Workers in the San Francisco-San Mateo-Redwood City Metropolitan Division had an average (mean) hourly wage of $31.77 in May 2012, about 44 percent above the nationwide average of $22.01, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Regional Commissioner Richard J. Holden noted that, after testing for statistical significance, wages in the local area were significantly higher than their respective national averages in all of the 22 major occupational groups.

When compared to the nationwide distribution, local employment was more highly concentrated in 8 of the 22 occupational groups, including business and financial operations, computer and mathematical, and management. Conversely, 11 groups had employment shares significantly below their national representation, including production; transportation and material moving; and education, training, and library. (See table A and box note at end of release.)

One occupational group—business and financial operations—was chosen to illustrate the diversity of data available for any of the 22 major occupational categories. San Francisco-San Mateo-Redwood City had 86,290 jobs in business and financial operations, accounting for 8.6 percent of local area employment, significantly higher than the 4.9-percent share nationally. The average hourly wage for this occupational group locally was $44.10, measurably above the national wage of $33.44.

With employment of 14,080, accountants and auditors was the largest occupation within the business and financial operations group, followed by market research analysts and marketing specialists (9,990) and management analysts (8,100). Among the higher paying jobs were personal financial advisors and financial analysts, with mean hourly wages of $60.02 and $56.85, respectively. At the lower end of the wage scale were credit counselors ($21.31) and fundraisers ($26.93). (Detailed occupational data for business and financial operations are presented in table 1; for a complete listing of detailed occupations available go to www.bls.gov/oes/2012/may/oes_41884.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 San Francisco-San Mateo-Redwood City Metropolitan Division, above average concentrations of employment were found in many of the occupations within the business and financial operations group. For instance, market research analysts and marketing specialists were employed at 3.3 times the national rate in San Francisco, and personal financial advisors, at 3.2 times the U.S. average. On the other hand, training and development specialists had a location quotient of 1.0 in San Francisco, 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 California Employment Development Department.

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 San Francisco-San Mateo-Redwood City Metropolitan Division included 5,522 establishments with a response rate of 71 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 San Francisco-San Mateo-Redwood City, Calif. Metropolitan Division&nbsp includes Marin, San Francisco, and San Mateo Counties.

Additional information

OES data are available on our regional web page at www.bls.gov/ro9/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.

Table 1. Employment and wage data from the Occupational Employment Statistics survey, by occupation, San Francisco-San Mateo-Redwood City Metropolitan Division, May 2012

Occupation Employment	Employment		Mean wages
	Level (2)	Location quotient (3)	Hourly	Annual(4)
Business and Financial Operations Occupations	86,290	1.8	$44.10	$91,720
Agents and Business Managers of Artists, Performers, and Athletes	90	1.0	38.21	79,470
Buyers and Purchasing Agents, Farm Products	50	0.6	35.11	73,030
Wholesale and Retail Buyers, Except Farm Products	970	1.2	28.15	58,550
Purchasing Agents, Except Wholesale, Retail, and Farm Products	1,900	0.9	37.16	77,300
Claims Adjusters, Examiners, and Investigators	1,930	1.0	37.78	78,580
Compliance Officers	2,840	1.6	41.79	86,920
Cost Estimators	1,400	0.9	39.82	82,820
Human Resources Specialists	4,710	1.6	37.91	78,860
Labor Relations Specialists	630	1.1	40.15	83,510
Logisticians	1,100	1.2	39.85	82,890
Management Analysts	8,100	2.0	52.67	109,550
Meeting, Convention, and Event Planners	1,160	2.1	30.62	63,690
Fundraisers	700	1.9	26.93	56,010
Compensation, Benefits, and Job Analysis Specialists	1,340	2.0	38.27	79,590
Training and Development Specialists	1,660	1.0	37.40	77,800
Market Research Analysts and Marketing Specialists	9,990	3.3	42.59	88,580
Business Operations Specialists, All Other	13,700	1.9	41.63	86,600
Accountants and Auditors	14,080	1.6	41.23	85,760
Appraisers and Assessors of Real Estate	350	0.8	40.40	84,030
Budget Analysts	1,200	2.7	41.51	86,340
Credit Analysts	810	1.7	48.19	100,230
Financial Analysts	5,460	3.0	56.85	118,240
Personal Financial Advisors	4,300	3.2	60.02	124,830
Insurance Underwriters	850	1.2	40.65	84,550
Financial Examiners	910	4.2	52.21	108,600
Credit Counselors	430	2.0	21.31	44,320
Loan Officers	1,560	0.7	48.27	100,400
Tax Examiners and Collectors, and Revenue Agents	460	0.9	38.59	80,260
Tax Preparers	530	1.1	31.20	64,890
Financial Specialists, All Other	3,040	2.7	53.38	111,020
Footnotes: (1) For a complete listing of all detailed occupations in San Francisco-San Mateo-Redwood City, CA Metropolitan Division, see www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_41884.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.