Department of Labor Logo United States Department of Labor
Dot gov

The .gov means it's official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you're on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

News Release Information

16-1637-NEW
Thursday, August 04, 2016

Contacts Technical information: Media contact:
  • (646) 264-3623

Occupational Employment and Wages in Albany-Schenectady-Troy — May 2015

Workers in the Albany-Schenectady-Troy Metropolitan Statistical Area had an average (mean) hourly wage of $24.46 in May 2015, about 5 percent above the nationwide average of $23.23, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. 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 10 of the 22 major occupational groups, including protective service; production; and construction and extraction. Six groups had significantly lower wages than their respective national averages, including computer and mathematical; legal; and management.

When compared to the nationwide distribution, local employment was more highly concentrated in 10 of the 22 occupational groups, including education, training, and library; office and administrative support; and life, physical, and social science. Conversely, seven groups had employment shares significantly below their national representation, including production; transportation and material moving; and food preparation and serving related. (See table A and box note at end of release.)

Table A. Occupational employment and wages by major occupational group, United States and the Albany-Schenectady-Troy Metropolitan Statistical Area, and measures of statistical significance, May 2015
Major occupational groupPercent of total employmentMean hourly wage
United StatesAlbanyUnited StatesAlbanyPercent difference (1)

Total, all occupations

100.0%100.0%$23.23$24.46*5

Management

5.05.255.3053.02*-4

Business and Financial Operations

5.15.8*35.4833.27*-6

Computer and Mathematical

2.93.5*41.4335.79*-14

Architecture and Engineering

1.82.1*39.8940.371

Life, Physical, and Social Science

0.81.7*34.2433.79-1

Community and Social Service

1.42.2*22.1923.96*8

Legal

0.81.2*49.7444.14*-11

Education, Training, and Library

6.28.0*25.4828.6412

Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media

1.31.427.3925.42*-7

Healthcare Practitioners and Technical

5.86.4*37.4035.55*-5

Healthcare Support

2.93.014.1913.88-2

Protective Service

2.42.2*21.4524.07*12

Food Preparation and Serving Related

9.17.8*10.9811.56*5

Building and Grounds Cleaning and Maintenance

3.23.4*13.0213.49*4

Personal Care and Service

3.13.212.3313.85*12

Sales and Related

10.59.2*18.9019.041

Office and Administrative Support

15.817.2*17.4718.58*6

Farming, Fishing, and Forestry

0.3(2)*12.6720.23*60

Construction and Extraction

4.04.122.8824.82*8

Installation, Maintenance, and Repair

3.93.5*22.1123.13*5

Production

6.63.8*17.4119.77*14

Transportation and Material Moving

6.95.2*16.9017.111

Footnotes:
(1) A positive percent difference measures how much the mean wage in Albany is above the national mean wage, while a negative difference reflects a lower wage.
(2) Indicates a value of less than 0.05 percent
* The percent share of employment or mean hourly wage for this area is significantly different from the national average of all areas at the 90-percent confidence level.
 

One occupational group—education, training, and library—was chosen to illustrate the diversity of data available for any of the 22 major occupational categories. Albany-Schenectady-Troy had 35,090 jobs in education, training, and library, accounting for 8.0 percent of local area employment, significantly higher than the 6.2-percent share nationally. The average hourly wage for this occupational group locally was $28.64, compared to the national wage of $25.48.

Some of the larger detailed occupations within the education, training, and library group included teacher assistants (5,440), substitute teachers (4,010), and secondary school teachers, except special and career/technical education (3,540). Among the higher paying jobs were postsecondary health specialties teachers and postsecondary biological science teachers, with mean annual wages of $163,380 and $88,970, respectively. At the lower end of the wage scale were preschool teachers, except special education ($28,700) and substitute teachers ($30,280). (Detailed occupational data for education, training, and library are presented in table 1; for a complete listing of detailed occupations available go to www.bls.gov/oes/2015/may/oes_10580.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 Albany-Schenectady-Troy Metropolitan Statistical Area, above-average concentrations of employment were found in many of the occupations within the education, training, and library group. For instance, preschool special education teachers were employed at 3.8 times the national rate in Albany, and postsecondary business teachers, at 2.5 times the U.S. average. On the other hand, kindergarten and elementary school special education teachers had a location quotient of 1.1 in Albany, 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 New York State Department of Labor.

Notes on Occupational Employment Statistics Data

With the issuance of data for May 2015, the OES program has incorporated redefined metropolitan area definitions as designated by the Office of Management and Budget. OES data are available for 394 metropolitan areas, 38 metropolitan divisions, and 167 OES-defined nonmetropolitan areas. A listing of the areas and their definitions can be found at www.bls.gov/oes/current/msa_def.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.


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. The OES program produces employment and wage estimates for over 800 occupations for all industries combined in the nation; the 50 states and the District of Columbia; 432 metropolitan areas and divisions; 167 nonmetropolitan areas; and Guam, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. National estimates are also available by industry for NAICS sectors, 3-, 4-, and selected 5- and 6-digit industries, and by ownership across all industries and for schools and hospitals. OES data are available at www.bls.gov/oes/tables.htm.

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. May 2015 estimates are based on responses from six semiannual panels collected over a 3-year period: May 2015, November 2014, May 2014, November 2013, May 2013, and November 2012. The overall national response rate for the six panels is 73.5 percent based on establishments and 69.6 percent based on weighted sampled employment. The unweighted employment of sampled establishments across all six semiannual panels represents approximately 57.9 percent of total national employment. (Response rates are slightly lower for these estimates due to the federal shutdown in October 2013.) The sample in the Albany-Schenectady-Troy Metropolitan Statistical Area included 3,307 establishments with a response rate of 76 percent. For more information about OES concepts and methodology, go to www.bls.gov/news.release/ocwage.tn.htm.

The May 2015 OES estimates are based on the 2010 Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) system and the 2012 North American Industry Classification System (NAICS). Information about the 2010 SOC is available on the BLS website at www.bls.gov/soc and information about the 2012 NAICS is available at www.bls.gov/bls/naics.htm.

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 Albany-Schenectady-Troy, N.Y. Metropolitan Statistical Area  includes Albany, Rensselaer, Saratoga, Schenectady, and Schoharie Counties.

Additional information

OES data are available on our regional web page at www.bls.gov/regions/northeast. 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/2015/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: (800) 877-8339.

Table 1. Employment and wage data from the Occupational Employment Statistics survey, by occupation, Albany-Schenectady-Troy Metropolitan Statistical Area, May 2015
Occupation (1)EmploymentMean wages
Level (2)Location quotient (3)HourlyAnnual (4)

Education, Training, and Library Occupations

35,0901.3$28.64$59,560

Business Teachers, Postsecondary

6702.5(5)84,560

Computer Science Teachers, Postsecondary

2202.0(5)(5)

Mathematical Science Teachers, Postsecondary

2701.6(5)63,430

Engineering Teachers, Postsecondary

1101.0(5)85,640

Biological Science Teachers, Postsecondary

3001.9(5)88,970

Atmospheric, Earth, Marine, and Space Sciences Teachers, Postsecondary

601.7(5)78,250

Chemistry Teachers, Postsecondary

1602.4(5)68,320

Physics Teachers, Postsecondary

1202.6(5)77,070

Anthropology and Archeology Teachers, Postsecondary

603.1(5)76,600

Area, Ethnic, and Cultural Studies Teachers, Postsecondary

1103.7(5)85,630

Economics Teachers, Postsecondary

1403.2(5)76,130

Political Science Teachers, Postsecondary

1502.7(5)78,570

Psychology Teachers, Postsecondary

2602.2(5)76,190

Sociology Teachers, Postsecondary

1302.5(5)69,170

Health Specialties Teachers, Postsecondary

7701.4(5)163,380

Nursing Instructors and Teachers, Postsecondary

1901.1(5)66,370

Education Teachers, Postsecondary

2001.0(5)56,430

Criminal Justice and Law Enforcement Teachers, Postsecondary

601.3(5)63,650

Social Work Teachers, Postsecondary

802.1(5)66,670

Communications Teachers, Postsecondary

1301.5(5)69,810

English Language and Literature Teachers, Postsecondary

5802.4(5)83,990

Foreign Language and Literature Teachers, Postsecondary

2102.2(5)80,260

History Teachers, Postsecondary

1602.1(5)67,820

Philosophy and Religion Teachers, Postsecondary

1201.7(5)72,500

Graduate Teaching Assistants

7401.9(5)38,030

Recreation and Fitness Studies Teachers, Postsecondary

701.3(5)52,410

Vocational Education Teachers, Postsecondary

3000.827.7857,790

Postsecondary Teachers, All Other

1500.3(5)58,910

Preschool Teachers, Except Special Education

1,7201.513.8028,700

Kindergarten Teachers, Except Special Education

3900.8(5)59,050

Elementary School Teachers, Except Special Education

3,4400.8(5)60,880

Middle School Teachers, Except Special and Career/Technical Education

1,5200.8(5)65,220

Career/Technical Education Teachers, Middle School

1102.6(5)57,680

Secondary School Teachers, Except Special and Career/Technical Education

3,5401.2(5)64,370

Career/Technical Education Teachers, Secondary School

3201.3(5)63,020

Special Education Teachers, Preschool

3603.8(5)57,120

Special Education Teachers, Kindergarten and Elementary School

6601.1(5)66,830

Special Education Teachers, Middle School

3201.1(5)66,750

Special Education Teachers, Secondary School

6501.6(5)67,060

Adult Basic and Secondary Education and Literacy Teachers and Instructors

1000.526.8655,870

Self-Enrichment Education Teachers

1,2601.818.7238,940

Teachers and Instructors, All Other, Except Substitute Teachers

5800.7(5)41,870

Substitute Teachers

4,0102.014.5630,280

Curators

802.032.8868,400

Museum Technicians and Conservators

601.928.2158,670

Librarians

7101.729.0360,390

Library Technicians

3901.315.8432,940

Audio-Visual and Multimedia Collections Specialists

401.121.4744,660

Instructional Coordinators

9002.031.7866,100

Teacher Assistants

5,4401.4(5)26,900

Education, Training, and Library Workers, All Other

900.330.5463,520

Footnotes:
(1) For a complete listing of all detailed occupations in the Albany-Schenectady-Troy, NY, area, see www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_10580.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.
(5) Estimate not released.
 

 

Last Modified Date: Thursday, August 04, 2016