News Release Information
12-700-DAL
Wednesday, April 18, 2012
Contacts
Further information:
- (972) 850-4800
- BLSInfoDallas@bls.gov
- www.bls.gov/ro6
Occupational Employment and Wages in
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, May 2011
Workers in the Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington Metropolitan Statistical Area had an average (mean) hourly
wage of $22.19 in May 2011, roughly 2 percent above 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 7 of the 22 major occupational groups, including sales and related and architecture
and engineering. Six other groups had wages that were measurably lower than their respective national
averages; included in this grouping were construction and extraction, as well as production.
When compared to the nationwide distribution, Dallas area employment was more highly concentrated in
8 of the 22 occupational groups including office and administrative support, computer and mathematical,
and sales and related. Conversely, 13 groups had employment shares significantly below their national
representation; these groups included healthcare practitioners and technical, healthcare support, and
community and social service. (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. Dallas had 154,790 jobs in business and
financial operations, accounting for 5.3 percent of local area employment, significantly above the
national share of 4.8 percent. The average hourly wage for this occupational group was $33.97, about 3
percent above the national average of $33.05.
With employment of 26,400, accountants and auditors was the largest occupation within the business
and financial operations group. Among the higher paying jobs were management analysts and financial
analysts, with mean hourly wages of $44.12 and $40.06, respectively. At the lower end of the wage
scale were meeting, convention, and event planners ($22.62) and credit counselors ($18.36). (Detailed occupational
data for the business and financial operations group are presented in table 1; for a complete
listing of detailed occupations go to www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_19100.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 Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington metropolitan area, above average concentrations
of employment were found in some of the detailed occupations within the business and financial
operations group. For instance, credit analysts were employed at 1.6 times the national rate in Dallas, and
credit counselors and auto damage insurance appraisers, at twice the U.S. average. On the other hand,
cost estimators had a location quotient of 1.0 in Dallas, 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 | Dallas-Fort Worth- Arlington |
United States | Dallas-Fort Worth- Arlington |
Percent difference(1) |
|||
Total, all occupations |
100.0% | 100.0% | $21.74 | $22.19 | * | 2 | |
Management |
4.8 | 5.1 | * | 51.64 | 52.94 | * | 3 |
Business and financial operations |
4.8 | 5.3 | * | 33.05 | 33.97 | * | 3 |
Computer and mathematical |
2.7 | 3.7 | * | 37.85 | 39.17 | * | 3 |
Architecture and engineering |
1.8 | 2.2 | * | 37.08 | 38.84 | * | 5 |
Life, physical, and social science |
0.8 | 0.6 | * | 32.44 | 33.79 | 4 | |
Community and social service |
1.5 | 0.8 | * | 21.07 | 22.84 | * | 8 |
Legal |
0.8 | 0.7 | * | 47.30 | 47.99 | 1 | |
Education, training, and library |
6.6 | 6.1 | * | 24.46 | 24.44 | -0 | |
Arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media |
1.3 | 1.2 | * | 25.89 | 23.58 | * | -9 |
Healthcare practitioners and technical |
5.9 | 5.0 | * | 34.97 | 34.66 | -1 | |
Healthcare support |
3.1 | 2.3 | * | 13.16 | 13.17 | 0 | |
Protective service |
2.5 | 2.2 | * | 20.54 | 19.88 | -3 | |
Food preparation and serving related |
8.7 | 8.2 | * | 10.30 | 9.71 | * | -6 |
Building and grounds cleaning and maintenance |
3.3 | 2.6 | * | 12.29 | 11.15 | * | -9 |
Personal care and service |
2.8 | 2.4 | * | 11.84 | 11.49 | -3 | |
Sales and related |
10.6 | 11.5 | * | 18.04 | 19.92 | * | 10 |
Office and administrative support |
16.7 | 18.6 | * | 16.40 | 16.82 | * | 3 |
Farming, fishing, and forestry |
0.3 | 0.1 | * | 11.68 | 12.22 | 5 | |
Construction and extraction |
3.9 | 4.1 | * | 21.46 | 17.66 | * | -18 |
Installation, maintenance, and repair |
3.9 | 3.9 | 20.86 | 20.08 | * | -4 | |
Production |
6.5 | 6.2 | * | 16.45 | 15.10 | * | -8 |
Transportation and material moving |
6.7 | 7.1 | * | 15.96 | 16.44 | 3 | |
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 Dallas-Fort Worth-
Arlington 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 Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington
Metropolitan Statistical Area included 13,695 establishments with a response rate of 64 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 Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, Texas, Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) includes Collin, Dallas, Delta, Denton, Ellis, Hunt, Johnson, Kaufman, Parker, Rockwall, Tarrant, and Wise 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) | |
Business and financial operations occupations |
154,790 | 1.1 | $33.97 | $70,660 |
Agents and business managers of artists, performers, and athletes |
130 | 0.5 | 35.94 | 74,760 |
Buyers and purchasing agents, farm products |
120 | 0.5 | 32.91 | 68,460 |
Wholesale and retail buyers, except farm products |
3,320 | 1.4 | 29.27 | 60880 |
Purchasing agents, except wholesale, retail, and farm products |
7,230 | 1.2 | 29.56 | 61,490 |
Claims adjusters, examiners, and investigators |
8,170 | 1.4 | 28.47 | 59,210 |
Insurance appraisers, auto damage |
490 | 2.0 | 26.96 | 56,070 |
Compliance officers |
5,130 | 1.1 | 31.12 | 64,730 |
Cost estimators |
4,040 | 0.9 | 30.74 | 63,930 |
Human resources, training, and labor relations specialists, all other* |
10,140 | 1.0 | 30.24 | 62,900 |
Logisticians |
3,480 | 1.4 | 36.38 | 75,670 |
Management analysts |
11,440 | 0.9 | 44.12 | 91,770 |
Meeting, convention, and event planners* |
1,660 | 1.1 | 22.62 | 47,060 |
Compensation, benefits, and job analysis specialists |
2,840 | 1.3 | 31.10 | 64,700 |
Training and development specialists |
5,570 | 1.2 | 30.58 | 63,600 |
Market research analysts and marketing specialists* |
7,220 | 1.0 | 32.17 | 66,900 |
Business operations specialists, all other* |
22,170 | 1.0 | 36.90 | 76,750 |
Accountants and auditors |
26,400 | 1.1 | 35.31 | 73,450 |
Appraisers and assessors of real estate |
1,900 | 1.4 | 33.52 | 69,720 |
Budget analysts |
1,250 | 1.0 | 33.10 | 68,840 |
Credit analysts |
2,130 | 1.6 | 36.28 | 75,460 |
Financial analysts |
7,060 | 1.4 | 40.06 | 83,320 |
Personal financial advisors |
4,220 | 1.2 | 39.30 | 81,750 |
Insurance underwriters |
2,570 | 1.2 | 32.26 | 67,100 |
Financial examiners |
810 | 1.3 | 44.72 | 93,020 |
Credit counselors |
1,290 | 1.9 | 18.36 | 38,180 |
Loan officers |
8,690 | 1.4 | 30.48 | 63,400 |
Tax examiners and collectors, and revenue agents |
710 | 0.5 | 34.40 | 71,560 |
Tax preparers |
950 | 0.7 | 19.00 | 39,520 |
Financial specialists, all other |
3,650 | 1.1 | 30.55 | 63,550 |
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