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Tuesday, June 27, 2017
Workers in the Santa Cruz-Watsonville Metropolitan Statistical Area had an average (mean) hourly wage of $24.73 in May 2016, about 4 percent above the nationwide average of $23.86, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Assistant Commissioner for Regional Operations Richard Holden noted that, after testing for statistical significance, wages in the local area were higher than their respective national averages in 9 of the 22 major occupational groups, including healthcare practitioners and technical; protective service; and construction and extraction. Three groups had significantly lower wages than their respective national averages: management; life, physical, and social science; and architecture and engineering.
When compared to the nationwide distribution, local employment was more highly concentrated in 7 of the 22 occupational groups, including food preparation and serving related; education, training, and library; and community and social service. Conversely, 10 groups had employment shares significantly below their national representation, including transportation and material moving; production; and business and financial operations. (See table A and box note at end of release.)
Major occupational group | Percent of total employment | Mean hourly wage | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
United States | Santa Cruz | United States | Santa Cruz | Percent difference (1) | |
Total, all occupations | 100.0 | 100.0 | $23.86 | $24.73 | 4 |
Management | 5.1 | 5.7* | 56.74 | 53.34* | -6 |
Business and financial operations | 5.2 | 4.1* | 36.09 | 35.72 | -1 |
Computer and mathematical | 3.0 | 2.1* | 42.25 | 42.50 | 1 |
Architecture and engineering | 1.8 | 1.2* | 40.53 | 38.78* | -4 |
Life, physical, and social science | 0.8 | 1.3* | 35.06 | 32.25* | -8 |
Community and social service | 1.4 | 2.5* | 22.69 | 25.23 | 11 |
Legal | 0.8 | 0.4* | 50.95 | 52.78 | 4 |
Education, training, and library | 6.2 | 8.1* | 26.21 | 27.70 | 6 |
Arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media | 1.4 | 1.0* | 28.07 | 26.81 | -4 |
Healthcare practitioners and technical | 5.9 | 5.4 | 38.06 | 48.37* | 27 |
Healthcare support | 2.9 | 2.6 | 14.65 | 17.60* | 20 |
Protective service | 2.4 | 2.0* | 22.03 | 30.47* | 38 |
Food preparation and serving related | 9.2 | 12.2* | 11.47 | 13.23* | 15 |
Building and grounds cleaning and maintenance | 3.2 | 4.0* | 13.47 | 14.72* | 9 |
Personal care and service | 3.2 | 3.4 | 12.74 | 14.06* | 10 |
Sales and related | 10.4 | 11.3 | 19.50 | 19.38 | -1 |
Office and administrative support | 15.7 | 15.9 | 17.91 | 19.40* | 8 |
Farming, fishing, and forestry | 0.3 | 0.9* | 13.37 | 13.83 | 3 |
Construction and extraction | 4.0 | 3.7* | 23.51 | 26.57* | 13 |
Installation, maintenance, and repair | 3.9 | 3.1* | 22.45 | 23.68* | 5 |
Production | 6.5 | 5.0* | 17.88 | 17.37 | -3 |
Transportation and material moving | 6.9 | 4.2* | 17.34 | 18.04 | 4 |
Footnotes: |
One occupational group—food preparation and serving related—was chosen to illustrate the diversity of data available for any of the 22 major occupational categories. Santa Cruz-Watsonville had 11,320 jobs in food preparation and serving related, accounting for 12.2 percent of local area employment, significantly higher than the 9.2-percent share nationally. The average hourly wage for this occupational group locally was $13.23, significantly above the national wage of $11.47.
Some of the larger detailed occupations within the food preparation and serving related group included combined food preparation and serving workers, including fast food (2,800), waiters and waitresses (1,890), and food preparation workers (1,190). Among the higher paying jobs were chefs and head cooks, and institution and cafeteria cooks, with mean hourly wages of $25.55 and $17.19, respectively. At the lower end of the wage scale were restaurant, lounge, and coffee shop hosts and hostesses ($11.00) and dishwashers ($11.14). (Detailed occupational data for food preparation and serving related are presented in table 1; for a complete listing of detailed occupations available go to www.bls.gov/oes/2016/may/oes_42100.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 Santa Cruz-Watsonville Metropolitan Statistical Area, above-average concentrations of employment were found in many of the occupations within the food preparation and serving related group. For instance, food preparation workers were employed at 2.1 times the national rate in Santa Cruz, and cafeteria, food concession, and coffee shop counter attendants, at 1.8 times the U.S. average. On the other hand, first-line supervisors of food preparation and serving workers had a location quotient of 1.1 in Santa Cruz, 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 California Employment Development Department.
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.
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 data available from BLS include cross-industry occupational employment and wage estimates for the nation; over 650 areas, including states and the District of Columbia, metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs), metropolitan divisions, nonmetropolitan areas, and territories; national industry-specific estimates at the NAICS sector, 3-, 4-, and selected 5- and 6-digit industry levels, and national estimates 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. Each year, two semiannual panels of approximately 200,000 sampled establishments are contacted, one panel in May and the other in November. Responses are obtained by mail, Internet or other electronic means, email, telephone, or personal visit. The May 2016 estimates are based on responses from six semiannual panels collected over a 3-year period: May 2016, November 2015, May 2015, November 2014, May 2014, and November 2013. The overall national response rate for the six panels, based on the 50 states and the District of Columbia, is 73 percent based on establishments and 69 percent based on weighted sampled employment. The unweighted employment of sampled establishments across all six semiannual panels represents approximately 58 percent of total national employment. The sample in the Santa Cruz-Watsonville Metropolitan Statistical Area included 1,487 establishments with a response rate of 75 percent. For more information about OES concepts and methodology, go to www.bls.gov/news.release/ocwage.tn.htm.
The May 2016 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 Santa Cruz-Watsonville, Calif. Metropolitan Statistical Area includes Santa Cruz County.
Additional information
OES data are available on our regional web page at www.bls.gov/regions/west. 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/current/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.
Occupation (1) | Employment | Mean wages | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
Level (2) | Location quotient (3) | Hourly | Annual (4) | |
Food preparation and serving related occupations | 11,320 | 1.3 | $13.23 | $27,520 |
Chefs and head cooks | 170 | 1.9 | 25.55 | 53,150 |
First-line supervisors of food preparation and serving workers | 660 | 1.1 | 16.71 | 34,750 |
Cooks, fast food | 580 | 1.7 | 11.39 | 23,700 |
Cooks, institution and cafeteria | 180 | 0.7 | 17.19 | 35,750 |
Cooks, restaurant | 970 | 1.2 | 14.91 | 31,010 |
Cooks, short order | (5) | (5) | 12.88 | 26,800 |
Food preparation workers | 1,190 | 2.1 | 12.41 | 25,810 |
Bartenders | 500 | 1.3 | 13.65 | 28,400 |
Combined food preparation and serving workers, including fast food | 2,800 | 1.2 | 11.15 | 23,190 |
Counter attendants, cafeteria, food concession, and coffee shop | 590 | 1.8 | 11.30 | 23,510 |
Waiters and waitresses | 1,890 | 1.1 | 15.48 | 32,200 |
Food servers, nonrestaurant | 30 | 0.2 | 13.63 | 28,360 |
Dining room and cafeteria attendants and bartender helpers | 580 | 2.1 | 12.31 | 25,610 |
Dishwashers | 430 | 1.3 | 11.14 | 23,180 |
Hosts and hostesses, restaurant, lounge, and coffee shop | 350 | 1.3 | 11.00 | 22,880 |
Footnotes: |
Last Modified Date: Tuesday, June 27, 2017