Workers in the Springfield, IL Metropolitan Statistical Area had an average (mean) hourly wage of $27.90 in May 2021, compared to the nationwide average of $28.01, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Regional Commissioner Jason Palmer noted that, after testing for statistical significance, wages in the local area were lower than their respective national averages in 14 of the 22 major occupational groups, including legal, management, and computer and mathematical. Four groups had significantly higher wages than their respective national averages, including protective service, construction and extraction, and healthcare practitioners and technical.

When compared to the nationwide distribution, Springfield area employment was more highly concentrated in 7 of the 22 occupational groups, including healthcare practitioners and technical, business and financial operations, and office and administrative support. Fourteen groups had employment shares significantly below their national representation, including production, transportation and material moving, and construction and extraction. (See table A.)

One occupational group—healthcare practitioners and technical—was chosen to illustrate the diversity of data available for any of the 22 major occupational categories. Springfield had 9,580 jobs in healthcare practitioners and technical, accounting for 9.9 percent of local area employment, significantly higher than the 6.2-percent share nationally. The average hourly wage for this occupational group locally was $47.23, significantly above the national wage of $43.80.

Some of the larger detailed occupations within the healthcare practitioners and technical group included registered nurses (3,450), licensed practical and licensed vocational nurses (570), and pharmacy technicians (550). Among the higher-paying jobs in this group were obstetricians and gynecologists and nurse anesthetists, with mean hourly wages of $162.55 and $143.70, respectively. At the lower end of the wage scale were emergency medical technicians ($14.85) and pharmacy technicians ($16.72). (Detailed data for the healthcare practitioners and technical occupations are presented in table 1; for a complete listing of detailed occupations available go to www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_44100.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 Springfield area, above-average concentrations of employment were found in many of the occupations within the healthcare practitioners and technical group. For instance, psychiatric technicians were employed at 3.1 times the national rate in Springfield, and radiologic technologists and technicians, at 1.9 times the U.S. average. Dental hygienists had a location quotient of 1.0 in Springfield, indicating that this particular occupation’s local and national employment shares were similar.

These statistics are from the Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) survey, a federal-state cooperative program between BLS and State Workforce Agencies, in this case, the Illinois Department of Employment Security.

Technical Note

The Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) survey is a semiannual survey measuring occupational employment and wage rates for wage and salary workers in nonfarm establishments in the United States. The OEWS data available from BLS include cross-industry occupational employment and wage estimates for the nation; over 580 areas, including states and the District of Columbia, metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs), nonmetropolitan areas, and territories; national industry-specific estimates at the NAICS sector, 3-digit, most 4-digit, and selected 5- and 6-digit industry levels, and national estimates by ownership across all industries and for schools and hospitals. OEWS data are available at www.bls.gov/oes/tables.htm.

The OEWS survey is a cooperative effort between BLS and the State Workforce Agencies (SWAs). BLS funds the survey and provides the procedures and technical support, while the State Workforce Agencies collect most of the data. OEWS estimates are constructed from a sample of about 1.1 million establishments. Each year, two semiannual panels of approximately 179,000 to 187,000 sampled establishments are contacted, one panel in May and the other in November. Responses are obtained by Internet or other electronic means, mail, email, telephone, or personal visit. The May 2021 estimates are based on responses from six semiannual panels collected over a 3-year period: May 2021, November 2020, May 2020, November 2019, May 2019, and November 2018. The unweighted sampled employment of 82 million across all six semiannual panels represents approximately 62 percent of total national employment. The overall national response rate for the six panels, based on the 50 states and the District of Columbia, is 67.2 percent based on establishments and 64.5 percent based on weighted sampled employment. The sample in the Springfield, IL Metropolitan Statistical Area included 1,173 establishments with a response rate of 59 percent. For more information about OEWS concepts and methodology, go to www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_tec.htm.

A value that is statistically different from another does not necessarily mean that the difference has economic or practical significance. Statistical significance is concerned with the ability to make confident statements about a universe based on a sample. It is entirely possible that a large difference between two values is not significantly different statistically, while a small difference is, since both the size and heterogeneity of the sample affect the relative error of the data being tested.

Metropolitan 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 Springfield, IL Metropolitan Statistical Area includes Menard County and Sangamon County.

For more information

Answers to frequently asked questions about the OEWS data are available at www.bls.gov/oes/oes_ques.htm. Detailed information about the OEWS program is available at www.bls.gov/oes/oes_doc.htm.

Information in this release will be made available to individuals with sensory impairments upon request. Voice phone: (202) 691-5200; Telecommunications Relay Service: 7-1-1.

Table 1. Employment and wage data for healthcare practitioners and technical occupations, Springfield metropolitan area, May 2021

Occupation (1)	Employment		Mean wages
	Level (2)	Location quotient (3)	Hourly	Annual (4)
Healthcare practitioners and technical occupations	9,580	1.6	$47.23	$98,240
Dentists, general	70	1.0	87.79	182,590
Dietitians and nutritionists	30	0.7	28.61	59,520
Pharmacists	300	1.4	55.40	115,220
Physician assistants	70	0.8	49.70	103,380
Occupational therapists	110	1.3	36.45	75,810
Physical therapists	170	1.1	43.68	90,860
Respiratory therapists	120	1.4	27.78	57,780
Speech-language pathologists	130	1.3	36.85	76,640
Veterinarians	60	1.2	43.65	90,790
Registered nurses	3,450	1.7	35.27	73,360
Nurse anesthetists	100	3.5	143.70	298,890
Nurse practitioners	170	1.1	56.50	117,530
Emergency medicine physicians	50	1.9	(7)	(7)
Family medicine physicians	40	0.6	133.64	277,960
General internal medicine physicians	(5)	(5)	134.98	280,750
Obstetricians and gynecologists	60	4.1	162.55	338,100
Pediatricians, general	80	3.6	112.19	233,350
Psychiatrists	30	1.9	121.07	251,830
Physicians, all other	560	3.2	135.25	281,320
Surgeons, all other	(5)	(5)	(7)	(7)
Dental hygienists	140	1.0	34.05	70,830
Clinical laboratory technologists and technicians	400	1.8	23.97	49,870
Cardiovascular technologists and technicians	60	1.5	21.56	44,850
Diagnostic medical sonographers	100	1.9	37.40	77,780
Radiologic technologists and technicians	290	1.9	27.27	56,720
Magnetic resonance imaging technologists	60	2.5	34.53	71,820
Emergency medical technicians	190	1.7	14.85	30,890
Pharmacy technicians	550	1.8	16.72	34,770
Psychiatric technicians	200	3.1	19.19	39,910
Surgical technologists	130	1.8	23.35	48,570
Veterinary technologists and technicians	70	0.8	19.23	40,000
Ophthalmic medical technicians	90	2.0	33.07	68,780
Licensed practical and licensed vocational nurses	570	1.3	23.37	48,600
Medical records specialists	140	1.1	22.91	47,650
Opticians, dispensing	60	1.2	17.59	36,580
Health technologists and technicians, all other	110	1.1	26.81	55,770
Health information technologists and medical registrars	80	3.0	21.62	44,960
Athletic trainers	30	1.8	(6)	55,960
Surgical assistants	30	2.5	27.43	57,060
Healthcare practitioners and technical workers, all other	40	1.4	29.19	60,720
Footnotes: (1) For a complete listing of all detailed occupations in the Springfield, IL Metropolitan Statistical Area, see www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_44100.htm. (2) Estimates for detailed occupations may not sum to the totals due to rounding, and because the totals may include occupations that are not shown separately. Estimates do not include self-employed workers. (3) 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. (4) Annual wages have been calculated by multiplying the hourly mean wage by a "year-round, full-time" hours figure of 2,080 hours; for those occupations where there is not an hourly mean wage published, the annual wage has been directly calculated from the reported survey data. (5) Estimate not released. (6) Wages for some occupations that do not generally work year-round, full time, are reported either as hourly wages or annual salaries depending on how they are typically paid. (7) This wage is equal to or greater than $100.00 per hour or $208,000 per year.