Workers in the Visalia-Porterville Metropolitan Statistical Area had an average (mean) hourly wage of $18.72 in May 2015, about 19 percent below the nationwide average of $23.23, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Assistant Commissioner for Regional Operations Richard Holden noted that, after testing for statistical significance, wages were lower than their respective national averages in 12 of the 22 major occupational groups, including legal; management; and computer and mathematical. No wages in the local area were higher than their respective national averages.

When compared to the nationwide distribution, local employment was more highly concentrated in 3 of the 22 occupational groups. Conversely, 12 groups had employment shares significantly below their national representation, including office and administrative support; business and financial operations; and computer and mathematical. (See table A and box note at end of release.)

One occupational group—community and social service—was chosen to illustrate the diversity of data available for any of the 22 major occupational categories. Visalia-Porterville had 3,450 jobs in community and social service, accounting for 2.4 percent of local area employment, significantly higher than the 1.4-percent share nationally. The average hourly wage for this occupational group locally was $21.16, compared to the national wage of $22.19.

Some of the largest detailed occupations within the community and social service group included social and human service assistants (550), child, family, and school social workers (500), and educational, guidance, school, and vocational counselors (370). Among the higher paying jobs were marriage and family therapists and healthcare social workers, with mean hourly wages of $29.97 and $28.77, respectively. At the lower end of the wage scale were social and human service assistants ($15.18) and substance abuse and behavioral disorder counselors ($15.22). (Detailed occupational data for community and social service are presented in table 1; for a complete listing of detailed occupations available go to www.bls.gov/oes/2015/may/oes_47300.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 Visalia-Porterville Metropolitan Statistical Area, above-average concentrations of employment were found in many of the occupations within the community and social service group. For instance, mental health and substance abuse social workers were employed at 2.3 times the national rate in Visalia, and child, family, and school social workers, at 1.7 times the U.S. average. On the other hand, mental health counselors had a location quotient of 1.0 in Visalia, 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 California Employment Development Department.

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 Visalia-Porterville Metropolitan Statistical Area included 1,449 establishments with a response rate of 76 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 Visalia-Porterville, Calif. Metropolitan Statistical Area  includes Tulare County.

Additional information

OES data are available on our regional web page at www.bls.gov/regions/west. 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/2015/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: (800) 877-8339.

Table 1. Employment and wage data from the Occupational Employment Statistics survey, by occupation, Visalia-Porterville Metropolitan Statistical Area, May 2015

Occupation (1)	Employment		Mean wages
	Level (2)	Location quotient (3)	Hourly	Annual (4)
Community and Social Service Occupations	3,450	1.7	$21.16	$44,010
Substance Abuse and Behavioral Disorder Counselors	140	1.6	15.22	31,660
Educational, Guidance, School, and Vocational Counselors	370	1.4	22.09	45,960
Marriage and Family Therapists	70	2.0	29.97	62,330
Mental Health Counselors	130	1.0	23.27	48,410
Rehabilitation Counselors	110	1.0	19.70	40,970
Child, Family, and School Social Workers	500	1.7	20.51	42,660
Healthcare Social Workers	60	0.4	28.77	59,850
Mental Health and Substance Abuse Social Workers	260	2.3	23.81	49,530
Social Workers, All Other	840	13.7	22.34	46,470
Health Educators	50	0.8	(5)	(5)
Social and Human Service Assistants	550	1.5	15.18	31,560
Community Health Workers	70	1.4	(5)	(5)
Community and Social Service Specialists, All Other	70	0.7	23.04	47,930
Clergy	40	0.8	28.08	58,400
Directors, Religious Activities and Education	40	1.7	17.41	36,210
Footnotes: (1) For a complete listing of all detailed occupations in Visalia-Porterville, CA, see www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_47300.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.