Workers in the Providence-Warwick, RI-MA Metropolitan Statistical Area had an average (mean) hourly wage of $29.10 in May 2021, 4 percent above the nationwide average of $28.01, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Regional Commissioner William J. Sibley noted that, after testing for statistical significance, wages in the local area were higher than their respective national averages in 18 of the 22 major occupational groups, including healthcare practitioners and technical, educational instruction and library, and management. Wages in the local area for computer and mathematical and transportation and material moving occupational groups were lower than their respective national averages.

When compared to the nationwide distribution, Providence area employment was more highly concentrated in 11 of the 22 occupational groups, including food preparation and serving related, educational instruction and library, and healthcare practitioners and technical. Nine groups had employment shares significantly below their national representation, including transportation and material moving; management, and installation, maintenance, and repair. (See table A.)

One occupational group—educational instruction and library—was chosen to illustrate the diversity of data available for any of the 22 major occupational categories. Providence had 36,170 jobs in educational instruction and library, accounting for 6.8 percent of local area employment, significantly higher than the 5.8-percent share nationally. The average hourly wage for this occupational group locally was $33.67, significantly above the national wage of $29.88.

  

View Chart Data

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      

Chart 1. Hourly mean wages for higher paying educational instruction and library occupations in the Providence metropolitan area, May 2021

Occupation	Wage
All occupations	$29.10
Educational instruction and library occupations	33.67
Archivists	34.42
Curators	34.29
Librarians and media collections specialists	33.31
Instructional coordinators	32.30
Educational instruction and library workers, all other	28.57

Some of the larger detailed occupations within the educational instruction and library group included secondary school teachers, except special and career/technical education (5,810), elementary school teachers, except special education (4,750), and teaching assistants, except postsecondary (4,560). Among the higher-paying jobs in this group were archivists and curators, with mean hourly wages of $34.42 and $34.29, respectively. (See chart 1.) At the lower end of the wage scale were preschool teachers, except special education ($17.44) and substitute teachers, short-term ($18.40). (Detailed data for the healthcare practitioners and technical occupations are presented in table 1; for a complete listing of detailed occupations go to https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_77200.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 Providence area, above-average concentrations of employment were found in many of the occupations within the educational instruction and library group. For instance, instructional coordinators were employed at 1.7 times the national rate in Providence, and education teachers, postsecondary, at 1.6 times the U.S. average. Nursing instructors and teachers, postsecondary had a location quotient of 1.0 in Providence, 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 Rhode Island Department of Labor and Training, and the Massachusetts Department of Economic Research.

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 Providence-Warwick, RI-MA Metropolitan Statistical Area included 4,700 establishments with a response rate of 74 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 Providence-Warwick, RI-MA Metropolitan Statistical Area includes Attleboro city, MA; Bellingham town, MA; Blackstone town, MA; Fall River city, MA; Millville town, MA; North Attleborough town, MA; Plainville town, MA; Rehoboth town, MA; Seekonk town, MA; Somerset town, MA; Swansea town, MA; Westport town, MA; Barrington town, RI; Bristol town, RI; Burrillville town, RI; Central Falls city, RI; Charlestown town, RI; Coventry town, RI; Cranston city, RI; Cumberland town, RI; East Greenwich town, RI; East Providence city, RI; Exeter town, RI; Foster town, RI; Glocester town, RI; Jamestown town, RI; Johnston town, RI; Lincoln town, RI; Little Compton town, RI; Middletown town, RI; Narragansett town, RI; Newport city, RI; North Kingstown town, RI; North Providence town, RI; North Smithfield town, RI; Pawtucket city, RI; Portsmouth town, RI; Providence city, RI; Richmond town, RI; Scituate town, RI; Smithfield town, RI; South Kingstown town, RI; Tiverton town, RI; Warren town, RI; Warwick city, RI; West Greenwich town, RI; West Warwick town, RI; and Woonsocket city, RI.

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.