Occupational Employment and Wages in Providence-Warwick — May 2023

Workers in the Providence-Warwick, RI-MA Metropolitan Statistical Area had an average (mean) hourly wage of $31.23 in May 2023, compared to the nationwide average of $31.48, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Regional Commissioner William J. Sibley noted that higher paying major occupational groups included management ($65.37), legal ($53.56), and computer and mathematical ($52.89). Lower paying occupations included food preparation and serving related ($18.19), personal care and service ($18.90), and building and grounds cleaning and maintenance ($20.43). (See table A.)

Occupational groups with the highest employment in the Providence area included office and administrative support (11.9 percent), food preparation and serving related (10.3 percent), and sales and related (8.9 percent). Major occupational groups on the lower end of local employment included life, physical, and social science (0.7 percent); legal (0.7 percent); and arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media (1.3 percent).

Table A. Occupational employment and wages by major occupational group, United States and the Providence metropolitan area, May 2023

Major occupational group	Percent of total employment	Mean hourly wage ($)
United States	Providence	United States	Providence
Total, all occupations	100.0	100.0	31.48	31.23
Management	6.9	5.0	66.23	65.37
Business and financial operations	6.6	6.8	43.55	43.13
Computer and mathematical	3.4	3.0	54.39	52.89
Architecture and engineering	1.7	1.6	47.64	49.00
Life, physical, and social science	0.9	0.7	42.24	46.12
Community and social service	1.6	2.1	28.36	28.67
Legal	0.8	0.7	64.34	53.56
Educational instruction and library	5.8	6.7	31.92	34.83
Arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media	1.4	1.3	36.31	34.17
Healthcare practitioners and technical	6.1	6.8	49.07	49.63
Healthcare support	4.7	5.2	18.37	20.50
Protective service	2.3	2.6	27.74	30.00
Food preparation and serving related	8.7	10.3	16.58	18.19
Building and grounds cleaning and maintenance	2.9	3.1	18.43	20.43
Personal care and service	2.0	2.5	18.48	18.90
Sales and related	8.8	8.9	25.62	25.17
Office and administrative support	12.2	11.9	23.05	23.90
Farming, fishing, and forestry	0.3	0.1	19.22	20.24
Construction and extraction	4.1	3.8	29.57	32.88
Installation, maintenance, and repair	3.9	3.4	28.13	28.94
Production	5.8	6.1	22.90	24.01
Transportation and material moving	9.1	7.4	22.45	21.22

One occupational group-community and social service-was chosen to illustrate the diversity of data available for any of the 22 major occupational categories. Providence had 12,000 jobs in community and social service, accounting for 2.1 percent of local area employment, compared to the 1.6-percent share nationally. The average hourly wage for this occupational group locally was $28.67, compared to the national wage of $28.36.

Some of the larger detailed occupations within the community and social service group included social and human service assistants (2,830); child, family, and school social workers (2,480); and substance abuse, behavioral disorder, and mental health counselors (1,950). Among the higher-paying jobs in this group were health education specialists and healthcare social workers, with mean hourly wages of $37.13 and $35.08, respectively. (See chart 1.) At the lower end of the wage scale were religious activities and education directors ($19.04) and social and human service assistants ($21.53). (Detailed data for the community and social service occupations are presented in table 1; for a complete listing of detailed occupations available go to 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 some of the occupations within the community and social service group. For instance, child, family, and school social workers were employed at 1.9 times the national rate in Providence, and social and human service assistants, at 1.8 times the U.S. average. Healthcare social workers had a location quotient of 1.0 in Providence, 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 Rhode Island Department of Labor and Training, and the Massachusetts Department of Economic Research.

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 Providence-Warwick, RI-MA Metropolitan Statistical Area included 4,854 establishments with a response rate of 68 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 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, 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 community and social service occupations, Providence metropolitan area, May 2023

Occupation (1)	Employment	Mean wages ($)
Level (2)	Location quotient (3)	Hourly	Annual (4)
Community and social service occupations	12,000	1.3	28.67	59,630
Educational, guidance, and career counselors and advisors	1,400	1.1	34.69	72,160
Rehabilitation counselors	390	1.2	26.92	56,000
Substance abuse, behavioral disorder, and mental health counselors	1,950	1.3	24.02	49,960
Child, family, and school social workers	2,480	1.9	31.96	66,470
Healthcare social workers	700	1.0	35.08	72,960
Mental health and substance abuse social workers	760	1.8	34.20	71,130
Social workers, all other	150	0.7	43.64	90,780
Health education specialists	180	0.9	37.13	77,240
Social and human service assistants	2,830	1.8	21.53	44,790
Community health workers	180	0.8	28.48	59,240
Community and social service specialists, all other	180	0.5	29.74	61,860
Clergy	190	0.9	30.18	62,770
Directors, religious activities and education	270	3.1	19.04	39,610
Religious workers, all other	(5)	(5)	22.88	47,590
Footnotes: (1) For a complete listing of all detailed occupations in the Providence-Warwick, RI-MA Metropolitan Statistical Area, see www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_77200.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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