For Release: Thursday, August 01, 2013
13-1558-KAN
MOUNTAIN-PLAINS INFORMATION OFFICE: Kansas City, Mo.
Technical information: (816) 285-7000 [email protected]
Media contact:
(816) 285-7000
www.bls.gov/regions/mountain-plains
Occupational Employment and Wages in Salt Lake City, May 2012
Workers in the Salt Lake City Metropolitan Statistical Area had an average (mean) hourly wage of $21.51 in
May 2012, slightly below the nationwide average of $22.01, 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 significantly higher than their respective national averages in 5 of the 22 major
occupational groups, including sales and related, transportation and material moving, and personal care and
service. Thirteen groups had significantly lower wages than their respective national averages, including
life, physical, and social science; computer and mathematical; and management.
When compared to the nationwide distribution, local employment was more highly concentrated in 7 of the
22 occupational groups, including office and administrative support, construction and extraction, and
computer and mathematical. Conversely, 10 groups had employment shares significantly below their
national representation, including food preparation and serving related; education, training, and library; and
personal care and service. (See table A and box note at end of release.)
Table A. Occupational employment and wages by major occupational group, United States and the Salt Lake
City Metropolitan Statistical Area, and measures of statistical significance, May 2012
Percent of total employment
Major occupational group
Total, all occupations ............................................
Management .....................................................
Business and financial operations.....................
Computer and mathematical .............................
Architecture and engineering ............................
Life, physical, and social science ......................
Community and social services.........................
Legal..................................................................
Education, training, and library..........................
Arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media.
Healthcare practitioner and technical ................
Healthcare support ............................................
Protective service ..............................................
Food preparation and serving related ...............
Building and grounds cleaning and
maintenance......................................................
Personal care and service.................................
Sales and related ..............................................
Office and administrative support......................
Farming, fishing, and forestry............................
Note: See footnotes at end of table.
United States
Mean hourly wage
Salt Lake City
United States
Salt Lake City
Percent
difference (1)
100.0%
4.9
4.9
2.7
1.8
0.8
1.4
0.8
6.4
1.3
5.9
3.0
2.5
8.9
100.0%
4.9
5.3*
3.4*
2.2*
0.8*
1.0*
0.9*
5.2*
1.6*
5.0*
2.3*
2.4
7.1*
$22.01
52.20
33.44
38.55
37.98
32.87
21.27
47.39
24.62
26.20
35.35
13.36
20.70
10.28
$21.51*
48.25*
30.49*
34.12*
35.11*
28.15*
20.40*
45.36
21.33*
22.79*
36.03
12.62*
18.37*
10.46
-2
-8
-9
-11
-8
-14
-4
-4
-13
-13
2
-6
-11
2
3.3
3.1*
12.34
11.25*
-9
2.9
10.6
16.4
0.3
1.9*
11.1
19.8*
0.1*
11.80
18.26
16.54
11.65
12.49*
19.98*
15.66*
14.56*
6
9
-5
25
Table A. Occupational employment and wages by major occupational group, United States and the Salt Lake
City Metropolitan Statistical Area, and measures of statistical significance, May 2012 - Continued
Percent of total employment
Major occupational group
Construction and extraction...............................
Installation, maintenance, and repair ................
Production .........................................................
Transportation and material moving ..................
United States
Mean hourly wage
Salt Lake City
3.8
3.9
6.6
6.7
5.6*
3.9
6.1*
6.5
United States
21.61
21.09
16.59
16.15
Salt Lake City
Percent
difference (1)
19.69*
21.66*
16.45
17.58*
-9
3
-1
9
Footnotes:
(1) A positive percent difference measures how much the mean wage in Salt Lake City is above the national mean wage, while a negative
difference reflects a lower wage.
* The percent share of employment or mean hourly wage for this area is significantly different from the national average of all areas at the 90percent confidence level.
One occupational group—office and administrative support—was chosen to illustrate the diversity of data
available for any of the 22 major occupational categories. Salt Lake City had 122,960 jobs in office and
administrative support, accounting for 19.8 percent of local area employment, significantly higher than the
16.4-percent share nationally. The average hourly wage for this occupational group locally was $15.66,
measurably below the national wage of $16.54.
With employment of 22,670, customer service representatives was the largest occupation within the office
and administrative support group, followed by general office clerks (14,680) and secretaries and
administrative assistants, except legal, medical, and executive (10,110). Among the higher paying jobs were
postal service mail carriers and postal service clerks, with mean hourly wages of $25.78 and $24.15,
respectively. At the lower end of the wage scale were mail clerks and mail machine operators, except postal
service ($10.42) and hotel, motel, and resort desk clerks ($10.55). (Detailed occupational data for office and
administrative support are presented in table 1; for a complete listing of detailed occupations available go to
www.bls.gov/oes/2012/may/oes_41620.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 Salt Lake City Metropolitan Statistical Area, above average concentrations of
employment were found in some of the occupations within the office and administrative support group. For
instance, data entry keyers were employed at 2.3 times the national rate in Salt Lake City, and customer
service representatives at 2.1 times the U.S. average. On the other hand, bookkeeping, accounting, and
auditing clerks had a location quotient of 1.0 in Salt Lake City, 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 Utah Department of Workforce
Services.
With the release of the May 2012 estimates, OES data are based on the 2010 Standard Occupational
Classification (SOC) system for the first time. The OES survey provides estimates of employment and
hourly and annual wages for wage and salary workers in 22 major occupational groups and more than 800
detailed occupations for the nation, states, metropolitan statistical areas, metropolitan divisions, and
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nonmetropolitan areas. In addition, employment and wage estimates for 94 minor groups and 458 broad
occupations are available in the national data for the first time. Information about the 2010 SOC is available
on the BLS website at www.bls.gov/soc.
The May 2012 OES estimates are the first to be produced using the 2012 North American Industry
Classification System (NAICS). Information about the 2012 NAICS is available on the BLS website at
www.bls.gov/bls/naics.htm.
Note
OES wage and employment data for the 22 major occupational groups in the Salt Lake City
Metropolitan Statistical Area were compared to their respective national averages based on statistical
significance testing. Only those occupations with wages or employment shares above or below the
national wage or share after testing for significance at the 90-percent confidence level meet the criteria.
Note: 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.
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.
Guam, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands are also surveyed, but their data are not included in the national
estimates. 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 for a 3-year
period. May 2012 estimates are based on responses from six semiannual panels collected in May 2012,
November 2011, May 2011, November 2010, May 2010, and November 2009. The overall national
response rate for the six panels is 76.6 percent based on establishments and 72.9 percent based on
employment. The sample in the Salt Lake City Metropolitan Statistical Area included 4,594 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.
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 Salt Lake City, Utah Metropolitan Statistical Area includes Salt Lake, Summit, and Tooele
Counties.
Additional information
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OES data are available on our regional web page at www.bls.gov/regions/mountain-plains/home.htm.
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/2012/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: 1-800-877-8339.
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Table 1. Employment and wage data from the Occupational Employment Statistics survey, by occupation,
Salt Lake City Metropolitan Statistical Area, May 2012
Occupation (1)
Office and Administrative Support Occupations ...........
First-Line Supervisors of Office and Administrative
Support Workers ......................................................
Switchboard Operators, Including Answering
Service .....................................................................
Telephone Operators................................................
Bill and Account Collectors.......................................
Billing and Posting Clerks.........................................
Bookkeeping, Accounting, and Auditing Clerks ........
Payroll and Timekeeping Clerks...............................
Procurement Clerks..................................................
Tellers .......................................................................
Financial Clerks, All Other ........................................
Brokerage Clerks......................................................
Correspondence Clerks............................................
Court, Municipal, and License Clerks.......................
Credit Authorizers, Checkers, and Clerks ................
Customer Service Representatives..........................
Eligibility Interviewers, Government Programs.........
File Clerks ................................................................
Hotel, Motel, and Resort Desk Clerks ......................
Interviewers, Except Eligibility and Loan ..................
Library Assistants, Clerical .......................................
Loan Interviewers and Clerks...................................
New Accounts Clerks ...............................................
Order Clerks .............................................................
Human Resources Assistants, Except Payroll and
Timekeeping .............................................................
Receptionists and Information Clerks.......................
Reservation and Transportation Ticket Agents and
Travel Clerks ............................................................
Information and Record Clerks, All Other.................
Cargo and Freight Agents ........................................
Couriers and Messengers ........................................
Police, Fire, and Ambulance Dispatchers.................
Dispatchers, Except Police, Fire, and Ambulance ...
Meter Readers, Utilities ............................................
Postal Service Clerks ...............................................
Postal Service Mail Carriers .....................................
Postal Service Mail Sorters, Processors, and
Processing Machine Operators ................................
Production, Planning, and Expediting Clerks ...........
Shipping, Receiving, and Traffic Clerks....................
Stock Clerks and Order Fillers .................................
Weighers, Measurers, Checkers, and Samplers,
Recordkeeping .........................................................
Executive Secretaries and Executive Administrative
Assistants .................................................................
Legal Secretaries .....................................................
Medical Secretaries..................................................
Secretaries and Administrative Assistants, Except
Legal, Medical, and Executive..................................
Computer Operators.................................................
Data Entry Keyers ....................................................
Word Processors and Typists...................................
Desktop Publishers ..................................................
Insurance Claims and Policy Processing Clerks ......
Employment
Level
(2)
Location quotient
Mean wages
(3)
Annual(4)
Hourly
122,960
1.2
$15.66
$32,580
8,970
1.4
23.48
48,850
330
0.6
13.24
27,550
250
2,610
1,980
7,320
670
420
2,670
4.9
1.4
0.9
1.0
0.8
1.3
1.0
25,460
36,100
33,540
34,130
38,050
36,210
23,500
34,910
42,910
38,210
31,510
35,540
31,280
36,610
28,050
21,950
26,890
22,400
34,300
28,960
29,810
(5)
(5)
430
370
22,670
730
650
1,030
990
370
1,590
150
1,170
0.7
1.5
2.1
1.2
0.9
0.9
1.1
0.8
1.7
0.6
1.2
12.24
17.36
16.13
16.41
18.29
17.41
11.30
16.79
20.63
18.37
15.15
17.09
15.04
17.60
13.48
10.55
12.93
10.77
16.49
13.92
14.33
570
0.9
17.06
35,480
4,910
1.1
12.07
25,110
3,900
6.0
15.59
32,430
490
0.6
(5)
(5)
340
460
1,090
100
210
890
0.9
1.0
1.2
0.5
0.6
0.6
18.73
14.17
11.22
16.77
18.49
22.60
24.15
25.78
38,960
29,470
23,340
34,880
38,460
47,010
50,230
53,620
530
0.8
23.22
48,310
1,420
3,260
8,010
1.1
1.0
0.9
22.12
14.28
11.60
46,010
29,690
24,120
420
1.3
15.14
31,500
4,540
1.2
21.28
44,270
1,030
2,240
1.0
0.9
19.22
14.70
39,990
30,580
10,110
1.0
15.63
32,510
500
2,270
280
50
1,610
1.5
2.3
0.6
0.6
1.5
15.10
14.87
14.19
18.09
16.30
31,410
30,920
29,520
37,630
33,900
(5)
(5)
290
1.0
Note: See footnotes at end of table.
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Table 1. Employment and wage data from the Occupational Employment Statistics survey, by occupation,
Salt Lake City Metropolitan Statistical Area, May 2012 - Continued
Occupation (1)
Mail Clerks and Mail Machine Operators, Except
Postal Service ..........................................................
Office Clerks, General ..............................................
Office Machine Operators, Except Computer...........
Proofreaders and Copy Markers ..............................
Statistical Assistants.................................................
Office and Administrative Support Workers, All
Other ........................................................................
Employment
Level
(2)
Location quotient
Mean wages
(3)
Annual(4)
Hourly
650
1.3
10.42
21,670
14,680
350
210
70
1.1
1.1
3.8
1.0
12.75
12.34
15.33
19.01
26,520
25,660
31,880
39,530
680
0.6
15.34
31,900
Footnotes:
(1) For a complete listing of all detailed occupations in Salt Lake City, UT, see www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_41620.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