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.)

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.

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.