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News Release Information

22-1063-CHI
Monday, August 08, 2022

Contacts Technical information: Media contact:
  • (312) 353-1138

Occupational Employment and Wages in Cincinnati — May 2021

Workers in the Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN Metropolitan Statistical Area had an average (mean) hourly wage of $26.40 in May 2021, 6 percent below the nationwide average of $28.01, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Regional Commissioner Jason Palmer noted that, after testing for statistical significance, wages in the local area were lower than their respective national averages in 17 of the 22 major occupational groups, including legal, computer and mathematical, and healthcare practitioners and technical.

When compared to the nationwide distribution, Cincinnati area employment was more highly concentrated in 7 of the 22 occupational groups, including production, transportation and material moving, and food preparation and serving related. Fourteen groups had employment shares significantly below their national representation, including healthcare support, construction and extraction, and sales and related. (See table A.)

Table A. Occupational employment and wages by major occupational group, United States and the Cincinnati metropolitan area, and measures of statistical significance, May 2021
Major occupational group Percent of total employment Mean hourly wage
United States Cincinnati United States Cincinnati Percent difference (1)

Total, all occupations

100.0 100.0 $28.01 $26.40* -6

Management

6.3 5.9* 59.31 56.92* -4

Business and financial operations

6.4 6.6* 39.72 37.07* -7

Computer and mathematical

3.3 3.2* 48.01 41.47* -14

Architecture and engineering

1.7 1.7 44.10 41.82* -5

Life, physical, and social science

0.9 0.8* 38.81 35.18* -9

Community and social service

1.6 1.3* 25.94 24.52* -5

Legal

0.8 0.5* 54.38 46.82* -14

Educational instruction and library

5.8 5.4* 29.88 30.54 2

Arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media

1.3 1.1* 31.78 28.80* -9

Healthcare practitioners and technical

6.2 6.8* 43.80 39.47* -10

Healthcare support

4.7 3.5* 16.02 16.05 0

Protective service

2.4 2.1* 25.68 23.27* -9

Food preparation and serving related

8.0 8.7* 14.16 12.93* -9

Building and grounds cleaning and maintenance

2.9 2.5* 16.23 15.76* -3

Personal care and service

1.8 2.0* 16.17 14.35* -11

Sales and related

9.4 8.8* 22.15 22.31 1

Office and administrative support

13.0 13.5* 20.88 20.47* -2

Farming, fishing, and forestry

0.3 0.1* 16.70 16.72 0

Construction and extraction

4.2 3.3* 26.87 26.53* -1

Installation, maintenance, and repair

4.0 3.9* 25.66 25.17* -2

Production

6.0 7.9* 20.71 20.73 0

Transportation and material moving

9.0 10.3* 19.88 19.07* -4

Footnotes:
(1) A positive percent difference measures how much the mean wage in the Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN Metropolitan Statistical Area is above the national mean wage, while a negative difference reflects a lower wage.
* The mean hourly wage or percent share of employment is significantly different from the national average of all areas at the 90-percent confidence level.

One occupational group—production—was chosen to illustrate the diversity of data available for any of the 22 major occupational categories. Cincinnati had 81,020 jobs in production, accounting for 7.9 percent of local area employment, significantly higher than the 6.0-percent share nationally. The average hourly wage for this occupational group locally was $20.73, compared to the national wage of $20.71.

Some of the larger detailed occupations within the production group included miscellaneous assemblers and fabricators (12,910) and inspectors, testers, sorters, samplers, and weighers (6,070). Among the higher-paying jobs in this group were power plant operators and chemical plant and system operators, with mean hourly wages of $39.41 and $36.51, respectively. At the lower end of the wage scale were laundry and dry-cleaning workers ($12.74) and pressers, textile, garment, and related materials ($13.38). (Detailed data for the production occupations are presented in table 1; for a complete listing of detailed occupations available go to www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_17140.htm.)

Location quotients allow us to explore the occupational make-up of a metropolitan area by comparing the composition of jobs in an area relative to the national average. (See table 1.) For example, a location quotient of 2.0 indicates that an occupation accounts for twice the share of employment in the area than it does nationally. In the Cincinnati area, above-average concentrations of employment were found in some of the occupations within the production group. For instance, rolling machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic were employed at 4.7 times the national rate in Cincinnati, and packaging and filling machine operators and tenders, at 2.2 times the U.S. average. Butchers and meat cutters had a location quotient of 1.0 in Cincinnati, indicating that this particular occupation’s local and national employment shares were similar.

These statistics are from the Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) survey, a federal-state cooperative program between BLS and State Workforce Agencies, in this case, the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services, Kentucky Center for Statistics, and the Indiana Department of Workforce Development.

Changes to the Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) Data

With the May 2021 estimates release, the Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) program has implemented a new model-based (MB3) estimation method. For more information, see the May 2021 Survey Methods and Reliability Statement at www.bls.gov/oes/methods_21.pdf and the Monthly Labor Review article at www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/2019/article/model-based-estimates-for-the-occupational-employment-statistics-program.htm. OEWS estimates for the years 2015-19 were recalculated using the new estimation method and are available as research estimates at www.bls.gov/oes/oes-mb3-methods.htm.

The May 2021 OEWS estimates are also the first estimates based entirely on survey data collected using the 2018 Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) system. To improve data quality, the OEWS program aggregates some occupations to the SOC broad occupation level or as OEWS-specific combinations of 2018 SOC detailed occupations.


Technical Note

The Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) survey is a semiannual survey measuring occupational employment and wage rates for wage and salary workers in nonfarm establishments in the United States. The OEWS data available from BLS include cross-industry occupational employment and wage estimates for the nation; over 580 areas, including states and the District of Columbia, metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs), nonmetropolitan areas, and territories; national industry-specific estimates at the NAICS sector, 3-digit, most 4-digit, and selected 5- and 6-digit industry levels, and national estimates by ownership across all industries and for schools and hospitals. OEWS data are available at www.bls.gov/oes/tables.htm.

The OEWS survey is a cooperative effort between BLS and the State Workforce Agencies (SWAs). BLS funds the survey and provides the procedures and technical support, while the State Workforce Agencies collect most of the data. OEWS estimates are constructed from a sample of about 1.1 million establishments. Each year, two semiannual panels of approximately 179,000 to 187,000 sampled establishments are contacted, one panel in May and the other in November. Responses are obtained by Internet or other electronic means, mail, email, telephone, or personal visit. The May 2021 estimates are based on responses from six semiannual panels collected over a 3-year period: May 2021, November 2020, May 2020, November 2019, May 2019, and November 2018. The unweighted sampled employment of 82 million across all six semiannual panels represents approximately 62 percent of total national employment. The overall national response rate for the six panels, based on the 50 states and the District of Columbia, is 67.2 percent based on establishments and 64.5 percent based on weighted sampled employment. The sample in the Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN Metropolitan Statistical Area included 7,007 establishments with a response rate of 65 percent. For more information about OEWS concepts and methodology, go to www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_tec.htm.

A value that is statistically different from another does not necessarily mean that the difference has economic or practical significance. Statistical significance is concerned with the ability to make confident statements about a universe based on a sample. It is entirely possible that a large difference between two values is not significantly different statistically, while a small difference is, since both the size and heterogeneity of the sample affect the relative error of the data being tested.

Metropolitan area definitions

The substate area data published in this release reflect the standards and definitions established by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget.

The Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN Metropolitan Statistical Area includes Dearborn, Ohio, and Union Counties in Indiana, Boone, Bracken, Campbell, Gallatin, Grant, Kenton, and Pendleton Counties in Kentucky, and Brown, Butler, Clermont, Hamilton, and Warren Counties in Ohio.

For more information

Answers to frequently asked questions about the OEWS data are available at www.bls.gov/oes/oes_ques.htm. Detailed information about the OEWS program is available at www.bls.gov/oes/oes_doc.htm.

Information in this release will be made available to individuals with sensory impairments upon request. Voice phone: (202) 691-5200; Telecommunications Relay Service: 7-1-1.

Table 1. Employment and wage data for production occupations, Cincinnati metropolitan area, May 2021
Occupation (1) Employment Mean wages
Level (2) Location quotient (3) Hourly Annual (4)

Production occupations

81,020 1.3 $20.73 $43,110

First-line supervisors of production and operating workers

5,870 1.3 32.62 67,850

Aircraft structure, surfaces, rigging, and systems assemblers

60 0.2 16.91 35,180

Coil winders, tapers, and finishers

100 1.3 21.89 45,530

Electrical, electronic, and electromechanical assemblers, except coil winders, tapers, and finishers

2,530 1.3 18.79 39,090

Structural metal fabricators and fitters

210 0.5 22.17 46,110

Fiberglass laminators and fabricators

40 0.3 19.52 40,600

Miscellaneous assemblers and fabricators

12,910 1.3 17.49 36,390

Bakers

1,130 0.9 14.93 31,060

Butchers and meat cutters

1,050 1.0 15.85 32,970

Meat, poultry, and fish cutters and trimmers

170 0.2 14.57 30,300

Slaughterers and meat packers

840 1.3 14.91 31,010

Food and tobacco roasting, baking, and drying machine operators and tenders

120 0.8 17.73 36,870

Food batchmakers

1,750 1.6 16.89 35,120

Food cooking machine operators and tenders

330 1.7 18.37 38,200

Food processing workers, all other

(5) (5) 15.34 31,910

Extruding and drawing machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic

720 1.7 20.38 42,380

Forging machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic

(5) (5) 16.86 35,070

Rolling machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic

1,080 4.7 24.05 50,020

Cutting, punching, and press machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic

1,970 1.5 19.26 40,050

Drilling and boring machine tool setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic

30 0.7 21.51 44,740

Grinding, lapping, polishing, and buffing machine tool setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic

770 1.6 18.65 38,780

Lathe and turning machine tool setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic

250 1.7 22.13 46,020

Milling and planing machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic

140 1.3 24.58 51,120

Machinists

4,810 2.0 23.13 48,120

Metal-refining furnace operators and tenders

150 1.3 21.00 43,680

Model makers, metal and plastic

60 2.3 32.30 67,180

Molding, coremaking, and casting machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic

1,510 1.3 18.24 37,940

Multiple machine tool setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic

2,090 2.1 21.24 44,180

Tool and die makers

750 1.6 27.12 56,420

Welders, cutters, solderers, and brazers

3,130 1.1 22.03 45,820

Welding, soldering, and brazing machine setters, operators, and tenders

170 0.8 19.91 41,420

Heat treating equipment setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic

190 1.8 22.10 45,980

Plating machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic

210 0.9 20.10 41,810

Metal workers and plastic workers, all other

150 1.1 20.24 42,100

Prepress technicians and workers

420 2.2 20.93 43,540

Printing press operators

2,040 1.9 19.12 39,770

Print binding and finishing workers

500 1.7 18.38 38,240

Laundry and dry-cleaning workers

1,350 1.2 12.74 26,500

Pressers, textile, garment, and related materials

150 0.8 13.38 27,830

Sewing machine operators

940 1.1 14.34 29,830

Tailors, dressmakers, and custom sewers

270 2.1 15.95 33,180

Upholsterers

130 0.6 17.32 36,030

Textile, apparel, and furnishings workers, all other

40 0.4 16.22 33,750

Cabinetmakers and bench carpenters

360 0.5 20.08 41,770

Furniture finishers

70 0.6 19.58 40,720

Sawing machine setters, operators, and tenders, wood

90 0.3 17.12 35,620

Woodworking machine setters, operators, and tenders, except sawing

320 0.7 17.60 36,600

Woodworkers, all other

50 0.9 18.02 37,470

Power distributors and dispatchers

50 0.7 31.07 64,630

Power plant operators

190 0.9 39.41 81,960

Stationary engineers and boiler operators

100 0.5 32.51 67,610

Water and wastewater treatment plant and system operators

760 0.9 24.84 51,670

Chemical plant and system operators

90 0.6 36.51 75,930

Chemical equipment operators and tenders

1,560 2.0 24.78 51,540

Separating, filtering, clarifying, precipitating, and still machine setters, operators, and tenders

450 1.3 28.62 59,540

Crushing, grinding, and polishing machine setters, operators, and tenders

230 1.0 20.78 43,230

Grinding and polishing workers, hand

110 1.0 21.93 45,620

Mixing and blending machine setters, operators, and tenders

1,140 1.5 20.21 42,030

Cutting and slicing machine setters, operators, and tenders

550 1.4 19.91 41,400

Extruding, forming, pressing, and compacting machine setters, operators, and tenders

540 1.3 21.01 43,710

Furnace, kiln, oven, drier, and kettle operators and tenders

110 1.1 19.85 41,290

Inspectors, testers, sorters, samplers, and weighers

6,070 1.5 21.64 45,000

Jewelers and precious stone and metal workers

140 0.8 22.14 46,040

Dental laboratory technicians

110 0.5 23.96 49,840

Medical appliance technicians

100 0.9 19.39 40,340

Ophthalmic laboratory technicians

320 2.3 16.41 34,140

Packaging and filling machine operators and tenders

5,840 2.2 18.65 38,790

Painting, coating, and decorating workers

50 0.6 19.46 40,470

Coating, painting, and spraying machine setters, operators, and tenders

940 0.9 21.33 44,360

Computer numerically controlled tool operators

1,660 1.5 21.89 45,530

Computer numerically controlled tool programmers

270 1.5 30.55 63,550

Adhesive bonding machine operators and tenders

320 3.6 19.46 40,480

Cleaning, washing, and metal pickling equipment operators and tenders

110 1.1 19.85 41,280

Etchers and engravers

60 1.2 18.65 38,800

Molders, shapers, and casters, except metal and plastic

250 0.9 18.30 38,050

Paper goods machine setters, operators, and tenders

1,320 2.1 20.73 43,110

Helpers--production workers

1,610 1.1 17.57 36,540

Production workers, all other

1,390 0.9 19.52 40,610

Footnotes:
(1) For a complete listing of all detailed occupations in the Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN Metropolitan Statistical Area, see www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_17140.htm.
(2) Estimates for detailed occupations may not sum to the totals due to rounding, and because the totals may include occupations that are not shown separately. Estimates do not include self-employed workers.
(3) The location quotient is the ratio of the area concentration of occupational employment to the national average concentration. A location quotient greater than one indicates the occupation has a higher share of employment than average, and a location quotient less than one indicates the occupation is less prevalent in the area than average.
(4) Annual wages have been calculated by multiplying the hourly mean wage by a 'year-round, full-time' hours figure of 2,080 hours; for those occupations where there is not an hourly mean wage published, the annual wage has been directly calculated from the reported survey data.
(5) Estimate not released.

 

Last Modified Date: Monday, August 08, 2022