Occupational Pay Comparisons Among Metropolitan Areas

May 25, 2011
Average pay for workers in the San Jose-San Francisco-Oakland, CA metropolitan area was 20 percent above the national average in 2010. In Brownsville-Harlingen, TX, workers earned an average of 80 cents for every dollar earned by workers nationwide. More...
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Current OCS News Releases

• Occupational Pay Comparisons Among Metropolitan Areas (HTML) (PDF)
• NCS Regional News Releases

Archived OCS News Releases

• Archived Occupational Pay Comparisons Among Metropolitan Areas News Releases

Databases

Beginning with the NCS wage bulletins published in September 2006, occupations were classified using the 2000 Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) and industries the 2002 North American Industry Classification System (NAICS). The Create Customized Table applications are currently being developed to access the SOC data. Currently, only select wage data from the most recent years (with references dates of December 2006 and later) of NCS national, census region and local areas are available through the multi-screen data search query system. Data from bulletins can be obtained at http://www.bls.gov/ncs/ocs/compub.htm. See the Special Notice below for more information.

Database Name	Special Notice	Top Picks	One Screen	Multi- Screen	Tables	Text Files
Pay
National Compensation Survey

More Tools

• Series Report —Already know the series identifier for the statistic you want? Use this shortcut to retrieve your data.
• Flat files FTP Site —For those who want it all. Download a flat file of the entire database or large subset of the database.
• Wages Search--allows you to search through all National Compensation Survey - Occupational Wage publications and tables that are currently available electronically.

• National Bulletin, July 2010
• National Bulletin, July 2009
• National Bulletin, July 2008
• National Bulletin, July 2007
• Nine Census Summaries—provides estimates of occupational pay in the 9 census divisions in the United States.
• Published NCS Areas—provides data on the occupational wages for selected localities.
• Occupational Pay Relatives

• Occupational Pay Relatives (HTML) (PDF)
• Using Wage Data from the National Compensation Survey (PDF)
• NCS: Guide for Evaluating Your Firm's Jobs and Pay (PDF)
• NCS: A Guide for Respondents (PDF 1 MB)
• Glossary of Compensation Terms (PDF)
• Glossary of Employee Benefit Terms (PDF)
• Handbook of Methods, Chapter 8, National Compensation Measures (PDF)
• Occupation Classification System Manual
• Providing Data for the National Compensation Survey (PDF)
• NCS: Questions and Answers (PDF)
• Business Information Guide (PDF)
  printing instructions for 15 x 10.85 booklet
• Compensation and Working Condition (CWC) Online
• Monthly Labor Review (MLR) Online
• Archives

All NCS Publications (including benefits, compensation costs, and wages) »

People Are Asking...

1. What is the role of the Bureau of Labor Statistics in the Federal pay administration process?
2. When compared with other occupations the hourly earnings for some occupations, such as teachers and airline pilots, seem higher than expected. Why is this?
3. The National Compensation Survey publishes the number of weekly and annual hours worked for occupations. How is the number of hours worked determined for occupations with unusual work schedules such as airline pilots and teachers?
4. Why do average wages and salaries for some occupations seem to fluctuate widely from year-to-year in the National Compensation Survey?
5. Are there any tables that reflect the national compensation for men and women?
6. Where can I obtain statewide occupational survey data?
7. Where can I find wage differentials for specific cities?

Frequently Asked Questions

1. What is the status of Locality Pay Surveys (LPS)?
2. What metropolitan area in the United States has the best wage rates for different occupational groups?
3. What is the national average salary for my job?
4. What is the level of pay in Metropolitan Statistical Areas across the country?
5. What jobs do you collect pay data for and how do you define them?
6. Where would I find information on changes in pay rates?
7. Where can I get wage determinations data?
8. Where can I obtain information on minimum wage and overtime laws and regulations?
9. How can I obtain more information?

All OCS FAQs »

Status of Locality Pay Surveys (LPS)

With the enactment of the Federal Government's 2011 budget, the Locality Pay Survey (LPS) portion of the National Compensation Survey (NCS) was eliminated. The final set of LPS products are now published which include the National Bulletin, Nine Census Summaries, Occupational Pay Relatives, and the LPS locality wage estimates. These products will not be produced in the future but we would like to develop methodologies, resources permitting, so that similar estimates can be modeled in the future.

To meet the locality pay requirements of the Federal Employees Pay Comparability Act of 1990, data from the BLS Occupational Employment Statistics (OES) and NCS programs will be used. The OES program provides wage data by occupation for all localities nationwide. The Employment Cost Index (ECI) program will continue to provide detailed worker characteristics such as work level, union status, and part- or full-time work schedule. Together, these two programs allow the BLS to develop wage data by worker characteristics for many occupations and localities.

Although LPS estimates will no longer be available, all other National Compensation Survey product lines, including the Employment Cost Index (ECI) (see Employment Cost Trends) and NCS Benefits, will continue to be produced. Occupational wage estimates will be still available from the OES program.

Related Links to Other BLS Programs

• National Compensation Survey—designed to integrate data from separate BLS compensation surveys—currently provides earnings data by worker characteristics and establishment characteristics and by geographic area.
• Benefits—comprehensive data on incidence and provisions of selected employee benefit plans.
• Compensation Cost Trends—quarterly indexes measuring change over time in labor costs and quarterly data measuring level of average costs per hour worked.
• Occupational Employment Statistics—data on employment and wages for over 800 occupations and for about 400 nonfarm industries for the nation, plus occupational data for States and metropolitan areas.
• Occupational Outlook Handbook—provides data for 250 occupations, by nature of the work, working conditions, employment, job outlook and earnings, related occupations, sources of additional information, and training, other qualifications, and advancement.

Other Useful Links

• Wage and Hour Division (WHD)—responsible for enforcing federal labor laws including minimum wage and hour standards.
• Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP)—responsible for ensuring employers doing business with the federal government comply with the laws and regulations requiring equal employment opportunity.
• Employee Benefit Research Institute—offers a detailed description of private- and public-sector employee benefit programs as they exist today.