Area, above average
concentrations of employment were found in some of the occupations within the transportation and
material moving group. For instance, machine feeders and offbearers were employed at 5.8 times the
national rate in Fayetteville, and heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers, at 2.8 times the U.S. average. On
the other hand, school or special client bus drivers had a location quotient of 1.0 in Fayetteville,
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 Arkansas
Department of Workforce Services. 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 Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers
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 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 Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers
Metropolitan Statistical Area included 2,143 establishments with a response rate of 83 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 Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) includes Benton, Madison, and Washington Counties in Arkansas and McDonald County in Missouri.
Additional informationOES 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) | |
Transportation and material moving occupations |
18,240 | 1.4 | $14.76 | $30,700 |
First-line supervisors of helpers, laborers, and material movers, hand |
260 | 1.0 | 21.08 | 43,840 |
First-line supervisors of transportation and material-moving machine and vehicle operators |
510 | 1.7 | 22.00 | 45,750 |
Commercial pilots |
(5) | (5) | (5) | 56,080 |
Bus drivers, school or special client |
750 | 1.0 | 13.35 | 27,760 |
Driver/sales workers |
440 | 0.7 | 14.36 | 29,870 |
Heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers |
6,590 | 2.8 | 17.87 | 37,180 |
Light truck or delivery services drivers |
1,060 | 0.9 | 14.15 | 29,430 |
Taxi drivers and chauffeurs |
190 | 0.7 | 8.52 | 17,710 |
Motor vehicle operators, all other |
(5) | (5) | 13.40 | 27,860 |
Parking lot attendants |
(5) | (5) | 9.23 | 19,200 |
Automotive and watercraft service attendants |
230 | 1.5 | 10.71 | 22,270 |
Transportation workers, all other |
(5) | (5) | 8.79 | 18,280 |
Conveyor operators and tenders |
150 | 2.6 | 12.69 | 26,390 |
Excavating and loading machine and dragline operators |
50 | 0.6 | 20.22 | 42,050 |
Industrial truck and tractor operators |
1310 | 1.7 | 12.09 | 25,140 |
Cleaners of vehicles and equipment |
500 | 1.1 | 10.41 | 21,650 |
Laborers and freight, stock, and material movers, hand |
3,760 | 1.2 | 10.78 | 22,420 |
Machine feeders and offbearers |
990 | 5.8 | 17.05 | 35,470 |
Packers and packagers, hand |
660 | 0.7 | 10.22 | 21,260 |
Refuse and recyclable material collectors |
210 | 1.1 | 12.74 | 26,510 |
Footnotes: |
Last Modified Date: May 24, 2012