Workers in the Bellingham, WA Metropolitan Statistical Area had an average (mean) hourly wage of $27.41 in May 2021, about 2 percent below the nationwide average of $28.01, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Regional Commissioner Chris Rosenlund noted that, after testing for statistical significance, wages in the local area were lower than their respective national averages in 7 of the 22 major occupational groups, including legal; computer and mathematical; and life, physical, and social science. Thirteen groups had significantly higher wages than their respective national averages, including protective service, construction and extraction, and food preparation and serving related.

When compared to the nationwide distribution, Bellingham area employment was more highly concentrated in 10 of the 22 occupational groups, including construction and extraction, food preparation and serving related, and production. Nine groups had employment shares significantly below their national representation, including management, computer and mathematical, and transportation and material moving. (See table A.)

One occupational group—construction and extraction—was chosen to illustrate the diversity of data available for any of the 22 major occupational categories. Bellingham had 5,520 jobs in construction and extraction, accounting for 6.7 percent of local area employment, significantly higher than the 4.2-percent share nationally. The average hourly wage for this occupational group locally was $31.83, significantly above the national wage of $26.87.

Some of the larger detailed occupations within the construction and extraction group included carpenters (980), construction laborers (860), and first-line supervisors of construction trades and extraction workers (660). Among the higher-paying jobs in this group were first-line supervisors of construction trades and extraction workers and structural iron and steel workers, with mean hourly wages of $43.81 and $37.93, respectively. At the lower end of the wage scale were painters, construction and maintenance ($23.77) and construction laborers ($25.10). (Detailed data for the construction and extraction occupations are presented in table 1; for a complete listing of detailed occupations available go to www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_13380.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 Bellingham area, above-average concentrations of employment were found in many of the occupations within the construction and extraction group. For instance, roofers were employed at 4.0 times the national rate in Bellingham, and carpenters, at 2.5 times the U.S. average. Operating engineers and other construction equipment operators had a location quotient of 1.2 in Bellingham, indicating that this particular occupation’s local and national employment shares were similar.

These statistics are from the Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) survey, a federal-state cooperative program between BLS and State Workforce Agencies, in this case, the Washington Employment Security Department.

Technical Note

The Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) survey is a semiannual survey measuring occupational employment and wage rates for wage and salary workers in nonfarm establishments in the United States. The OEWS 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. OEWS data are available at www.bls.gov/oes/tables.htm.

The OEWS 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. OEWS estimates are constructed from a sample of about 1.1 million establishments. Each year, two semiannual panels of approximately 179,000 to 187,000 sampled establishments are contacted, one panel in May and the other in November. Responses are obtained by Internet or other electronic means, mail, email, telephone, or personal visit. The May 2021 estimates are based on responses from six semiannual panels collected over a 3-year period: May 2021, November 2020, May 2020, November 2019, May 2019, and November 2018. The unweighted sampled employment of 82 million across all six semiannual panels represents approximately 62 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 67.2 percent based on establishments and 64.5 percent based on weighted sampled employment. The sample in the Bellingham, WA Metropolitan Statistical Area included 1,307 establishments with a response rate of 75 percent. For more information about OEWS 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.

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 Bellingham, WA Metropolitan Statistical Area includes Whatcom County.

For more information

Answers to frequently asked questions about the OEWS data are available at www.bls.gov/oes/oes_ques.htm. Detailed information about the OEWS program is available at www.bls.gov/oes/oes_doc.htm.

Information in this release will be made available to individuals with sensory impairments upon request. Voice phone: (202) 691-5200; Telecommunications Relay Service: 7-1-1.

Table 1. Employment and wage data for construction and extraction occupations, Bellingham metropolitan area, May 2021

Occupation (1)	Employment		Mean wages
	Level (2)	Location quotient (3)	Hourly	Annual (4)
Construction and extraction occupations	5,520	1.6	$31.83	$66,210
First-line supervisors of construction trades and extraction workers	660	1.7	43.81	91,120
Carpenters	980	2.5	31.31	65,130
Cement masons and concrete finishers	190	1.7	30.11	62,630
Construction laborers	860	1.5	25.10	52,210
Operating engineers and other construction equipment operators	280	1.2	35.97	74,820
Drywall and ceiling tile installers	150	2.6	29.96	62,320
Tapers	130	15.2	30.65	63,740
Electricians	500	1.3	34.44	71,630
Glaziers	50	1.5	25.99	54,070
Painters, construction and maintenance	220	1.8	23.77	49,450
Pipelayers	30	1.6	27.96	58,150
Plumbers, pipefitters, and steamfitters	380	1.6	36.46	75,850
Roofers	300	4.0	26.67	55,460
Sheet metal workers	170	2.4	32.67	67,940
Structural iron and steel workers	100	2.4	37.93	78,900
Construction and building inspectors	70	1.0	35.05	72,900
Highway maintenance workers	70	0.8	27.44	57,080
Septic tank servicers and sewer pipe cleaners	90	5.2	28.84	59,980
Excavating and loading machine and dragline operators, surface mining	30	1.7	29.13	60,590
Footnotes: (1) For a complete listing of all detailed occupations in the Bellingham, WA Metropolitan Statistical Area, see www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_13380.htm. (2) Estimates for detailed occupations may not sum to the totals due to rounding, and because the totals may include occupations that are 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.