The Occupational Employment Statistics (OES) survey is conducted in all 50 states and the District of Columbia in conjunction with the U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics.   The Research and Analysis Bureau of the Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation (DETR) conducts the semi-annual OES survey for Nevada.  The resulting information includes occupation and wage data for Nevada, the state’s three metropolitan statistical areas (Las Vegas-Paradise, Reno-Sparks and Carson City) and two balance-of-state areas.  In addition to the area information, data is available by industry and county¹.

In Nevada, approximately 1,700 establishments are surveyed on a semi-annual basis, giving the state a total sample of about 3,400 establishments annually.  The data provided here are possible due to thousands of Nevada employers who responded to the OES Wage data request. Businesses receiving the request are strongly encouraged to participate since the level of detail that can be provided from this program depends on the cooperation received from the business community.  Wage data are published for specific areas and/or industries only if there are enough responses to ensure both the reliability of the data and the confidentiality of the respondents.

Key Uses of OES Wage Survey Data:
Nevada's businesses, job seekers, educators, students and policy-makers use the wage and occupational information collected from the OES survey extensively.  The data provide valuable input for identifying trends in emerging or declining occupations.  Educators and policy-makers use this occupational information to direct training resources and establish curriculum that meets the needs of Nevada's businesses and industries.  Wage comparisons between areas are useful for new companies in selecting a location and for established companies looking to relocate.  In addition, job seekers and students consult these data when choosing or changing careers, entering the job market, or relocating to another area. 

Wage and Employment Data:

Wages in these reports are generally presented in terms of hourly rates.  Converting wages from hourly to yearly (or vice versa) is based on 2,080 hours per year (40 hours a week times 52 weeks a year).  There are several exceptions where annual wages are presented for occupations that do not normally work 2,080 hours per year and therefore only have a yearly figure.  These occupations include many teaching occupations as well as musicians, producers/directors, pilots, and airline attendants, to name a few. 

The mean wage is the estimated total wages in an occupation divided by its estimated employment.  The 10^th percentile wage estimate is the wage where 10% reported in the occupation made less and 90% made more.  Similarly, the 50^th percentile or median wage equals the estimated midpoint of all reported wages for the occupation; half made less and half made more.  Other reported percentiles include the 25th %, 75th % and 90th %.

“N/A” in the wage or employment field indicates that data is not available or released due to quality, confidentiality, or because the wage was higher than the upper bound of the wage range (>$70.00 hourly or $145,600 annually).  There will be no wage data in instances where the mean wage’s relative standard error is greater than 30%.  Similarly, the estimated employment field will be blank in instances where the employment's relative standard error is greater than 50%.

Estimated Employment (Est'd Empl) is an estimate of the number of employees in that occupation in the specific geographic area or specific industry group. The Estimated Employment figures in these tables are not directly comparable to employment estimations produced by other statistical programs.

Current Publication:

Significant reductions in sampling errors are obtained by combining six panels of data, particularly for small geographic areas and occupations. The current data are from the November 2003, May 2004, November 2004, May 2005, November 2005, and May 2006 OES survey panels.  The OES program uses the Bureau of Labor Statistics' (BLS) Employment Cost Index (ECI) to adjust the wage data collected in prior panels before combining them with the current panel's (May 2006) data. This wage updating procedure adjusts each detailed occupation's wage rate, as measured in the earlier panel, according to the average movement of its broader occupational division.  The Research and Analysis Bureau has used a more recent Employment Cost Index (ECI) to further update the wage data from the May 2006 reference period to March 2007.  The updated data published by Nevada will therefore differ from the official Bureau of Labor Statistics data series.

For more information on the OES survey methodology, visit the BLS-OES website's technical notes section at http://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_tec.htm

The stringent requirements of the OES survey, in terms of using a statistically valid sample and methodology, combined with consistent survey forms and definitions, has resulted in quality wage data for over 800 occupations that are comparable across all states and metropolitan areas.  National Wages and Other States Wage Data

Footnote (1):  Publications at the individual county level are not part of the official Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) series and as such, are not validated by BLS.