Occupational Employment and Wages in Grand Forks — May 2021

Workers in the Grand Forks, ND-MN Metropolitan Statistical Area had an average (mean) hourly wage of $24.37 in May 2021, 13 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 14 of the 22 major occupational groups, including computer and mathematical, management, and legal. Five groups had significantly higher wages than their respective national averages, including protective service, production, and transportation and material moving.

When compared to the nationwide distribution, Grand Forks area employment was more highly concentrated in 11 of the 22 occupational groups, including educational instruction and library, healthcare practitioners and technical, and food preparation and serving related. Eight groups had employment shares significantly below their national representation, including business and financial operations, computer and mathematical, and office and administrative support. (See table A.)

One occupational group-healthcare practitioners and technical-was chosen to illustrate the diversity of data available for any of the 22 major occupational categories. Grand Forks had 3,890 jobs in healthcare practitioners and technical, accounting for 8.1 percent of local area employment, significantly higher than the 6.2-percent share nationally. The average hourly wage for this occupational group locally was $37.34, significantly below the national wage of $43.80.

Some of the larger detailed occupations within the healthcare practitioners and technical group included registered nurses (1,440) and licensed practical and licensed vocational nurses (420). Among the higher-paying jobs in this group were family medicine physicians and physician assistants, with mean hourly wages of $109.94 and $58.54, respectively. At the lower end of the wage scale were veterinary technologists and technicians ($16.94) and dispensing opticians ($18.19). (Detailed data for the healthcare practitioners and technical occupations are presented in table 1; for a complete listing of detailed occupations available go to www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_24220.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 Grand Forks area, above-average concentrations of employment were found in many of the occupations within the healthcare practitioners and technical group. For instance, dispensing opticians were employed at 3.3 times the national rate in Grand Forks, and licensed practical and licensed vocational nurses, at 1.9 times the U.S. average. Pharmacists had a location quotient of 1.0 in Grand Forks, 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 Job Service North Dakota, and the Minnesota Department of Employment & Economic Development.

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 Grand Forks, ND-MN Metropolitan Statistical Area included 1,002 establishments with a response rate of 65 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 Grand Forks, ND-MN Metropolitan Statistical Area includes Polk County MN, and Grand Forks County, ND.

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.

Occupation	Employment		Mean wages
	Level	Location quotient	Hourly	Annual
Healthcare practitioners and technical occupations	3,890	1.3	$37.34	$77,670
Pharmacists	110	1.0	56.14	116,780
Physician assistants	30	0.8	58.54	121,770
Occupational therapists	60	1.3	33.14	68,930
Physical therapists	80	1.1	38.43	79,930
Respiratory therapists	40	0.9	29.30	60,940
Speech-language pathologists	70	1.5	31.82	66,180
Registered nurses	1,440	1.4	33.13	68,910
Nurse practitioners	90	1.2	53.67	111,630
Family medicine physicians	40	1.1	109.94	228,680
Physicians, all other	200	2.3	57.48	119,560
Clinical laboratory technologists and technicians	200	1.8	25.34	52,700
Diagnostic medical sonographers	30	1.2	34.77	72,320
Radiologic technologists and technicians	120	1.7	28.08	58,410
Pharmacy technicians	80	0.6	19.61	40,790
Surgical technologists	60	1.6	24.62	51,200
Veterinary technologists and technicians	30	0.8	16.94	35,230
Licensed practical and licensed vocational nurses	420	1.9	22.87	47,570
Medical records specialists	50	0.8	23.27	48,390
Opticians, dispensing	80	3.3	18.19	37,840
Health technologists and technicians, all other	70	1.4	21.85	45,440

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