Workers in the Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown Metropolitan Statistical Area had an average (mean) hourly wage of $23.49 in May 2012, 7 percent above 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 11 of the 22 major occupational groups, including architecture and engineering and management. Seven other groups had wages that were measurably lower than their respective national averages; included in this grouping were protective service and construction and extraction.

When compared to the nationwide distribution, Houston employment was more highly concentrated in 6 of the 22 occupational groups including construction and extraction, architecture and engineering, and production. Conversely, nine groups had employment shares significantly below their national representation; these groups included healthcare practitioners and technical and food preparation and serving related. (See table A and box note at end of release.)

Table A. Occupational employment and wages by major occupational group, United States and the Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown Metropolitan Statistical Area, and measures of statistical significance, May 2012

Major occupational group	Percent of total employment			Mean hourly wage
	United States	Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown		United States	Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown		Percent difference(1)
Total, all occupations	100.0%	100.0%		$22.01	$23.49	*	7
Management	4.9	5.2	*	52.20	57.76	*	11
Business and financial operations	4.9	4.6	*	33.44	37.37	*	12
Computer and mathematical	2.7	2.6		38.55	39.75	*	3
Architecture and engineering	1.8	3.3	*	37.98	48.88	*	29
Life, physical, and social science	0.8	1.1	*	32.87	43.91	*	34
Community and social service	1.4	0.8	*	21.27	22.79	*	7
Legal	0.8	0.7		47.39	56.90	*	20
Education, training, and library	6.4	5.9	*	24.62	24.64		0
Arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media	1.3	0.9	*	26.20	21.51	*	-18
Healthcare practitioners and technical	5.9	4.8	*	35.35	36.66	*	4
Healthcare support	3.0	2.0	*	13.36	13.53		1
Protective service	2.5	2.4		20.70	18.31	*	-12
Food preparation and serving related	8.9	8.2	*	10.28	9.75	*	-5
Building and grounds cleaning and maintenance	3.3	2.9	*	12.34	10.41	*	-16
Personal care and service	2.9	3.0		11.80	10.27	*	-13
Sales and related	10.6	10.7		18.26	20.28	*	11
Office and administrative support	16.4	16.3		16.54	16.75		1
Farming, fishing, and forestry	0.3	0.1	*	11.65	11.67		0
Construction and extraction	3.8	5.9	*	21.61	19.26	*	-11
Installation, maintenance, and repair	3.9	4.4	*	21.09	20.71	*	-2
Production	6.6	6.9	*	16.59	18.24	*	10
Transportation and material moving	6.7	7.3		16.15	17.53	*	9
(1) A positive percent difference measures how much the mean wage in Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown 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 90-percent confidence level.

One occupational group – architecture and engineering – illustrates the diversity of data available for any of the 22 major occupational categories. Houston had 86,380 jobs in architecture and engineering, accounting for 3.3 percent of local area employment, significantly above the national share of 1.8 percent. The local average hourly wage for this occupational group was $48.88, nearly 30 percent above the national average of $37.98.

With employment of 14,160, petroleum engineers was the largest occupation within the architecture and engineering group, followed by civil engineers (10,050) and mechanical engineers (7,570). Among the higher paying jobs were petroleum engineers and chemical engineers, with mean hourly wages of $75.35 and $63.76, respectively. At the lower end of the wage scale were mapping technicians ($19.41) and architectural and civil drafters ($22.98). (Detailed occupational data for the architecture and engineering group are presented in table 1; for a complete listing of all detailed occupations go to www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_26420.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 Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown metropolitan area, above average concentrations of employment were found in many of the detailed occupations within the architecture and engineering group. For instance, chemical engineers were employed at almost 6 times the national rate in Houston, and petroleum engineers, at over 19 times the U.S. average. On the other hand, electrical engineers had a location quotient of 1.0 in Houston, meaning the local employment share in this particular occupation matched the national average.

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.

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 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.

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 Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown Metropolitan Statistical Area included 9,740 establishments with a response rate of 56 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 Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) includes includes Austin, Brazoria, Chambers, Fort Bend, Galveston, Harris, Liberty, Montgomery, San Jacinto, and Waller Counties in Texas.

Additional information

OES data are available on our regional web page at www.bls.gov/ro6. 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.

Table 1. Employment and wage data from the Occupational Employment Statistics survey, by occupation, Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown Metropolitan Statistical Area, May 2012

Occupation(1)	Employment		Mean wages
	Level(2)	Location quotient(3)	Hourly	Annual(4)
Architecture and engineering occupations	86,380	1.8	$48.88	$101,680
Architects, except landscape and naval	2,250	1.3	42.63	88,670
Landscape architects	(5)	(5)	26.86	55,870
Cartographers and photogrammetrists	250	1.1	33.41	69,500
Surveyors	2,020	2.5	28.01	58,250
Aerospace engineers	2,420	1.5	54.75	113,880
Biomedical engineers	450	1.2	43.81	91,130
Chemical engineers	3,740	5.7	63.76	132,620
Civil engineers	10,050	1.9	51.19	106,480
Computer hardware engineers	1,310	0.8	45.79	95,240
Electrical engineers	3,310	1.0	47.89	99,620
Electronics engineers, except computer	2,650	1.0	47.28	98,340
Environmental engineers	1,150	1.1	58.19	121,040
Health and safety engineers, except mining safety engineers and inspectors	730	1.5	47.02	97,810
Industrial engineers	5,910	1.3	55.00	114,400
Marine engineers and naval architects	820	5.9	51.18	106,460
Materials engineers	510	1.1	43.91	91,330
Mechanical engineers	7,570	1.5	48.51	100,900
Mining and geological engineers, including mining safety engineers	480	3.1	64.46	134,080
Petroleum engineers	14,160	19.2	75.35	156,730
Engineers, all other	3,810	1.5	55.66	115,760
Architectural and civil drafters	3,010	1.8	22.98	47,790
Electrical and electronics drafters	1,170	2.0	31.19	64,880
Mechanical drafters	1,750	1.4	29.74	61,860
Drafters, all other	720	2.4	27.43	57,050
Aerospace engineering and operations technicians	(5)	(5)	31.17	64,830
Civil engineering technicians	1770	1.24	25.25	52,520
Electrical and electronics engineering technicians	3,390	1.2	30.84	64,150
Electro-mechanical technicians	1,080	3.1	23.77	49,440
Environmental engineering technicians	730	1.95	25.64	53,320
Industrial engineering technicians	960	0.7	34.31	71,360
Mechanical engineering technicians	1,350	1.4	34.15	71,030
Engineering technicians, except drafters, all other	4,090	3.1	33.45	69,590
Surveying and mapping technicians	2,410	2.5	19.41	40,370
(1) For a complete listing of all detailed occupations in the Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown MSA, see www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_26420.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 available.

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