Workers in the Kansas City Metropolitan Statistical Area had an average (mean) hourly wage of $21.18 in May 2010, similar to the nationwide average of $21.35, 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, sales and related, and production. Fifteen groups had significantly lower wages than their respective national averages, including education, training, and library; community and social service; and legal.

When compared to the nationwide distribution, local employment was more highly concentrated in 6 of the 22 occupational groups, including business and financial operations, office and administrative support, and computer and mathematical. Conversely, 10 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 57,550 jobs in business and financial operations, accounting for 6.0 percent of local area employment, significantly higher than the 4.8-percent share nationally. The average hourly wage for this occupational group locally was $30.28, measurably below the national wage of $32.54.

With employment of 10,450, accountants and auditors was the largest occupation within the business and financial operations group. Other large occupations were management analysts (4,490) and claims adjusters, examiners, and investigators (3,790). Among the higher paying jobs were personal financial advisors, with mean hourly wages of $44.12. At the lower end of the wage scale were tax preparers at $14.32 per hour. (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 some 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 1.1 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 non-military 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 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 2010 survey was 78.2 percent based on establishments and 74.4 percent based on employment. May 2010 estimates are based on responses from six semiannual panels collected over a 3-year period: May 2010, November 2009, May 2009, November 2008, May 2008, and November 2007. The sample in the Kansas City Metropolitan Statistical Area included 7,772 establishments with a response rate of 78 percent. For more information about OES concepts and methodology, go to www.bls.gov/news.release/ocwage.tn.htm.

The May 2010 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 2010

Occupation	Employment		Mean Wages
	Level (1)	Location quotient (2)	Hourly	Annual
Business and Financial Operations Occupations	57,550	1.3	$30.28	$62,980
Agents and Business Managers of Artists, Performers, and Athletes	50	0.6	24.39	50,730
Buyers and Purchasing Agents, Farm Products	100	1.2	44.34	92,240
Wholesale and Retail Buyers, Except Farm Products	1,280	1.6	24.73	51,440
Purchasing Agents, Except Wholesale, Retail, and Farm Products	3,420	1.7	25.29	52,600
Claims Adjusters, Examiners, and Investigators	3,790	1.9	27.99	58,220
Insurance Appraisers, Auto Damage	(3)	(3)	25.60	53,250
Compliance Officers	2,160	1.4	27.99	58,220
Cost Estimators	1,600	1.2	30.84	64,150
Human Resources, Training, and Labor Relations Specialists, All Other*	3,350	1.1	26.58	55,290
Logisticians	850	1.1	33.89	70,500
Management Analysts	4,490	1.1	37.40	77,800
Meeting, Convention, and Event Planners*	470	1.1	22.98	47,810
Compensation, Benefits, and Job Analysis Specialists	800	1.0	26.98	56,120
Training and Development Specialists	2,450	1.6	25.94	53,960
Market Research Analysts and Marketing Specialists*	2,340	1.2	29.98	62,350
Business Operations Specialists, All Other*	8,140	1.1	34.75	72,290
Accountants and Auditors	10,450	1.3	28.11	58,480
Appraisers and Assessors of Real Estate	690	1.5	25.08	52,170
Budget Analysts	560	1.3	29.44	61,230
Credit Analysts	420	0.9	31.37	65,240
Financial Analysts	1,750	1.1	36.60	76,130
Personal Financial Advisors	1,240	1.1	44.12	91,760
Insurance Underwriters	1,200	1.7	31.15	64,790
Financial Examiners	400	1.9	39.81	82,810
Credit Counselors	80	0.4	20.40	42,430
Loan Officers	2,780	1.3	34.35	71,440
Tax Examiners and Collectors, and Revenue Agents	1,470	2.9	20.64	42,920
Tax Preparers	500	1.2	14.32	29,790
Financial Specialists, All Other	650	0.6	29.23	60,800
Footnotes: (1) 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. (2) 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. (3) Estimate not released.
* 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