Baton Rouge workers earned less than their counterparts nationally in May 2015, when the mean hourly wage for all occupations in the Baton Rouge Metro area was 10% below the national average, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics says.
The bureau released the employment and wage data Tuesday in its Occupational Employment and Wages in Baton Rouge May 2015 report. The wage and employment report contains information for 500 detailed jobs and 22 major occupational groups in greater Baton Rouge.
Capital Region workers earned less than their counterparts nationally in nearly every major occupational group examined. According to the report, the mean hourly wage for all occupations in the greater Baton Rouge area in May of last year was $21.01 per hour. The national average was $23.23.
Local wages for the major occupational groups ranged from $9.91 per hour for food preparation, serving and personal care to $48.46 per hour for management, says Stanley W. Suchman, the bureau’s assistant commissioner for regional operations, in a statement.
Occupational areas in which local mean hourly wages surpassed the national average include: architecture and engineering ($40.49); arts, design, entertainment, sports and media ($30.88); farming, fishing and forestry ($19.33); production ($24.63); and transportation and material moving ($17.31). Nationally, the mean hourly wage for those occupations was $39.89, $27.39, $12.67, $17.41, and $16.90, respectively.
Local employment was concentrated in five of 22 occupational groups examined, including construction and extraction; installation, maintenance, and repair, and protective service.
The Baton Rouge Metropolitan Statistical Area includes Ascension, East Baton Rouge, East Feliciana, Iberville, Livingston, Pointe Coupee, St. Helena, West Baton Rouge, and West Feliciana parishes.
