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News Release Information

21-974-ATL
Thursday, June 03, 2021

Contacts Technical information: Media contact:
  • (404) 893-4220

Occupational Employment and Wages in Huntsville — May 2020

Workers in the Huntsville, AL Metropolitan Statistical Area had an average (mean) hourly wage of $28.24 in May 2020, compared to the nationwide average of $27.07, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Regional Commissioner Janet S. Rankin 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: architecture and engineering, business and financial operations, and computer and mathematical. Seventeen groups had significantly lower wages than their respective national averages, including food preparation and serving related, transportation and material moving, and sales and related.

When compared to the nationwide distribution, Huntsville area employment was more highly concentrated in 4 of the 22 occupational groups, including architecture and engineering and computer and mathematical. Sixteen groups had employment shares significantly below their national representation, including transportation and material moving, educational instruction and library, and office and administrative support. (See table A.)

Table A. Occupational employment and wages by major occupational group, United States and the Huntsville metropolitan area, and measures of statistical significance, May 2020 
Major occupational groupPercent of total employmentMean hourly wage
United StatesHuntsvilleUnited StatesHuntsvillePercent difference (1)

Total, all occupations

100.0100.0$27.07$28.244

Management

5.75.2*60.8162.473

Business and financial operations

6.07.8*38.7942.65*10

Computer and mathematical

3.37.6*46.5347.77*3

Architecture and engineering

1.88.2*43.4149.62*14

Life, physical, and social science

0.90.8*38.1537.03-3

Community and social service

1.60.8*25.0921.11*-16

Legal

0.80.4*54.0043.02*-20

Educational instruction and library

6.14.0*28.7523.47*-18

Arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media

1.31.1*30.9625.20*-19

Healthcare practitioners and technical

6.25.9*41.3036.01*-13

Healthcare support

4.63.3*15.5013.15*-15

Protective service

2.41.9*25.1121.42*-15

Food preparation and serving related

8.17.5*13.3010.63*-20

Building and grounds cleaning and maintenance

2.92.3*15.7513.37*-15

Personal care and service

1.91.5*15.6812.68*-19

Sales and related

9.49.022.0018.28*-17

Office and administrative support

13.311.5*20.3818.33*-10

Farming, fishing, and forestry

0.30.1*16.0213.44*-16

Construction and extraction

4.33.4*25.9321.63*-17

Installation, maintenance, and repair

3.93.625.1723.48*-7

Production

6.17.4*20.0818.71*-7

Transportation and material moving

8.76.6*19.0815.63*-18

Footnotes:
(1) A positive percent difference measures how much the mean wage in the Huntsville, AL Metropolitan Statistical Area is above the national mean wage, while a negative difference reflects a lower wage.
* The mean hourly wage or percent share of employment is significantly different from the national average of all areas at the 90-percent confidence level.

One occupational group—architecture and engineering—was chosen to illustrate the diversity of data available for any of the 22 major occupational categories. Huntsville had 18,860 jobs in architecture and engineering occupations, accounting for 8.2 percent of local area employment, significantly higher than the 1.8-percent national share. The local average hourly wage for this occupational group was $49.62, significantly higher than the national average of $43.41.

Some of the larger detailed occupations within the architecture and engineering group included aerospace engineers (3,010), electrical engineers (1,960), and industrial engineers (1,540). Among the higher-paying jobs in this group were electronics engineers, except computer, and aerospace engineers, with mean hourly wages of $59.32 and $58.32, respectively. At the lower end of the wage scale were surveying and mapping technicians ($19.24) and civil engineering technologists and technicians ($23.79). (Detailed data for the architecture and engineering occupations are presented in table 1; for a complete listing of detailed occupations, go to www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_26620.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 Huntsville area, above-average concentrations of employment were found in many of the occupations within the architecture and engineering group. For instance, aerospace engineers were employed at 29.9 times the national rate in Huntsville, and computer hardware engineers, at 8.6 times the U.S. average. Surveying and mapping technicians had a location quotient of 1.2 in Huntsville, 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 Alabama Department of Labor.

Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) Name Change

The Occupational Employment Statistics (OES) program has changed its name to Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) to better reflect the range of data available from the program. Data released on or after March 31, 2021, will reflect the new program name. Webpages, publications, and other materials associated with previous data releases will retain the Occupational Employment Statistics name.

Coronavirus (COVID-19) Impact on May 2020 Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics

Due to features of the OEWS methodology, the May 2020 OEWS estimates do not fully reflect the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. The May 2020 OEWS estimates are based on survey panels collected for May 2020, November 2019, May 2019, November 2018, May 2018, and November 2017. Because 5 of the 6 survey panels used to produce the estimates date from before the COVID-19 pandemic, only the most recent (May 2020) survey panel reflects changes in occupational proportions related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The May 2020 OEWS employment estimates are benchmarked to the average of May 2020 and November 2019 employment from the Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW). Although the May 2020 QCEW data reflect the early employment effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, the November 2019 QCEW employment data precede the pandemic, and therefore do not reflect its impact.

In addition, as a result of the pandemic, response rates for the November 2019 and May 2020 panels were lower in some areas. Lower response rates may negatively affect data availability and data quality.

More information is available at www.bls.gov/covid19/effects-of-covid-19-pandemic-on-occupational-employment-and-wage-statistics.htm.

Implementing the 2018 Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) System

With the May 2019 estimates, the OEWS program began implementing the 2018 Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) system. Because the May 2019 and May 2020 estimates are based on a combination of survey data collected using the 2010 SOC and survey data collected using the 2018 SOC, these estimates use a hybrid of the two classification systems that contains some combinations of occupations that are not found in either the 2010 or 2018 SOC. This is the second and final year that the hybrid occupational structure will be used. The May 2021 estimates, to be published in Spring 2022, will be the first OEWS estimates based entirely on survey data collected using the 2018 SOC.

For more information on the occupational classification system used in the May 2019 and May 2020 estimates, please see www.bls.gov/oes/soc_2018.htm and www.bls.gov/oes/oes_ques.htm#qf10.

Upcoming Changes to the Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics Methodology

With the May 2021 estimates, to be released in Spring 2022, the OEWS program plans to begin using a new estimation methodology. The new model-based methodology, called MB3, has advantages over the existing methodology, as described in the Monthly Labor Review article at www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/2019/article/model-based-estimates-for-the-occupational-employment-statistics-program.htm. OEWS estimates for the years 2015-2018 were recalculated using the new estimation methodology and are available as research estimates at www.bls.gov/oes/oes-mb3-methods.htm.


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 180,000 to 185,000 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 2020 estimates are based on responses from six semiannual panels collected over a 3-year period: May 2020, November 2019, May 2019, November 2018, May 2018, and November 2017. The unweighted sample employment of 83 million across all six semiannual panels represents approximately 56 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 69 percent based on establishments and 66 percent based on weighted sampled employment. The sample in the Huntsville, AL Metropolitan Statistical Area included 1,886 establishments with a response rate of 74 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 Huntsville, AL Metropolitan Statistical Area includes Limestone and Madison Counties.

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; Federal Relay Service: (800) 877-8339.

Table 1. Employment and wage data for architecture and engineering occupations, Huntsville metropolitan area, May 2020 
Occupation (1)EmploymentMean wages
Level (2)Location quotient (3)HourlyAnnual (4)

Architecture and engineering occupations

18,8604.5$49.62$103,200

Architects, except landscape and naval

1200.740.3183,850

Surveyors

(5)(5)24.9251,830

Aerospace engineers

3,01029.958.32121,300

Chemical engineers

(5)(5)53.35110,970

Civil engineers

(5)(5)51.61107,350

Computer hardware engineers

9308.656.63117,790

Electrical engineers

1,9606.451.86107,880

Electronics engineers, except computer

9704.859.32123,390

Environmental engineers

1101.345.8695,390

Health and safety engineers, except mining safety engineers and inspectors

2506.250.50105,040

Industrial engineers

1,5403.249.52102,990

Materials engineers

3308.251.21106,510

Mechanical engineers

1,4002.948.74101,380

Engineers, all other

3,01011.961.11127,110

Architectural and civil drafters

1701.125.8853,820

Electrical and electronics drafters

601.626.2654,610

Mechanical drafters

1201.428.0858,410

Aerospace engineering and operations technologists and technicians

40020.330.8964,260

Civil engineering technologists and technicians

4403.923.7949,480

Electrical and electronic engineering technologists and technicians

1,4107.429.7361,830

Industrial engineering technologists and technicians

2302.226.6655,450

Mechanical engineering technologists and technicians

1902.930.2662,940

Surveying and mapping technicians

1101.219.2440,010

Calibration technologists and technicians and engineering technologists and technicians, except drafters, all other

3502.334.5871,920

Footnotes:
(1) For a complete listing of all detailed occupations in the Huntsville, AL Metropolitan Statistical Area, see www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_26620.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.

 

Last Modified Date: Thursday, June 03, 2021