Workers in the Roanoke Metropolitan Statistical Area had an average (mean) hourly wage of $18.70 in May 2011, measurably lower than 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 lower than their respective national averages in 20 of the 22 major occupational groups, including architecture and engineering, legal, and computer and mathematical. (See table A and box note at end of release.)

When compared to the nationwide distribution, Roanoke employment was more highly concentrated in 6 of the 22 occupational groups including office and administrative support, healthcare practitioners and technical, and production. Conversely, 10 groups had employment shares significantly below their national representation; these groups included management, computer and mathematical, and building and grounds cleaning and maintenance.

One occupational group—office and administrative support—was chosen to illustrate the diversity of data available for any of the 22 major occupational categories. Roanoke had 27,580 jobs in office and administrative support, accounting for 18.8 percent of local area employment, significantly above the 16.7-percent share nationally. The average hourly wage for this occupational group locally was $14.95, which was significantly below the national average of $16.40.

With employment of 4,240, general office clerks was the largest occupation within the office and administrative support group, followed by customer service representatives (3,760). Among the higher-paying jobs were first-line supervisors of office and administrative support workers with a mean hourly wages of $23.14 and executive secretaries and executive administrative assistants with a wage of $20.17. At the lower end of the wage scale were stock clerks and order fillers ($11.63) and receptionists and information clerks ($11.79). (Detailed occupational data for the business and financial operations group are presented in table 1; for a complete listing of detailed occupations available go to www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_40220.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 Roanoke, above-average concentrations of employment were found in several of the occupations within the office and administrative support group. For instance, insurance claims and policy processing clerks were employed at more than twice the national rate in Roanoke, and customer service representatives at one-and-a-half times the U.S. average. On the other hand, receptionists and information clerks had a location quotient of 1.0 in Roanoke, 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 Virginia Employment Commission. 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 Roanoke Metropolitan Statistical Area included 1,806 establishments with a response rate of 80 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 Roanoke, Va. Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) includes Botetourt, Craig, Franklin, and Roanoke Counties and Roanoke and Salem Cities in Virginia.

Additional information
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.