Workers in the Milwaukee-Waukesha-West Allis Metropolitan Statistical Area had an average (mean) hourly wage of $23.73 in May 2016, not significantly different than the nationwide average of $23.86, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Assistant Commissioner for Regional Operations Charlene Peiffer 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 legal; architecture and engineering; and computer and mathematical. Six groups had significantly higher wages than their respective national averages, including healthcare support; construction and extraction; and sales and related.

When compared to the nationwide distribution, local employment was more highly concentrated in 5 of the 22 occupational groups, including production; personal care and service; and business and financial operations. Conversely, 12 groups had employment shares significantly below their national representation, including construction and extraction; food preparation and serving related; and office and administrative support. (See table A and box note at end of release.)

One occupational group—production—was chosen to illustrate the diversity of data available for any of the 22 major occupational categories. Milwaukee-Waukesha-West Allis had 84,500 jobs in production, accounting for 10.0 percent of local area employment, significantly higher than the 6.5-percent share nationally. The average hourly wage for this occupational group locally was $18.91, significantly above the national wage of $17.88.

Some of the largest detailed occupations within the production group included team assemblers (11,510), machinists (6,010), and first-line supervisors of production and operating workers (5,660). Among the higher paying jobs were drilling and boring machine tool setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic with mean hourly wages of $38.27 and power plant operators, $36.96. At the lower end of the wage scale were laundry and dry-cleaning workers ($10.13) and pressers, textile, garment, and related materials ($11.21). (Detailed occupational data for production are presented in table 1; for a complete listing of detailed occupations available go to www.bls.gov/oes/2016/may/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-Waukesha-West Allis Metropolitan Statistical Area, above-average concentrations of employment were found in many of the occupations within the production group. For instance, computer-controlled machine tool operators, metal and plastic were employed at 4.7 times the national rate in Milwaukee, and print binding and finishing workers, at 4.4 times the U.S. average. On the other hand, laundry and dry-cleaning workers 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 Statistics (OES) survey, a federal-state cooperative program between BLS and State Workforce Agencies, in this case, the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development.

Technical Note

The Occupational Employment Statistics (OES) survey is a semiannual mail survey measuring occupational employment and wage rates for wage and salary workers in nonfarm establishments in the United States. The OES data available from BLS include cross-industry occupational employment and wage estimates for the nation; over 650 areas, including states and the District of Columbia, metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs), metropolitan divisions, nonmetropolitan areas, and territories; national industry-specific estimates at the NAICS sector, 3-, 4-, and selected 5- and 6-digit industry levels, and national estimates by ownership across all industries and for schools and hospitals. OES data are available at www.bls.gov/oes/tables.htm.

OES estimates are constructed from a sample of about 1.2 million establishments. Each year, two semiannual panels of approximately 200,000 sampled establishments are contacted, one panel in May and the other in November. Responses are obtained by mail, Internet or other electronic means, email, telephone, or personal visit. The May 2016 estimates are based on responses from six semiannual panels collected over a 3-year period: May 2016, November 2015, May 2015, November 2014, May 2014, and November 2013. The overall national response rate for the six panels, based on the 50 states and the District of Columbia, is 73 percent based on establishments and 69 percent based on weighted sampled employment. The unweighted employment of sampled establishments across all six semiannual panels represents approximately 58 percent of total national employment. The sample in the Milwaukee-Waukesha-West Allis Metropolitan Statistical Area included 4,997 establishments with a response rate of 75 percent. For more information about OES concepts and methodology, go to www.bls.gov/news.release/ocwage.tn.htm.

The May 2016 OES estimates are based on the 2010 Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) system and the 2012 North American Industry Classification System (NAICS). Information about the 2010 SOC is available on the BLS website at www.bls.gov/soc and information about the 2012 NAICS is available at www.bls.gov/bls/naics.htm.

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, Wis. Metropolitan Statistical Area  includes Milwaukee, Ozaukee, Washington, and Waukesha Counties.

Additional information

OES data are available on our regional web page at www.bls.gov/regions/midwest. Answers to frequently asked questions about the OES data are available at www.bls.gov/oes/oes_ques.htm. Detailed technical information about the OES survey is available in our Survey Methods and Reliability Statement on the BLS website at www.bls.gov/oes/current/methods_statement.pdf.

Information in this release will be made available to sensory impaired individuals upon request . Voice phone: (202) 691-5200; Federal Relay Service: (800) 877-8339.

Table 1. Employment and wage data from the Occupational Employment Statistics survey, by occupation, Milwaukee-Waukesha-West Allis Metropolitan Statistical Area, May 2016

Occupation (1)	Employment		Mean wages
	Level (2)	Location quotient (3)	Hourly	Annual (4)
Production occupations	84,500	1.6	$18.91	$39,330
First-line supervisors of production and operating workers	5,660	1.6	30.14	62,690
Coil winders, tapers, and finishers	(5)	(5)	17.17	35,720
Electrical and electronic equipment assemblers	3,500	2.7	17.84	37,100
Electromechanical equipment assemblers	710	2.6	22.34	46,460
Engine and other machine assemblers	220	0.9	17.98	37,400
Structural metal fabricators and fitters	1,030	2.2	21.40	44,520
Team assemblers	11,510	1.7	16.50	34,320
Assemblers and fabricators, all other	880	0.6	12.85	26,730
Bakers	1,110	1.0	13.69	28,470
Butchers and meat cutters	480	0.6	20.22	42,060
Meat, poultry, and fish cutters and trimmers	470	0.5	12.85	26,730
Food and tobacco roasting, baking, and drying machine operators and tenders	270	2.3	12.29	25,560
Food batchmakers	1,300	1.5	13.14	27,330
Food cooking machine operators and tenders	110	0.5	16.57	34,460
Food processing workers, all other	110	0.4	12.98	27,000
Computer-controlled machine tool operators, metal and plastic	4,140	4.7	21.43	44,580
Computer numerically controlled machine tool programmers, metal and plastic	470	3.1	27.02	56,200
Extruding and drawing machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	(5)	(5)	17.88	37,190
Forging machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	(5)	(5)	15.09	31,390
Rolling machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	110	0.6	22.63	47,060
Cutting, punching, and press machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	3,090	2.7	18.01	37,470
Drilling and boring machine tool setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	190	2.5	38.27	79,600
Grinding, lapping, polishing, and buffing machine tool setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	1,650	3.7	17.20	35,770
Lathe and turning machine tool setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	670	3.3	20.67	42,990
Milling and planing machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	50	0.5	21.11	43,910
Machinists	6,010	2.6	20.14	41,890
Metal-refining furnace operators and tenders	110	1.0	17.45	36,300
Pourers and casters, metal	200	4.0	18.22	37,890
Model makers, metal and plastic	80	2.2	27.38	56,950
Patternmakers, metal and plastic	50	2.6	19.43	40,410
Molding, coremaking, and casting machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	2,290	2.6	16.63	34,580
Multiple machine tool setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	1,180	1.7	18.93	39,370
Tool and die makers	1,200	2.8	25.45	52,940
Welders, cutters, solderers, and brazers	3,330	1.5	21.08	43,840
Welding, soldering, and brazing machine setters, operators, and tenders	430	1.5	25.67	53,390
Heat treating equipment setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	280	2.4	20.63	42,920
Plating and coating machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	520	2.5	15.53	32,290
Tool grinders, filers, and sharpeners	170	3.0	19.40	40,360
Metal workers and plastic workers, all other	80	0.6	17.36	36,120
Prepress technicians and workers	570	2.9	21.02	43,710
Printing press operators	2,270	2.2	19.41	40,370
Print binding and finishing workers	1,380	4.4	15.68	32,610
Laundry and dry-cleaning workers	1,240	1.0	10.13	21,060
Pressers, textile, garment, and related materials	170	0.6	11.21	23,310
Sewing machine operators	500	0.6	13.22	27,490
Tailors, dressmakers, and custom sewers	200	1.6	14.80	30,790
Textile knitting and weaving machine setters, operators, and tenders	40	0.3	13.15	27,350
Upholsterers	(5)	(5)	17.22	35,820
Cabinetmakers and bench carpenters	400	0.7	19.17	39,860
Furniture finishers	50	0.5	17.19	35,760
Sawing machine setters, operators, and tenders, wood	(5)	(5)	19.95	41,500
Woodworking machine setters, operators, and tenders, except sawing	330	0.7	15.28	31,780
Power plant operators	110	0.5	36.96	76,880
Stationary engineers and boiler operators	90	0.5	25.90	53,870
Water and wastewater treatment plant and system operators	360	0.5	27.84	57,900
Chemical equipment operators and tenders	390	0.9	22.27	46,310
Separating, filtering, clarifying, precipitating, and still machine setters, operators, and tenders	330	1.2	21.04	43,750
Crushing, grinding, and polishing machine setters, operators, and tenders	90	0.5	18.47	38,410
Grinding and polishing workers, hand	200	1.3	18.02	37,470
Mixing and blending machine setters, operators, and tenders	1,400	1.8	18.19	37,840
Cutters and trimmers, hand	30	0.4	13.63	28,350
Cutting and slicing machine setters, operators, and tenders	700	1.9	16.93	35,210
Extruding, forming, pressing, and compacting machine setters, operators, and tenders	250	0.6	14.47	30,100
Inspectors, testers, sorters, samplers, and weighers	4,210	1.4	19.94	41,460
Jewelers and precious stone and metal workers	(5)	(5)	26.55	55,230
Dental laboratory technicians	110	0.5	21.16	44,020
Medical appliance technicians	110	1.3	(5)	(5)
Ophthalmic laboratory technicians	160	0.9	14.65	30,480
Packaging and filling machine operators and tenders	2,940	1.3	16.14	33,580
Coating, painting, and spraying machine setters, operators, and tenders	1,400	2.7	18.43	38,330
Painters, transportation equipment	190	0.6	22.32	46,430
Photographic process workers and processing machine operators	240	1.5	14.46	30,070
Adhesive bonding machine operators and tenders	(5)	(5)	16.57	34,470
Etchers and engravers	150	2.6	16.12	33,530
Molders, shapers, and casters, except metal and plastic	360	1.5	15.95	33,180
Paper goods machine setters, operators, and tenders	1,030	1.8	17.94	37,320
Helpers--production workers	3,150	1.2	12.61	26,220
Production workers, all other	1,200	0.8	16.76	34,870
Footnotes: (1) For a complete listing of all detailed occupations in the Milwaukee-Waukesha-West Allis, WI, see www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_33340.htm. (2) Estimates for detailed occupations do not sum to the totals because the totals include occupations 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.