Occupational Employment and Wages in Provo-Orem — May 2023

Workers in the Provo-Orem, UT Metropolitan Statistical Area had an average (mean) hourly wage of $28.89 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 management ($59.74), legal ($54.62), and computer and mathematical ($50.03). Lower paying occupations included food preparation and serving related ($15.24), building and grounds cleaning and maintenance ($17.37), and personal care and service ($18.04). (See table A.)

Occupational groups with the highest employment in the Provo area included office and administrative support (13.9 percent), sales and related (8.5 percent), and management (8.2 percent). Major occupational groups on the lower end of local employment included life, physical, and social science (0.5 percent); legal (0.5 percent); and protective service (1.3 percent).

One occupational group-construction and extraction-was chosen to illustrate the diversity of data available for any of the 22 major occupational categories. Provo had 19,460 jobs in construction and extraction, accounting for 6.6 percent of local area employment, compared to the 4.1-percent share nationally. The average hourly wage for this occupational group locally was $26.15, compared to the national wage of $29.57.

Some of the larger detailed occupations within the construction and extraction group included construction laborers (4,020), carpenters (2,540), and first-line supervisors of construction trades and extraction workers (2,260). Among the higher-paying jobs in this group were first-line supervisors of construction trades and extraction workers and construction and building inspectors, with mean hourly wages of $35.67 and $30.70, respectively. At the lower end of the wage scale were carpenters helpers ($18.68), and construction and maintenance painters ($19.69). (Detailed data for the construction and extraction occupations are presented in table 1; for a complete listing of detailed occupations available go to www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_39340.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 Provo area, above-average concentrations of employment were found in many of the occupations within the construction and extraction group. For instance, tapers were employed at 3.5 times the national rate in Provo, and drywall and ceiling tile installers, at 2.5 times the U.S. average. Plumbers, pipefitters, and steamfitters had a location quotient of 1.1 in Provo, 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 Utah Department of Workforce Services.

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 Provo-Orem, UT Metropolitan Statistical Area included 2,652 establishments with a response rate of 76 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 Provo-Orem, UT Metropolitan Statistical Area includes Juab County and Utah County.

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 construction and extraction occupations, Provo metropolitan area, May 2023

Occupation (1)	Employment	Mean wages ($)
Level (2)	Location quotient (3)	Hourly	Annual (4)
Construction and extraction occupations	19,460	1.6	26.15	54,400
First-line supervisors of construction trades and extraction workers	2,260	1.5	35.67	74,190
Brickmasons and blockmasons	470	4.3	29.28	60,900
Carpenters	2,540	1.9	23.92	49,750
Floor layers, except carpet, wood, and hard tiles	70	1.4	20.88	43,440
Tile and stone setters	250	3.1	24.69	51,360
Cement masons and concrete finishers	1,100	2.8	25.82	53,710
Construction laborers	4,020	2.0	23.56	49,000
Paving, surfacing, and tamping equipment operators	180	2.2	25.19	52,380
Operating engineers and other construction equipment operators	950	1.1	26.85	55,850
Drywall and ceiling tile installers	440	2.5	23.05	47,950
Tapers	110	3.5	23.32	48,500
Electricians	1,750	1.3	27.66	57,540
Glaziers	150	1.5	25.55	53,140
Insulation workers, mechanical	50	1.2	17.90	37,240
Painters, construction and maintenance	680	1.6	19.69	40,960
Pipelayers	130	1.9	23.70	49,300
Plumbers, pipefitters, and steamfitters	960	1.1	27.54	57,280
Plasterers and stucco masons	530	12.4	26.29	54,690
Roofers	300	1.2	25.44	52,910
Sheet metal workers	210	0.9	28.91	60,130
Structural iron and steel workers	240	1.9	24.62	51,200
Solar photovoltaic installers	250	5.4	24.97	51,950
Helpers--brickmasons, blockmasons, stonemasons, and tile and marble setters	210	6.6	23.53	48,950
Helpers--carpenters	180	4.3	18.68	38,860
Helpers--pipelayers, plumbers, pipefitters, and steamfitters	(5)	(5)	20.55	42,740
Helpers, construction trades, all other	70	1.4	17.77	36,960
Construction and building inspectors	240	0.9	30.70	63,860
Highway maintenance workers	260	0.9	23.72	49,340
Miscellaneous construction and related workers	40	0.7	21.19	44,060
Excavating and loading machine and dragline operators, surface mining	140	2.3	25.06	52,130
Earth drillers, except oil and gas	30	1.0	25.23	52,480
(1) For a complete listing of all detailed occupations in the Provo-Orem, UT Metropolitan Statistical Area, see www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_39340.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.

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