Workers in the Brownsville-Harlingen Metropolitan Statistical Area had an average (mean) hourly wage of $16.21 in May 2015, about 30 percent below the nationwide average of $23.23, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Regional Commissioner Stanley W. Suchman noted that, after testing for statistical significance, wages in the local area were lower than their respective national averages in 18 of the 22 major occupational groups, including construction and extraction; computer and mathematical; and healthcare support. Local wage levels in the four remaining occupational groups were not statistically different from their respective national averages.

When compared to the nationwide distribution, Brownsville employment was more highly concentrated in 4 of the 22 occupational groups including personal care and service; healthcare support; and education, training, and library. Conversely, 12 groups had employment shares significantly below their national representation, including business and financial operations; management; and computer and mathematical. (See table A and box note at end of release.)

Table A. Occupational employment and wages by major occupational group, United States and the Brownsville-Harlingen Metropolitan Statistical Area, and measures of statistical significance, May 2015

Major occupational group	Percent of total employment			Mean hourly wage
	United States	Brownsville- Harlingen		United States	Brownsville- Harlingen		Percent difference(1)
Total, all occupations	100.0%	100.0%		$23.23	$16.21	*	-30
Management	5.0	2.4	*	55.30	42.89	*	-22
Business and financial operations	5.1	2.3	*	35.48	28.30	*	-20
Computer and mathematical	2.9	0.5	*	41.43	27.26	*	-34
Architecture and engineering	1.8	0.4	*	39.89	31.77	*	-20
Life, physical, and social science	0.8	0.3	*	34.24	26.71	*	-22
Community and social service	1.4	1.4		22.19	20.72	*	-7
Legal	0.8	0.4	*	49.74	41.68		-16
Education, training, and library	6.2	9.2	*	25.48	20.90	*	-18
Arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media	1.3	0.6	*	27.39	18.46	*	-33
Healthcare practitioners and technical	5.8	5.8		37.40	39.84		7
Healthcare support	2.9	7.4	*	14.19	9.69	*	-32
Protective service	2.4	3.8	*	21.45	21.23		-1
Food preparation and serving related	9.1	9.9		10.98	9.47	*	-14
Building and grounds cleaning and maintenance	3.2	3.0		13.02	9.81	*	-25
Personal care and service	3.1	10.4	*	12.33	8.81	*	-29
Sales and related	10.5	10.3		18.90	13.77	*	-27
Office and administrative support	15.8	16.3		17.47	13.24	*	-24
Farming, fishing, and forestry	0.3	0.1	*	12.67	12.38		-2
Construction and extraction	4.0	1.8	*	22.88	14.40	*	-37
Installation, maintenance, and repair	3.9	3.3	*	22.11	15.42	*	-30
Production	6.6	4.5	*	17.41	12.77	*	-27
Transportation and material moving	6.9	5.9	*	16.90	13.22	*	-22
(1) A positive percent difference measures how much the mean wage in Brownsville-Harlingen is above the national mean wage, while a negative difference reflects a lower wage.
Note: * 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. Brownsville had 12,470 jobs in education, training, and library, accounting for 9.2 percent of local area employment, significantly higher than the 6.2-percent national share. However, the local wage for this occupational group was significantly below the U.S. average. At $20.90 an hour, the mean wage for Brownsville education, training, and library workers was about 18 percent below the $25.48 national average.

Some of the larger detailed occupations within the education, training, and library group included elementary school teachers, except special education (2,360), secondary school teachers, except special and career/technical education (2,040), and teacher assistants (1,910). Among the higher paying jobs were secondary school teachers, except special and career/technical education and middle school teachers, except special and career/technical education, with mean annual wages of $51,070 and $50,860, respectively. At the lower end of the wage scale were teacher assistants ($23,260 per year) and substitute teachers ($24,670). (Detailed occupational data for the education, training, and library group are presented in table 1; for a complete listing of detailed occupations go to www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_15180.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 Brownsville metropolitan area, above average concentrations of employment were found in many of the occupations within the education, training, and library group. For instance, both middle school teachers, except special and career/technical education, and substitute teachers were employed at 2.5 times the national average. The Brownsville location quotient for middle school teachers, except special and career/technical education, was among the highest in all metropolitan areas for this particular occupation.

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. 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 Brownsville-Harlingen Metropolitan Statistical Area included 1,442 establishments with a response rate of 59 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 Brownsville-Harlingen Metropolitan Statistical Area includes Cameron County in Texas.

Additional information

OES data are available on our regional web page at www.bls.gov/regions/southwest. 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, Brownsville-Harlingen Metropolitan Statistical Area, May 2015

Occupation(1)	Employment		Mean wages
	Level(2)	Location quotient(3)	Hourly	Annual(4)
Education, training, and library occupations	12,470	1.5	$20.90	$43,470
Vocational education teachers, postsecondary	40	0.4	28.72	59,740
Preschool teachers, except special education	260	0.7	21.23	44,170
Kindergarten teachers, except special education	310	2.0	(5)	46,530
Elementary school teachers, except special education	2,360	1.7	(5)	48,980
Middle school teachers, except special & career/technical education	1,550	2.5	(5)	50,860
Career/technical education teachers, middle school	40	3.3	(5)	51,190
Secondary school teachers, except special & career/technical education	2,040	2.2	(5)	51,070
Career/technical education teachers, secondary school	260	3.4	(5)	49,660
Special education teachers, kindergarten and elementary school	230	1.2	(5)	47,590
Special education teachers, middle school	130	1.5	(5)	48,040
Special education teachers, secondary school	220	1.7	(5)	51,010
Adult basic & secondary education & literacy teachers & instructors	(5)	(5)	18.78	39,050
Self-enrichment education teachers	130	0.6	11.29	23,480
Teachers and instructors, all other, except substitute teachers	240	0.9	(5)	35,980
Substitute teachers	1,520	2.5	11.86	24,670
Librarians	160	1.2	25.92	53,900
Library technicians	30	0.4	10.07	20,940
Instructional coordinators	150	1.1	30.26	62,930
Teacher assistants	1,910	1.6	(5)	23,260
(1) For a complete listing of all detailed occupations in the Brownsville-Harlingen MSA, see www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_15180.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.