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News Release Information

19-553-CHI
Tuesday, July 23, 2019

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

Occupational Employment and Wages in Milwaukee-Waukesha-West Allis — May 2018

Workers in the Milwaukee-Waukesha-West Allis Metropolitan Statistical Area had an average (mean) hourly wage of $24.54 in May 2018, about 2 percent below the nationwide average of $24.98, 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 10 of the 22 major occupational groups, including architecture and engineering; computer and mathematical; and arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media. Two groups has significantly higher wages than their respective national averages, including 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, 14 groups had employment shares significantly below their national representation, including food preparation and serving related, sales and related, and transportation and material moving. (See table A and box note at end of release.)

Table A. Occupational employment and wages by major occupational group, United States and the Milwaukee-Waukesha-West Allis Metropolitan Statistical Area, and measures of statistical significance, May 2018
Major occupational groupPercent of total employmentMean hourly wage
United StatesMilwaukeeUnited StatesMilwaukeePercent difference (1)

Total, all occupations

100.0100.0$24.98$24.54*-2

Management

5.35.1*58.4459.472

Business and financial operations

5.36.0*36.9833.45*-10

Computer and mathematical

3.03.244.0138.14*-13

Architecture and engineering

1.82.0*42.0135.11*-16

Life, physical, and social science

0.80.5*36.6233.96*-7

Community and social service

1.51.423.6921.77*-8

Legal

0.80.7*52.2553.472

Education, training, and library

6.15.3*27.2225.75*-5

Arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media

1.31.428.7423.04*-20

Healthcare practitioners and technical

6.06.6*39.4241.084

Healthcare support

2.82.5*15.5715.600

Protective service

2.41.8*23.3622.57-3

Food preparation and serving related

9.28.2*12.3011.26*-8

Building and grounds cleaning and maintenance

3.12.9*14.4314.17-2

Personal care and service

3.85.6*13.5112.35*-9

Sales and related

10.09.1*20.0921.94*9

Office and administrative support

15.114.5*18.7518.820

Farming, fishing, and forestry

0.30.1*14.4916.1612

Construction and extraction

4.13.4*24.6228.34*15

Installation, maintenance, and repair

3.93.4*23.5423.861

Production

6.310.3*18.8418.810

Transportation and material moving

7.16.1*18.4117.72*-4

Footnotes:
(1) A positive percent difference measures how much the mean wage in the Milwaukee-Waukesha-West Allis 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-Waukesha-West Allis had 87,020 jobs in production, accounting for 10.3 percent of local area employment, significantly higher than the 6.3-percent share nationally. The average hourly wage for this occupational group locally was $18.81, compared to the national wage of $18.84.

Some of the larger detailed occupations within the production group included assemblers and fabricators, all other, including team assemblers (11,620); first-line supervisors of production and operating workers (6,230); and packaging and filling machine operators and tenders (5,400). Among the higher-paying jobs in this group were power distributors as well as dispatchers and power plant operators, with mean hourly wages of $43.53 and $38.43, respectively. At the lower end of the wage scale were food and tobacco roasting, baking, and drying machine operators and tenders ($11.29) and laundry and dry-cleaning workers ($11.92). (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-Waukesha-West Allis Metropolitan Statistical Area, above-average concentrations of employment were found in many of the occupations within the production group. For instance, foundry mold and coremakers were employed at 7.0 times the national rate in Milwaukee, and computer-controlled machine tool operators, metal and plastic, at 5.5 times the U.S. average. On the other hand, helpers--production 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.

Area Changes to the May 2018 Occupational Employment Statistics (OES)

OES continues to publish data for metropolitan and nonmetropolitan areas that cover the full geography of the United States. However, the level of detail available has decreased.

OES no longer publishes data for metropolitan divisions. Data for the 11 large metropolitan areas that contain divisions are now available at the Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) or New England City and Town Area (NECTA) level only.

In addition, some smaller nonmetropolitan areas have been combined to form larger nonmetropolitan areas. The May 2018 OES estimates contain data for 134 nonmetropolitan areas, compared with 167 nonmetropolitan areas in the May 2017 estimates.

More information on these area changes is available at www.bls.gov/oes/areas_2018.htm.

Implementing the 2018 Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) System

The OES program plans to begin implementing the 2018 Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) system with the May 2019 estimates, to be released by early April of 2020. Because each set of OES estimates is produced by combining three years of survey data, estimates for May 2019 and May 2020 will be based on a combination of survey data collected under the 2010 SOC and data collected under the 2018 SOC, and will use a hybrid of the two classification systems. The May 2021 OES estimates, to be released by early April of 2022, will be the first set of estimates based fully on the 2018 SOC. For more information, please see www.bls.gov/oes/soc_2018.htm.


Technical Note

The Occupational Employment Statistics (OES) survey is a semiannual 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 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. OES data are available at www.bls.gov/oes/tables.htm.

The OES 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. OES estimates are constructed from a sample of about 1.2 million establishments. Each year, two semiannual panels of approximately 180,000 to 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 2018 estimates are based on responses from six semiannual panels collected over a 3-year period: May 2018, November 2017, May 2017, November 2016, May 2016, and November 2015. The unweighted sample employment of 83 million across all six semiannual panels represents approximately 58 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 71 percent based on establishments and 68 percent based on weighted sampled employment. The sample in the Milwaukee-Waukesha-West Allis Metropolitan Statistical Area included 4,819 establishments with a response rate of 75 percent. For more information about OES 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.

The May 2018 OES estimates are based on the 2010 Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) system and the 2017 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 2017 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, WI 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 2018
Occupation (1)EmploymentMean wages
Level (2)Location quotient (3)HourlyAnnual (4)

Production occupations

87,0201.6$18.81$39,120

First-line supervisors of production and operating workers

6,2301.730.8864,230

Coil winders, tapers, and finishers

(5)(5)16.7934,920

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

5,1203.218.0437,520

Engine and other machine assemblers

2100.718.1637,760

Structural metal fabricators and fitters

7001.620.9943,650

Assemblers and fabricators, all other, including team assemblers

11,6201.515.4732,180

Bakers

1,1201.114.4330,020

Butchers and meat cutters

5200.719.6040,760

Meat, poultry, and fish cutters and trimmers

7500.813.5928,270

Slaughterers and meat packers

(5)(5)14.3329,810

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

4003.211.2923,470

Food batchmakers

1,3601.513.3227,700

Food cooking machine operators and tenders

800.417.8437,110

Food processing workers, all other

1300.512.9526,940

Computer-controlled machine tool operators, metal and plastic

4,7705.521.7045,140

Computer numerically controlled machine tool programmers, metal and plastic

4603.325.0752,140

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

(5)(5)20.8543,360

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

(5)(5)21.2744,240

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

2201.419.2740,090

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

3,4703.218.4238,310

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

801.322.6547,110

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

1,9004.517.3736,120

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

5102.920.8643,380

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

500.523.3248,500

Machinists

4,3601.920.8743,410

Metal-refining furnace operators and tenders

1201.119.5440,650

Pourers and casters, metal

1302.816.2633,810

Patternmakers, metal and plastic

(5)(5)20.1641,920

Foundry mold and coremakers

6407.018.7639,020

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

2,4002.517.1235,610

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

1,1701.517.3736,120

Tool and die makers

1,5203.623.9949,900

Welders, cutters, solderers, and brazers

3,6601.621.3244,340

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

1100.518.1637,770

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

2802.418.1937,830

Layout workers, metal and plastic

(5)(5)20.8743,410

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

3801.615.4932,230

Prepress technicians and workers

4602.621.3844,480

Printing press operators

2,8402.818.4438,350

Print binding and finishing workers

1,4105.315.9833,230

Laundry and dry-cleaning workers

9500.811.9224,800

Pressers, textile, garment, and related materials

2401.112.4225,840

Sewing machine operators

5700.713.9929,110

Shoe and leather workers and repairers

1603.113.1227,280

Tailors, dressmakers, and custom sewers

(5)(5)14.7830,750

Textile knitting and weaving machine setters, operators, and tenders

1201.012.0625,070

Upholsterers

500.312.9726,970

Cabinetmakers and bench carpenters

6401.120.3142,250

Furniture finishers

600.617.1235,610

Sawing machine setters, operators, and tenders, wood

(5)(5)17.0135,370

Woodworking machine setters, operators, and tenders, except sawing

2700.615.2331,670

Power distributors and dispatchers

(5)(5)43.5390,550

Power plant operators

800.438.4379,930

Stationary engineers and boiler operators

2001.128.9260,140

Water and wastewater treatment plant and system operators

3800.530.0162,430

Chemical plant and system operators

(5)(5)34.4471,640

Chemical equipment operators and tenders

7701.621.0843,850

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

3601.221.3344,360

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

(5)(5)17.2835,930

Grinding and polishing workers, hand

7904.513.1227,300

Mixing and blending machine setters, operators, and tenders

1,0701.418.1237,680

Cutters and trimmers, hand

(5)(5)14.4129,980

Cutting and slicing machine setters, operators, and tenders

6701.916.5334,390

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

4001.016.0633,400

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

(5)(5)15.7032,660

Inspectors, testers, sorters, samplers, and weighers

4,4501.420.2342,080

Jewelers and precious stone and metal workers

(5)(5)26.9556,050

Dental laboratory technicians

3501.720.2742,160

Medical appliance technicians

1001.216.2633,810

Ophthalmic laboratory technicians

2101.314.7430,660

Packaging and filling machine operators and tenders

5,4002.313.9729,050

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

1,4202.717.8937,210

Painters, transportation equipment

4001.220.7043,060

Photographic process workers and processing machine operators

1701.813.2027,460

Cleaning, washing, and metal pickling equipment operators and tenders

(5)(5)16.7934,920

Etchers and engravers

(5)(5)18.6038,690

Molders, shapers, and casters, except metal and plastic

3601.417.0935,550

Paper goods machine setters, operators, and tenders

1,2502.219.2640,060

Helpers--production workers

2,1001.013.4127,890

Production workers, all other

6900.516.2833,860

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 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.

 

Last Modified Date: Tuesday, July 23, 2019