• Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics

Occupational Employment and Wages, May 2022

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.

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National estimates for Sewing Machine Operators
Industry profile for Sewing Machine Operators
Geographic profile for Sewing Machine Operators

National estimates for Sewing Machine Operators:

Employment estimate and mean wage estimates for Sewing Machine Operators:

Employment (1)	Employment RSE (3)	Mean hourly wage	Mean annual wage (2)	Wage RSE (3)
116,750	1.5 %	$ 15.93	$ 33,130	0.4 %

Percentile wage estimates for Sewing Machine Operators:

Percentile	10%	25%	50% (Median)	75%	90%
Hourly Wage	$ 11.00	$ 13.61	$ 15.26	$ 17.80	$ 20.92
Annual Wage (2)	$ 22,880	$ 28,320	$ 31,740	$ 37,020	$ 43,500

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Industry profile for Sewing Machine Operators:

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

Industries with the highest levels of employment in Sewing Machine Operators:

Industry	Employment (1)	Percent of industry employment	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
Cut and Sew Apparel Manufacturing	26,380	36.26	$ 15.15	$ 31,510
Other Textile Product Mills	19,460	32.05	$ 15.90	$ 33,070
Furniture and Related Product Manufacturing (3371 and 3372 only)	7,930	2.30	$ 18.12	$ 37,700
Textile Furnishings Mills	7,620	17.84	$ 15.78	$ 32,820
Printing and Related Support Activities	4,720	1.24	$ 15.73	$ 32,710

Industries with the highest concentration of employment in Sewing Machine Operators:

Industry	Employment (1)	Percent of industry employment	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
Cut and Sew Apparel Manufacturing	26,380	36.26	$ 15.15	$ 31,510
Other Textile Product Mills	19,460	32.05	$ 15.90	$ 33,070
Apparel Accessories and Other Apparel Manufacturing	3,650	30.49	$ 15.69	$ 32,630
Other Leather and Allied Product Manufacturing	2,140	17.97	$ 15.67	$ 32,590
Textile Furnishings Mills	7,620	17.84	$ 15.78	$ 32,820

Top paying industries for Sewing Machine Operators:

Industry	Employment (1)	Percent of industry employment	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
Federal Executive Branch (OEWS Designation)	100	(7)	$ 22.35	$ 46,490
Support Activities for Air Transportation	50	0.02	$ 22.27	$ 46,330
Aerospace Product and Parts Manufacturing	70	0.02	$ 20.89	$ 43,440
Other Motor Vehicle Dealers	30	0.02	$ 20.77	$ 43,190
State Government, excluding schools and hospitals (OEWS Designation)	40	(7)	$ 20.72	$ 43,100

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Geographic profile for Sewing Machine Operators:

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

States with the highest employment level in Sewing Machine Operators:

State	Employment (1)	Employment per thousand jobs	Location quotient (9)	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
California	15,660	0.89	1.13	$ 17.38	$ 36,150
North Carolina	9,900	2.13	2.70	$ 15.84	$ 32,950
Texas	7,960	0.61	0.78	$ 13.80	$ 28,710
Florida	7,460	0.81	1.03	$ 14.47	$ 30,100
New York	6,500	0.71	0.90	$ 17.68	$ 36,760

States with the highest concentration of jobs and location quotients in Sewing Machine Operators:

State	Employment (1)	Employment per thousand jobs	Location quotient (9)	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
Mississippi	3,740	3.30	4.18	$ 16.00	$ 33,270
North Carolina	9,900	2.13	2.70	$ 15.84	$ 32,950
Indiana	4,380	1.42	1.79	$ 16.89	$ 35,120
Tennessee	4,030	1.29	1.64	$ 13.54	$ 28,170
Alabama	2,460	1.23	1.55	$ 12.73	$ 26,470

Top paying states for Sewing Machine Operators:

State	Employment (1)	Employment per thousand jobs	Location quotient (9)	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
Alaska	40	0.12	0.15	$ 21.42	$ 44,550
District of Columbia	60	0.08	0.10	$ 21.25	$ 44,190
Connecticut	770	0.47	0.60	$ 19.32	$ 40,180
Washington	1,810	0.53	0.67	$ 19.08	$ 39,690
Colorado	1,180	0.42	0.54	$ 18.95	$ 39,420

Metropolitan areas with the highest employment level in Sewing Machine Operators:

Metropolitan area	Employment (1)	Employment per thousand jobs	Location quotient (9)	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA	11,600	1.90	2.41	$ 17.12	$ 35,600
New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA	6,830	0.74	0.94	$ 17.90	$ 37,240
Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL	3,500	1.33	1.69	$ 13.94	$ 29,000
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN-WI	3,020	0.68	0.87	$ 16.36	$ 34,040
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX	2,770	0.73	0.92	$ 14.34	$ 29,820
Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton, NC	2,470	16.12	20.42	$ 18.96	$ 39,430
Greensboro-High Point, NC	1,740	4.93	6.24	$ 15.72	$ 32,690
Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA	1,670	0.61	0.78	$ 14.74	$ 30,660
Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC	1,660	1.31	1.66	$ 15.86	$ 32,980
Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD	1,510	0.54	0.69	$ 16.10	$ 33,480

Metropolitan areas with the highest concentration of jobs and location quotients in Sewing Machine Operators:

Metropolitan area	Employment (1)	Employment per thousand jobs	Location quotient (9)	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton, NC	2,470	16.12	20.42	$ 18.96	$ 39,430
Dalton, GA	600	9.26	11.74	$ 15.15	$ 31,510
Elkhart-Goshen, IN	1,020	7.20	9.13	$ 17.89	$ 37,200
New Bedford, MA	460	7.01	8.88	$ 16.27	$ 33,840
Greensboro-High Point, NC	1,740	4.93	6.24	$ 15.72	$ 32,690
Cleveland, TN	180	3.94	5.00	$ 11.86	$ 24,670
Burlington, NC	240	3.78	4.79	$ 13.49	$ 28,060
Clarksville, TN-KY	300	3.21	4.07	$ 15.13	$ 31,470
Dothan, AL	160	2.74	3.47	$ 12.22	$ 25,430
Morristown, TN	120	2.52	3.19	$ 11.94	$ 24,840