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News Release Information

22-987-CHI
Thursday, August 04, 2022

Contacts Technical information: Media contact:
  • (312) 353-1138

Occupational Employment and Wages in Sioux Falls — May 2021

Workers in the Sioux Falls, SD Metropolitan Statistical Area had an average (mean) hourly wage of $23.73 in May 2021, 15 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 21 of the 22 major occupational groups, including legal; arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media; and computer and mathematical.

When compared to the nationwide distribution, Sioux Falls area employment was more highly concentrated in 9 of the 22 occupational groups, including healthcare practitioners and technical, office and administrative support, and construction and extraction. Ten groups had employment shares significantly below their national representation, including management, educational instruction and library, and healthcare support. (See table A.)

Table A. Occupational employment and wages by major occupational group, United States and the Sioux Falls metropolitan area, and measures of statistical significance, May 2021
Major occupational group Percent of total employment Mean hourly wage
United States Sioux Falls United States Sioux Falls Percent difference (1)

Total, all occupations

100.0 100.0 $28.01 $23.73* -15

Management

6.3 3.2* 59.31 56.71* -4

Business and financial operations

6.4 6.5 39.72 35.26* -11

Computer and mathematical

3.3 3.0* 48.01 38.40* -20

Architecture and engineering

1.7 1.1* 44.10 38.58* -13

Life, physical, and social science

0.9 0.5* 38.81 32.33* -17

Community and social service

1.6 1.6 25.94 21.88* -16

Legal

0.8 0.5* 54.38 38.56* -29

Educational instruction and library

5.8 4.2* 29.88 21.44* -28

Arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media

1.3 1.3 31.78 22.15* -30

Healthcare practitioners and technical

6.2 10.3* 43.80 35.11* -20

Healthcare support

4.7 3.5* 16.02 15.10* -6

Protective service

2.4 1.3* 25.68 24.13* -6

Food preparation and serving related

8.0 8.2* 14.16 12.89* -9

Building and grounds cleaning and maintenance

2.9 3.3* 16.23 15.08* -7

Personal care and service

1.8 2.5* 16.17 14.20* -12

Sales and related

9.4 10.3* 22.15 22.06 0

Office and administrative support

13.0 14.5* 20.88 18.05* -14

Farming, fishing, and forestry

0.3 0.1* 16.70 16.24* -3

Construction and extraction

4.2 5.1* 26.87 22.51* -16

Installation, maintenance, and repair

4.0 4.2* 25.66 24.39* -5

Production

6.0 6.7* 20.71 18.71* -10

Transportation and material moving

9.0 8.1* 19.88 18.36* -8

Footnotes:
(1) A positive percent difference measures how much the mean wage in the Sioux Falls, SD Metropolitan Statistical Area is above the national mean wage, while a negative difference reflects a lower wage.
* The mean hourly wage or percent share of employment is significantly different from the national average of all areas at the 90-percent confidence level.

One occupational group—healthcare practitioners and technical—was chosen to illustrate the diversity of data available for any of the 22 major occupational categories. Sioux Falls had 16,030 jobs in healthcare practitioners and technical, accounting for 10.3 percent of local area employment, significantly higher than the 6.2-percent share nationally. The average hourly wage for this occupational group locally was $35.11, significantly below the national wage of $43.80.

Some of the larger detailed occupations within the healthcare practitioners and technical group included registered nurses (7,310) and licensed practical and licensed vocational nurses (860). Among the higher-paying jobs in this group were nurse anesthetists and family medicine physicians, with mean hourly wages of $91.09 and $82.02, respectively. At the lower end of the wage scale were emergency medical technicians ($14.16). (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_43620.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 Sioux Falls area, above-average concentrations of employment were found in many of the occupations within the healthcare practitioners and technical group. For instance, nurse anesthetists were employed at 4.2 times the national rate in Sioux Falls, and medical records specialists, at 2.7 times the U.S. average. Dental hygienists had a location quotient of 1.0 in Sioux Falls, 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 South Dakota Department of Labor and Regulation.

Changes to the Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) Data

With the May 2021 estimates release, the Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) program has implemented a new model-based (MB3) estimation method. For more information, see the May 2021 Survey Methods and Reliability Statement at www.bls.gov/oes/methods_21.pdf and the Monthly Labor Review article at www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/2019/article/model-based-estimates-for-the-occupational-employment-statistics-program.htm. OEWS estimates for the years 2015-19 were recalculated using the new estimation method and are available as research estimates at www.bls.gov/oes/oes-mb3-methods.htm.

The May 2021 OEWS estimates are also the first estimates based entirely on survey data collected using the 2018 Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) system. To improve data quality, the OEWS program aggregates some occupations to the SOC broad occupation level or as OEWS-specific combinations of 2018 SOC detailed occupations.


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 Sioux Falls, SD Metropolitan Statistical Area included 1,777 establishments with a response rate of 82 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 Sioux Falls, SD Metropolitan Statistical Area includes Lincoln County, McCook County, Minnehaha County, and Turner County.

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.

Table 1. Employment and wage data for healthcare practitioners and technical occupations, Sioux Falls metropolitan area, May 2021
Occupation (1) Employment Mean wages
Level (2) Location quotient (3) Hourly Annual (4)

Healthcare practitioners and technical occupations

16,030 1.7 $35.11 $73,030

Chiropractors

90 2.3 36.46 75,830

Dentists, general

90 0.8 74.64 155,260

Dietitians and nutritionists

140 1.9 27.72 57,660

Optometrists

40 1.0 60.82 126,510

Pharmacists

600 1.8 61.38 127,670

Physician assistants

210 1.4 55.79 116,050

Occupational therapists

190 1.4 36.69 76,310

Physical therapists

360 1.5 39.51 82,190

Respiratory therapists

230 1.6 25.19 52,390

Speech-language pathologists

150 1.0 30.92 64,310

Veterinarians

90 1.0 45.55 94,740

Registered nurses

7,310 2.2 28.35 58,970

Nurse anesthetists

200 4.2 91.09 189,470

Nurse practitioners

360 1.4 54.15 112,630

Audiologists

40 2.9 40.30 83,830

Anesthesiologists

(5) (5) (7) (7)

Family medicine physicians

180 1.6 82.02 170,600

General internal medicine physicians

70 1.1 (7) (7)

Physicians, all other

80 0.3 (7) (7)

Orthopedic surgeons, except pediatric

30 1.9 (7) (7)

Surgeons, all other

60 1.7 (7) (7)

Dental hygienists

230 1.0 36.51 75,940

Clinical laboratory technologists and technicians

620 1.8 23.94 49,800

Cardiovascular technologists and technicians

100 1.7 26.78 55,700

Diagnostic medical sonographers

180 2.1 29.02 60,360

Radiologic technologists and technicians

480 2.0 26.94 56,030

Magnetic resonance imaging technologists

100 2.4 28.44 59,160

Emergency medical technicians

110 0.6 14.16 29,450

Paramedics

70 0.7 20.28 42,180

Pharmacy technicians

570 1.2 18.00 37,440

Surgical technologists

300 2.5 21.57 44,860

Veterinary technologists and technicians

80 0.6 17.38 36,150

Ophthalmic medical technicians

80 1.2 19.06 39,640

Licensed practical and licensed vocational nurses

860 1.2 20.32 42,270

Medical records specialists

540 2.7 24.08 50,090

Opticians, dispensing

170 2.1 17.79 37,010

Health technologists and technicians, all other

150 1.0 23.40 48,660

Health information technologists and medical registrars

150 3.5 31.68 65,890

Athletic trainers

50 1.7 (6) 48,480

Surgical assistants

30 1.7 25.99 54,060

Healthcare practitioners and technical workers, all other

30 0.7 17.09 35,550

Footnotes:
(1) For a complete listing of all detailed occupations in the Sioux Falls, SD Metropolitan Statistical Area, see www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_43620.htm.
(2) Estimates for detailed occupations may not sum to the totals due to rounding, and because the totals may include occupations that are 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 released.
(6) Wages for some occupations that do not generally work year-round, full time, are reported either as hourly wages or annual salaries depending on how they are typically paid.
(7) This wage is equal to or greater than $100.00 per hour or $208,000 per year.

 

Last Modified Date: Thursday, August 04, 2022