Ddility payments for General Schedule (white-col-
lar) workers,

2Fora discussion of the combining of these
programs, see John E. Buckley, “BLS Redesigns
Its Compensation Surveys”, Compensation and
Working Conditions, September 1996, pp. 19-21.

*For information on the method of selecting
and leveling occupations, see Kenneth J.
Hoffmann, “New Approach to Measuring Occu-
ational Wages,” Compensation and Working
Conditions, December 1996, pp. 4-8.

4 Hard copy bulletins can be purchased from
the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Publications Sales
Center, P.O. Box 2415, Chicago, IL 60690-2145.
Electronic files are available on the Internet's

—ENDNOTES—

World Wide Web through the Bureau of Labor
Statistics’ site: http://stats.bls, gov/ocshome. htm.

5 Through 1995 the October 1984 definition
had 257 MSA's, 70 PMSA's, and 20 CMSA’s, and
almost 2,400 tan counties, exclud-
ing Alaska and Hawaii. Area surveys related to
PMSA's rather than CMSA‘s.

* Anchorage and Honolulu were designated
certainty areas so that Alaska and Hawaii can be
excluded from estimates for the Pay Agent.

7 Average annual pay data were compiled from
1993 reports submitted by employers subject to
State and Federal unemployment insurance (UI)
laws covering 109.4 million full- and part-time
workers. In selecting the earlier sample of areas,
those with similar major 2-digit manufacturing
industrial composition and located in the same re-
gion were grouped in the same strata.

31 Compensation and Working Conditions Spring 1997

“The nonmetropolitan jurisdictions of Alaska
and Hawaii formed separate strata so that data
representing these States can be excluded from
estimates for the Pay Agent

® “Rest of the United States combined, ex-
cluding Alaska and Hawaii” consists of all met-
designated by the Pay Agent for locality based
rates,

‘Comprehensive bulletins will be published
for Dayton-Springfield, Huntsville, and Rich-
mond-Petersburg to meet the needs of the Pay
Agent. Results of the Kalamazoo-Battle Creek
and Raleigh-Durham. Hill surveys will be
included in the “Rest of the United States com-
bined” data provided to the Pay Agent. Bulletins
will be published for these areas if sufficient data
meet publication criteria,



Table 2. Areas selected for surveying In the BLS NCS program

Consolidated metropolitan statistical
areas
Boston Woresster-Lawrence, MA-NH-ME-

Chicago-Gary-Kenosha, IL-IN-WI

Cincinnati-Hamilton, OH-KY-IN

Cleveland-Akron, OH

Dallas-Fort Worth, TX

Denver-Boulder-Greeley, CO

Detroit-Ann Arbor-Flint, MI

Houston-Galveston-Brazoria, TX

Los Angeles-Riverside-Orange County, CA

Miami-Fort Lauderdale, FL

Milwaukee-Racine, WI

New York-Northern New Jersey-Long

Island, NY-NJ-CT-PA

Philadelphia-Wilmington-Atiantic City, PA-
NJ-DE-MD

Portland-Salem, OR-WA

Sacramento-Yolo, CA

San Francisco-Oakland-San Jose, CA

Seattle-Tacoma-Bremerton, WA

Washington-Baltimore, DC-MD-VA-WV

Certainty metropolitan statistical areas
Anchorage, AK

Atlanta, GA

Charlotte-Gastonia-Rock Hill, NC-SC.
Columbus, OH

Hartford, CT

Honolulu, HI

Indianapolis, IN

Kansas City, MO-KS.

Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN-WI
Orlando, FL

Phoenix-Mesa, AZ

Pittsburgh, PA

San Diego, CA

St. Louis, MO-IL.

‘Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL

Selected non-certainty metropolitan
areas

Amarillo, T%

Augusta-Aiken, GA-SC

Austin-San Marcos, TX

Birmingham, AL

Bloomington, IN
Bloomington-Normal, IL
Brownsville-Harlingen-San Benito, TX
Butfalo-Niagara Fails, NY
Charleston-North Charleston, SC
Corpus Christi, TX
Dayton-Springfield, OH
Elkhart-Goshen, IN

Fort Collins-Loveland, CO.

Grand Rapids-Muskegon-Holland, MI
Great Falls, MT

Greensboro-Winston-Salem-High Point,
Ne

Greenville-Spartanburg-Anderson, SC

Hickory-Morgantown-Lenoir, NC

lowa City, IA

Johnstown, PA

Knoxville, TN

Lincoln, NE

Louisville, KY-IN

Melbourne-Titusville-Palm Bay, FL

Memphis, TN-AR-MS

Mobile, AL

New Orleans, LA

Norfolk-Virginia Beach-Newport News, VA-
NC

Ocala, FL.

Oklahoma City, OK
Providence-Fall River-Warwick, Ri-MA
Reading, PA

Reno, NV
Richland-Kennewick-Pasco, WA
Richmond-Petersburg, VA
Rochester, NY

Rockford, IL.

Salinas, CA

San Antonio, TX

Springfield, MA

Springfield, MO

Tallahassee, FL
Visalia-Tulare-Porterville, CA
York, PA

Youngstown-Warren, OH

Metropolitan areas surveyed for the Pay
Agent

Huntsville, AL

Kalamazoo-Battle Creek, MI
Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill, NC

Selected nonmetropolitan counties
Andrews, TX
Bannock, ID
Bradley, TN
Carson City, NV
Cheshire, NH
Cheyenne, CO
Choctaw, AL
Citrus, FL
Clatsop, OR
Clinton, IA
Clinton, NY
Columbia, NY
Craven, NC
Crook, OR
Decatur, GA

Delta, MI
Des Moines, IA
Dorchester, MD
Fairbanks-North Star, AK
Fergus, MT
Fond Du Lac, WI
Franklin, VA
Freeborn, MN.
Ge wn, SC
Gillespie, TX
Goodhue, MN
Grafton, NH
Green Lake, WI
Greenwood, SC
Griggs, ND
Harrison, KY
Henderson, IL,
Henry, AL
Jefferson, IN
Juneau, AK
Juneau, WI
Kauai, HI
Lee, MS
Lewis, MO
Liberty, GA
Lincoin, WY
Logan, NE
Madison, NE
Marshall, IN
Monroe, OH
Montgomery, VA
Moore, NC
Morgan, IL
Northumberland, PA
VT
Palo Pinto, TX
Panola, TX

Skagit, WA

St. Francis, AR
‘St. Lawrence, NY
Tama, IA
Tattnall, GA
Taylor, KY
‘Tunica, MS:
Vermillion, LA
Ward, ND
Wasco, OR
Washington, GA
Wayne, OH
Wayne, TN
Winston, MS
Yavapai, AZ

Compensation and Working Conditions Spring 1997 30

TD


BY KENNETH J. HOFFMANN

Kenneth J. Hoffmann is an economist in the Di-
vision of Compensation Data Analysis and Plan-
ning, Bureau of Labor Statistics. Telephone
(202) 606-6201.

New Sample Areas
Selected for BLS
National Compensation
Survey Program

The Bureau’s occupational compensation program,
which is being converted from the study of wages of
predetermined occupations to the study of a much
broader range of occupations, will also study an entirely
new sample of geographic areas.

he Bureau of Labor Statistics
[ has selected a new sample of
areas for its surveys of
occupational wages based on the
1990 Census. It is fundamentally
different from the current sample in
three ways:

© It represents all 50 States;

© Where applicable, the program
studies Consolidated Metro-
politan Statistical Areas rather
than Primary Metropolitan
Statistical areas, and;

* Separate data will be provided
for nine broad regions (defined
in table 1) rather than the
previous four—Northeast,
South, Midwest, and West.

BLS has conducted occupational
wage surveys since 1960. They have
been designed to present data for
individual metropolitan areas,
broader geographic regions, and the
United States. About once every 10
years following a decennial census, a
new set of areas is selected to (1)

27 Compensation and Working Conditions Spring 1997

reflect changes in the definitions of
metropolitan areas; (2) give new
metropolitan areas an opportunity to
be represented in the program; and
(3) reflect changes in employment
among regions.

Through 1995, the Bureau had
studied a sample of 90 metropolitan
areas and 70 nonmetropolitan
counties developed from the 1980
Census. The sample, when statisti-
cally weighted, represented the
United States (excluding Alaska and
Hawaii) and four broad regions.
Seventeen additional areas were
surveyed for the Pay Agent for
administering the Federal Pay
Comparability Act of 1990."
Approximately 120 additional areas
were surveyed for the Employment
Standards Administration of the
U.S. Department of Labor for
administering the Service Contract
Act.

Depending on the purpose of the
survey and the size of the area,
studies were conducted 1 or 2 years
apart. A preselected list of occupa-
tions was surveyed in each of the
areas.


Defining Metropolitan Areas

A Consolidated Metropolitan
Statistical Area (CMSA) is one
having over a million inhabitants
with separate component areas, or
Primary Metropolitan Statistical
Areas (PMSA's), meeting
statistical and other criteria
specified by the Office of
Management and Budget. An
example is the Washington-
Baltimore CMSA, which consists
of the Washington PMSA, the
Baltimore PMSA, and the
Hagerstown PMSA. A Metropoli-
tan Statistical Area (MSA)
contains 50,000 to 1,000,000
inhabitants, for example, Albany-
Schenectady-Troy, or is a
freestanding area with a million or
more inhabitants such as Atlanta.
The criteria for defining metro-
politan areas are published in the
Feaeral Register (55 FR 12154-
12160, March 30, 1990).

Background to the National
Compensation Survey

The Bureau’s Occupational
Compensation Survey program
(OCS) is being combined with two
other Bureau programs, the Employ-
ment Cost Index and the Employee

Benefit Survey.” In doing so,
occupational pay surveys will
convert from the study of wages for
predetermined occupations and
levels to the study of occupations
randomly selected in the establish-
ments studied. Thus, data will be
provided for a much broader range
of occupations. The method of
determining the work level of
occupations will also be changed.?

Under the new program, tenta-
tively titled the National Compensa-
tion Survey (NCS), information will
be published for individual occupa-
tions such as secretary; larger groups
such as administrative support
occupations, including clerical; and
even more aggregate groups such as
white-collar workers. As the
program is put in place in steps,
information will also be available on
benefits, total compensation, and
change over time. The same
methodology will be used across
geographic areas so that interarea
comparisons will be possible.
Survey results will be published and
made available on the Internet as
well.*

Selecting survey areas
Using 1990 census data, the
United States Office of Management

and Budget has identified 251
MSA's and 18 CMSA’s in the United
States as of June 30, 1994, The 18
CMSA’s are made up of 73 PMSA’s.
There are about 2,300
nonmetropolitan counties in the
United States.’

In selecting the sample of areas
for NCS, BLS designated each of the
18 CMSA’s; the 13 largest MSA’s
(those with nonagricultural employ-
ment of 560,000 or more); and
Anchorage, AK, and Honolulu, HI
as certainty areas.6 That is, they
were certain of inclusion in the
survey program.

The remaining 236 MSA’s were
divided into 45 individual clusters or
Strata. Each stratum consisted of
two or more areas within the same
Census region and with similar
average annual pay.’ One area was
randomly selected from each of the
45 strata, An area’s chance of
selection was proportionate to its
share of the total nonagricultual
employment in the cell. The 2,295
nonmetropolitan counties of the
United States were stratified and 73
counties were randomly selected in a
similar manner.* Table 2 lists the
metropolitan areas and
nonmetropolitan counties selected
for study.

(Selected area shaded)
Area

Example 1
Total Employ

Examples of Stratification and Selection

Employment

1 York, PAL ae
Lancaster, PA 185,301
Erie, PA 117,701
State College, PA 54,193
Glen Falls, NY 43,958
Example 2
Total Employment

} Corpus Chirlat TX
Baton Rouge, LA
Lake Charles, LA 67,328
ler, 1X 65,690

Percent Average

oftotal annual pay

13.25 24,229
12.92 23,539

Compensation and Working Conditions Spring 1997 28

TT



Meeting other user’s needs

The President’s Pay Agent is
required under the Federal Employ-
ees Pay Comparability Act of 1990
to set salary rates for Federal
General Schedule workers (primarily
white-collar workers) on a locality
basis. As required by the Act, each
year BLS provides the Pay Agent
with earnings data for the major
centers of Federal employment as
well as for the “Rest of the United
States combined, excluding Alaska
and Hawaii.”® The areas are
selected by the Pay Agent.

The Employment Standards
Administration (ESA) also selects
the areas to be surveyed by BLS for
use in administering the Service
Contract Act. Whenever possible,
ESA uses data from the Bureau’s
regular program. However, ESA
needs to make wage determinations
for many geographic areas and for
some specific industries not surveyed
in detail by BLS. For these cases,
ESA annually contracts with BLS to
conduct occupational wage surveys,
generally using the same methodol-
ogy used in the BLS program.

The Bureau also manages the
Federal-State cooperative Occupa-
tional Employment Survey (OES)
program which measures occupa-
tional employment by industry for
each State and the Nation. BLS has
provided funding, technical assis-
tance, and statistical procedures for
the surveys while the State employ-
ment security agencies have col-
lected the data, Eleven States and
the District of Columbia have
expanded this program to also
provide information on occupational
earnings.

To meet the needs of the Employ-
ment and Training Administration
for alien labor certification, the OES
program is being expanded to
include occupational earnings for
every State, every metropolitan area,
and as many as four
nonmetropolitan areas in every
State. In order to reduce respondent
burden, the Bureau will coordinate
the collection of data for NCS with
the collection of data in the OES
program as much as possible. On a
test basis in 1997, the Bureau will
collect information for both pro-

Table 1. Geographic definitions of nine economic regions

grams in a single contact for
establishments that require authori-
zation or collection of data from the
organization’s central office.

Publication plans

The Bureau will publish compre-
hensive NCS wage data for the
Nation, the nine Census regions,
each of the CMSA’s studied, the 13
certainty MSA’s, the additional 3
MSA's surveyed for the Pay Agent,
and any non-certainty MSA's or
counties for which sufficient data
meet publication criteria."° Employ-
ment and earnings data will be
published for occupational groups as
well as individual occupations.
Wherever possible, further detail will
be provided by level of occupation.

The results of all surveys con-
ducted for the Employment Stan-
dards Administration are published
in summary form by the Bureau.
Nationwide results for the OES
program are published by the
Bureau, while statewide, MSA, and
selected nonmetropolitan area data
will be published by the individual
States.

New England Middle Atlantic East South Central South Atlantic
Connecticut New Jersey Alabama Delaware
Maine New York Kentucky District of Columbia
Massachusetts Pennsylvania Mississippi Georgia
New Hampshire. Tennessee Florida
Rhode Island Maryland
Vermont North Carolina
South Carolina
Virginia
WestVirginia
East North Central West North Central West South Central Mountain Pacific
Illinois fowa Arkansas Arizona Alaska
Indiana Kansas Louisiana Colorado California
Michigan Missouri Oklahoma Idaho Hawaii
Ohio Minnesota Texas Montana Oregon
Wisconsin Nebraska Nevada Washington
North Dakota New Mexico
South Dakota Utah |
Wyoming

29 Compensation and Working Conditions Spring 1997