Occupational Employment and Wages in New York-Newark-Jersey City — May 2020

Workers in the New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA Metropolitan Statistical Area had an average (mean) hourly wage of $34.16 in May 2020, about 26 percent above the nationwide average of $27.07, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Chief Regional Economist Martin Kohli noted that, after testing for statistical significance, wages in the local area were higher than their respective national averages in all of the 22 major occupational groups.

When compared to the nationwide distribution, New York area employment was more highly concentrated in 12 of the 22 occupational groups, including healthcare support, business and financial operations, and educational instruction and library. Ten groups had employment shares significantly below their national representation, including production, food preparation and serving related, and transportation and material moving. (See table A.)

One occupational group-personal care and service-was chosen to illustrate the diversity of data available for any of the 22 major occupational categories. New York had 206,010 jobs in personal care and service, accounting for 2.3 percent of local area employment, significantly higher than the 1.9-percent share nationally. The average hourly wage for this occupational group locally was $18.50, significantly above the national wage of $15.68.

Some of the larger detailed occupations within the personal care and service group included childcare workers (51,860); recreation workers (25,820); and hairdressers, hairstylists, and cosmetologists (23,610). Among the higher-paying jobs in this group were makeup artists, theatrical and performance, with mean average hourly wages of $58.46, and costume attendants ($37.69). At the lower end of the wage scale were shampooers ($12.14) and manicurists and pedicurists ($13.74). (Detailed data for the personal care and service occupations are presented in table 1; for a complete listing of detailed occupations available go to www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_35620.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 New York area, above-average concentrations of employment were found in many of the occupations within the personal care and service group. For instance, manicurists and pedicurists were employed at 2.7 times the national rate in New York, and concierges, at 2.6 times the U.S. average. Animal caretakers had a location quotient of 0.9 in New York, 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 New York State Department of Labor, the New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development, and the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry.

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 180,000 to 185,000 sampled establishments are contacted, one panel in May and the other in November. Responses are obtained by mail, Internet or other electronic means, email, telephone, or personal visit. The May 2020 estimates are based on responses from six semiannual panels collected over a 3-year period: May 2020, November 2019, May 2019, November 2018, May 2018, and November 2017. The unweighted sample employment of 83 million across all six semiannual panels represents approximately 56 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 69 percent based on establishments and 66 percent based on weighted sampled employment. The sample in the New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA Metropolitan Statistical Area included 28,209 establishments with a response rate of 72 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 New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA Metropolitan Statistical Area includes Bergen, Essex, Hudson, Hunterdon, Middlesex, Monmouth, Morris, Ocean, Passaic, Somerset, Sussex, and Union Counties in New Jersey, Bronx, Dutchess, Kings, Nassau, New York, Orange, Putnam, Queens, Richmond, Rockland Suffolk, and Westchester Counties in New York, and Pike County in Pensylvania.

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; Federal Relay Service: (800) 877-8339.

Occupation	Employment		Mean wages
	Level	Location quotient	Hourly	Annual
Personal care and service occupations	206,010	1.2	$18.50	$38,490
First-line supervisors of gambling services workers	90	0.1	24.25	50,450
First-line supervisors of personal service and entertainment and recreation workers, except gambling services	12,880	1.2	25.86	53,790
Animal trainers	800	0.9	27.59	57,390
Animal caretakers	10,940	0.9	15.37	31,980
Gambling and sports book writers and runners	280	0.6	18.94	39,400
Motion picture projectionists	380	2.7	20.17	41,950
Ushers, lobby attendants, and ticket takers	6,820	1.1	16.76	34,870
Amusement and recreation attendants	10,680	0.7	14.34	29,820
Costume attendants	1,110	3.1	37.69	78,390
Locker room, coatroom, and dressing room attendants	1,190	1.6	16.52	34,350
Entertainment attendants and related workers, all other			17.40	36,190
Funeral attendants	810	0.4	18.07	37,580
Morticians, undertakers, and funeral arrangers	1,530	1.0	31.04	64,550
Barbers	1,220	1.3	18.92	39,350
Hairdressers, hairstylists, and cosmetologists	23,610	1.2	18.53	38,530
Makeup artists, theatrical and performance	500	2.8	58.46	121,600
Manicurists and pedicurists	12,310	2.7	13.74	28,570
Shampooers	1,010	1.9	12.14	25,250
Skincare specialists	5,910	2.0	20.06	41,730
Baggage porters and bellhops	2,470	1.4	17.74	36,910
Concierges	6,130	2.6	21.38	44,470
Tour and travel guides	1,790	0.7	19.01	39,530
Childcare workers	51,860	1.7	15.29	31,810
Exercise trainers and group fitness instructors	17,550	1.1	28.21	58,680
Recreation workers	25,820	1.3	17.06	35,490
Residential advisors	5,210	0.8	19.69	40,950
Crematory operators and personal care and service workers, all other	2,840	0.7	16.83	35,000

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