Occupational Employment and Wages, May 2018

51-6031 Sewing Machine Operators

Operate or tend sewing machines to join, reinforce, decorate, or perform related sewing operations in the manufacture of garment or nongarment products.

National estimates for this occupation
Industry profile for this occupation
Geographic profile for this occupation

National estimates for this occupation: Top

Employment estimate and mean wage estimates for this occupation:

Employment (1)	Employment RSE (3)	Mean hourly wage	Mean annual wage (2)	Wage RSE (3)
136,450	2.2 %	$12.98	$26,990	0.5 %

Percentile wage estimates for this occupation:

Percentile	10%	25%	50% (Median)	75%	90%
Hourly Wage	$9.16	$10.56	$12.03	$14.71	$18.21
Annual Wage (2)	$19,040	$21,970	$25,030	$30,590	$37,880

Industry profile for this occupation: Top

Industries with the highest published employment and wages for this occupation are provided. For a list of all industries with employment in this occupation, see the Create Customized Tables function.

Industries with the highest levels of employment in this occupation:

Industry	Employment (1)	Percent of industry employment	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
Cut and Sew Apparel Manufacturing	42,120	45.41	$12.20	$25,370
Other Textile Product Mills	20,070	31.49	$13.15	$27,360
Textile Furnishings Mills	10,280	19.85	$13.01	$27,050
Furniture and Related Product Manufacturing (3371 and 3372 only)	7,910	2.22	$15.30	$31,820
Printing and Related Support Activities	5,100	1.17	$13.11	$27,270

Industries with the highest concentration of employment in this occupation:

Industry	Employment (1)	Percent of industry employment	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
Cut and Sew Apparel Manufacturing	42,120	45.41	$12.20	$25,370
Apparel Accessories and Other Apparel Manufacturing	4,280	39.62	$12.38	$25,760
Other Textile Product Mills	20,070	31.49	$13.15	$27,360
Other Leather and Allied Product Manufacturing	2,160	19.90	$12.53	$26,060
Textile Furnishings Mills	10,280	19.85	$13.01	$27,050

Top paying industries for this occupation:

Industry	Employment (1)	Percent of industry employment	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
General Merchandise Stores	(8)	(8)	$21.17	$44,030
Automobile Dealers	(8)	(8)	$20.72	$43,100
Federal Executive Branch (OES Designation)	120	0.01	$19.97	$41,540
Local Government, excluding schools and hospitals (OES Designation)	40	(7)	$19.57	$40,700
State Government, excluding schools and hospitals (OES Designation)	50	(7)	$18.54	$38,560

Geographic profile for this occupation: Top

States and areas with the highest published employment, location quotients, and wages for this occupation are provided. For a list of all areas with employment in this occupation, see the Create Customized Tables function.

States with the highest employment level in this occupation:

State	Employment (1)	Employment per thousand jobs	Location quotient (9)	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
California	25,330	1.49	1.58	$12.82	$26,670
New York	10,410	1.11	1.18	$14.43	$30,020
Texas	10,410	0.86	0.91	$11.47	$23,850
North Carolina	8,930	2.04	2.16	$13.46	$27,990
Georgia	5,990	1.36	1.45	$11.90	$24,760

States with the highest concentration of jobs and location quotients in this occupation:

State	Employment (1)	Employment per thousand jobs	Location quotient (9)	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
Mississippi	4,140	3.68	3.90	$13.42	$27,910
North Carolina	8,930	2.04	2.16	$13.46	$27,990
Kentucky	3,120	1.65	1.75	$11.31	$23,530
California	25,330	1.49	1.58	$12.82	$26,670
Alabama	2,840	1.46	1.55	$11.52	$23,960

Top paying States for this occupation:

State	Employment (1)	Employment per thousand jobs	Location quotient (9)	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
Alaska	40	0.13	0.13	$18.40	$38,270
District of Columbia	30	0.04	0.05	$17.23	$35,830
Connecticut	790	0.47	0.50	$16.89	$35,120
Washington	2,530	0.78	0.82	$16.02	$33,320
New Hampshire	380	0.58	0.62	$15.24	$31,700

Metropolitan areas with the highest employment level in this occupation:

Metropolitan area	Employment (1)	Employment per thousand jobs	Location quotient (9)	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA	20,000	3.27	3.47	$12.51	$26,030
New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA	11,650	1.23	1.30	$13.78	$28,660
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX	4,050	1.14	1.20	$12.32	$25,630
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN-WI	3,530	0.76	0.81	$13.97	$29,070
Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA	2,830	1.05	1.12	$12.61	$26,230
Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL	2,730	1.05	1.12	$12.49	$25,970
Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton, NC	2,340	15.20	16.12	$17.03	$35,420
Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA	1,940	0.98	1.04	$15.94	$33,160
Greensboro-High Point, NC	1,800	4.99	5.29	$12.93	$26,890
Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD	1,750	0.61	0.65	$13.27	$27,600