August 2011 

Occupational Employment

Statistics (OES) Highlights

Area Focus – Riverside-San BernardinoOntario, CA

In terms of unemployment, the impact of the recent recession (December 2007–June 

2009)1

 was worse for the Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA metropolitan area 

(henceforth, Riverside) than for many others. Riverside’s unemployment rate, which 

has been consistently above the U.S. average over the last two decades, is currently 

the highest of all large metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs) in the United States at 

14.2 percent.

2

 An examination of employment and wages in Riverside can provide 

insight into the current labor market situation there. This highlight shows that the 

occupation groups with lower wages and higher national unemployment rates were 

more concentrated in Riverside than in other areas. 

0% 2% 4% 6% 8% 10% 12% 14% 16% 18%

Legal 

Life, Physical, and Social Science 

Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media 

Architecture and Engineering 

Computer and Mathematical 

Community and Social Service 

Healthcare Support 

Personal Care and Service 

Protective Service 

Business and Financial Operations 

Building and Grounds Cleaning and Maintenance 

Installation, Maintenance, and Repair 

Management 

Construction and Extraction

Healthcare Practitioners and Technical 

Production Occupations

Education, Training, and Library 

Transportation and Material Moving 

Food Preparation and Serving Related 

Sales and Related 

Office and Administrative Support

Chart 1. Percentage of total Riverside MSA employment by occupation group, 

May 2010

Location quotient > 1

Location quotient < 1

Difference in U.S. 

and MSA 

employment shares 

not significant
2

Chart 1 illustrates the distribution of occupational employment, showing the 

percentage of the area’s employment found in each of the 21 occupation groups. The 

chart also highlights the occupation groups that were more (orange bars), less 

(purple bars), or equally (beige bars) concentrated in Riverside than in the United 

States as a whole according to location quotients. A location quotient is the ratio of 

an area’s employment in an occupation to national employment in that occupation; a 

value greater than 1 indicates the occupation is relatively more prominent in the 

Riverside MSA than in the United States as a whole. The two largest occupation 

groups in Riverside—office and administrative support occupations and sales and 

related occupations—together accounted for slightly more than a quarter of 

employment. These two occupations, however, represented about the same 

proportion of employment in Riverside as in the nation. 

Chart 2 presents occupation groups with an above-average representation in the 

Riverside area as measured by the location quotient. Transportation and material 

moving occupations accounted for nearly 10 percent of employment in Riverside but 

only 7 percent in the nation, making it the occupation group with the largest location 

quotient.

3

 Nearly half of the employment in this group came from two detailed 

occupations: heavy tractor-trailer truck drivers; and laborers and freight, stock, and 

material movers, hand. Protective service occupations accounted for only a small 

portion of employment in Riverside (about 3 percent) but still more than its share of 

1.07

1.13

1.14

1.21

1.21

1.41

Building and grounds cleaning and maintenance

Food preparation and serving related

Construction and extraction

Education, training, and library

Protective service

Transportation and material moving 

Chart 2. Occupation groups with location quotients greater than 1, May 2010
3

U.S. employment (2.5 percent). Nearly two-thirds of employment in protective 

service occupations was made up of three detailed occupations: security guards, 

police and sheriff’s patrol officers, and firefighters. Education, training, and library 

occupations, the fifth largest group overall, accounted for around 8 percent of 

Riverside employment and only 6.7 percent of U.S. employment. About half of the 

employment in this major group came from grade school teachers. The occupation 

groups with a location quotient of less than 1, presented in Chart 3, each accounted 

for 6 percent or less of total employment in the Riverside MSA. 

Unemployment rates by occupation are not available at the MSA level, but they are 

available at the national level for the major occupation groups. Charts 4 and 5 show 

the national unemployment rates for occupation groups with a location quotient of 

greater than 1 and less than 1, respectively. Notably, 5 of the 7 occupation groups 

with above-average representation in Riverside had a national unemployment rate 

that was above the 2010 U.S. rate of 9.6 percent, including one group—construction 

and extraction occupations—with a rate that was more than twice the U.S. average.4

In contrast, with the exception of a single occupation group—production 

occupations—the occupation groups with location quotients of less than 1 had 

unemployment rates that were below the national average, as illustrated in chart 5. 

0.44

0.51

0.57

0.62

0.71

0.87

0.88

0.90

0.90

0.95

0.96

Computer and mathematical 

Legal 

Architecture and engineering

Arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media 

Business and financial operations

Management 

Healthcare support 

Production 

Healthcare practitioners and technical 

Community and social service 

Installation, maintenance, and repair

Chart 3. Occupation groups with location quotients less than 1, May 2010 
4

4.2%

5.9%

12.4%

12.4%

12.8%

20.1%

0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25%

Education, training, and library 

Protective service

Food preparation and serving related

Transportation and material moving

Building and grounds cleaning and maintenance 

Construction and extraction

Chart 4. U.S. unemployment rates for occupation groups with location quotients 

greater than 1, 2010

Source: Current Population Survey

2.5%

2.7%

4.6%

4.8%

5.2%

5.6%

6.2%

7.6%

8.9%

9.3%

13.1%

0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25%

Healthcare Practitioners and Technical 

Legal 

Community and Social Service 

Management 

Computer and Mathematical 

Business and Financial Operations

Architecture and Engineering 

Healthcare Support 

Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media 

Installation, Maintenance, and Repair

Production 

Chart 5. U.S. unemployment rates for occupation groups with location quotients 

less than 1, May 2010

Source: Current Population Survey
5

In 8 of the 21 occupation groups the average wages were higher in Riverside than in 

the United States as a whole. The average wage for all occupations combined in the 

Riverside MSA, however, was $20.64 per hour in May 2010, which was slightly below 

the U.S. average of $21.35. The overall wage was partially driven by the composition 

of employment: in general, the lower paying occupations had higher location 

quotients. 

Chart 6 shows average hourly earnings for Riverside and the United States for the 

occupation groups with location quotients greater than 1. Five of the occupation 

groups with above-average employment representation in Riverside are among the 

lower paying groups. Four of the groups, however, had average wages that exceeded 

the U.S. wage for those occupation groups: protective service; education, training, 

and library; construction and extraction; and building and grounds cleaning and 

maintenance; in all but the latter, average wages were greater than the overall 

average for Riverside ($20.64 per hour). In two of the occupation groups shown in 

chart 6, the differences in average hourly wages for Riverside and for the United 

States were not statistically significant: transportation and material moving 

occupations and food preparation and serving related occupations. 

Chart 7 compares wages for the Riverside MSA with those of the United States as a 

whole for the occupation groups with location quotients of less than 1. In general, 

wages for the groups with location quotients of less than 1 were much higher paying 

than those with location quotients of more than 1. For example, 9 of the 11 

occupation groups in the former category had mean wages that were higher than the 

mean wage for all occupations. A comparison of mean wages for Riverside and the 

United States presents no definite patterns: four of the occupations had mean wages 

that were higher than the U.S. average, and five had mean wages that were lower. 
6 

$15.70 

$10.21 

$12.16 

$21.09 

$20.43 

$24.25 

$15.57 

$10.25 

$12.77 

$23.42 

$23.45 

$28.36 

$0 $10 $20 $30 $40 $50

Transportation and material moving *

Food preparation and serving related *

Building and grounds cleaning and maintenance 

Construction and extraction 

Protective service 

Education, training, and library 

Chart 6. Riverside MSA and U.S. hourly mean wages for occupation groups with 

location quotients greater than 1, May 2010

MSA wage

U.S. wage

*MSA and U.S. wages not 

significantly different

$37.13 

$50.69 

$25.14 

$32.54 

$16.24 

$46.60 

$36.32 

$12.94 

$20.58 

$20.76 

$34.27 

$33.48 

$48.05 

$22.93 

$30.71 

$15.04 

$46.10 

$36.95 

$13.61 

$21.95 

$24.73 

$38.50 

$0 $10 $20 $30 $40 $50

Computer and mathematical

Management

Arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media 

Business and financial operations

Production 

Legal*

Architecture and engineering*

Healthcare support 

Installation, maintenance, and repair

Community and social service 

Healthcare practitioners and technical 

Chart 7. Riverside MSA and U.S. hourly mean wages for occupation groups with 

location quotients less than 1, May 2010

MSA wage

U.S. wage

*MSA and U.S. wages not 

significantly different
7 

Chart 8 offers a summary of the occupation group employment and wages data by 

location quotient range.5 The percentages in the chart indicate the percentage of 

total MSA employment found in an occupation group within the corresponding 

location quotient range—greater than, less than, or not significantly different from 1.

The wages in the chart indicate the average of the mean wages of the occupation 

groups found within the corresponding location quotient range. Perhaps the most 

notable feature in these data is that the average mean wage of $18.67 for major 

occupations with a location quotient greater than 1 is substantially lower than the 

average mean wage of $30.19 for occupations in the less-than-1 category.6

 

In addition to employment and wage estimates for occupation groups, OES data also 

feature estimates for detailed occupations. Chart 9 highlights the employment and 

wages of the 10 largest detailed occupations in terms of employment in Riverside. 

These occupations are mostly low paying. With the exception of registered nurses, all 

of the occupations had an hourly mean wage that was less than the average for all 

occupations. Hourly mean wages are not available for the sixth largest occupation in 

the area—elementary school teachers, except special education—but its annual mean 

wage ($65,950) was much higher than the annual mean wage for all occupations 

($44,410). 

39%

30%

31%

Chart 8. Riverside MSA percentage of total employment and average mean wages 

by location quotient range, May 2010

LQ > 1

LQ < 1

not significant 

$18.67

$18.97

$30.19
8 

Chart 10 highlights the detailed occupations with the 10 largest location quotients. 

These occupations together make up a very small percentage of employment in the 

Riverside MSA (less than 1 percent). The occupations with the first and second 

largest values are found in the personal care and service occupations group and are 

both gambling-related: gaming service workers, all other; and slot supervisors. 

Three of the 10 are found in the construction and extraction occupations group: 

helpers—painters, paperhangers, plasterers, and stucco masons; tapers; and tile and 

marble setters. Two of the 10 are found in the transportation and material moving 

occupations group: aircraft cargo handling supervisors; and tank car, truck, and ship 

loaders. One occupation is found in the production occupations group: woodworkers, 

all other; and one occupation is found in the protective service occupations group: 

fire inspectors and investigators. With the exception of woodworkers, all other, all of 

the occupations are part of an occupation group with a location quotient greater than 

1. 

$9.70

$20.87

$38.36

$11.73

$65,950* 

$14.13

$9.39

$12.46

$10.65

$12.01

0 10,000 20,000 30,000 40,000 50,000

Waiters and waitresses

Heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers

Registered nurses

Stock clerks and order fillers

Elementary school teachers, except special education

Office clerks, general

Combined food preparation and serving workers, including 

fast food

Laborers and freight, stock, and material movers, hand

Cashiers

Retail salespersons

Employment

Chart 9: Employment and wages of the 10 largest occupations in the Riverside 

MSA, May 2010

*Annual

mean wage
9

Chart 11 shows U.S. and Riverside wages for the detailed occupations with the 

largest location quotients. Although 6 of the 10 occupations had a wage greater than 

the corresponding U.S. wage for the occupation, no clear pattern emerges regarding 

the occupation groups to which they pertain. Each of the occupation groups with 

more than one detailed occupation represented in the chart had a detailed 

occupation with a wage that was above the U.S. wage for the occupation and one 

that was below. Only 4 of the 10 occupations had a mean wage that exceeded the 

mean wage for all occupations.

3.12

3.25

3.37

3.72

4.23

4.89

5.18

5.33

6.31

7.89

Tank car, truck, and ship loaders

Tile and marble setters

Fire inspectors and investigators

Tapers

Aircraft cargo handling supervisors

Helpers--painters, paperhangers, plasterers, and 

stucco masons

Woodworkers, all other

Plasterers and stucco masons

Slot supervisors

Gaming service workers, all other

Chart 10. Detailed occupations with the 10 largest location quotients, May 2010 
10

Complete Occupational Employment Statistics data for May 2010 are available from 

the OES webpage. This highlight was prepared by Tanner Beam. For more 

information, please contact the OES program. 

 

1

 The beginning and ending dates of recessions are determined by the National Bureau of Economic 

Research. 

2

 Riverside unemployment rates are from the BLS Local Area Unemployment Statistics program and 

historical national unemployment rates are from the BLS Current Population Survey program. 

3

Farming, fishing, and forestry occupations are excluded from this analysis. 

4

 Unemployment rates by occupation are from the BLS Current Population Survey program. 

5

 Mean wages for location quotient groups are not produced by the BLS Occupational Employment 

Statistics program. Rather, they are calculated separately in this article by taking the average of the 

mean wages of the corresponding major groups. 

6

 Wages by location quotient range are not weighted by employment, but rather by the average of the 

estimated mean wages for the major groups in that range.

$19.75 

$14.47 

$21.40 

$11.89 

$20.11 

$23.35 

$27.00 

$13.42 

$12.65 

$24.81 

$21.64 

$15.80 

$22.69 

$12.14 

$19.77 

$22.83 

$25.18 

$11.47 

$10.57 

$19.85 

Plasterers and stucco masons

Slot Supervisors

Tank Car, Truck, and Ship Loaders

Helpers--painters, paperhangers, plasterers, and 

stucco masons

Tile and marble setters

Tapers

Fire inspectors and investigators

Woodworkers, all other

Gaming service workers, all other

Aircraft cargo handling supervisors

Chart 11. Riverside MSA and U.S. wages for detailed occupations with 10 the 

largest location quotients, May 2010

MSA wage

U.S. wage