Workers in the Dutchess County-Putnam County Metropolitan Division had an average (mean) hourly wage of $24.63 in May 2015, about 6 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 12 of the 22 major occupational groups, including protective service; education, training, and library; and construction and extraction. No group had an hourly wage significantly lower than its respective national average.

When compared to the nationwide distribution, local employment was more highly concentrated in 8 of the 22 occupational groups, including education, training, and library; personal care and service; and healthcare practitioners and technical. Conversely, nine groups had employment shares significantly below their national representation, including production; transportation and material moving; and business and financial operations. (See table A and box note at end of release.)

One occupational group—education, training, and library—was chosen to illustrate the diversity of data available for any of the 22 major occupational categories. Dutchess County-Putnam County had 13,650 jobs in education, training, and library, accounting for 9.9 percent of local area employment, significantly higher than the 6.2-percent share nationally. The average hourly wage for this occupational group locally was $29.64, significantly above the national wage of $25.48.

Some of the larger detailed occupations within the education, training, and library group included teacher assistants (2,320), secondary school teachers, except special and career/technical education (1,580), and elementary school teachers, except special education (1,330). Among the higher paying jobs were postsecondary physics teachers and postsecondary economics teachers, with mean annual wages of $98,480 and $98,380, respectively. At the lower end of the wage scale were preschool teachers, except special education ($26,150) and substitute teachers ($30,210). (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_20524.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 Dutchess County-Putnam County Metropolitan Division, above-average concentrations of employment were found in many of the occupations within the education, training, and library group. For instance, secondary school special education teachers were employed at 3.7 times the national rate in Dutchess County-Putnam County, and postsecondary art, drama, and music teachers, at 3.6 times the U.S. average. On the other hand, elementary school teachers, except special education had a location quotient of 1.0 in Dutchess County-Putnam County, 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.

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 Dutchess County-Putnam County Metropolitan Division included 1,378 establishments with a response rate of 78 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 Dutchess County-Putnam County, N.Y. Metropolitan Division  includes Dutchess and Putnam 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, Dutchess County-Putnam County Metropolitan Division, May 2015

Occupation (1)	Employment		Mean wages
	Level (2)	Location quotient (3)	Hourly	Annual (4)
Education, Training, and Library Occupations	13,650	1.6	$29.64	$61,640
Business Teachers, Postsecondary	(5)	(5)	(5)	86,700
Computer Science Teachers, Postsecondary	(5)	(5)	(5)	81,130
Mathematical Science Teachers, Postsecondary	(5)	(5)	(5)	72,460
Biological Science Teachers, Postsecondary	100	2.0	(5)	87,390
Chemistry Teachers, Postsecondary	60	2.9	(5)	95,490
Physics Teachers, Postsecondary	60	3.9	(5)	98,480
Anthropology and Archeology Teachers, Postsecondary	30	5.2	(5)	96,240
Economics Teachers, Postsecondary	60	4.7	(5)	98,380
Political Science Teachers, Postsecondary	50	3.0	(5)	96,580
Psychology Teachers, Postsecondary	120	3.0	(5)	93,330
Sociology Teachers, Postsecondary	60	3.8	(5)	73,420
Art, Drama, and Music Teachers, Postsecondary	350	3.6	(5)	71,960
English Language and Literature Teachers, Postsecondary	250	3.3	(5)	93,420
Foreign Language and Literature Teachers, Postsecondary	90	3.1	(5)	79,850
History Teachers, Postsecondary	50	2.2	(5)	88,640
Philosophy and Religion Teachers, Postsecondary	60	2.5	(5)	89,840
Vocational Education Teachers, Postsecondary	(5)	(5)	26.47	55,060
Preschool Teachers, Except Special Education	780	2.1	12.57	26,150
Kindergarten Teachers, Except Special Education	100	0.7	(5)	76,460
Elementary School Teachers, Except Special Education	1,330	1.0	(5)	82,380
Middle School Teachers, Except Special and Career/Technical Education	600	1.0	(5)	81,830
Career/Technical Education Teachers, Middle School	50	3.4	(5)	79,880
Secondary School Teachers, Except Special and Career/Technical Education	1,580	1.6	(5)	82,950
Career/Technical Education Teachers, Secondary School	100	1.3	(5)	69,180
Special Education Teachers, Kindergarten and Elementary School	530	2.7	(5)	78,610
Special Education Teachers, Middle School	100	1.1	(5)	87,030
Special Education Teachers, Secondary School	480	3.7	(5)	74,110
Adult Basic and Secondary Education and Literacy Teachers and Instructors	170	2.6	25.94	53,960
Self-Enrichment Education Teachers	720	3.3	23.99	49,890
Teachers and Instructors, All Other, Except Substitute Teachers	110	0.4	(5)	82,930
Substitute Teachers	760	1.2	14.52	30,210
Librarians	220	1.7	28.57	59,430
Library Technicians	240	2.6	15.27	31,760
Instructional Coordinators	120	0.9	29.98	62,360
Teacher Assistants	2,320	1.9	(5)	25,810
Footnotes: (1) For a complete listing of all detailed occupations in the Dutchess County-Putnam County, NY Metropolitan Division, see www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_20524.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.