Workers in the Rochester Metropolitan Statistical Area had an average (mean) hourly wage of $22.88 in May 2015, not measurably different from 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 3 of the 22 major occupational groups. Eight groups had significantly lower wages than their respective national averages, including legal; computer and mathematical; and life, physical, and social science.

When compared to the nationwide distribution, local employment was more highly concentrated in 7 of the 22 occupational groups, including education, training, and library; office and administrative support; and community and social service. Conversely, 10 groups had employment shares significantly below their national representation, including transportation and material moving; business and financial operations; and construction and extraction. (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. Rochester had 44,910 jobs in education, training, and library, accounting for 8.8 percent of local area employment, significantly higher than the 6.2-percent share nationally. The average hourly wage for this occupational group locally was $28.70, compared to the national wage of $25.48.

Some of the larger detailed occupations within the education, training, and library group included teacher assistants (7,770), secondary school teachers, except special and career/technical education (6,160), and elementary school teachers, except special education (4,650). Among the higher paying jobs were postsecondary physics teachers and postsecondary economics teachers, with mean annual wages of $170,640 and $155,840, respectively. At the lower end of the wage scale were library technicians ($25,410) and preschool teachers, except special education ($32,320). (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_40380.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 Rochester Metropolitan Statistical Area, above-average concentrations of employment were found in many of the occupations within the education, training, and library group. For instance, postsecondary engineering teachers were employed at 4.1 times the national rate in Rochester, and secondary school special education teachers, at 3.0 times the U.S. average. On the other hand, middle school teachers, except special and career/technical education had a location quotient of 1.0 in Rochester, 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 Rochester Metropolitan Statistical Area included 3,755 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 Rochester, N.Y. Metropolitan Statistical Area  includes Livingston, Monroe, Ontario, Orleans and Wayne 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, Rochester Metropolitan Statistical Area, May 2015

Occupation (1)	Employment		Mean wages
	Level (2)	Location quotient (3)	Hourly	Annual (4)
Education, Training, and Library Occupations	44,910	1.4	$28.70	$59,710
Business Teachers, Postsecondary	680	2.2	(5)	90,740
Computer Science Teachers, Postsecondary	320	2.6	(5)	104,830
Mathematical Science Teachers, Postsecondary	480	2.4	(5)	93,730
Engineering Teachers, Postsecondary	570	4.1	(5)	124,360
Biological Science Teachers, Postsecondary	240	1.3	(5)	101,130
Atmospheric, Earth, Marine, and Space Sciences Teachers, Postsecondary	70	1.7	(5)	(5)
Chemistry Teachers, Postsecondary	160	2.1	(5)	108,800
Physics Teachers, Postsecondary	190	3.7	(5)	170,640
Area, Ethnic, and Cultural Studies Teachers, Postsecondary	90	2.7	(5)	(5)
Economics Teachers, Postsecondary	80	1.6	(5)	155,840
Political Science Teachers, Postsecondary	90	1.4	(5)	121,140
Psychology Teachers, Postsecondary	210	1.5	(5)	105,310
Sociology Teachers, Postsecondary	70	1.2	(5)	74,170
Health Specialties Teachers, Postsecondary	1,570	2.4	(5)	137,970
Nursing Instructors and Teachers, Postsecondary	430	2.0	(5)	99,790
Education Teachers, Postsecondary	380	1.7	(5)	85,740
Criminal Justice and Law Enforcement Teachers, Postsecondary	130	2.4	(5)	43,590
Social Work Teachers, Postsecondary	90	2.0	(5)	(5)
Art, Drama, and Music Teachers, Postsecondary	710	2.0	(5)	106,300
Communications Teachers, Postsecondary	100	0.9	(5)	61,840
English Language and Literature Teachers, Postsecondary	400	1.4	(5)	84,310
Foreign Language and Literature Teachers, Postsecondary	160	1.4	(5)	78,450
History Teachers, Postsecondary	170	2.0	(5)	124,650
Philosophy and Religion Teachers, Postsecondary	150	1.7	(5)	101,650
Graduate Teaching Assistants	270	0.6	(5)	59,080
Recreation and Fitness Studies Teachers, Postsecondary	110	1.6	(5)	64,540
Vocational Education Teachers, Postsecondary	370	0.8	28.38	59,030
Postsecondary Teachers, All Other	970	1.4	(5)	142,350
Preschool Teachers, Except Special Education	1,650	1.2	15.54	32,320
Kindergarten Teachers, Except Special Education	460	0.8	(5)	57,600
Elementary School Teachers, Except Special Education	4,650	0.9	(5)	59,830
Middle School Teachers, Except Special and Career/Technical Education	2,220	1.0	(5)	59,660
Career/Technical Education Teachers, Middle School	120	2.5	(5)	59,040
Secondary School Teachers, Except Special and Career/Technical Education	6,160	1.7	(5)	58,910
Career/Technical Education Teachers, Secondary School	380	1.3	(5)	64,050
Special Education Teachers, Preschool	110	1.1	(5)	48,610
Special Education Teachers, Kindergarten and Elementary School	1,230	1.7	(5)	62,460
Special Education Teachers, Middle School	580	1.7	(5)	59,120
Special Education Teachers, Secondary School	1,420	3.0	(5)	61,160
Special Education Teachers, All Other	30	0.2	(5)	47,910
Adult Basic and Secondary Education and Literacy Teachers and Instructors	210	0.9	23.61	49,100
Self-Enrichment Education Teachers	1,790	2.2	22.32	46,420
Teachers and Instructors, All Other, Except Substitute Teachers	400	0.4	(5)	48,030
Substitute Teachers	4,120	1.8	16.68	34,690
Curators	70	1.6	29.09	60,520
Museum Technicians and Conservators	30	0.8	23.51	48,900
Librarians	710	1.5	26.87	55,900
Library Technicians	410	1.2	12.22	25,410
Audio-Visual and Multimedia Collections Specialists	180	4.7	17.21	35,800
Instructional Coordinators	610	1.2	31.55	65,610
Teacher Assistants	7,770	1.7	(5)	25,920
Education, Training, and Library Workers, All Other	70	0.2	27.80	57,830
Footnotes: (1) For a complete listing of all detailed occupations in the Rochester, NY, area, see www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_40380.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.