Section I: Introduction

Research & Planning (R&P), a section of the Department of Employment, in
cooperation with the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), has conducted an Occupational Employment Statistics (OES) Wage Survey since1996. The OES program produces occupational employment and wage estimates that have many uses. For example,
wage information helps employers determine if they are offering competitive wages. Employment and training organizations (such as community colleges), vocational
counselors, and individuals use wage data to assist students in making career
decisions.

In November 2002, the OES survey changed from an annual survey to a semiannual
survey. The OES survey samples and contacts establishments in May and November
of each year. The OES Wage Survey is conducted by mail. Data obtained are used to estimate occupational employment and wage rates for Unemployment Insurance (UI) covered wage and salary jobs in non-farm establishments. For May 2004, Wyoming
sampled 756 economic units. An economic unit is generally a single physical location
where business is conducted or where services or industrial operations are performed.
A response rate of 80.69 percent of sampled units and 77.13 percent of sampled
employment was achieved. Thank you to all the employers who participated in
our survey over the last eight years.

Wages for the OES Wage Survey include base pay rates, cost-of-living allowances, guaranteed pay, hazard pay, incentive pay, commissions, piece rates and production bonuses, length-of-service allowances, on-call pay, and portal-to-portal pay. Items
excluded from the survey are back pay, jury-duty pay, overtime pay, severance pay,
shift differentials, vacation pay, Christmas bonuses, holiday or weekend pay,
attendance bonuses, meal and lodging allowances, merchandise discounts, non-
production bonuses, profit-sharing distributions, relocation allowances, stock
bonuses, tool allowances, tuition reimbursements, and uniform allowances. Data
from tips were not collected prior to 1999. Tip data are incorporated into the hourly estimates. The OES Wage Survey does not include benefit data.

The hourly wage estimates in this publication are calculated using a year-round,
full-time figure of 2,080 hours per year (52 weeks times 40 hours). Occupations
that typically have a work year of less than 2,080 hours (such as musical and entertainment occupations, flight attendants, pilots, and teachers) are reported
only as an annual wage.

Wage information found in this publication may be used in conjunction with related information from Wages and Benefits in Wyoming-2003 to get a picture of total compensation. Benefit information is not available by occupation but is compiled by
major industry, firm size, and regions in Wyoming. 

Every state conducts an identical OES wage survey using standard techniques. This facilitates comparison of data among states, as well as comparisons with national
figures. National and state wage estimates are located on the BLS website. Each
state's labor market information agency may also conduct and publish supplementary
wage or benefit surveys, occupational licensing information, statewide and localized employment information, and staffing pattern data, which can be found on its
respective website. Research & Planning's website provides links to most of these
sites on our Other Resources page.


Section II: Industry Publication of Wages

In 2002, the OES survey switched from using the Standard Industrial Classification
(SIC) system to using the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS). 

Due to differences in NAICS and SIC structures, OES industry data for 2003 are
not comparable with the SIC-based data for earlier years. For more information
about NAICS, see the BLS Web site.  For purposes of classification, an establishment
is defined as an economic unit that processes goods or provides services, such as a
factory, store, or mine. The establishment is generally at a single physical location
and is engaged primarily in one type of economic activity.

The OES survey covers all full- and part-time wage and salary workers in non-farm industries. The survey does not include the self-employed owners and partners in unincorporated firms, household workers, or unpaid family workers.

The OES survey includes establishments in NAICS sectors listed below. Data for the
U.S. Postal Service and the federal government are universe counts obtained from
the Postal Service and the Office of Personnel Management, respectively. 

BLS funds the survey and provides the procedures and technical support, while the
states collect the data. BLS produces cross-industry NAICS estimates for the nation,
states, and metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs). NAICS estimates are produced
primarily at the 4-digit level. BLS releases all cross-industry and national estimates,
and the states release industry estimates at the state, county and MSA levels. The
OES survey defines employment as the number of workers who can be classified as
full-time or part-time employees, including workers on paid vacations or other types
of leave; workers on unpaid short-term absences; salaried officers, executives, and
staff members of incorporated firms; employees temporarily assigned to other units;
and employees for whom the reporting unit is their permanent duty station
regardless of whether that unit prepares their paycheck.

Section III: Method of Collection

In 1999, the OES Wage Survey began using the Office of Management and Budget’s occupational classification system--the Standard Occupational Classification (SOC)
system. The SOC classification system allows government statistical agencies and
others to produce data using a common classification system. Prior to the SOC
system, Federal agencies collecting occupational data used a variety of systems
that were not necessarily compatible with one another.

In the SOC system, all workers are classified in one of over 820 occupations
according to their occupational definition. To facilitate classification, occupations
are combined to form 23 major, 96 minor, and 449 broad groups of occupations
requiring similar job duties, skills, education, or experience. 

Classification Principles of the SOC Coding System

In order to ensure that all users of occupational data classify workers in the same
way, the following classification principles should be followed:

1.  The classification covers all occupations in which work is performed for pay or
profit, including work performed in family-operated enterprises by family members
who are not directly compensated. It excludes occupations unique to volunteers.
Each occupation is assigned to only one occupational category at the lowest level
of the classification.

2.  Occupations are classified based on work performed and on required skills,
education, training, and credentials.

3.  Supervisors of professional and technical workers usually have a background
similar to those of the workers they supervise and therefore are classified with
the workers they supervise. Likewise, team leaders, lead workers, and supervisors
of production, sales, and service workers who spend at least twenty percent of
their time performing work similar to the workers they supervise are classified
with the workers they supervise.

4.  First-line managers and supervisors of production, service, and sales workers
who spend more than eighty percent of their time performing supervisory activities
are classified separately in the appropriate supervisor category because their work
activities are distinct from those of the workers they supervise. First-line
managers are generally found in smaller establishments where they perform
both supervisory and management functions, such as accounting, marketing,
and personnel work.

5.  Apprentices and trainees are classified with the occupations for which they
are being trained, while helpers and aides are classified separately.

6.  If an occupation is not included as a distinct detailed occupation in the
structure, it is classified in the appropriate residual occupation. Residual
occupations contain all occupations within a major, minor, or broad group
that are not classified separately.

7.  When workers can be classified in more than one occupation, they should
be classified in the occupation that requires the higher skill level. When there
is no perceptible difference in skill level, the worker should be classified in
the occupation that describes their primary activity.

8.  Data collection and reporting agencies should classify workers at the most
detailed level possible. Different agencies may use different levels of aggregation,
depending on their ability to collect data and on the requirements of users.

 

Section IV: Geographic Coverage of Estimates

The data for Wyoming are collected for four regions and the two Metropolitan
Statistical Areas (MSAs), Casper and Cheyenne, shown in the map below. An
MSA is a county or group of adjoining counties that contain at least one
urbanized area of 50,000 inhabitants or more. The sample is stratified for
each of these geographic areas. The estimates are prepared using samples
specifically drawn for these geographic areas. Sample stratification provides
greater assurance that no employer segment is left out of the sample.

Occupational Employment Statistics Area Map

Section V: Estimation Technique

The OES Wage Survey estimates were calculated using information from the 2000,
2001, 2002, 2003 and May 2004 surveys. Using three or more years of data reduces sampling error, particularly for small geographic areas and less common occupations. However, this technique also requires the adjustment of 2000, 2001,
2002, and 2003 data to the current reference period. This procedure is referred
to as "wage updating." Estimates from the BLS Federal/State Cooperative OES
program are produced for the most recent survey reference period that includes
the 12th of the month. The BLS validated the results found in this publication.
For wage updating purposes, the BLS uses the national wage changes for the
nine occupational divisions for which Employment Cost Index (ECI) estimates
are available. This procedure assumes that each occupation's wage, as measured
in each year, moves according to the average movement of its occupational division
and that there are no major geographic or detailed occupational differences. In
the BLS estimates, ECI factors were applied to 2000, 2001, 2002, and 2003 survey
data to update them.

The employment estimates for each occupation are based on the total number of jobs worked reported as part of the UI Covered Employment and Wages program. The BLS technical notes relating to the OES Wage Survey include the scope of the survey, an explanation of the UI Covered Employment and Wage program, occupational
classification of 22 major occupational groups, size class, and hourly intervals.
 

Section VI: Wage Survey Definitions

* Annual Wages - Wages for certain occupations having a work year of less than
2,080 hours are reported as an annual salary.

Employment - Represents the jobs worked for wages, salaries, commissions, or
tips from a private employer, a non-profit employer, or a governmental unit. This
is the estimate of the number of jobs worked in an occupation across the
industries in which it was reported. These numbers are rounded to the
nearest ten.

Mean Wage - The estimated total wages for an occupation divided by its weighted
survey employment. A measure of central tendency. If some values are far removed
from the others (outlying), they can substantially influence the mean.

Entry Level Wage - Mean of the lower one-third of wage distribution.

Experienced Level Wage - Mean of the upper two-thirds of wage distribution

Percentile Wage Estimates - A percentile wage estimate shows the percentage of
jobs worked in an occupation that earn less than a given wage and the percentage
that earn more. 

The following Figure shows the statewide hourly wage for all occupations by
percentile:

25th Percentile - 25 percent of jobs worked in an occupation are paid wages below
$8.58 and 75 percent are paid wages above $8.58.

50th Percentile (Median) - The estimated 50th percentile of the wage distribution;
50 percent of jobs worked in an occupation are paid wages below $12.70 and 50
percent are paid wages above $12.70.

75th Percentile - 75 percent of jobs worked in an occupation are paid wages below
$19.63 and 25 percent are paid wages above $19.63.

Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) - A county or group of adjoining counties that
contain at least one urbanized area of 50,000 inhabitants or more.

Occupational Title - A short title describing each occupation.

Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) Code - A six-digit code that identifies occupations as defined by the SOC classification system.

 

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