Occupational Employment and Wages in St. Louis — May 2023

Workers in the St. Louis, MO-IL Metropolitan Statistical Area had an average (mean) hourly wage of $29.76 in May 2023, compared to the nationwide average of $31.48, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Assistant Commissioner for Regional Operations Michael Hirniak noted that higher paying major occupational groups included legal ($57.32), management ($57.27), and architecture and engineering ($46.68). Lower paying occupations included food preparation and serving related ($16.40), healthcare support ($16.59), and personal care and service ($17.15). (See table A.)

Occupational groups with the highest employment in the St. Louis area included office and administrative support (12.2 percent), food preparation and serving related (9.0 percent), and transportation and material moving (8.7 percent). Major occupational groups on the lower end of local employment included life, physical, and social science (0.8 percent); legal (0.8 percent); and arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media (1.3 percent).

One occupational group-healthcare practitioners and technical-was chosen to illustrate the diversity of data available for any of the 22 major occupational categories. St. Louis had 90,780 jobs in healthcare practitioners and technical, accounting for 6.8 percent of local area employment, compared to the 6.1-percent share nationally. The average hourly wage for this occupational group locally was $45.44, compared to the national wage of $49.07.

Some of the larger detailed occupations within the healthcare practitioners and technical group included registered nurses (33,010), pharmacy technicians (4,930), and clinical laboratory technologists and technicians (4,780). Among the higher-paying jobs in this group were psychiatrists and emergency medicine physicians, with mean hourly wages of $147.56 and $130.54, respectively. At the lower end of the wage scale were dietetic technicians ($18.04) and ophthalmic medical technicians ($18.45). (Detailed data for the healthcare practitioners and technical occupations are presented in table 1; for a complete listing of detailed occupations available go to www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_41180.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 St. Louis area, above-average concentrations of employment were found in some of the occupations within the healthcare practitioners and technical group. For instance, magnetic resonance imaging technologists were employed at 2.0 times the national rate in St. Louis, and radiation therapist, at 1.8 times the U.S. average. Emergency medical technicians had a location quotient of 1.0 in St. Louis, indicating that this particular occupation's local and national employment shares were similar.

The statistics in this release are from the Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) survey, a cooperative effort between BLS and the State Workforce Agencies (SWAs). BLS funds the survey and provides the procedures and technical support. State Workforce Agencies collect most of the data: in this case, the Missouri Department of Economic Development, and the Illinois Department of Economic Security.

Technical Note

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. Full OEWS data tables are available online.

Additional information about the OEWS estimates and methodology are available in the national Technical Notes. The overall national response rate for the six panels, based on the 50 states and the District of Columbia, is 65.8 percent based on establishments and 64.3 percent based on weighted sampled employment. The sample in the St. Louis, MO-IL Metropolitan Statistical Area included 7,572 establishments with a response rate of 55 percent.

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 St. Louis, MO-IL Metropolitan Statistical Area includes Bond County, IL; Calhoun County, IL; Clinton County, IL; Jersey County, IL; Macoupin County, IL; Madison County, IL; Monroe County, IL; St. Clair County, IL; Franklin County, MO; Jefferson County, MO; Lincoln County, MO; St. Charles County, MO; St. Louis city, MO; St. Louis County, MO; and Warren County, MO.

For more information

Answers to frequently asked questions about the OEWS data, as well as general program documentation, are available on the OEWS website.

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.

Table 1. Employment and wage data for healthcare practitioners and technical occupations, St. Louis metropolitan area, May 2023

Occupation (1)	Employment	Mean wages ($)
Level (2)	Location quotient (3)	Hourly	Annual (4)
Healthcare practitioners and technical occupations	90,780	1.1	45.44	94,520
Chiropractors	400	1.1	36.83	76,600
Dentists, general	1,340	1.3	(5)	(5)
Orthodontists	70	1.3	(7)	(7)
Dietitians and nutritionists	850	1.3	30.08	62,570
Optometrists	410	1.1	57.20	118,970
Pharmacists	3,520	1.2	64.61	134,380
Physician assistants	800	0.6	62.29	129,570
Occupational therapists	1,800	1.4	42.34	88,080
Physical therapists	2,380	1.1	45.24	94,110
Radiation therapists	270	1.8	42.97	89,380
Recreational therapists	130	1.0	27.92	58,070
Respiratory therapists	1,150	1.0	35.20	73,210
Speech-language pathologists	1,760	1.2	39.54	82,250
Therapists, all other	100	0.7	29.48	61,320
Veterinarians	920	1.4	51.61	107,340
Registered nurses	33,010	1.2	38.69	80,480
Nurse anesthetists	230	0.6	96.25	200,190
Nurse midwives	50	0.9	61.24	127,380
Nurse practitioners	3,530	1.4	56.80	118,140
Audiologists	140	1.2	46.08	95,840
Emergency medicine physicians	270	0.9	130.54	271,530
Family medicine physicians	960	1.0	123.07	255,980
General internal medicine physicians	150	0.3	114.05	237,230
Obstetricians and gynecologists	40	0.2	173.43	360,740
Pediatricians, general	120	0.4	100.15	208,310
Physicians, pathologists	(5)	(5)	124.83	259,650
Psychiatrists	290	1.3	147.56	306,930
Radiologists	500	1.8	(7)	(7)
Physicians, all other	2,650	1.0	157.13	326,830
Dental hygienists	1,990	1.1	38.49	80,060
Healthcare diagnosing or treating practitioners, all other	110	0.4	45.05	93,700
Clinical laboratory technologists and technicians	4,780	1.6	28.19	58,630
Cardiovascular technologists and technicians	220	0.4	32.22	67,020
Diagnostic medical sonographers	570	0.8	41.75	86,840
Nuclear medicine technologists	160	1.1	42.78	88,990
Radiologic technologists and technicians	1,840	1.0	33.29	69,240
Magnetic resonance imaging technologists	700	2.0	39.60	82,380
Medical dosimetrists	30	0.9	57.85	120,330
Emergency medical technicians	1,450	1.0	19.11	39,740
Paramedics	1,820	2.1	28.13	58,510
Dietetic technicians	40	0.2	18.04	37,510
Pharmacy technicians	4,930	1.2	19.83	41,240
Psychiatric technicians	1,340	1.3	21.41	44,540
Surgical technologists	780	0.8	31.42	65,350
Veterinary technologists and technicians	900	0.9	19.02	39,570
Ophthalmic medical technicians	400	0.6	18.45	38,370
Licensed practical and licensed vocational nurses	4,670	0.9	28.54	59,360
Medical records specialists	1,470	0.9	25.80	53,660
Opticians, dispensing	760	1.1	18.94	39,400
Orthotists and prosthetists	130	1.7	34.53	71,820
Hearing aid specialists	140	1.6	26.68	55,500
Health technologists and technicians, all other	1,880	1.3	22.46	46,720
Health information technologists and medical registrars	420	1.4	26.69	55,520
Athletic trainers	190	0.8	(6)	56,590
Genetic counselors	50	1.8	43.11	89,670
Surgical assistants	180	1.1	31.75	66,040
Healthcare practitioners and technical workers, all other	260	0.8	34.11	70,950
(1) For a complete listing of all detailed occupations in the St. Louis, MO-IL Metropolitan Statistical Area, see www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_41180.htm. (2) Estimates for detailed occupations may not sum to the totals due to rounding, and because the totals may include occupations that are 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. (6) Wages for some occupations that do not generally work year-round, full time, are reported either as hourly wages or annual salaries depending on how they are typically paid. (7) This wage is equal to or greater than $115.00 per hour or $239,200 per year.

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