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News Release Information

17-651-ATL
Thursday, May 18, 2017

Contacts Technical information: Media contact:
  • (404) 893-4220

Occupational Employment and Wages in Louisville/Jefferson County – May 2016

Workers in the Louisville/Jefferson County Metropolitan Statistical Area had an average (mean) hourly wage of $21.28 in May 2016, about 11 percent below the nationwide average of $23.86, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Regional Commissioner Janet S. Rankin noted that, after testing for statistical significance, wages in the local area were lower than their respective national averages in 16 of the 22 major occupational groups, including arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media; architecture and engineering; and business and financial operations. One group—farming, fishing, and forestry—had a significantly higher wage than its respective national average.

When compared to the nationwide distribution, local employment was more highly concentrated in 4 of the 22 occupational groups, including production and transportation and material moving. Conversely, 15 groups had employment shares significantly below their national representation, including education, training, and library; business and financial operations; and sales and related. (See table A and box note at end of release.)

Table A. Occupational employment and wages by major occupational group, United States and the Louisville/Jefferson County Metropolitan Statistical Area, and measures of statistical significance, May 2016
Major occupational groupPercent of total employmentMean hourly wage
United StatesLouisville/Jefferson CountyUnited StatesLouisville/Jefferson CountyPercent difference (1)

Total, all occupations

100.0100.0$23.86$21.28*-11

Management

5.14.6*56.7448.33*-15

Business and financial operations

5.24.3*36.0930.34*-16

Computer and mathematical

3.02.2*42.2534.99*-17

Architecture and engineering

1.81.2*40.5333.29*-18

Life, physical, and social science

0.80.3*35.0628.97*-17

Community and social services

1.41.2*22.6921.17*-7

Legal

0.80.5*50.9537.15*-27

Education, training, and library

6.24.4*26.2125.04-4

Arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media

1.41.0*28.0722.03*-22

Healthcare practitioner and technical

5.96.7*38.0634.82*-9

Healthcare support

2.92.5*14.6514.861

Protective service

2.42.0*22.0317.19*-22

Food preparation and serving related

9.29.311.4710.22*-11

Building and grounds cleaning and maintenance

3.22.6*13.4712.54*-7

Personal care and service

3.23.012.7411.96*-6

Sales and related

10.49.6*19.5018.26*-6

Office and administrative support

15.715.917.9117.06*-5

Farming, fishing, and forestry

0.30.1*13.3714.90*11

Construction and extraction

4.03.5*23.5121.86*-7

Installation, maintenance, and repair

3.94.2*22.4522.11-2

Production

6.510.5*17.8818.041

Transportation and material moving

6.910.3*17.3419.1110

Footnotes:
(1) A positive percent difference measures how much the mean wage in the Louisville/Jefferson County Metropolitan Statistical Area is above the national mean wage, while a negative difference reflects a lower wage.
* The percent share of employment or mean hourly wage for this area 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. Louisville/Jefferson County had 67,460 jobs in production, accounting for 10.5 percent of local area employment, significantly higher than the 6.5-percent share nationally. The average hourly wage for this occupational group locally was $18.04, compared to the national wage of $17.88.

Some of the larger detailed occupations within the production group included team assemblers (16,010), inspectors, testers, sorters, samplers, and weighers (4,400), and metal and plastic cutting, punching, and press machine setters, operators, and tenders (3,910). Among the higher paying jobs were power plant operators and first-line supervisors of production and operating workers, with mean hourly wages of $40.02 and $27.31, respectively. At the lower end of the wage scale were laundry and dry-cleaning workers ($9.88) and textile, garment, and related materials pressers ($9.96). (Detailed occupational data for production are presented in table 1; for a complete listing of detailed occupations available go to www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_31140.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 Louisville/Jefferson County Metropolitan Statistical Area, above-average concentrations of employment were found in some of the occupations within the production group. For instance, team assemblers were employed at 3.1 times the national rate in Louisville/Jefferson County, and welders, cutters, solderers, and brazers, at 1.9 times the U.S. average. On the other hand, machinists had a location quotient of 1.0 in Louisville/Jefferson County, 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 Kentucky Department for Workforce Investment.

Note on Occupational Employment Statistics Data 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.

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 Louisville/Jefferson County Metropolitan Statistical Area included 4,967 establishments with a response rate of 76 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 Louisville/Jefferson County, KY-IN Metropolitan Statistical Area  includes Bullitt, Henry, Jefferson, Oldham, Shelby, Spencer, and Trimble Counties of Kentucky, and Clark, Floyd, Harrison, Scott, and Washington Counties of Indiana.

Additional information

OES data are available on our regional web page at www.bls.gov/regions/southeast. 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, Louisville/Jefferson County Metropolitan Statistical Area, May 2016
Occupation (1)EmploymentMean wages
Level (2)Location quotient (3)HourlyAnnual (4)

Production occupations

67,4601.6$18.04$37,520

First-line supervisors of production and operating workers

3,5701.327.3156,810

Electrical and electronic equipment assemblers

4700.514.2229,570

Structural metal fabricators and fitters

5201.522.0745,900

Team assemblers

16,0103.119.6040,770

Assemblers and fabricators, all other

5,9505.611.9624,880

Bakers

2900.412.7826,580

Butchers and meat cutters

4900.816.1433,570

Meat, poultry, and fish cutters and trimmers

(5)(5)12.7126,450

Slaughterers and meat packers

(5)(5)11.5824,100

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

1902.115.1231,450

Food batchmakers

8801.314.6930,550

Food cooking machine operators and tenders

3502.118.5638,610

Food processing workers, all other

1600.814.3329,800

Computer-controlled machine tool operators, metal and plastic

6000.917.7937,000

Computer numerically controlled machine tool programmers, metal and plastic

900.719.1639,850

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

3301.014.9731,140

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

1201.317.4736,340

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

5404.018.0037,440

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

3,9104.422.1946,160

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

400.816.3634,030

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

2200.716.6534,620

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

400.318.9539,410

Machinists

1,7701.021.0243,720

Metal-refining furnace operators and tenders

1501.919.1039,730

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

1,0301.614.0829,290

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

7101.316.5834,480

Tool and die makers

7402.326.5755,260

Welders, cutters, solderers, and brazers

3,3201.919.5140,580

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

5002.315.4132,040

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

1500.913.1827,420

Tool grinders, filers, and sharpeners

501.114.6330,430

Metal workers and plastic workers, all other

800.816.2533,790

Prepress technicians and workers

2401.619.3040,130

Printing press operators

1,6702.217.6036,610

Print binding and finishing workers

2801.216.3333,960

Laundry and dry-cleaning workers

6200.79.8820,560

Pressers, textile, garment, and related materials

2301.19.9620,730

Sewing machine operators

6000.913.9228,940

Tailors, dressmakers, and custom sewers

700.714.5830,330

Extruding and forming machine setters, operators, and tenders, synthetic and glass fibers

1401.617.7036,820

Upholsterers

800.514.9931,180

Cabinetmakers and bench carpenters

6701.517.0235,400

Furniture finishers

1902.413.8828,870

Sawing machine setters, operators, and tenders, wood

2901.213.0427,120

Woodworking machine setters, operators, and tenders, except sawing

1,0403.014.4930,150

Power plant operators

800.540.0283,240

Stationary engineers and boiler operators

500.326.0354,140

Water and wastewater treatment plant and system operators

3100.621.6044,930

Chemical plant and system operators

900.623.9949,900

Petroleum pump system operators, refinery operators, and gaugers

500.236.8576,640

Plant and system operators, all other

300.633.7170,120

Chemical equipment operators and tenders

4101.223.8749,650

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

1800.816.6534,620

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

1200.915.6332,510

Grinding and polishing workers, hand

1701.413.6728,440

Mixing and blending machine setters, operators, and tenders

6801.118.3438,150

Cutting and slicing machine setters, operators, and tenders

3601.316.2833,860

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

4301.315.6132,470

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

500.618.8739,250

Inspectors, testers, sorters, samplers, and weighers

4,4001.919.2840,110

Dental laboratory technicians

1300.819.6640,890

Ophthalmic laboratory technicians

400.311.8024,550

Packaging and filling machine operators and tenders

2,1001.215.7032,660

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

5601.415.9733,210

Painters, transportation equipment

2501.026.0454,160

Painting, coating, and decorating workers

(5)(5)17.1935,760

Photographic process workers and processing machine operators

500.413.7228,530

Adhesive bonding machine operators and tenders

2603.418.2537,960

Cooling and freezing equipment operators and tenders

501.412.9426,920

Molders, shapers, and casters, except metal and plastic

1500.912.5626,120

Paper goods machine setters, operators, and tenders

7101.716.1633,600

Tire builders

900.917.8937,200

Helpers--production workers

2,8101.412.8926,810

Production workers, all other

2,0101.714.0029,120

Footnotes:
(1) For a complete listing of all detailed occupations in the Louisville/Jefferson County, KY-IN Metropolitan Statistical Area, see www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_31140.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: Thursday, May 18, 2017