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5/28/2024 1:19:18 PM
Tim O'Neill
The Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED) recently released new data within its Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) tool. This tool shows employment and typical wages by occupation and region in Minnesota. Updated annually, this data reveals estimated employment and wages in the Seven-County Twin Cities Metro Area, as well as multiple other economic development regions and other geographic areas of the state.
According to new OEWS data, the Metro Area had an estimated 1,743,500 jobs during the first quarter of 2024. Office & Administrative Support occupations had the most employment out of 22 major occupational groups, accounting for 12.4% of the Metro Area's jobs. Business & Financial Operations, Sales & Related, Food Preparation & Serving, Management, and Transportation & Material Moving occupations all held between 7.5% and 8.5% of the region's total jobs. Altogether, these top six-employing occupational groups accounted for over half (51.9%) of the Metro Area's total jobs (Figure 1).
Overall, the Metro Area's 1.7 million jobs account for approximately three-fifths (60.5%) of Minnesota's total jobs. Zooming in, however, reveals that certain occupational groups are much more concentrated in the Metro Area. For example, Legal, Computer & Mathematical, Business & Financial Operations, and Architecture & Engineering occupations all have more than 70% of their respective statewide employment located just in the Metro Area. Other occupational groups with more than 60.5% of statewide employment in the Metro Area include Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports & Media; Life, Physical & Social Science; Management; Personal Care & Service; Healthcare Support; and Office & Administrative Support (Figure 2).
Those occupational groups with significantly or moderately lower statewide shares of employment in the Metro Area include Farming, Fishing, & Forestry; Production; Construction & Extraction; Installation, Maintenance & Repair; and Healthcare Practitioners.
Of course, we can also dig into the wage data by occupational group and specific occupation with DEED's OEWS tool. Table 1 highlights 25th percentile hourly wages and median (50th percentile) hourly wages for the 22 major occupational groups in the Metro Area. According to the new first quarter 2024 data, the occupational groups with the highest median hourly wages in the region include Management ($63.50), Legal ($55.72), Computer & Mathematical ($52.09), Architecture & Engineering ($46.98), and Healthcare Practitioners ($46.47). The median hourly wage for the total of all occupations is $27.78 (Table 1).
It should be noted that the OEWS wage is straight-time gross pay, including base pay, incentive pay, cost-of-living allowances, guaranteed pay, hazardous-duty pay, on-call pay, and tips. Excluded from the wage definition are overtime pay, shift differentials, non-production bonuses, holiday pay, meal and lodging payments, draw, severance pay, back pay, jury duty pay, and tuition reimbursements. Visit the Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics website to learn more.
| Table 1. Metro Area Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, Qtr. 1 2024 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SOC Code | Occupational Group | Number of Jobs | 25th Percentile Wage | Median Wage |
| 0 | Total, All Occupations | 1,743,500 | $19.13 | $27.78 |
| 430000 | Office & Administrative Support | 215,890 | $20.63 | $24.47 |
| 130000 | Business & Financial Operations | 148,630 | $31.75 | $40.39 |
| 410000 | Sales & Related | 141,920 | $17.00 | $21.35 |
| 350000 | Food Preparation & Serving | 136,270 | $13.65 | $15.60 |
| 110000 | Management | 132,050 | $42.73 | $63.50 |
| 530000 | Transportation & Material Moving | 129,950 | $18.96 | $23.46 |
| 310000 | Healthcare Support | 104,830 | $15.72 | $17.87 |
| 510000 | Production | 104,740 | $19.28 | $23.44 |
| 290000 | Healthcare Practitioners | 100,690 | $33.02 | $46.47 |
| 250000 | Educational Instruction & Library | 93,160 | $21.03 | $29.07 |
| 150000 | Computer & Mathematical | 76,680 | $39.71 | $52.09 |
| 470000 | Construction & Extraction | 58,530 | $28.44 | $37.81 |
| 490000 | Installation, Maintenance & Repair | 55,220 | $23.96 | $30.28 |
| 370000 | Building & Grounds Cleaning & Maintenance | 45,450 | $17.52 | $19.14 |
| 170000 | Architecture & Engineering | 41,270 | $37.76 | $46.98 |
| 390000 | Personal Care & Service | 37,880 | $15.01 | $17.78 |
| 210000 | Community & Social Service | 33,430 | $22.88 | $27.89 |
| 330000 | Protective Service | 26,960 | $19.55 | $29.48 |
| 270000 | Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports & Media | 24,370 | $23.37 | $30.84 |
| 190000 | Life, Physical & Social Science | 19,390 | $31.13 | $42.20 |
| 230000 | Legal | 15,120 | $35.82 | $55.72 |
| 450000 | Farming, Fishing & Forestry Occupations | 1,050 | $15.15 | $21.98 |
| Source: DEED Occupational Employment & Wage Statistics | ||||
Contact Tim O'Neill, Labor Market Analyst, at timothy.oneill@state.mn.us.
