Workers in the Shreveport-Bossier City Metropolitan Statistical Area had an average (mean) hourly wage of $18.22 in May 2015, about 22 percent below the nationwide average of $23.23, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Assistant Commissioner for Regional Operations Stanley W. Suchman noted that, after testing for statistical significance, wages in the local area were lower than their respective national averages in 19 of the 22 major occupational groups, including legal; computer and mathematical; and healthcare practitioners and technical. Wages were higher in one group, farming, fishing, and forestry, while wage levels in the two remaining groups were not statistically different from their respective national averages.

When compared to the nationwide distribution, local employment was more highly concentrated in 8 of the 22 occupational groups, including healthcare practitioners and technical; sales and related; and installation, maintenance, and repair. Conversely, 10 groups had employment shares significantly below their national representation, including business and financial operations; computer and mathematical; and production. (See table A and box note at end of release.)

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

Major occupational group	Percent of total employment			Mean hourly wage
	United States	Shreveport- Bossier City		United States	Shreveport- Bossier City		Percent difference(1)
Total, all occupations	100.0%	100.0%		$23.23	$18.22	*	-22
Management	5.0	4.2	*	55.30	44.54	*	-19
Business and financial operations	5.1	2.9	*	35.48	29.49	*	-17
Computer and mathematical	2.9	0.7	*	41.43	29.54	*	-29
Architecture and engineering	1.8	1.2	*	39.89	36.28	*	-9
Life, physical, and social science	0.8	0.3	*	34.24	29.77	*	-13
Community and social service	1.4	1.3	*	22.19	21.20		-4
Legal	0.8	0.5	*	49.74	32.98	*	-34
Education, training, and library	6.2	6.2		25.48	21.02	*	-18
Arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media	1.3	0.7	*	27.39	16.54	*	-40
Healthcare practitioners and technical	5.8	8.1	*	37.40	28.38	*	-24
Healthcare support	2.9	4.0	*	14.19	11.77	*	-17
Protective service	2.4	2.5		21.45	17.80	*	-17
Food preparation and serving related	9.1	9.7	*	10.98	9.39	*	-14
Building and grounds cleaning and maintenance	3.2	3.9	*	13.02	10.35	*	-21
Personal care and service	3.1	4.0	*	12.33	9.88	*	-20
Sales and related	10.5	12.2	*	18.90	14.54	*	-23
Office and administrative support	15.8	15.3		17.47	14.96	*	-14
Farming, fishing, and forestry	0.3	0.1	*	12.67	16.97	*	34
Construction and extraction	4.0	5.1	*	22.88	18.92	*	-17
Installation, maintenance, and repair	3.9	5.3	*	22.11	18.96	*	-14
Production	6.6	5.3	*	17.41	17.44		0
Transportation and material moving	6.9	6.5		16.90	15.04	*	-11
(1) A positive percent difference measures how much the mean wage in Shreveport-Bossier City 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–healthcare practitioners and technical–was chosen to illustrate the diversity of data available for any of the 22 major occupational categories. Shreveport had 14,770 jobs in healthcare practitioners and technical, accounting for 8.1 percent of local area employment, significantly higher than the 5.8-percent national share. However, the local wage for this occupational group was significantly below the U.S. average. At $28.38 an hour, the mean wage for Shreveport healthcare practitioners and technical workers was about 24 percent below the $37.40 national average.

Some of the larger detailed occupations within the healthcare practitioners and technical group included registered nurses (4,560), licensed practical and licensed vocational nurses (2,620), and pharmacy technicians (630). Among the higher paying jobs were family and general practitioners, as well as general internists, with mean hourly wages of $107.18 and $106.44, respectively. At the lower end of the wage scale were emergency medical technicians and paramedics ($14.34) and pharmacy technicians ($14.86). (Detailed occupational data for the healthcare practitioners and technical group are presented in table 1; for a complete listing of detailed occupations go to www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_43340.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 Shreveport metropolitan area, above average concentrations of employment were found in many of the occupations within the healthcare practitioners and technical group. For instance, cardiovascular technologists and technicians were employed at 3.7 times the national average in Shreveport, and licensed practical and licensed vocational nurses, at 2.9 times the national rate. The Shreveport location quotient for cardiovascular technologists and technicians was among the highest in all metropolitan areas for this particular occupation. On the other hand, speech-language pathologists had a location quotient of 1.1 in Shreveport, 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 Louisiana 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 Shreveport-Bossier City Metropolitan Statistical Area included 2,186 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 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 Shreveport-Bossier City Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) includes Bossier, Caddo, De Soto and Webster Parishes in Louisiana.

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, Shreveport-Bossier City Metropolitan Statistical Area, May 2015

Occupation(1)	Employment		Mean wages
	Level(2)	Location quotient(3)	Hourly	Annual(4)
Healthcare practitioners and technical occupations	14,770	1.4	$28.38	$59,040
Dentists, general	(5)	(5)	61.37	127,650
Dietitians and nutritionists	70	0.9	23.47	48,810
Pharmacists	340	0.9	57.54	119,680
Anesthesiologists	(5)	(5)	108.23	225,130
Family and general practitioners	180	1.1	107.18	222,940
Internists, general	30	0.5	106.44	221,400
Physicians and surgeons, all other	380	0.9	88.42	183,910
Physician assistants	100	0.8	40.45	84,140
Occupational therapists	120	0.8	40.24	83,700
Physical therapists	190	0.7	38.70	80,490
Radiation therapists	30	1.4	24.42	50,790
Recreational therapists	90	3.8	20.41	42,460
Respiratory therapists	290	1.8	24.26	50,460
Speech-language pathologists	180	1.1	29.86	62,100
Veterinarians	50	0.6	41.32	85,950
Registered nurses	4,560	1.3	28.44	59,160
Nurse anesthetists	(5)	(5)	70.85	147,360
Nurse practitioners	180	1.0	49.59	103,150
Health diagnosing and treating practitioners, all other	40	0.8	29.80	61,980
Medical and clinical laboratory technologists	400	1.9	22.61	47,030
Medical and clinical laboratory technicians	520	2.5	15.07	31,350
Dental hygienists	140	0.5	23.45	48,790
Cardiovascular technologists and technicians	250	3.7	18.75	39,010
Diagnostic medical sonographers	80	1.0	29.44	61,230
Nuclear medicine technologists	(5)	(5)	31.45	65,420
Radiologic technologists	410	1.6	19.40	40,350
Magnetic resonance imaging technologists	70	1.5	28.72	59,750
Emergency medical technicians and paramedics	380	1.2	14.34	29,820
Dietetic technicians	40	1.1	11.51	23,940
Pharmacy technicians	630	1.3	14.86	30,910
Surgical technologists	210	1.6	17.45	36,290
Veterinary technologists and technicians	(5)	(5)	11.85	24,650
Licensed practical and licensed vocational nurses	2,620	2.9	18.33	38,120
Medical records and health information technicians	330	1.3	16.11	33,520
Opticians, dispensing	170	1.8	13.97	29,060
Orthotists and prosthetists	40	4.6	(5)	(5)
Health technologists and technicians, all other	200	1.4	18.20	37,850
Occupational health and safety specialists	90	1.0	27.54	57,290
(1) For a complete listing of all detailed occupations in the Shreveport-Bossier City MSA, see www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_43340.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.