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News Release Information

22-1362-CHI
Wednesday, September 14, 2022

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

Occupational Employment and Wages in Milwaukee-Waukesha-West Allis — May 2021

Workers in the Milwaukee-Waukesha-West Allis, WI Metropolitan Statistical Area had an average (mean) hourly wage of $27.01 in May 2021, 4 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 11 of the 22 major occupational groups, including computer and mathematical; architecture and engineering; and arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media. Six groups had significantly higher wages than their respective national averages, including construction and extraction, sales and related, and management.

When compared to the nationwide distribution, Milwaukee area employment was more highly concentrated in 5 of the 22 occupational groups, including production, healthcare support, and healthcare practitioners and technical. Fourteen groups had employment shares significantly below their national representation, including management, food preparation and serving related, and transportation and material moving. (See table A.)

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

Total, all occupations

100.0 100.0 $28.01 $27.01* -4

Management

6.3 4.4* 59.31 60.95* 3

Business and financial operations

6.4 6.9* 39.72 37.93* -5

Computer and mathematical

3.3 3.2 48.01 42.04* -12

Architecture and engineering

1.7 2.1* 44.10 38.64* -12

Life, physical, and social science

0.9 0.6* 38.81 35.11* -10

Community and social service

1.6 1.5* 25.94 24.55* -5

Legal

0.8 0.8* 54.38 52.16 -4

Educational instruction and library

5.8 5.3* 29.88 27.24* -9

Arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media

1.3 1.1* 31.78 26.33* -17

Healthcare practitioners and technical

6.2 7.3* 43.80 44.83 2

Healthcare support

4.7 6.5* 16.02 14.86* -7

Protective service

2.4 1.9* 25.68 26.18 2

Food preparation and serving related

8.0 7.2* 14.16 13.05* -8

Building and grounds cleaning and maintenance

2.9 2.8 16.23 15.91* -2

Personal care and service

1.8 1.8 16.17 16.30 1

Sales and related

9.4 9.2* 22.15 23.86* 8

Office and administrative support

13.0 12.7* 20.88 21.07* 1

Farming, fishing, and forestry

0.3 0.1* 16.70 16.68 0

Construction and extraction

4.2 3.5* 26.87 29.24* 9

Installation, maintenance, and repair

4.0 3.6* 25.66 26.35* 3

Production

6.0 9.3* 20.71 21.31* 3

Transportation and material moving

9.0 8.3* 19.88 19.10* -4

Footnotes:
(1) A positive percent difference measures how much the mean wage in the Milwaukee-Waukesha-West Allis, WI 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. Milwaukee had 73,550 jobs in production, accounting for 9.3 percent of local area employment, significantly higher than the 6.0-percent share nationally. The average hourly wage for this occupational group locally was $21.31, significantly above the national wage of $20.71.

Some of the larger detailed occupations within the production group included miscellaneous assemblers and fabricators (7,780), first-line supervisors of production and operating workers (6,090), and computer numerically controlled tool operators (5,210). Among the higher-paying jobs in this group were power plant operators ($38.85); first-line supervisors of production and operating workers ($32.33); and rolling machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic ($31.38). At the lower end of the wage scale were laundry and dry-cleaning workers ($13.28) and pressers, textile, garment, and related materials ($13.78). (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_33340.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 Milwaukee area, above-average concentrations of employment were found in many of the occupations within the production group. For instance, print binding and finishing workers were employed at 7.5 times the national rate in Milwaukee, and computer numerically controlled tool operators, at 5.9 times the U.S. average. Bakers had a location quotient of 1.0 in Milwaukee, 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 Wisconsin 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 Milwaukee-Waukesha-West Allis, WI Metropolitan Statistical Area included 4,568 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 Milwaukee-Waukesha-West Allis, WI Metropolitan Statistical Area includes Milwaukee County, Ozaukee County, Washington County, and Waukesha County.

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, Milwaukee metropolitan area, May 2021
Occupation (1) Employment Mean wages
Level (2) Location quotient (3) Hourly Annual (4)

Production occupations

73,550 1.6 $21.31 $44,320

First-line supervisors of production and operating workers

6,090 1.7 32.33 67,240

Coil winders, tapers, and finishers

160 2.6 19.37 40,280

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

4,030 2.7 19.96 41,530

Engine and other machine assemblers

610 2.4 20.97 43,620

Structural metal fabricators and fitters

760 2.2 23.99 49,900

Miscellaneous assemblers and fabricators

7,780 1.1 17.38 36,150

Bakers

1,000 1.0 15.09 31,390

Butchers and meat cutters

910 1.1 16.76 34,850

Meat, poultry, and fish cutters and trimmers

170 0.2 17.21 35,790

Slaughterers and meat packers

760 1.6 15.31 31,850

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

180 1.6 15.17 31,560

Food batchmakers

2,110 2.4 16.99 35,330

Food cooking machine operators and tenders

200 1.3 17.82 37,070

Food processing workers, all other

170 0.6 19.29 40,130

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

600 1.8 17.83 37,080

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

150 0.9 31.38 65,270

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

2,930 2.9 19.58 40,730

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

50 1.3 25.59 53,220

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

1,240 3.3 20.55 42,730

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

150 1.3 24.89 51,780

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

60 0.8 23.73 49,350

Machinists

3,100 1.7 21.76 45,260

Metal-refining furnace operators and tenders

290 3.3 23.41 48,690

Pourers and casters, metal

100 2.7 22.49 46,770

Model makers, metal and plastic

30 1.6 21.03 43,750

Foundry mold and coremakers

350 4.6 21.01 43,690

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

2,030 2.2 17.97 37,370

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

1,300 1.7 23.79 49,480

Tool and die makers

1,100 3.1 27.37 56,940

Welders, cutters, solderers, and brazers

4,070 1.8 25.30 52,620

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

250 1.5 22.17 46,110

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

260 3.2 21.01 43,700

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

450 2.5 18.20 37,850

Metal workers and plastic workers, all other

130 1.3 17.81 37,040

Prepress technicians and workers

470 3.2 22.15 46,070

Printing press operators

2,420 3.0 22.14 46,050

Print binding and finishing workers

1,700 7.5 18.10 37,640

Laundry and dry-cleaning workers

730 0.8 13.28 27,620

Pressers, textile, garment, and related materials

90 0.6 13.78 28,660

Sewing machine operators

570 0.9 15.80 32,870

Shoe and leather workers and repairers

110 3.4 19.35 40,250

Tailors, dressmakers, and custom sewers

70 0.7 16.95 35,250

Textile cutting machine setters, operators, and tenders

40 0.6 15.55 32,350

Cabinetmakers and bench carpenters

370 0.7 20.90 43,470

Furniture finishers

60 0.6 21.05 43,780

Sawing machine setters, operators, and tenders, wood

110 0.4 17.76 36,940

Woodworking machine setters, operators, and tenders, except sawing

340 0.9 15.48 32,190

Power plant operators

150 0.9 38.85 80,800

Stationary engineers and boiler operators

60 0.4 26.58 55,290

Water and wastewater treatment plant and system operators

340 0.5 27.46 57,110

Chemical equipment operators and tenders

690 1.2 22.03 45,830

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

370 1.4 21.71 45,170

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

60 0.4 19.68 40,940

Grinding and polishing workers, hand

180 2.1 19.16 39,840

Mixing and blending machine setters, operators, and tenders

1,220 2.0 19.64 40,850

Cutting and slicing machine setters, operators, and tenders

540 1.7 20.33 42,280

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

300 1.0 18.25 37,950

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

30 0.4 18.98 39,480

Inspectors, testers, sorters, samplers, and weighers

4,010 1.3 21.03 43,750

Jewelers and precious stone and metal workers

90 0.7 22.62 47,040

Dental laboratory technicians

230 1.2 19.77 41,120

Medical appliance technicians

100 1.1 20.30 42,220

Ophthalmic laboratory technicians

90 0.8 19.62 40,820

Packaging and filling machine operators and tenders

3,050 1.5 17.40 36,190

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

1,210 1.5 20.37 42,360

Photographic process workers and processing machine operators

30 0.9 15.53 32,310

Computer numerically controlled tool operators

5,210 5.9 24.88 51,760

Computer numerically controlled tool programmers

350 2.4 28.49 59,250

Etchers and engravers

70 1.8 20.43 42,500

Molders, shapers, and casters, except metal and plastic

160 0.7 19.82 41,230

Paper goods machine setters, operators, and tenders

1,020 2.1 21.80 45,350

Helpers--production workers

1,150 1.0 16.76 34,860

Production workers, all other

1,450 1.3 15.49 32,210

Footnotes:
(1) For a complete listing of all detailed occupations in the Milwaukee-Waukesha-West Allis, WI Metropolitan Statistical Area, see www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_33340.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.

 

Last Modified Date: Wednesday, September 14, 2022