Workers in the El Paso Metropolitan Statistical Area had an average (mean) hourly wage of $18.80 in May 2018, about 25 percent below the nationwide average of $24.98, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Assistant Commissioner for Regional Operations Stanley W. Suchman noted that, after testing for statistical significance, 18 of the 22 major occupational groups had wages that were significantly lower than their respective national averages, including construction and extraction; personal care and service; and computer and mathematical. No wages in the local area were higher than their respective national averages in the 22 major occupational groups.

When compared to the nationwide distribution, local employment was more highly concentrated in 7 of the 22 occupational groups, including office and administrative support; education, training, and library; and sales and related. Conversely, eight groups had employment shares significantly below their national representation, including management; business and financial operations; and computer and mathematical. (See table A and box notes at end of release.)

One occupational group—education, training, and library—was chosen to illustrate the diversity of data available for any of the 22 major occupational categories. El Paso had 25,630 jobs in education, training, and library, accounting for 8.4 percent of local area employment, significantly higher than the 6.1-percent share nationally. The average hourly wage for this occupational group locally was $24.46, significantly below the national wage of $27.22.

Some of the larger detailed occupations within the education, training, and library group included elementary school teachers, except special education (3,470), secondary school teachers, except special and career/technical education (3,370), and substitute teachers (3,290). Among the higher-paying jobs in this group were postsecondary health specialties teachers and postsecondary English language and literature teachers, with mean annual wages of $92,500 and $88,380, respectively. At the lower end of the wage scale were substitute teachers ($23,020) and teachers assistants ($26,530). (Detailed data for the education, training, and library occupations are presented in table 1; for a complete listing of detailed occupations available go to www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_21340.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 El Paso Metropolitan Statistical Area, above-average concentrations of employment were found in many of the occupations within the education, training, and library group. For instance, graduate teaching assistants were employed at 6.5 times the national rate in El Paso, and substitute teachers, at 2.7 times the U.S. average. El Paso's location quotient for graduate teaching assistants was among the highest in all metropolitan areas for this occupation. On the other hand, preschool teachers, except special education, had a location quotient of 1.0 in El Paso, 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 Texas Workforce Commission.

Technical Note

The Occupational Employment Statistics (OES) survey is a semiannual 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 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. OES data are available at www.bls.gov/oes/tables.htm.

The OES 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. OES estimates are constructed from a sample of about 1.2 million establishments. Each year, two semiannual panels of approximately 180,000 to 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 2018 estimates are based on responses from six semiannual panels collected over a 3-year period: May 2018, November 2017, May 2017, November 2016, May 2016, and November 2015. The unweighted sample employment of 83 million across all six semiannual panels represents approximately 58 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 71 percent based on establishments and 68 percent based on weighted sampled employment. The sample in the El Paso Metropolitan Statistical Area included 2,389 establishments with a response rate of 55 percent. For more information about OES 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.

The May 2018 OES estimates are based on the 2010 Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) system and the 2017 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 2017 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 El Paso Metropolitan Statistical Area includes El Paso and Hudspeth Counties 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, El Paso Metropolitan Statistical Area, May 2018

Occupation (1)	Employment		Mean wages
	Level (2)	Location quotient (3)	Hourly	Annual (4)
Education, training, and library occupations	25,630	1.4	$24.46	$50,870
Business teachers, postsecondary	90	0.5	(6)	68,180
Computer science teachers, postsecondary	(5)	(5)	(6)	58,790
Mathematical science teachers, postsecondary	180	1.7	(6)	82,810
Engineering teachers, postsecondary	(5)	(5)	(6)	70,560
Biological science teachers, postsecondary	150	1.3	(6)	56,950
Chemistry teachers, postsecondary	110	2.4	(6)	62,010
Physics teachers, postsecondary	30	1.2	(6)	82,500
Political science teachers, postsecondary	70	2.1	(6)	87,020
Psychology teachers, postsecondary	130	1.7	(6)	86,950
Health specialties teachers, postsecondary	460	1.1	(6)	92,500
Nursing instructors and teachers, postsecondary	150	1.3	(6)	62,190
Education teachers, postsecondary	(5)	(5)	(6)	63,820
Criminal justice and law enforcement teachers, postsecondary	50	1.5	(6)	63,100
Art, drama, and music teachers, postsecondary	190	0.9	(6)	75,570
English language and literature teachers, postsecondary	270	1.9	(6)	88,380
Foreign language and literature teachers, postsecondary	100	1.8	(6)	65,920
History teachers, postsecondary	100	2.3	(6)	81,920
Philosophy and religion teachers, postsecondary	40	0.8	(6)	76,550
Graduate teaching assistants	1,790	6.5	(6)	32,010
Vocational education teachers, postsecondary	220	1.0	29.65	61,670
Postsecondary teachers, all other	120	0.3	(6)	65,610
Preschool teachers, except special education	850	1.0	19.00	39,530
Kindergarten teachers, except special education	310	1.1	(6)	72,030
Elementary school teachers, except special education	3,470	1.2	(6)	63,950
Middle school teachers, except special and career/technical education	2,130	1.7	(6)	62,140
Secondary school teachers, except special and career/technical education	3,370	1.5	(6)	65,330
Career/technical education teachers, secondary school	260	1.6	(6)	71,880
Special education teachers, kindergarten and elementary school	330	0.9	(6)	59,820
Special education teachers, middle school	180	1.0	(6)	59,340
Special education teachers, secondary school	310	1.0	(6)	61,410
Special education teachers, all other	100	1.3	(6)	51,500
Adult basic and secondary education and literacy teachers and instructors	70	0.6	29.65	61,680
Self-enrichment education teachers	280	0.6	18.69	38,870
Teachers and instructors, all other, except substitute teachers	1,540	2.3	(6)	36,740
Substitute teachers	3,290	2.7	11.07	23,020
Librarians	350	1.3	32.47	67,530
Library technicians	130	0.7	13.74	28,570
Instructional coordinators	590	1.7	34.85	72,480
Teacher assistants	2,700	1.0	(6)	26,530
Education, training, and library workers, all other	330	1.5	17.58	36,570
Footnotes: (1) For a complete listing of all detailed occupations in the El Paso, TX Metropolitan Statistical Area, see www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_21340.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. (6) Wages for some occupations that do not generally work year-round, full time, are reported either as hourly wages or annual salaries depending on how they are typically paid.