Workers in the Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington Metropolitan Statistical Area had an average (mean) hourly wage of $23.95 in May 2011, about 10 percent above 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 higher than their respective national averages in 17 of the 22 major occupational groups, including business and financial operations; construction and extraction; and life, physical and social science. (See table A and box note at end of release.)

When compared to the nationwide distribution, Philadelphia employment was more highly concentrated in 10 of the 22 occupational groups, including computer and mathematical and health care practitioners and technical. Conversely, nine groups had employment shares significantly below their national representation; these groups included food preparation and serving related and transportation and material moving.

One occupational group—business and financial operations—was chosen to illustrate the diversity of data available for any of the 22 major occupational categories. Philadelphia had 150,930 jobs in business and financial operations, accounting for 5.7 percent of local area employment, significantly above the 4.8-percent share nationally. The average hourly wage for this occupational group locally was $34.79, measurably above the national wage of $33.05.

With employment of 28,720, accountants and auditors was the largest occupation within the business and financial operations group; management analysts also represented a large number of jobs, 12,960. Among the higher-paying jobs were personal financial advisors and management analysts, with mean hourly wages of $48.56 and $45.81, respectively. At the lower end of the wage scale were tax preparers ($18.33) and meeting, convention and event planners ($25.01). (Detailed occupational data for business and financial operations are presented in table 1; for a complete listing of detailed occupations available go to www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_37980.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 Philadelphia, above-average concentrations of employment were found in several of the occupations within the business and financial operations group. For instance, tax examiners and collectors, and revenue agents were employed at almost twice the national rate in Philadelphia, and market research analysts and marketing specialists were employed at over one-and-half times the national rate. On the other hand, loan officers had a location quotient of 1.1 in Philadelphia, 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 Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry; the New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development; the Delaware Department of Labor; and the Maryland Department of Labor, Licensing, and Regulation. 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.

 

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 Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington Metropolitan Statistical Area included 16,158 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 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 Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, Pa.-N.J.-Del.-Md. Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) includes Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Montgomery, and Philadelphia Counties in Pennsylvania; Burlington, Camden, Gloucester, and Salem Counties in New Jersey; New Castle County in Delaware; and Cecil County in Maryland.

• The Camden, N.J. Metropolitan Division (MD) includes Burlington, Camden, and Gloucester Counties in New Jersey.
• The Philadelphia, Pa. Metropolitan Division (MD) includes Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Montgomery, and Philadelphia Counties in Pennsylvania.

• The Wilmington, Del.-Md.-N.J. Metropolitan Division (MD) includes New Castle County in   Delaware; Cecil County in Maryland; and Salem County in New Jersey.

Additional information

OES data are available on our regional web page at www.bls.gov/ro3/. If you have additional questions, you can contact the Mid-Atlantic Information Office at (215) 597-3282 from 8:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. and 1:00 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. ET. 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, Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington Metropolitan Statistical Area, May 2011

Occupation(1)	Employment(2)		Mean wage
	Level	Location quotient(3)	Hourly	Annual(4)
Business and financial operations occupations	150,930	1.2	$34.79	$72,360
Agents and business managers of artists, performers, and athletes	210	0.9	31.01	64,510
Buyers and purchasing agents, farm products	220	1.0	25.62	53,290
Wholesale and retail buyers, except farm products	2,690	1.2	27.40	56,990
Purchasing agents except wholesale, retail, and farm products	7,120	1.3	32.03	66,620
Claims adjusters, examiners, and investigators	9,060	1.7	31.05	64,590
Insurance appraisers, auto damage	250	1.1	29.06	60,450
Compliance officers	3,990	0.9	33.48	69,640
Cost estimators	4,810	1.2	31.60	65,730
Human resources, training, and labor relations specialists, all other*	11,380	1.3	29.82	62,020
Logisticians	3,570	1.6	36.45	75,820
Management analysts	12,960	1.2	45.81	95,280
Meeting, convention, and event planners*	1,300	1.0	25.01	52,010
Compensation, benefits, and job analysis specialists	2,340	1.2	31.18	64,850
Training and development specialists	5,010	1.2	30.80	64,060
Market research analysts and marketing specialists*	11,140	1.7	33.11	68,870
Business operations specialists, all other*	14,440	0.7	34.65	72,070
Accountants and auditors	28,270	1.3	37.22	77,420
Appraisers and assessors of real estate	690	0.6	25.93	53,940
Budget analysts	1,010	0.9	34.55	71,870
Credit analysts	1,860	1.5	31.22	64,930
Financial analysts	7,060	1.5	38.98	81,070
Personal financial advisors	4,060	1.2	48.56	101,010
Insurance underwriters	2,760	1.4	36.30	75,500
Financial examiners	800	1.4	40.66	84,560
Credit counselors	520	0.9	22.60	47,020
Loan officers	6,120	1.1	32.12	66,810
Tax examiners and collectors, and revenue agents	2,480	1.8	25.37	52,760
Tax preparers	1,100	0.9	18.33	38,130
Financial specialists, all other	3,720	1.2	29.87	62,130
* This occupation has the same title, but not necessarily the same content, as the 2010 SOC occupation.
Footnotes: (1) For a complete listing of all detailed occupations in the Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington MSA, see www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_37980.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. (4) Annual wages have been calculated by multiplying the hourly mean wage by a ‘year-round, full-time’ hours figure of 2,080 hours; for those occupations where there is not an hourly mean wage published, the annual wage has been directly calculated from the reported survey data.