Workers in the Trenton-Ewing Metropolitan Statistical Area had an average (mean) hourly wage of $28.23 in May 2013, about 26 percent above the nationwide average of $22.33, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Chief Regional Economist Martin Kohli noted that, after testing for statistical significance, wages in the local area were significantly higher than their respective national averages in 19 of the 22 major occupational groups, including management, protective service, and community and social service. No group had an hourly wage significantly lower than its respective national average.

When compared to the nationwide distribution, local employment was more highly concentrated in 8 of the 22 occupational groups, including business and financial operations; computer and mathematical;and education, training, and library. Conversely, eight groups had employment shares significantly below their national representation, including production, food preparation and serving related, and sales and related. (See table A and box note at end of release.)

One occupational group—business and financial operations—was chosen to illustrate the diversity of data available for any of the 22 major occupational categories. Trenton-Ewing had 20,510 jobs in business and financial operations, accounting for 9.5 percent of local area employment, significantly higher than the 5.0-percent share nationally. The average hourly wage for this occupational group locally was $37.54, measurably above the national wage of $34.14.

Table A. Occupational employment and wages by major occupational group, United States and the Trenton-Ewing Metropolitan Statistical Area, and measures of statistical significance, May 2013

Major occupational group	Percent of total employment		Mean hourly wage
	United States	Trenton	United States	Trenton	Percent difference (1)
Total, all occupations	100.0%	100.0%	$22.33	$28.23*	26
Management	4.9	6.4*	53.15	63.65*	20
Business and financial operations	5.0	9.5*	34.14	37.54*	10
Computer and mathematical	2.8	5.1*	39.43	43.74*	11
Architecture and engineering	1.8	1.9	38.51	40.15*	4
Life, physical, and social science	0.9	2.6*	33.37	37.57*	13
Community and social services	1.4	2.0*	21.50	27.17*	26
Legal	0.8	1.3*	47.89	48.85	2
Education, training, and library	6.3	8.5*	24.76	28.75*	16
Arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media	1.3	1.3	26.72	28.46*	7
Healthcare practitioner and technical	5.8	5.9	35.93	39.64*	10
Healthcare support	3.0	3.4	13.61	14.19*	4
Protective service	2.5	2.7	20.92	28.37*	36
Food preparation and serving related	9.0	5.6*	10.38	11.26*	8
Building and grounds cleaning and maintenance	3.2	3.0	12.51	13.60*	9
Personal care and service	3.0	2.2*	11.88	14.26*	20
Sales and related	10.6	8.0*	18.37	19.89*	8
Office and administrative support	16.2	18.3*	16.78	19.88*	18
Farming, fishing, and forestry	0.3	(2)*	11.70	15.69	34
Construction and extraction	3.8	2.1*	21.94	26.19*	19
Installation, maintenance, and repair	3.9	2.7*	21.35	24.73*	16
Production	6.6	2.9*	16.79	17.69*	5
Transportation and material moving	6.8	4.5*	16.28	16.16	-1
Footnotes: (1) A positive percent difference measures how much the mean wage in Trenton is above the national mean wage, while a negative difference reflects a lower wage. (2) Indicates a value of less than 0.05 percent * The percent share of employment or mean hourly wage for this area is significantly different from the national average of all areas at the 90-percent confidence level.

With employment of 2,450, accountants and auditors was one of the largest occupations within the business and financial operations group, as were management analysts (1,820) and compliance officers (1,290). Among the higher paying jobs were personal financial advisors and management analysts, with mean hourly wages of $49.75 and $47.61, respectively. At the lower end of the wage scale were fundraisers ($26.49) and meeting, convention, and event planners ($26.92). (Detailed occupational data for business and financial operations are presented in table 1; for a complete listing of detailed occupations available go to www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_45940.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 Trenton-Ewing Metropolitan Statistical Area, above average concentrations of employment were found in many of the occupations within the business and financial operations group. For instance, compliance officers were employed at 3.4 times the national rate in Trenton, and compensation, benefits, and job analysis specialists, at 2.8 times the U.S. average. On the other hand, market research analysts and marketing specialists had a location quotient of 1.0 in Trenton, 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 New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development.

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 sampled establishments in May and November each year for a 3-year period. May 2013 estimates are based on responses from six semiannual panels collected in May 2013, November 2012, May 2012, November 2011, May 2011, and November 2010. The overall national response rate for the six panels is 75.3 percent based on establishments and 71.6 percent based on employment. The sample in the Trenton-Ewing Metropolitan Statistical Area included 2,133 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 OES survey provides estimates of employment and hourly and annual wages for wage and salary workers in 22 major occupational groups and 821 detailed occupations for the nation, states, metropolitan statistical areas, metropolitan divisions, and nonmetropolitan areas. In addition, employment and wage estimates for 94 minor groups and 458 broad occupations are available in the national data. OES data by state and metropolitan/nonmetropolitan area are available from www.bls.gov/oes/current/oessrcst.htm and www.bls.gov/oes/current/oessrcma.htm, respectively.

The May 2013 OES estimates are based on the 2010 Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) system and the 2012 North American Industry Classification System (NAICS). Information about the 2010 SOC is available on the BLS website at www.bls.gov/soc and information about the 2012 NAICS is available at www.bls.gov/bls/naics.htm.

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 Trenton-Ewing, N.J. Metropolitan Statistical Area consists of Mercer County.

Additional information

OES data are available on our regional web page at www.bls.gov/regions/northeast. Answers to frequently asked questions about the OES data are available at www.bls.gov/oes/oes_ques.htm. Detailed technical information about the OES survey is available in our Survey Methods and Reliability Statement on the BLS website at www.bls.gov/oes/2013/may/methods_statement.pdf. Information in this release will be made available to sensory impaired individuals upon request – Voice phone: 202-691-5200; Federal Relay Service: 800-877-8339.

Table 1. Employment and wage data from the Occupational Employment Statistics survey, by occupation, Trenton-Ewing Metropolitan Statistical Area, May 2013

Occupation (1)	Employment		Mean wages
	Level (2)	Location quotient (3)	Hourly	Annual(4)
Business and Financial Operations Occupations	20,510	1.9	$37.54	$78,090
Wholesale and Retail Buyers, Except Farm Products	180	1.0	31.95	66,460
Purchasing Agents, Except Wholesale, Retail, and Farm Products	500	1.1	34.49	71,730
Claims Adjusters, Examiners, and Investigators	800	1.8	32.87	68,370
Compliance Officers	1,290	3.4	38.29	79,640
Cost Estimators	140	0.4	33.24	69,140
Human Resources Specialists	980	1.4	34.45	71,660
Labor Relations Specialists	210	1.7	30.73	63,930
Logisticians	190	1.0	39.14	81,400
Management Analysts	1,820	2.0	47.61	99,030
Meeting, Convention, and Event Planners	120	1.0	26.92	56,000
Fundraisers	100	1.2	26.49	55,110
Compensation, Benefits, and Job Analysis Specialists	370	2.8	32.79	68,200
Training and Development Specialists	520	1.4	35.71	74,280
Market Research Analysts and Marketing Specialists	680	1.0	33.88	70,460
Business Operations Specialists, All Other	6,080	4.0	35.20	73,210
Accountants and Auditors	2,450	1.3	39.24	81,620
Appraisers and Assessors of Real Estate	70	0.7	36.06	75,000
Budget Analysts	200	2.1	34.51	71,780
Credit Analysts	170	1.6	39.87	82,940
Financial Analysts	520	1.3	44.45	92,460
Personal Financial Advisors	560	1.9	49.75	103,470
Insurance Underwriters	310	2.1	34.63	72,020
Financial Examiners	100	2.0	41.57	86,460
Loan Officers	230	0.5	39.45	82,050
Tax Examiners and Collectors, and Revenue Agents	270	2.6	32.68	67,970
Financial Specialists, All Other	1,580	6.6	37.97	78,980
Footnotes: (1) For a complete listing of all detailed occupations in Trenton-Ewing, NJ, see www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_45940.htm. (2) 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. (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.