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News Release Information

16-1640-NEW
Thursday, August 04, 2016

Contacts Technical information: Media contact:
  • (617) 565-4141

Occupational Employment and Wages in Rochester — May 2015

Workers in the Rochester Metropolitan Statistical Area had an average (mean) hourly wage of $22.88 in May 2015, not measurably different from the nationwide average of $23.23, 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 higher than their respective national averages in 3 of the 22 major occupational groups. Eight groups had significantly lower wages than their respective national averages, including legal; computer and mathematical; and life, physical, and social science.

When compared to the nationwide distribution, local employment was more highly concentrated in 7 of the 22 occupational groups, including education, training, and library; office and administrative support; and community and social service. Conversely, 10 groups had employment shares significantly below their national representation, including transportation and material moving; business and financial operations; and construction and extraction. (See table A and box note at end of release.)

Table A. Occupational employment and wages by major occupational group, United States and the Rochester Metropolitan Statistical Area, and measures of statistical significance, May 2015
Major occupational groupPercent of total employmentMean hourly wage
United StatesRochesterUnited StatesRochesterPercent difference (1)

Total, all occupations

100.0%100.0%$23.23$22.88-2

Management

5.04.5*55.3054.32-2

Business and Financial Operations

5.14.4*35.4833.83*-5

Computer and Mathematical

2.93.3*41.4334.80*-16

Architecture and Engineering

1.82.1*39.8937.12*-7

Life, Physical, and Social Science

0.80.6*34.2429.28*-14

Community and Social Service

1.42.1*22.1921.76-2

Legal

0.80.7*49.7440.09*-19

Education, Training, and Library

6.28.8*25.4828.7013

Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media

1.31.427.3924.98*-9

Healthcare Practitioners and Technical

5.86.4*37.4033.02*-12

Healthcare Support

2.92.914.1913.90-2

Protective Service

2.42.0*21.4524.23*13

Food Preparation and Serving Related

9.18.5*10.9811.091

Building and Grounds Cleaning and Maintenance

3.23.213.0213.282

Personal Care and Service

3.13.4*12.3312.89*5

Sales and Related

10.510.118.9018.990

Office and Administrative Support

15.816.7*17.4717.641

Farming, Fishing, and Forestry

0.30.1*12.6714.59*15

Construction and Extraction

4.03.3*22.8823.001

Installation, Maintenance, and Repair

3.93.6*22.1121.71-2

Production

6.66.917.4117.661

Transportation and Material Moving

6.94.9*16.9015.76*-7

Footnotes:
(1) A positive percent difference measures how much the mean wage in Rochester is above the national mean wage, while a negative difference reflects a lower wage.
* 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.
 

One occupational group—education, training, and library—was chosen to illustrate the diversity of data available for any of the 22 major occupational categories. Rochester had 44,910 jobs in education, training, and library, accounting for 8.8 percent of local area employment, significantly higher than the 6.2-percent share nationally. The average hourly wage for this occupational group locally was $28.70, compared to the national wage of $25.48.

Some of the larger detailed occupations within the education, training, and library group included teacher assistants (7,770), secondary school teachers, except special and career/technical education (6,160), and elementary school teachers, except special education (4,650). Among the higher paying jobs were postsecondary physics teachers and postsecondary economics teachers, with mean annual wages of $170,640 and $155,840, respectively. At the lower end of the wage scale were library technicians ($25,410) and preschool teachers, except special education ($32,320). (Detailed occupational data for education, training, and library are presented in table 1; for a complete listing of detailed occupations available go to www.bls.gov/oes/2015/may/oes_40380.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 Rochester Metropolitan Statistical Area, above-average concentrations of employment were found in many of the occupations within the education, training, and library group. For instance, postsecondary engineering teachers were employed at 4.1 times the national rate in Rochester, and secondary school special education teachers, at 3.0 times the U.S. average. On the other hand, middle school teachers, except special and career/technical education had a location quotient of 1.0 in Rochester, 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 York State Department of Labor.

Notes on Occupational Employment Statistics Data

With the issuance of data for May 2015, the OES program has incorporated redefined metropolitan area definitions as designated by the Office of Management and Budget. OES data are available for 394 metropolitan areas, 38 metropolitan divisions, and 167 OES-defined nonmetropolitan areas. A listing of the areas and their definitions can be found at www.bls.gov/oes/current/msa_def.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.


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. The OES program produces employment and wage estimates for over 800 occupations for all industries combined in the nation; the 50 states and the District of Columbia; 432 metropolitan areas and divisions; 167 nonmetropolitan areas; and Guam, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. National estimates are also available by industry for NAICS sectors, 3-, 4-, and selected 5- and 6-digit industries, and by ownership across all industries and for schools and hospitals. OES data are available at www.bls.gov/oes/tables.htm.

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. May 2015 estimates are based on responses from six semiannual panels collected over a 3-year period: May 2015, November 2014, May 2014, November 2013, May 2013, and November 2012. The overall national response rate for the six panels is 73.5 percent based on establishments and 69.6 percent based on weighted sampled employment. The unweighted employment of sampled establishments across all six semiannual panels represents approximately 57.9 percent of total national employment. (Response rates are slightly lower for these estimates due to the federal shutdown in October 2013.) The sample in the Rochester Metropolitan Statistical Area included 3,755 establishments with a response rate of 76 percent. For more information about OES concepts and methodology, go to www.bls.gov/news.release/ocwage.tn.htm.

The May 2015 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.

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 Rochester, N.Y. Metropolitan Statistical Area  includes Livingston, Monroe, Ontario, Orleans and Wayne Counties.

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/2015/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, Rochester Metropolitan Statistical Area, May 2015
Occupation (1)EmploymentMean wages
Level (2)Location quotient (3)HourlyAnnual (4)

Education, Training, and Library Occupations

44,9101.4$28.70$59,710

Business Teachers, Postsecondary

6802.2(5)90,740

Computer Science Teachers, Postsecondary

3202.6(5)104,830

Mathematical Science Teachers, Postsecondary

4802.4(5)93,730

Engineering Teachers, Postsecondary

5704.1(5)124,360

Biological Science Teachers, Postsecondary

2401.3(5)101,130

Atmospheric, Earth, Marine, and Space Sciences Teachers, Postsecondary

701.7(5)(5)

Chemistry Teachers, Postsecondary

1602.1(5)108,800

Physics Teachers, Postsecondary

1903.7(5)170,640

Area, Ethnic, and Cultural Studies Teachers, Postsecondary

902.7(5)(5)

Economics Teachers, Postsecondary

801.6(5)155,840

Political Science Teachers, Postsecondary

901.4(5)121,140

Psychology Teachers, Postsecondary

2101.5(5)105,310

Sociology Teachers, Postsecondary

701.2(5)74,170

Health Specialties Teachers, Postsecondary

1,5702.4(5)137,970

Nursing Instructors and Teachers, Postsecondary

4302.0(5)99,790

Education Teachers, Postsecondary

3801.7(5)85,740

Criminal Justice and Law Enforcement Teachers, Postsecondary

1302.4(5)43,590

Social Work Teachers, Postsecondary

902.0(5)(5)

Art, Drama, and Music Teachers, Postsecondary

7102.0(5)106,300

Communications Teachers, Postsecondary

1000.9(5)61,840

English Language and Literature Teachers, Postsecondary

4001.4(5)84,310

Foreign Language and Literature Teachers, Postsecondary

1601.4(5)78,450

History Teachers, Postsecondary

1702.0(5)124,650

Philosophy and Religion Teachers, Postsecondary

1501.7(5)101,650

Graduate Teaching Assistants

2700.6(5)59,080

Recreation and Fitness Studies Teachers, Postsecondary

1101.6(5)64,540

Vocational Education Teachers, Postsecondary

3700.828.3859,030

Postsecondary Teachers, All Other

9701.4(5)142,350

Preschool Teachers, Except Special Education

1,6501.215.5432,320

Kindergarten Teachers, Except Special Education

4600.8(5)57,600

Elementary School Teachers, Except Special Education

4,6500.9(5)59,830

Middle School Teachers, Except Special and Career/Technical Education

2,2201.0(5)59,660

Career/Technical Education Teachers, Middle School

1202.5(5)59,040

Secondary School Teachers, Except Special and Career/Technical Education

6,1601.7(5)58,910

Career/Technical Education Teachers, Secondary School

3801.3(5)64,050

Special Education Teachers, Preschool

1101.1(5)48,610

Special Education Teachers, Kindergarten and Elementary School

1,2301.7(5)62,460

Special Education Teachers, Middle School

5801.7(5)59,120

Special Education Teachers, Secondary School

1,4203.0(5)61,160

Special Education Teachers, All Other

300.2(5)47,910

Adult Basic and Secondary Education and Literacy Teachers and Instructors

2100.923.6149,100

Self-Enrichment Education Teachers

1,7902.222.3246,420

Teachers and Instructors, All Other, Except Substitute Teachers

4000.4(5)48,030

Substitute Teachers

4,1201.816.6834,690

Curators

701.629.0960,520

Museum Technicians and Conservators

300.823.5148,900

Librarians

7101.526.8755,900

Library Technicians

4101.212.2225,410

Audio-Visual and Multimedia Collections Specialists

1804.717.2135,800

Instructional Coordinators

6101.231.5565,610

Teacher Assistants

7,7701.7(5)25,920

Education, Training, and Library Workers, All Other

700.227.8057,830

Footnotes:
(1) For a complete listing of all detailed occupations in the Rochester, NY, area, see www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_40380.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.
(5) Estimate not released.
 

 

Last Modified Date: Thursday, August 04, 2016