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News Release Information

23-1157-CHI
Thursday, July 13, 2023

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

Occupational Employment and Wages in Dayton — May 2022

Workers in the Dayton, OH Metropolitan Statistical Area had an average (mean) hourly wage of $27.52 in May 2022, 8 percent below the nationwide average of $29.76, 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 17 of the 22 major occupational groups, including legal, management, and computer and mathematical. Two groups had significantly higher wages than their respective national averages: life, physical, and social science and also architecture and engineering.

When compared to the nationwide distribution, Dayton area employment was more highly concentrated in 7 of the 22 occupational groups, including production, healthcare practitioners and technical, and architecture and engineering. Thirteen groups had employment shares significantly below their national representation, including construction and extraction, office and administrative support, and transportation and material moving. (See table A.)

Table A. Occupational employment and wages by major occupational group, United States and the Dayton metropolitan area, and measures of statistical significance, May 2022
Major occupational group Percent of total employment Mean hourly wage
United States Dayton United States Dayton Percent difference (1)

Total, all occupations

100.0 100.0 $29.76 $27.52* -8

Management

6.7 5.9* 63.08 52.05* -17

Business and financial operations

6.5 6.7* 41.39 39.54* -4

Computer and mathematical

3.4 3.5* 51.99 42.79* -18

Architecture and engineering

1.7 3.0* 45.52 47.10* 3

Life, physical, and social science

0.9 0.8* 40.21 43.09* 7

Community and social service

1.6 1.6 26.81 25.54* -5

Legal

0.8 0.5* 59.87 40.49* -32

Educational instruction and library

5.7 6.1* 30.41 30.14 -1

Arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media

1.4 1.3 36.78 28.26* -23

Healthcare practitioners and technical

6.1 8.1* 46.52 42.67* -8

Healthcare support

4.6 4.2* 17.10 16.53* -3

Protective service

2.3 2.0* 25.97 25.66 -1

Food preparation and serving related

8.5 9.0* 15.45 13.96* -10

Building and grounds cleaning and maintenance

2.9 2.8* 17.26 16.29* -6

Personal care and service

1.9 1.7* 17.41 15.87* -9

Sales and related

8.9 8.3* 24.22 21.20* -12

Office and administrative support

12.6 11.7* 21.90 20.51* -6

Farming, fishing, and forestry

0.3 0.1* 18.21 17.97 -1

Construction and extraction

4.1 2.7* 28.08 27.25* -3

Installation, maintenance, and repair

3.9 3.5* 26.77 25.09* -6

Production

5.9 8.3* 21.81 20.72* -5

Transportation and material moving

9.2 8.4* 21.12 19.08* -10

Footnotes:
(1) A positive percent difference measures how much the mean wage in the Dayton, OH 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. Dayton had 30,070 jobs in production, accounting for 8.3 percent of local area employment, significantly higher than the 5.9-percent share nationally. The average hourly wage for this occupational group locally was $20.72, significantly below the national wage of $21.81.

Some of the larger detailed occupations within the production group included miscellaneous assemblers and fabricators (5,730), machinists (1,980), and first-line supervisors of production and operating workers (1,940). Mean hourly wages among the higher-paying jobs in this group were computer numerically controlled tool programmers ($32.70) and first-line supervisors of production and operating workers ($31.54). At the lower end of the wage scale were laundry and dry-cleaning workers ($13.07) and pressers, textile, garment, and related materials ($13.38). (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_19380.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 Dayton area, above-average concentrations of employment were found in many of the occupations within the production group. For instance, multiple machine tool setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic were employed at 4.6 times the national rate in Dayton, and grinding, lapping, polishing, and buffing machine tool setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic, at 3.8 times the U.S. average. Water and wastewater treatment plant and system operators had a location quotient of 1.0 in Dayton, 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 Ohio Department of Job and Family Services.

Changes to the Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) Data

The May 2022 OEWS estimates use the model-based (MB3) estimation method implemented with the May 2021 estimates release. Additional updates were made to the MB3 wage processing methodology for May 2022. For more information, see the May 2022 Survey Methods and Reliability Statement.

The May 2022 estimates are the first OEWS estimates to be produced using the 2022 NAICS, which replaces the 2017 NAICS used for the May 2017-May 2021 estimates. See North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) at BLS for details.


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 2022 estimates are based on responses from six semiannual panels collected over a 3-year period: May 2022, November 2021, May 2021, November 2020, May 2020, and November 2019. The unweighted sampled employment of 80 million across all six semiannual panels represents approximately 57 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 65.4 percent based on establishments and 62.5 percent based on weighted sampled employment. The sample in the Dayton, OH Metropolitan Statistical Area included 2,833 establishments with a response rate of 61 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 Dayton, OH Metropolitan Statistical Area includes Greene County, Miami County, and Montgomery 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, Dayton metropolitan area, May 2022
Occupation (1) Employment Mean wages
Level (2) Location quotient (3) Hourly Annual (4)

Production occupations

30,070 1.4 $20.72 $43,110

First-line supervisors of production and operating workers

1,940 1.2 31.54 65,600

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

1,190 1.8 18.90 39,300

Engine and other machine assemblers

340 2.8 24.65 51,280

Structural metal fabricators and fitters

70 0.5 22.33 46,450

Miscellaneous assemblers and fabricators

5,730 1.6 17.94 37,320

Bakers

390 0.8 15.65 32,550

Butchers and meat cutters

270 0.9 16.87 35,080

Food batchmakers

330 0.8 17.89 37,220

Food processing workers, all other

100 0.9 15.93 33,140

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

280 1.8 19.13 39,790

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

40 1.7 22.40 46,590

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

1,040 2.3 19.69 40,960

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

690 3.8 20.10 41,810

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

120 2.6 22.95 47,740

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

90 2.4 23.38 48,630

Machinists

1,980 2.6 23.55 48,970

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

990 2.4 17.54 36,490

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

1,560 4.6 20.44 42,520

Tool and die makers

530 3.5 27.50 57,200

Welders, cutters, solderers, and brazers

920 0.9 23.39 48,640

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

100 1.4 22.86 47,540

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

90 2.4 22.17 46,110

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

220 2.8 19.34 40,220

Metal workers and plastic workers, all other

110 2.1 22.46 46,730

Prepress technicians and workers

80 1.3 21.39 44,480

Printing press operators

440 1.2 20.20 42,020

Print binding and finishing workers

110 1.1 17.96 37,350

Laundry and dry-cleaning workers

680 1.6 13.07 27,180

Pressers, textile, garment, and related materials

110 1.5 13.38 27,830

Sewing machine operators

560 1.9 15.85 32,960

Cabinetmakers and bench carpenters

140 0.6 20.88 43,430

Sawing machine setters, operators, and tenders, wood

150 1.3 18.59 38,660

Stationary engineers and boiler operators

50 0.7 31.00 64,470

Water and wastewater treatment plant and system operators

300 1.0 26.01 54,110

Plant and system operators, all other

30 0.8 25.78 53,610

Chemical equipment operators and tenders

250 0.9 23.11 48,070

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

100 0.8 24.77 51,520

Grinding and polishing workers, hand

40 1.1 19.04 39,600

Mixing and blending machine setters, operators, and tenders

230 0.9 22.93 47,690

Cutting and slicing machine setters, operators, and tenders

130 1.0 18.62 38,740

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

270 1.9 17.88 37,180

Inspectors, testers, sorters, samplers, and weighers

1,820 1.3 21.45 44,610

Jewelers and precious stone and metal workers

30 0.5 23.92 49,760

Dental laboratory technicians

80 1.0 22.47 46,730

Medical appliance technicians

70 1.9 21.94 45,630

Ophthalmic laboratory technicians

40 0.8 21.66 45,060

Packaging and filling machine operators and tenders

530 0.6 20.35 42,330

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

410 1.1 21.28 44,260

Computer numerically controlled tool operators

1,430 3.3 21.85 45,450

Computer numerically controlled tool programmers

150 2.1 32.70 68,010

Adhesive bonding machine operators and tenders

50 1.9 25.37 52,760

Molders, shapers, and casters, except metal and plastic

100 1.1 19.58 40,730

Paper goods machine setters, operators, and tenders

160 0.7 21.37 44,450

Helpers--production workers

340 0.7 17.96 37,350

Production workers, all other

410 0.7 17.21 35,790

Footnotes:
(1) For a complete listing of all detailed occupations in the Dayton, OH Metropolitan Statistical Area, see www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_19380.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: Thursday, July 13, 2023