Occupational Employment and Wages in Columbus, Ohio — May 2021

Workers in the Columbus, OH Metropolitan Statistical Area had an average (mean) hourly wage of $26.86 in May 2021, 4 percent below the nationwide average of $28.01, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Regional Commissioner Jason Palmer noted that, after testing for statistical significance, wages in the local area were lower than their respective national averages in 17 of the 22 major occupational groups, including legal, computer and mathematical, and architecture and engineering. Three groups had significantly higher wages than their respective national averages including educational instruction and library and protective service.

When compared to the nationwide distribution, Columbus area employment was more highly concentrated in 5 of the 22 occupational groups, including transportation and material moving, business and financial operations, and office and administrative support. Twelve groups had employment shares significantly below their national representation, including sales and related, construction and extraction, and management. (See table A.)

One occupational group-transportation and material moving-was chosen to illustrate the diversity of data available for any of the 22 major occupational categories. Columbus had 115,750 jobs in transportation and material moving, accounting for 11.3 percent of local area employment, significantly higher than the 9.0-percent share nationally. The average annual wage for this occupational group locally was $41,260.

Some of the larger detailed occupations within the transportation and material moving group included stockers and order fillers (27,520); laborers and freight, stock, and material movers, hand (25,980); and heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers (18,020). Among the higher-paying jobs in this group were airline pilots, copilots, and flight engineers; and commercial pilots, with mean annual wages of $190,670 and $137,300, respectively. At the lower end of the wage scale were parking attendants ($26,060). (Detailed data for the transportation and material moving occupations are presented in table 1; for a complete listing of detailed occupations available go to www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_18140.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 Columbus area, above-average concentrations of employment were found in some of the occupations within the transportation and material moving group. For instance, commercial pilots were employed at 3.8 times the national rate in Columbus, and driver/sales workers, at 1.7 times the U.S. average. Light truck drivers had a location quotient of 1.0 in Columbus, indicating that this particular occupation's local and national employment shares were similar.

These statistics are from the Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) survey, a federal-state cooperative program between BLS and State Workforce Agencies, in this case, the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services.

Technical Note

The Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) survey is a semiannual survey measuring occupational employment and wage rates for wage and salary workers in nonfarm establishments in the United States. The OEWS data available from BLS include cross-industry occupational employment and wage estimates for the nation; over 580 areas, including states and the District of Columbia, metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs), nonmetropolitan areas, and territories; national industry-specific estimates at the NAICS sector, 3-digit, most 4-digit, and selected 5- and 6-digit industry levels, and national estimates by ownership across all industries and for schools and hospitals. OEWS data are available at www.bls.gov/oes/tables.htm.

The OEWS survey is a cooperative effort between BLS and the State Workforce Agencies (SWAs). BLS funds the survey and provides the procedures and technical support, while the State Workforce Agencies collect most of the data. OEWS estimates are constructed from a sample of about 1.1 million establishments. Each year, two semiannual panels of approximately 179,000 to 187,000 sampled establishments are contacted, one panel in May and the other in November. Responses are obtained by Internet or other electronic means, mail, email, telephone, or personal visit. The May 2021 estimates are based on responses from six semiannual panels collected over a 3-year period: May 2021, November 2020, May 2020, November 2019, May 2019, and November 2018. The unweighted sampled employment of 82 million across all six semiannual panels represents approximately 62 percent of total national employment. The overall national response rate for the six panels, based on the 50 states and the District of Columbia, is 67.2 percent based on establishments and 64.5 percent based on weighted sampled employment. The sample in the Columbus, OH Metropolitan Statistical Area included 4,962 establishments with a response rate of 63 percent. For more information about OEWS concepts and methodology, go to www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_tec.htm.

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.

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 Columbus, OH Metropolitan Statistical Area includes Delaware, Fairfield, Franklin, Hocking, Licking, Madison, Morrow, Perry, Pickaway, and Union Counties.

For more information

Answers to frequently asked questions about the OEWS data are available at www.bls.gov/oes/oes_ques.htm. Detailed information about the OEWS program is available at www.bls.gov/oes/oes_doc.htm.

Information in this release will be made available to individuals with sensory impairments upon request. Voice phone: (202) 691-5200; Telecommunications Relay Service: 7-1-1.

Occupation	Employment		Mean wages
	Level	Location quotient	Hourly	Annual
Transportation and material moving occupations	115,750	1.3	$19.84	$41,260
First-line supervisors of transportation and material moving workers, except aircraft cargo handling supervisors	5,210	1.3	27.30	56,780
Airline pilots, copilots, and flight engineers	470	0.8		190,670
Commercial pilots	1,180	3.8		137,300
Flight attendants	330	0.5		66,080
Ambulance drivers and attendants, except emergency medical technicians	90	1.0	13.32	27,710
Driver/sales workers	5,960	1.7	15.35	31,930
Heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers	18,020	1.3	23.50	48,880
Light truck drivers	6,980	1.0	21.46	44,630
Bus drivers, school	370	0.1	16.93	35,220
Bus drivers, transit and intercity	1,150	1.1	21.91	45,570
Shuttle drivers and chauffeurs	1,100	0.9	13.45	27,970
Motor vehicle operators, all other	260	0.7	14.38	29,910
Parking attendants	530	0.8	12.53	26,060
Automotive and watercraft service attendants	690	0.9	13.80	28,710
Aircraft service attendants	150	1.7	17.67	36,760
Traffic technicians	30	0.6	28.04	58,320
Transportation inspectors	110	0.6	38.01	79,060
Conveyor operators and tenders	280	1.3	16.10	33,490
Crane and tower operators	210	0.7	29.98	62,350
Industrial truck and tractor operators	9,330	1.7	20.40	42,430
Cleaners of vehicles and equipment	2,290	0.9	14.72	30,610
Laborers and freight, stock, and material movers, hand	25,980	1.3	17.47	36,340
Machine feeders and offbearers	880	2.0	21.02	43,720
Packers and packagers, hand	5,040	1.2	15.31	31,850
Stockers and order fillers	27,520	1.6	16.73	34,790
Refuse and recyclable material collectors	980	1.1	20.79	43,250
Tank car, truck, and ship loaders	120	1.3	22.31	46,410

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