Baton Rouge is among the top 10 U.S. metro areas in which there are jobs that pay above the median average and do not require a four-year college degree, according to a new study by Federal Reserve Banks of Philadelphia, Cleveland and Atlanta.
The report includes two measures of “opportunity occupations,” or jobs that paid above the national median average of $35,540 annually as of May 2014 and didn’t require a college degree. By one measure, Baton Rouge’s share of such jobs is 35.7%—fourth highest in the U.S., which has an average of 27.4% so-called opportunity occupations. By a second measure, Baton Rouge’s share of such jobs is 29.4%, ninth highest in the nation.
Three data sets were used in the report to determine the educational attainment associated with any given occupation: the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Employment Projections program; the Employment & Training Administration’s Occupational Information Network program; and an analysis of data from Burning Glass Technologies, a data vendor that aggregates and extracts information from online job ads.
“Regardless of the education data set used, three occupations rank among the top five most prevalent: registered nurses; bookkeeping, accounting and auditing clerks; and heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers,” reads a statement from the Fed offices behind the report.
Across the nation, it appears most skilled jobs are increasingly requiring a four-year degree. A total of 23 occupations were analyzed in the report. Among them, 16 saw significant increases between 2011 and 2014 in regards to educational requirement of a four-year degree. Only three saw a significant decrease.
