Workers in the San Antonio-New Braunfels Metropolitan Statistical Area had an average (mean) hourly wage of $19.88 in May 2013, about 11 percent below the nationwide average of $22.33, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Regional Commissioner Stanley W. Suchman noted that, after testing for statistical significance, 17 of 22 major occupational groups had significantly lower wages than their respective national averages, including construction and extraction; personal care and service; and protective service. No major occupational group in the local area had wages that were significantly above their respective national averages.

When compared to the nationwide distribution, San Antonio employment was more highly concentrated in 4 of the 22 occupational groups, including office and administrative support; food preparation and serving related; and personal care and service. Conversely, nine groups had employment shares significantly below their national representation, including production, transportation and material moving, and management. (See table A and box note at end of release.)

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

Major occupational group	Percent of total employment			Mean hourly wage
	United States	San Antonio- New Braunfels		United States	San Antonio- New Braunfels		Percent difference(1)
Total, all occupations	100.0%	100.0%		$22.33	$19.88	*	-11
Management	4.9	4.1	*	53.15	48.33	*	-9
Business and financial operations	5.0	5.1		34.14	32.65	*	-4
Computer and mathematical	2.8	2.7		39.43	35.94	*	-9
Architecture and engineering	1.8	1.4	*	38.51	36.09		-6
Life, physical, and social science	0.9	0.7	*	33.37	31.80		-5
Community and social service	1.4	1.0	*	21.50	21.22		-1
Legal	0.8	0.6	*	47.89	41.73	*	-13
Education, training, and library	6.3	6.4		24.76	24.72		0
Arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media	1.3	0.9	*	26.72	20.83	*	-22
Healthcare practitioners and technical	5.8	5.9		35.93	34.19	*	-5
Healthcare support	3.0	3.0		13.61	12.75	*	-6
Protective service	2.5	2.6		20.92	17.46	*	-17
Food preparation and serving related	9.0	11.0	*	10.38	9.71	*	-6
Building and grounds cleaning and maintenance	3.2	3.2		12.51	10.87	*	-13
Personal care and service	3.0	4.1	*	11.88	9.73	*	-18
Sales and related	10.6	11.2	*	18.37	16.92	*	-8
Office and administrative support	16.2	18.2	*	16.78	15.63	*	-7
Farming, fishing, and forestry	0.3	(2)	*	11.70	11.43		-2
Construction and extraction	3.8	3.8		21.94	17.36	*	-21
Installation, maintenance, and repair	3.9	4.0		21.35	19.30	*	-10
Production	6.6	4.4	*	16.79	15.08	*	-10
Transportation and material moving	6.8	5.7	*	16.28	13.89	*	-15
(1) A positive percent difference measures how much the mean wage in San Antonio-New Braunfels 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.

One occupational group – office and administrative support – illustrates the diversity of data available for any of the 22 major occupational categories. San Antonio had 161,480 jobs in office and administrative support, accounting for 18.2 percent of local area employment, significantly above the 16.2-percent national share. However, at $15.63 per hour, the local average hourly wage for this occupational group was 7 percent below the national average of $16.78.

Some of the largest occupations within the office and administrative support group included customer service representatives (26,420), general office clerks (22,550), and secretaries and administrative assistants, excluding legal, medical, and executive (13,380). Among the higher paying jobs were first-line supervisors of office and administrative support workers and executive secretaries and executive administrative assistants, with mean hourly wages of $25.83 and $22.97, respectively. At the lower end of the wage scale were and hotel, motel, and resort desk clerks ($10.04) and receptionists and information clerks ($11.73). (Detailed occupational data for the office and administrative support group are shown in table 1; for a listing of all occupations see www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_41700.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 San Antonio-New Braunfels metropolitan area, above average concentrations of employment were found in a number of the detailed occupations within the office and administrative support group. For instance, medical secretaries were employed at slightly more than twice the national rate in San Antonio, and credit authorizers, checkers, and clerks at nearly eight times the U.S. average (location quotients of 2.1 and 7.8, respectively). On the other hand, bookkeeping, accounting, and auditing clerks had a location quotient of 1.0 in San Antonio, meaning the local employment share in this particular occupation matched the national average.

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 Texas Workforce Commission.

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 San Antonio-New Braunfels Metropolitan Statistical Area included 4,938 establishments with a response rate of 63 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 https://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 San Antonio-New Braunfels Metropolitan Statistical Area includes Atascosa, Bandera, Bexar, Comal, Guadalupe, Kendall, Medina, and Wilson Counties in Texas.

Additional information

OES data are available on our regional web page at www.bls.gov/regions/southwest/home.htm. 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: 1-800-877-8339.

Table 1. Employment and wage data from the Occupational Employment Statistics survey, by occupation, San Antonio-New Braunfels Metropolitan Statistical Area, May 2013

Occupation(1)	Employment		Mean wages
	Level(2)	Location quotient(3)	Hourly	Annual(4)
Office and Administrative Support Occupations	161,480	1.1	$15.63	$32,520
First-line supervisors of office and administrative support workers	9,620	1.1	25.83	53,720
Switchboard operators, including answering service	910	1.2	12.00	24,960
Telephone operators	(5)	(5)	19.83	41,240
Bill and account collectors	3,210	1.3	16.60	34,520
Billing and posting clerks	3,950	1.2	15.24	31,690
Bookkeeping, accounting, and auditing clerks	10,180	1.0	17.72	36,850
Payroll and timekeeping clerks	1,010	0.9	17.19	35,760
Procurement clerks	630	1.4	19.04	39,600
Tellers	2,790	0.8	11.90	24,750
Financial clerks, all other	90	0.3	19.18	39,890
Brokerage clerks	320	0.8	23.00	47,840
Court, municipal, and license clerks	670	0.8	14.73	30,630
Credit authorizers, checkers, and clerks	2,620	7.8	14.75	30,670
Customer service representatives	26,420	1.7	13.78	28,660
Eligibility interviewers, government programs	1,040	1.3	15.31	31,850
File clerks	1,110	1.1	14.13	29,400
Hotel, motel, and resort desk clerks	1,820	1.2	10.04	20,890
Interviewers, except eligibility and loan	1,000	0.8	14.57	30,310
Library assistants, clerical	440	0.6	11.88	24,720
Loan interviewers and clerks	2,670	1.9	17.85	37,130
New accounts clerks	640	1.7	14.97	31,130
Order clerks	950	0.7	13.10	27,250
Human resources assistants, except payroll and timekeeping	1,240	1.4	17.97	37,390
Receptionists and information clerks	4,940	0.8	11.73	24,400
Reservation and transportation ticket agents and travel clerks	1,140	1.2	16.92	35,180
Information and record clerks, all other	1,560	1.3	17.15	35,680
Cargo and freight agents	210	0.4	18.57	38,620
Couriers and messengers	480	1.0	12.65	26,300
Police, fire, and ambulance dispatchers	400	0.6	15.36	31,940
Dispatchers, except police, fire, and ambulance	1,280	1.0	18.10	37,660
Meter readers, utilities	230	0.9	17.07	35,510
Postal service clerks	290	0.6	23.31	48,480
Postal service mail carriers	1,560	0.8	24.66	51,280
Postal service mail sorters, processors, and processing machine operators	610	0.75	23.81	49,530
Production, planning, and expediting clerks	2,120	1.1	18.61	38,700
Shipping, receiving, and traffic clerks	4,410	1.0	13.09	27,220
Stock clerks and order fillers	11,960	1.0	11.82	24,580
Weighers, measurers, checkers, and samplers, recordkeeping	360	0.8	13.02	27,080
Executive secretaries and executive administrative assistants	4,630	0.9	22.97	47,790
Legal secretaries	1,380	0.9	19.43	40,420
Medical secretaries	7,260	2.1	13.83	28,760
Secretaries and administrative assistants, except legal, medical, and executive	13,380	0.9	15.25	31,720
Computer operators	520	1.2	15.73	32,710
Data entry keyers	1,780	1.3	13.73	28,560
Word processors and typists	340	0.6	16.23	33,750
Insurance claims and policy processing clerks	2,990	1.9	15.96	33,210
Mail clerks and mail machine operators, except postal service	510	0.8	12.89	26,810
Office clerks, general	22,550	1.2	14.41	29,970
Office machine operators, except computer	410	0.9	13.91	28,940
Office and administrative support workers, all other	550	0.3	17.81	37,050
(1) For a complete listing of all detailed occupations in the San Antonio-New Braunfels MSA, see www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_41700.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) Estimates not released.