Workers in the New York-Newark-Jersey City Metropolitan Statistical Area had an average (mean) hourly wage of $29.71 in May 2016, about 25 percent above the nationwide average of $23.86, 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 21 of the 22 major occupational groups, including management; legal; and arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media. 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 12 of the 22 occupational groups, including healthcare support; education, training, and library; and business and financial operations. Conversely, eight groups had employment shares significantly below their national representation, including production; food preparation and serving related; and transportation and material moving. (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. New York-Newark-Jersey City had 571,030 jobs in business and financial operations, accounting for 6.2 percent of local area employment, significantly higher than the 5.2-percent share nationally. The average hourly wage for this occupational group locally was $45.61, significantly above the national wage of $36.09.

Some of the largest detailed occupations within the business and financial operations group included accountants and auditors (115,680), market research analysts and marketing specialists (60,940), and financial analysts (51,530). Among the higher paying jobs were personal financial advisors and financial analysts, with mean hourly wages of $74.04 and $62.64, respectively. At the lower end of the wage scale were tax preparers ($26.97) and credit counselors ($27.38). (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/2016/may/oes_35620.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 New York-Newark-Jersey City Metropolitan Statistical Area, above-average concentrations of employment were found in some of the occupations within the business and financial operations group. For instance, financial analysts were employed at 2.8 times the national rate in New York, and personal financial advisors, at 2.3 times the U.S. average. On the other hand, human resources specialists had a location quotient of 1.0 in New York, 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.

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 data available from BLS include cross-industry occupational employment and wage estimates for the nation; over 650 areas, including states and the District of Columbia, metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs), metropolitan divisions, nonmetropolitan areas, and territories; national industry-specific estimates at the NAICS sector, 3-, 4-, and selected 5- and 6-digit industry levels, and national estimates 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. Each year, two semiannual panels of approximately 200,000 sampled establishments are contacted, one panel in May and the other in November. Responses are obtained by mail, Internet or other electronic means, email, telephone, or personal visit. The May 2016 estimates are based on responses from six semiannual panels collected over a 3-year period: May 2016, November 2015, May 2015, November 2014, May 2014, and November 2013. The overall national response rate for the six panels, based on the 50 states and the District of Columbia, is 73 percent based on establishments and 69 percent based on weighted sampled employment. The unweighted employment of sampled establishments across all six semiannual panels represents approximately 58 percent of total national employment. The sample in the New York-Newark-Jersey City Metropolitan Statistical Area included 37,536 establishments with a response rate of 73 percent. For more information about OES concepts and methodology, go to www.bls.gov/news.release/ocwage.tn.htm.

The May 2016 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 New York-Newark-Jersey City, N.Y. Metropolitan Statistical Area  includes Bergen, Essex, Hudson, Hunterdon, Middlesex, Monmouth, Morris, Ocean, Passaic, Somerset, Sussex, and Union Counties in New Jersey; Bronx, Dutchess, Kings, Nassau, New York, Orange, Putnam, Queens, Richmond, Rockland Suffolk, and Westchester Counties in New York; and Pike County in Pennsylvania.

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/current/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, New York-Newark-Jersey City Metropolitan Statistical Area, May 2016

Occupation (1)	Employment		Mean wages
	Level (2)	Location quotient (3)	Hourly	Annual (4)
Business and financial operations occupations	571,030	1.2	$45.61	$94,880
Agents and business managers of artists, performers, and athletes	3,160	3.6	46.24	96,180
Buyers and purchasing agents, farm products	210	0.3	34.12	70,960
Wholesale and retail buyers, except farm products	8,020	1.1	35.72	74,300
Purchasing agents, except wholesale, retail, and farm products	15,880	0.8	36.46	75,840
Claims adjusters, examiners, and investigators	(5)	(5)	34.55	71,860
Insurance appraisers, auto damage	1,100	1.1	34.24	71,220
Compliance officers	20,370	1.1	39.52	82,210
Cost estimators	9,940	0.7	36.99	76,940
Human resources specialists	34,770	1.0	37.08	77,130
Labor relations specialists	7,820	1.5	40.89	85,050
Logisticians	6,380	0.7	39.14	81,420
Management analysts	40,340	1.0	53.68	111,650
Meeting, convention, and event planners	9,320	1.5	32.32	67,230
Fundraisers	6,150	1.4	30.80	64,050
Compensation, benefits, and job analysis specialists	8,300	1.6	37.31	77,600
Training and development specialists	17,850	1.0	34.24	71,210
Market research analysts and marketing specialists	60,940	1.7	38.10	79,240
Business operations specialists, all other	46,820	0.8	41.10	85,500
Accountants and auditors	115,680	1.4	46.47	96,650
Appraisers and assessors of real estate	2,730	0.7	32.73	68,080
Budget analysts	3,700	1.0	39.12	81,360
Credit analysts	7,940	1.7	56.37	117,240
Financial analysts	51,530	2.8	62.64	130,290
Personal financial advisors	30,290	2.3	74.04	154,000
Insurance underwriters	8,350	1.4	47.55	98,900
Financial examiners	6,060	1.9	54.37	113,090
Credit counselors	1,680	0.8	27.38	56,950
Loan officers	11,980	0.6	51.10	106,290
Tax examiners and collectors, and revenue agents	3,710	1.0	35.79	74,430
Tax preparers	2,340	0.5	26.97	56,110
Financial specialists, all other	8,160	1.0	43.35	90,170
Footnotes: (1) For a complete listing of all detailed occupations in the New York-Newark-Jersey City Metropolitan Statistical Area, see www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_35620.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.