For Release: Tuesday, May 02, 2017
17-562-DAL
SOUTHWEST INFORMATION OFFICE: Dallas, Texas
Technical information: (972) 850-4800 [email protected]
Media contact:
(972) 850-4800
www.bls.gov/regions/southwest
Occupational Employment and Wages in Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, May
2016
Workers in the Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington Metropolitan Statistical Area had an average (mean) hourly
wage of $24.21 in May 2016, above the nationwide average of $23.86, 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 higher than their respective national averages
in 8 of the 22 major occupational groups, including sales and related; community and social service; and
management. Eight groups also had wages that were measurably lower than their respective national
averages, including construction and extraction; building and grounds cleaning and maintenance; and
personal care and service.
When compared to the nationwide distribution, Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington area employment was more
highly concentrated in 7 of the 22 occupational groups including office and administrative support;
computer and mathematical; and transportation and material moving. Conversely, 13 groups had
employment shares significantly below their national representation, including management; production;
and education, training, and library. (See table A and box note at end of release.)
Table A. Occupational employment and wages by major occupational group, United States and the DallasFort Worth-Arlington Metropolitan Statistical Area, and measures of statistical significance, May 2016
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 service.................
Legal........................................................
Education, training, and library................
Arts, design, entertainment, sports, and
media.......................................................
Healthcare practitioners and technical ....
Healthcare support ..................................
Protective service ....................................
Food preparation and serving related .....
Building and grounds cleaning and
maintenance............................................
Note: See footnotes at end of table.
Mean hourly wage
DallasFort WorthArlington
United
States
United
States
DallasFort WorthArlington
Percent
difference(1)
100.0
5.1
5.2
3.0
1.8
0.8
1.4
0.8
6.2
100.0
4.1
5.5
4.1
1.9
0.4
0.8
0.7
5.5
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
$23.86
56.74
36.09
42.25
40.53
35.06
22.69
50.95
26.21
$24.21
62.21
37.99
43.32
43.20
33.73
25.16
55.13
24.75
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
1
10
5
3
7
-4
11
8
-6
1.4
1.2
*
28.07
26.56
*
-5
5.9
2.9
2.4
9.2
5.3
2.4
2.2
9.3
*
*
*
38.06
14.65
22.03
11.47
37.81
15.08
20.80
11.39
3.2
2.7
*
13.47
12.27
-1
3
-6
-1
*
-9
Table A. Occupational employment and wages by major occupational group, United States and the DallasFort Worth-Arlington Metropolitan Statistical Area, and measures of statistical significance, May 2016 Continued
Percent of total employment
Major occupational group
Personal care and service.......................
Sales and related ....................................
Office and administrative support............
Farming, fishing, and forestry..................
Construction and extraction.....................
Installation, maintenance, and repair ......
Production ...............................................
Transportation and material moving ........
United
States
3.2
10.4
15.7
0.3
4.0
3.9
6.5
6.9
Mean hourly wage
DallasFort WorthArlington
2.7
11.0
18.4
0.1
4.1
4.2
5.7
7.9
United
States
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
12.74
19.50
17.91
13.37
23.51
22.45
17.88
17.34
DallasFort WorthArlington
11.62
22.29
18.43
11.20
19.69
21.93
17.01
18.89
Percent
difference(1)
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
-9
14
3
-16
-16
-2
-5
9
(1) A positive percent difference measures how much the mean wage in the Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington Metropolitan Statistical Area 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 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. Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington had 625,950 jobs in
office and administrative support, accounting for 18.4 percent of local area employment, significantly
higher than the 15.7-percent national share. The local average hourly wage for this occupational group was
$18.43, measurably higher than the national average of $17.91.
Some of the larger detailed occupations within the office and administrative support group included general
office clerks (99,740), customer service representatives (86,000), and stock clerks and order fillers (51,770).
Among the higher-paying jobs were first-line supervisors of office and administrative support workers, as
well as executive secretaries and executive administrative assistants, with mean hourly wages of $30.87 and
$28.22, respectively. At the lower end of the wage scale were hotel, motel, and resort desk clerks ($10.43)
and tellers ($12.82). (Detailed occupational data for the office and administrative support group are
presented in table 1; for a complete listing of detailed occupations go to www.bls.gov/oes/current/
oes_19100.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 Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington metropolitan area, above-average concentrations of
employment were found in some of the detailed occupations within the office and administrative support
group. For instance, cargo and freight agents were employed at 2.8 times the national rate in Dallas-Fort
Worth area, and reservation and transportation ticket agents and travel clerks, at 2.5 times the U.S. average.
On the other hand, tellers had a location quotient of 1.0 in the greater Dallas-Fort Worth area, indicating that
this particular occupation’s local and national employment shares matched.
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.
2
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.
The OES data available from BLS include cross-industry occupational employment and wage estimates for
the nation; over 650 areas, including states and the District of Columbia, metropolitan statistical areas
(MSAs), metropolitan divisions, nonmetropolitan areas, and territories; national industry-specific estimates
at the NAICS sector, 3-, 4-, 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.
OES estimates are constructed from a sample of about 1.2 million establishments. Each year, two
semiannual panels of approximately 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 2016 estimates are based on responses from six semiannual panels
collected over a 3-year period: May 2016, November 2015, May 2015, November 2014, May 2014, and
November 2013. The overall national response rate for the six panels, based on the 50 states and the District
of Columbia, is 73 percent based on establishments and 69 percent based on weighted sampled
employment. The unweighted employment of sampled establishments across all six semiannual panels
represents approximately 58 percent of total national employment. The sample in the Dallas-Fort WorthArlington Metropolitan Statistical Area included 14,200 establishments with a response rate of 52 percent.
For more information about OES concepts and methodology, go to www.bls.gov/news.release/
ocwage.tn.htm.
The May 2016 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 Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington Metropolitan Statistical Area includes Collin, Dallas, Denton, Ellis,
Hood, Hunt, Johnson, Kaufman, Parker, Rockwall, Somervell, Tarrant, and Wise Counties in Texas.
Additional information
3
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.
4
Table 1. Employment and wage data from the Occupational Employment Statistics survey, by occupation,
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington Metropolitan Statistical Area, May 2016
Employment
Occupation(1)
Office and administrative support occupations.............
First-line supervisors of office and administrative
support workers........................................................
Switchboard operators, including answering service .
Telephone operators.................................................
Communications equipment operators, all other......
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, & executive.......................................
Computer operators .................................................
Data entry keyers .....................................................
Word processors and typists ....................................
Desktop publishers...................................................
Mean wages
Location
quotient(3)
Level(2)
Annual(4)
Hourly
625,950
1.2
$18.43
$38,330
37,920
1.1
30.87
64,210
2,680
50
1.2
0.2
27,120
42,070
37,990
42,150
37,350
42,020
44,630
42,670
26,660
43,480
55,690
36,520
40,800
40,000
36,040
39,930
35,320
21,690
34,400
25,460
47,850
35,380
38,110
(5)
(5)
12,740
13,200
39,620
3,770
1,700
11,870
1,230
1,810
350
2,110
2,060
86,000
2,370
4,290
5,000
3,310
1,460
13,140
1,380
8,460
1.8
1.1
1.0
1.0
1.0
1.0
1.5
1.2
2.1
0.7
2.3
1.3
0.7
1.4
0.8
0.7
0.6
2.4
1.4
2.0
13.04
20.23
18.26
20.26
17.96
20.20
21.46
20.52
12.82
20.91
26.77
17.56
19.62
19.23
17.33
19.20
16.98
10.43
16.54
12.24
23.01
17.01
18.32
3,590
1.1
19.61
40,780
17,300
0.7
13.13
27,300
8,740
2.5
20.25
42,120
3,530
6,140
1,940
1,770
5,780
580
1,280
6,450
0.9
2.8
1.1
0.8
1.2
0.7
0.6
0.8
19.10
23.03
14.49
19.69
19.00
16.06
24.49
24.75
39,720
47,910
30,140
40,960
39,520
33,410
50,940
51,480
3,190
1.2
24.79
51,560
11,040
22,760
51,770
1.4
1.4
1.1
23.83
14.37
12.96
49,570
29,890
26,960
(5)
(5)
13.99
29,090
11,020
0.7
28.22
58,690
4,590
28,110
1.0
2.1
24.59
15.81
51,150
32,880
44,920
0.8
17.51
36,420
1,610
6,070
530
410
1.4
1.3
0.3
1.3
21.84
14.74
18.36
21.26
45,420
30,670
38,190
44,210
Note: See footnotes at end of table.
5
Table 1. Employment and wage data from the Occupational Employment Statistics survey, by occupation,
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington Metropolitan Statistical Area, May 2016 - Continued
Employment
Occupation(1)
Insurance claims and policy processing clerks ........
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 .
Mean wages
Location
quotient(3)
Level(2)
Annual(4)
Hourly
15,540
2.3
19.62
40,810
2,580
1.2
14.45
30,050
99,740
2,230
80
140
3,470
1.4
1.6
0.3
0.5
0.7
17.06
16.62
18.73
28.23
20.88
35,480
34,570
38,970
58,710
43,420
(1) For a complete listing of all detailed occupations in the Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington Metropolitan Statistical Area, see www.bls.gov/oes/current/
oes_19100.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.
6