General Information: (312) 353-1880      For Immediate Release:
Media Contact: Paul LaPorte              Wednesday, December 19, 2007
              (312) 353-1138
http://www.bls.gov/ro5


                 OCCUPATIONAL PAY RELATIVES
              FOR METROPOLITAN AREAS IN OHIO, 2006
                                
     Average pay across all occupations in both the Cleveland-
Akron and Columbus, Ohio Metropolitan Statistical Areas did not
differ significantly from the national average in 2006, according
to a recent report from the U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau of
Labor Statistics (BLS).  However, in three other metropolitan
areas in Ohio, average pay was significantly less than that for
the nation.  Regional Commissioner Jay A. Mousa noted that
Cincinnati-Hamilton and Dayton-Springfield had pay relatives of
98, meaning that workers earned 2 percent less than the national
average and in Youngstown-Warren, workers earned 4 percent less.
(See chart A & table A).

Chart A.  Pay relatives for all occupations in metropolitan areas
in Ohio, area-to-nation comparisons, National Compensation
Survey, June 2006. (U.S. = 100)
                                
                                
                                
     BLS produces occupational pay relatives to facilitate
comparisons of occupational pay between metropolitan areas and
the United States as a whole.  Using data from the National
Compensation Survey (NCS), pay relatives-a means of assessing
relative pay differences-- have been prepared for 2006 for each
of the 9 major occupational groups within 78 Metropolitan
Statistical Areas (MSA), as well as averaged across all
occupations for each area.

Table A.  Pay relatives for major occupational groups in metropolitan areas in Ohio, area-to-nation 
comparisons, National Compensation Survey, June 2006
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                    |               |   Management,   |               |              | 
 Metropolitan Area  |     All       |  business, and  | Professional  |              |  Sales and 
                    |  occupations  |   financial     | and related   |   Service    |   related
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 United States	          100	           100	            100	            100	            100
Cincinnati-Hamilton,
  Ohio-Ky.-Ind.	           98*	            93*	             99	            103	             94
Cleveland-Akron, Ohio	  100	            96	            101	             98	             95
Columbus, Ohio	          100	           100	             92*	    100	            105
Dayton-Springfield, Ohio   98*	            99*	             92*	     96*	     97*
Youngstown-Warren, Ohio	   96*	            96*	             93*	     91*	     92*
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                    |  Office and   |                 | Installation, |  	     | Transportation 
 Metropolitan Area  |administrative |  Construction   | maintenance,  |              |  and material 
                    |   support     | and extraction  |  and repair   | Production   |     moving
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 United States	          100	           100	            100	            100	            100
Cincinnati-Hamilton,
 Ohio-Ky.-Ind.	           98	            90	             98	            100	             99
Cleveland-Akron, Ohio	  101	           101	            102	            105*	    106*
Columbus, Ohio	           99	            98	            100	             96	            101
Dayton-Springfield, Ohio   92*	           100	            106*	    107*	    105*
Youngstown-Warren, Ohio	   92*	            99	             95*	    102*	    110*
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
*The pay relative for this area is significantly different from the national average of all areas at
 the ten percent level of significance.  For additional details, see the Technical Note.

Area-to-Nation Comparisons

     In the Cincinnati-Hamilton area, workers in management,
business, and financial recorded a pay relative significantly
lower than the national average.  The remaining eight
occupational groups did not have pay relatives that were
significantly different from the national average.

     In the Cleveland area, two occupational groups--production
and transportation and material moving--had pay relatives that
were significantly higher than the national average.  None of the
other seven occupational groups in Cleveland had pay relatives
that differed significantly from that for the nation.

     In the Columbus area, the professional and related
occupational group recorded a pay relative significantly lower
than the national average.  No other group registered a pay
relative that was significantly different from the U.S. average.

     Three occupational groups in the Dayton-Springfield area had
pay relatives that were significantly higher than the national
average--production; installation, maintenance and repair; and
transportation and material moving.  Five groups had pay
relatives that were significantly lower than the national level,
including professional and related.

     In the Youngstown-Warren area, pay relatives were
significantly lower in six occupational groups compared to that
for the nation, including sales and related and office and
administrative support and service.  Only the transportation and
material moving and production groups recorded significantly
higher pay levels.

Area-to-Area Comparisons

     Area-to-area pay comparisons are useful in determining the
differences in pay levels between two metropolitan areas.  This
type of comparison requires that the base area be changed from
the nation to a specific metropolitan area.  For example, when
Cleveland-Akron was the base area (pay relative = 100), average
pay for all occupational groups in Youngstown-Warren was 4
percent lower than in Cleveland-Akron and 2 percent lower in
Dayton-Springfield.  (See table 1).  When the base area was
changed to Youngstown-Warren (pay relative = 100), average pay
for all occupational groups in Columbus was 3 percent higher and
in Dayton, it was 2 percent higher.

     Area-to-area comparisons are now available on the BLS
website at http://www.bls.gov/ncs/ocs/payrel.htm.

Area Definitions:

     The Cincinnati-Hamilton, Ohio, Ky., Ind. Metropolitan
Statistical Area is comprised of Brown, Butler, Clermont,
Hamilton, and Warren Counties in Ohio; Boone, Campbell, Gallatin,
Grant, Kenton, and Pendleton Counties in Kentucky; and Dearborn
and Ohio Counties in Indiana.

The Cleveland-Akron, Ohio Metropolitan Statistical Area is
comprised of Ashtabula, Cuyahoga, Geauga, Lake, Lorain, Medina,
Portage, and Summit Counties in Ohio.

The Columbus, Ohio Metropolitan Statistical Area is comprised of
Delaware, Fairfield, Franklin, Licking, Madison, and Pickaway
Counties in Ohio.

The Dayton-Springfield, Ohio Metropolitan Statistical Area is
comprised of Clark, Greene, Miami, and Montgomery Counties in
Ohio.

The Youngstown-Warren, Ohio Metropolitan Statistical Area is
comprised of Columbiana, Mahoning, and Trumbull Counties in Ohio.


What is a pay relative?

     A pay relative is a calculation of pay-wages, salaries,
commissions, and production bonuses-for a given metropolitan area
relative to the nation as a whole.  The calculation controls for
differences among areas in occupational composition,
establishment and occupational characteristics, and the fact that
data are collected for areas at different times during the year.

     Metropolitan areas often differ greatly in the composition
of establishments and occupations that are available to the local
workforce. For example, in Brownsville, Texas, the ratio of
workers in the high-paying management, business, and financial
occupational group to the number of workers in all occupations is
under 6 percent, whereas nationally this ratio is over 8 percent. 1/
In addition to these factors, the NCS collects compensation data
for metropolitan areas at different times during the year.
Payroll reference dates differ between areas which makes direct
comparisons between areas difficult.

     The pay relative approach controls for these differences to
isolate the geographic effect on wage determination. To
illustrate the importance of controlling for these effects,
consider the following example.

     The average pay for professional and related workers in San
Francisco is $37.57 and the average pay for professional and
related workers in the entire United States is $29.76.2 A simple
pay comparison can be calculated from the ratio of the two
average pay levels, multiplied by 100 to express the comparison
as a percentage. The pay comparison in the example is calculated
as:
     ($37.57 ÷ $29.76) * 100 ≅ 126

     This comparison does not control for differences between San
Francisco and the nation in the mix of occupations, industries,
and other factors. A more accurate estimate of the geographic
effect of wages in San Francisco can be obtained by taking these
differences into account. Controlling for differences in
occupational composition, establishment and occupational
characteristics, and the payroll reference date in San Francisco
relative to the nation as the whole, the pay relative for
professional and related occupations in San Francisco is equal to 117.

Using pay relative data

     Because the NCS is a sample survey, pay relatives derived
from the NCS will differ to some extent from the true pay
relatives that could be calculated only by collecting information
on every job in every establishment.  For similar reasons, pay
relatives derived from the NCS may fluctuate from one year to the
next.  To assist data users with the use of these data, tests
have been conducted to determine whether differences between each
pay relative and the pay relative for the nation as a whole are
statistically significant (that is, the pay for the given
occupation in that area is too different from the national
average to be accounted for by the randomness of the survey's
sample). Similar tests are conducted for the area-to-area
comparisons.  In all tables, statistically significant pay
relatives are denoted with an asterisk (*).  More information on
significance testing is available in the Technical Note.

     Also because of sample variation from year to year, data
users are cautioned about inferring that there have been actual
changes in underlying economic conditions from changes in the
estimated pay relatives between 2005 and 2006.  This caution
applies even more strongly to estimates by occupational group.

                         Technical Note

     Because the NCS is a sample survey, data are subject to
sampling error.  For the data presented here, sampling errors are
differences that occur between the pay relatives estimated from
the sample and the true pay relatives derived from the
population.  It is important to assess whether differences
between each pay relative and the pay relative for the nation as
a whole is likely to be a result of sampling error or of true
differences in pay levels.  To perform this assessment, a test of
statistical significance is conducted.

     The test constructs a 90-percent confidence interval that
assumes the given area's true pay relative is equal to the
national average.  The confidence interval is constructed so that
there is a 90 percent probability the pay relative calculated
from any one sample is contained within the confidence interval.
If from a single sample a calculated pay relative falls within
the confidence interval, then the pay relative is not
statistically significant and the hypothesis that the true pay
relative is equal to the national average is accepted.  However,
if the pay relative falls outside of the constructed confidence
interval then the pay relative is statistically significant at
the 10-percent level.  The hypothesis that the given area's pay
relative is equal to the pay relative for the nation is rejected
and one can conclude with reasonable confidence that the true pay
relative is different from the national average.

     In addition to sampling error, pay relatives are subject to
a variety of sources that can adversely influence the estimates.
The NCS may be unable to obtain information for some
establishments; there may be difficulties with survey
definitions; respondents may be unable to provide correct
information, or mistakes in recording or coding the data may
occur.  Non-sampling errors of these kinds were not specifically
measured.  However, they are expected to be minimal due to the
extensive training of the field economists who gathered the
survey data, computer edits of the data, and detailed data
review.

     Historical pay relative data are available for 1992-1996,
1998, 2002, 2004, and 2005. There are several differences between
the recent pay relatives and the pay relatives for earlier years,
including different industry and occupation classification
systems, varying methodology, and different survey designs.
These differences limit comparability.  The pay relatives for
2004, 2005, and 2006 were calculated using the same industry and
occupation classification systems, methodology, and survey
design.  Nonetheless, comparisons between the estimates for the
two years should be made only with a high degree of caution.

     Pay relatives were estimated using a multivariate regression
technique methodology to control for interarea differences.  This
technique controls for the following ten characteristics:

       --  Occupational type
       --  Industry type
       --  Work level
       --  Full-time / part-time status
       --  Time / incentive status
       --  Union / nonunion status
       --  Ownership type
       --  Profit / non-profit status
       --  Establishment employment
       --  Payroll reference date

     Even accounting for the characteristics used in the current
regression analysis, there is still significant wage variation
across the areas.  The variation is due to differences in wage
determinants that were not included in the model.  Examples of
these determinants include price levels, environmental amenities
such as a pleasant climate, and cultural amenities.

     The pay relative regression methodology introduces another
type of error.  Regression models are subject to specification
error.  The significance test does not specifically measure
specification error.  However, care was taken to minimize this
form of error by an extensive search across specifications for
the model that performs best in terms of predictive accuracy.

     For more details, see Maury B. Gittleman, "Pay Relatives for
Metropolitan Areas in the U.S." Monthly Labor Review, March 2005,
pp. 46-53, and Parastou Karen Shahpoori, "Pay Relatives for Major
Metropolitan Areas," Compensation and Working Conditions, Spring
2003.
_______________________________
1/ Data for this example are based on the May 2006 Occupational
Employment and Wage Estimates,
http://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oessrcma.htm.

2/ Average pay for professional workers in San Francisco and for
the United States are based on wage estimates published in the
San Francisco-Oakland-San Jose, CA National Compensation Survey,
March 2006 and the National Compensation Survey: Occupational
Wages in the United States, June 2006,
http://www.bls.gov/ncs/ocs/compub.htm. 


Table 1.  Pay relatives for major occupational groups in metropolitan areas in Ohio, area-to-area comparisons,
National Compensation Survey, June 2006
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Base Area         |	                    |     All 	  | Management,  | Professional | 	  |
(Pay relative=100)    | Metropolitan area   |  occupation | business, and| and related  |Service  | Sales and
                      |                     |             | financial    |              |         |  related
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                      | 
Cincinnati-Hamilton,  |	Cleveland-Akron, Ohio     103	        103	       102	    95*	       101
  Ohio-Ky.-Ind.       | Columbus, Ohio	          102	        107	        94*	    98	       112
	              | Dayton-Springfield, Ohio  101	        106	        93*	    94*	       102
	              | Youngstown-Warren, Ohio	   99	        103	        95*	    88*	        98
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Cleveland-Akron, Ohio |	Cincinnati-Hamilton	   97	         97	        98	   105*	        99
                      |  Ohio-Ky.-Ind.
	              | Columbus, Ohio	           99	        104	        92*	   103	       111
	              | Dayton-Springfield, Ohio   98*	        102	        91*	    99	       101
	              | Youngstown-Warren, Ohio	   96*	        100	        93*	    93*	        97
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Columbus, Ohio	      | Cincinnati-Hamilton	   98	         93	       107*	   102	        89
                      |  Ohio-Ky.-Ind.
	              | Cleveland-Akron, Ohio     101	         96	       109*	    97	        90
	              | Dayton-Springfield, Ohio   99	         99	       100	    96	        92
	              | Youngstown-Warren, Ohio	   97*	         96	       101	    90*	        88*
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dayton-Springfield,   |	Cincinnati-Hamilton	   99	         95	       107*	   107*	        98
    Ohio              |  Ohio-Ky.-Ind.
            	      | Cleveland-Akron, Ohio     102*	         98	       109*	   101	        99
	              | Columbus, Ohio	          101	        102	       100	   104	       109
	              | Youngstown-Warren, Ohio	   98*	         97	       101*	    94*	        96*
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Youngstown-Warren,    |	Cincinnati-Hamilton	  101	         97	       106*	   113*	       102
    Ohio              |  Ohio-Ky.-Ind.
          	      | Cleveland-Akron, Ohio     104*	        100	       108*	   108*	       103
	              | Columbus, Ohio	          103*	        104	        99	   111*	       114*
	              | Dayton-Springfield, ohio  102*	        103	        99*	   106*	       104*
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Table 1.  Pay relatives for major occupational groups in metropolitan areas in Ohio, area-to-area comparisons, National
Compensation Survey, June 2006-continued
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Base Area         |                     |  Office and   |  Construction  | Installation,|            | Transportation 
(Pay relative=100)    | Metropolitan area   | admin. support| and extraction | maintenance, | Production |  and material
                      |                     |               |                | and repair   |            |    moving
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                      |
Cincinnati-Hamilton,  |	Cleveland-Akron, Ohio     103	          112	          104	         105*	       106*
  Ohio-Ky.-Ind.       | Columbus, Ohio	          101	          108	          102	          97	       102
	              | Dayton-Springfield, Ohio   94*	          110	          109*	         108*	       105*
	              | Youngstown-Warren, Ohio    94*	          110	           97	         103	       111*
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Cleveland-Akron, Ohio |	Cincinnati-Hamilton	   97	           89	           96	          95*	        94*
                      |  Ohio-Ky.-Ind.
	              | Columbus, Ohio	           98	           97	           98	          92*	        96
	              | Dayton-Springfield, Ohio   91*	           99	          104	         102	        99
	              | Youngstown-Warren, Ohio	   91*	           98	           93*	          97	       104
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Columbus, Ohio	      | Cincinnati-Hamilton	   99	           92	           98	         104	        98
                      |  Ohio-Ky.-Ind.
	              | Cleveland-Akron, Ohio	  102	          104	          102	         109*	       104
	              | Dayton-Springfield, Ohio   93*	          102	          106	         111*	       103
	              | Youngstown-Warren, Ohio	   93*	          102	           95	         106	       109*
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dayton-Springfield,   |	Cincinnati-Hamilton	  106*	           91	           92*	          93*	        95*
     Ohio             |  Ohio-Ky.-Ind.
                      | Cleveland-Akron, Ohio     110*	          101	           96	          98	       101
	              | Columbus, Ohio	          108*	           98	           94	          90*	        97
	              | Youngstown-Warren, Ohio	  100	           99	           90*	          95*	       105*
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Youngstown-Warren,    |	Cincinnati-Hamilton	  106*	           91	          103	          98	       90*
     Ohio             |  Ohio-Ky.-Ind.
	              | Cleveland-Akron, Ohio     110*	          102	          107*	         103	       96
	              | Columbus, Ohio	          107*	           98	          105	          94	       92*
	              | Dayton-Springfield, Ohio  100	          101	          112*	         105*	       95*
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
* The pay relative for this area is significantly different from the average in the metropolitan area at the ten percent 
level of significance.  For additional details, see the Technical Note at http://www.bls.gov/news.release/ncspay.tn.htm

Last Modified Date: December 19, 2007