Workers in the Roanoke Metropolitan Statistical Area had an average (mean) hourly wage of $18.26 in May 2010, roughly 14 percent below the nationwide average of $21.35, 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 19 of the 22 major occupational groups, including legal, computer and mathematical, and architecture and engineering. (See table A and box note at end of release.)

When compared to the nationwide distribution, local employment was more highly concentrated in 6 of the 22 occupational groups, including health care practitioners and technical, office and administrative support, and transportation and material moving. Conversely, 10 groups had employment shares significantly below their national representation, including education, training, and library; management; and computer and mathematical.

One occupational group—healthcare practitioners and technical—was chosen to illustrate the diversity of data available for any of the 22 major occupational categories. Roanoke had 10,820 jobs in the healthcare practitioners and technical group, accounting for 7.3 percent of local area employment, significantly more than the 5.8-percent share nationally. The average hourly wage for this occupational group locally was $32.82, compared to the national wage of $34.27.

With employment of 4,000, registered nurses was the largest occupation within the healthcare practitioners and technical group, followed by licensed practical and licensed vocational nurses (1,150) and all other physicians and surgeons (940). Among the higher-paying jobs were all other physicians and surgeons, with a mean hourly wage of $84.94, and general dentists, with a wage of $81.44. At the lower end of the wage scale were pharmacy technicians ($13.76) and licensed practical and licensed vocational nurses ($18.27). (Detailed occupational data for the healthcare practitioners and technical group are presented in table 1; for a complete listing of detailed occupations available go to http://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 the Roanoke area, above-average concentrations of employment were found in several of the occupations within the healthcare practitioners and technical group. For instance, all other physicians and surgeons were employed at nearly three times the national rate in Roanoke, and surgical technologists, more than double the U.S. average. On the other hand, dental hygienists 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 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 Roanoke Metropolitan Statistical Area included 1,765 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 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 Roanoke Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) includes Botetourt, Craig, Franklin, and Roanoke Counties and Roanoke and Salem cities in Virginia.

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, Roanoke Metropolitan Statistical Area, May 2010

Occupation	Employment		Mean wage
	Level (1)	Location (2)	Hourly	Annual
Healthcare practitioners and technical occupations	10,820	1.3	$32.82	$68,270
Dentists, general	90	0.9	81.44	169,390
Dietitians and nutritionists	70	1.1	24.62	51,200
Optometrists	30	1.0	43.98	91,490
Pharmacists	390	1.2	56.28	117,050
Family and general practitioners	80	0.7	76.92	160,000
Surgeons	40	0.7	105.55	219,540
Physicians and surgeons, all other	940	2.8	84.94	176,680
Physician assistants	120	1.3	38.58	80,240
Registered nurses*	4,000	1.3	27.75	57,730
Occupational therapists	110	1.0	37.72	78,460
Physical therapists	200	0.9	36.23	75,360
Radiation therapists	40	2.3	32.54	67,680
Speech-language pathologists	130	1.0	32.87	68,380
Veterinarians	90	1.4	38.68	80,460
Audiologists	(3)	(3)	24.55	51,060
Medical and clinical laboratory technologists	290	1.5	25.35	52,720
Medical and clinical laboratory technicians	150	0.8	15.55	32,340
Dental hygienists	210	1.0	26.55	55,220
Cardiovasular technologists and technicians	70	1.2	25.67	53,390
Diagnostic medical sonographers	80	1.4	30.13	62,670
Radiologic technologists and technicians*	280	1.1	24.90	51,780
Emergency medical technicians and paramedics	(3)	(3)	16.79	34,930
Pharmacy technicians	450	1.2	13.76	28,620
Surgical technologists	220	2.1	19.01	39,550
Licensed practical and licensed vocational nurses	1,150	1.4	18.27	38,000
Medical records and health information technicians	260	1.3	16.04	33,360
Opticians, dispensing	150	2.0	17.20	35,770
Health technologistsand technicians, all other*	180	1.8	20.22	42,060
Occupational health and safety specialists	90	1.3	27.81	57,850
* This occupation has the same title, but not necessarily the same content, as the 2010 SOC occupation.
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.