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News Release Information

22-1052-KAN
Thursday, July 21, 2022

Contacts Technical information: Media contact:
  • (816) 285-7000

Occupational Employment and Wages in Wichita — May 2021

Workers in the Wichita, KS Metropolitan Statistical Area had an average (mean) hourly wage of $23.32 in May 2021, 17 percent below the nationwide average of $28.01, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Regional Commissioner Michael Hirniak noted that, after testing for statistical significance, wages in the local area were lower than their respective national averages in 20 of the 22 major occupational groups, including legal; arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media; and educational instruction and library. Production was the only major occupational group with wages in the local area higher than its respective national average.

When compared to the nationwide distribution, Wichita area employment was more highly concentrated in 7 of the 22 occupational groups, including production; food preparation and serving related; and installation, maintenance, and repair. Eleven groups had employment shares significantly below their national representation, including management, transportation and material moving, and business and financial operations. (See table A.)

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

Total, all occupations

100.0 100.0 $28.01 $23.32* -17

Management

6.3 4.7* 59.31 48.61* -18

Business and financial operations

6.4 5.2* 39.72 33.30* -16

Computer and mathematical

3.3 2.1* 48.01 37.93* -21

Architecture and engineering

1.7 2.5* 44.10 40.52* -8

Life, physical, and social science

0.9 0.5* 38.81 32.46* -16

Community and social service

1.6 1.5 25.94 21.93* -15

Legal

0.8 0.5* 54.38 36.14* -34

Educational instruction and library

5.8 6.4* 29.88 22.89* -23

Arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media

1.3 1.0* 31.78 22.14* -30

Healthcare practitioners and technical

6.2 6.3 43.80 37.61* -14

Healthcare support

4.7 4.7 16.02 13.63* -15

Protective service

2.4 1.9* 25.68 22.28* -13

Food preparation and serving related

8.0 8.8* 14.16 11.71* -17

Building and grounds cleaning and maintenance

2.9 2.7* 16.23 14.30* -12

Personal care and service

1.8 2.3* 16.17 13.54* -16

Sales and related

9.4 8.8* 22.15 19.01* -14

Office and administrative support

13.0 13.1 20.88 18.43* -12

Farming, fishing, and forestry

0.3 0.1* 16.70 15.06 -10

Construction and extraction

4.2 4.7* 26.87 23.24* -14

Installation, maintenance, and repair

4.0 4.8* 25.66 24.80* -3

Production

6.0 9.3* 20.71 22.44* 8

Transportation and material moving

9.0 7.7* 19.88 18.26* -8

(1) A positive percent difference measures how much the mean wage in the Wichita, KS 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. Wichita had 26,490 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 $22.44, significantly above the national wage of $20.71.

Some of the larger detailed occupations within the production group included aircraft structure, surfaces, rigging, and systems assemblers (4,740); inspectors, testers, sorters, samplers, and weighers (2,260); and first-line supervisors of production and operating workers (1,920). Among the higher-paying jobs in this group were petroleum pump system operators, refinery operators, and gaugers; and computer numerically controlled tool programmers, with mean hourly wages of $43.34 and $37.65, respectively. At the lower end of the wage scale were bakers ($12.18) and laundry and dry-cleaning workers ($12.25). (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_48620.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 Wichita area, above-average concentrations of employment were found in many of the occupations within the production group. For instance, aircraft structure, surfaces, rigging, and systems assemblers were employed at 70.6 times the national rate in Wichita, and computer numerically controlled tool programmers, at 6.2 times the U.S. average. Metal and plastic cutting, punching, and press setters, operators, and tenders had a location quotient of 1.1 in Wichita, 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 Kansas Department of Labor.

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 Wichita, KS Metropolitan Statistical Area included 2,375 establishments with a response rate of 74 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 Wichita, KS Metropolitan Statistical Area includes Butler County, Harvey County, Kingman County, Sedgwick County, and Sumner 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, Wichita metropolitan area, May 2021
Occupation (1) Employment Mean wages
Level (2) Location quotient (3) Hourly Annual (4)

Production occupations

26,490 1.6 $22.44 $46,670

First-line supervisors of production and operating workers

1,920 1.5 31.19 64,880

Aircraft structure, surfaces, rigging, and systems assemblers

4,740 70.6 25.66 53,370

Coil winders, tapers, and finishers

(5) (5) 15.28 31,780

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

750 1.4 16.89 35,130

Structural metal fabricators and fitters

180 1.4 22.21 46,200

Miscellaneous assemblers and fabricators

2,600 1.0 17.53 36,450

Bakers

230 0.6 12.18 25,330

Butchers and meat cutters

180 0.6 16.51 34,350

Meat, poultry, and fish cutters and trimmers

80 0.3 17.02 35,410

Food batchmakers

130 0.4 13.42 27,910

Food processing workers, all other

40 0.4 20.90 43,470

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

80 0.6 18.07 37,590

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

50 2.3 (5) (5)

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

390 1.1 18.17 37,800

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

340 2.5 18.34 38,140

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

30 0.8 22.42 46,630

Machinists

1,400 2.1 20.99 43,650

Foundry mold and coremakers

60 2.1 20.23 42,080

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

370 1.1 19.44 40,440

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

140 0.5 18.08 37,600

Tool and die makers

400 3.1 29.59 61,550

Welders, cutters, solderers, and brazers

1,220 1.5 22.92 47,660

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

50 0.9 26.93 56,010

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

70 2.3 24.63 51,240

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

190 2.9 16.78 34,900

Tool grinders, filers, and sharpeners

40 3.5 26.33 54,770

Metal workers and plastic workers, all other

30 0.8 22.60 47,010

Prepress technicians and workers

70 1.3 16.11 33,520

Printing press operators

360 1.2 16.20 33,700

Print binding and finishing workers

120 1.5 13.32 27,700

Laundry and dry-cleaning workers

490 1.5 12.25 25,470

Pressers, textile, garment, and related materials

70 1.4 11.23 23,360

Sewing machine operators

280 1.2 14.31 29,760

Textile cutting machine setters, operators, and tenders

40 1.6 14.15 29,430

Upholsterers

190 3.5 23.48 48,840

Cabinetmakers and bench carpenters

480 2.6 19.88 41,360

Furniture finishers

140 4.2 15.61 32,460

Woodworking machine setters, operators, and tenders, except sawing

120 0.9 16.04 33,360

Power plant operators

50 0.9 27.78 57,780

Water and wastewater treatment plant and system operators

190 0.8 19.95 41,490

Petroleum pump system operators, refinery operators, and gaugers

280 4.1 43.34 90,150

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

80 0.8 19.30 40,140

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

50 0.8 19.25 40,030

Mixing and blending machine setters, operators, and tenders

490 2.3 18.76 39,020

Cutting and slicing machine setters, operators, and tenders

160 1.5 16.45 34,220

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

80 0.7 17.94 37,320

Inspectors, testers, sorters, samplers, and weighers

2,260 2.0 26.26 54,620

Dental laboratory technicians

80 1.1 20.82 43,310

Packaging and filling machine operators and tenders

480 0.7 15.87 33,010

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

790 2.7 22.27 46,320

Computer numerically controlled tool operators

970 3.0 23.37 48,610

Computer numerically controlled tool programmers

320 6.2 37.65 78,310

Molders, shapers, and casters, except metal and plastic

110 1.4 15.78 32,830

Paper goods machine setters, operators, and tenders

60 0.4 16.40 34,110

Helpers--production workers

490 1.2 16.50 34,320

Production workers, all other

90 0.2 16.55 34,420

(1) For a complete listing of all detailed occupations in the Wichita, KS Metropolitan Statistical Area, see www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_48620.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: Thursday, July 21, 2022