Workers in the Bloomington-Normal Metropolitan Statistical Area had an average (mean) hourly wage of $22.32 in May 2011, about 3 percent above the nationwide average of $21.74, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Regional Commissioner Charlene Peiffer noted that, after testing for statistical significance, wages in the local area were significantly higher than their respective national averages in 3 of the 22 major occupational groups. Ten groups had significantly lower wages than their respective national averages, including legal; life, physical, and social science; and management.

When compared to the nationwide distribution, local employment was more highly concentrated in 2 of the 22 occupational groups: food preparation and serving related occupations; and education, training, and library. Conversely, 11 groups had employment shares significantly below their national representation, including transportation and material moving; production; and healthcare practitioners and technical occupations. (See table A and box note at end of release.)

One occupational group—food preparation and serving related—was chosen to illustrate the diversity of data available for any of the 22 major occupational categories. Bloomington-Normal had 8,870 jobs in food preparation and serving related, accounting for 10.2 percent of local area employment, significantly higher than the 8.7-percent share nationally. The average hourly wage for this occupational group locally was $10.44, compared to the national wage of $10.30.

With employment of 2,270, waiters and waitresses was the largest occupation within the food preparation and serving related group, followed by combined food preparation and serving workers, including fast food (2,110) and restaurant cooks (730). Among the higher paying jobs were chefs and head cooks and first-line supervisors of food preparation and serving workers, with mean hourly wages of $23.42 and $15.83, respectively. At the lower end of the wage scale were dishwashers ($8.89) and food servers, nonrestaurant ($8.94).(Detailed occupational data for food preparation and serving related are presented in table 1; for a complete listing of detailed occupations available go to www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_14060.htm)

Location quotients allow for the exploration of an area’s occupational make-up 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 Bloomington-Normal Metropolitan Statistical Area, above average concentrations of employment were found in some of the occupations within the food preparation and serving related group. For instance, institution and cafeteria cooks and waiters and waitresses in Bloomington were both employed at 1.5 times the national rate. On the other hand, combined food preparation and serving workers, including fast food had a location quotient of 1.1 in Bloomington, 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 Illinois Department of Employment Security. 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 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 Bloomington-Normal Metropolitan Statistical Area included 1,047 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 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 Bloomington-Normal, Ill. Metropolitan Statistical Area  includes McLean County.

Additional information

OES data are available on our regional web page at www.bls.gov/ro5/home.htm. If you have additional questions, contact the Chicago Economic Analysis and Information Unit at (312) 353-1880. 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.