Workers in the Greensboro-High Point Metropolitan Statistical Area had an average (mean) hourly wage of $20.82 in May 2017, about 14 percent below the nationwide average of $24.34, 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 20 of the 22 major occupational groups, including construction and extraction; building and grounds cleaning and maintenance; and healthcare support. 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, 14 groups had employment shares significantly below their national representation, including personal care and service; computer and mathematical; and healthcare practitioners and technical. (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. Greensboro-High Point had 42,800 jobs in production occupations, accounting for 11.8 percent of local area employment, significantly higher than the 6.3-percent share nationally. The average hourly wage for this occupational group locally was $16.32, significantly below the national wage of $18.30.

Some of the larger detailed occupations within the production group included assemblers and fabricators, all other, including team assemblers (6,750), inspectors, testers, sorters, samplers, and weighers (2,680), and first-line supervisors of production and operating workers (2,580). Among the higher paying jobs in this group were first-line supervisors of production and operating workers, and tool and die makers, with mean hourly wages of $27.39 and $25.29, respectively. At the lower end of the wage scale were pressers, textile, garment, and related materials ($9.07) and laundry and drycleaning workers ($9.68). (Detailed data for production occupations are presented in table 1; for a complete listing of detailed occupations available, go to www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_24660.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 Greensboro-High Point Metropolitan Statistical Area, above-average concentrations of employment were found in many of the occupations within the production group. For instance, upholsterers were employed at 24.4 times the national rate in Greensboro, and textile bleaching and dyeing machine operators and tenders, at 20.3 times the U.S. average. On the other hand, welders, cutters, solderers, and brazers had a location quotient of 1.0 in Greensboro, 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 North Carolina Department of Commerce.

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 2017 estimates are based on responses from six semiannual panels collected over a 3-year period: May 2017, November 2016, May 2016, November 2015, May 2015, and November 2014. The overall national response rate for the six panels, based on the 50 states and the District of Columbia, is 72 percent based on establishments and 68 percent based on weighted sampled employment. The unweighted sample employment of 82 million across all six semiannual panels represents approximately 58 percent of total national employment. The sample in the Greensboro-High Point Metropolitan Statistical Area included 2,976 establishments with a response rate of 84 percent. For more information about OES concepts and methodology, go to www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_tec.htm.

The May 2017 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 Greensboro-High Point Metropolitan Statistical Area includes Guilford, Randolph, and Rockingham Counties in North Carolina.

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, Greensboro-High Point Metropolitan Statistical Area, May 2017

Occupation (1)	Employment		Mean wages
	Level (2)	Location quotient (3)	Hourly	Annual (4)
Production occupations	42,800	1.9	$16.32	$33,950
First-line supervisors of production and operating workers	2,580	1.7	27.39	56,960
Electrical, electronic, and electromechanical assemblers, except coil winders, tapers, and finishers	250	0.4	16.32	33,940
Structural metal fabricators and fitters	230	1.2	21.62	44,960
Assemblers and fabricators, all other, including team assemblers	6,750	2.0	14.16	29,460
Bakers	240	0.5	11.94	24,840
Food batchmakers	430	1.1	13.21	27,490
Food cooking machine operators and tenders	70	0.8	13.24	27,530
Computer-controlled machine tool operators, metal and plastic	410	1.1	17.60	36,610
Computer numerically controlled machine tool programmers, metal and plastic	80	1.4	23.28	48,420
Extruding and drawing machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	570	3.1	15.29	31,810
Rolling machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	40	0.7	16.43	34,180
Cutting, punching, and press machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	1,040	2.2	15.40	32,030
Drilling and boring machine tool setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	60	2.1	17.06	35,480
Grinding, lapping, polishing, and buffing machine tool setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	120	0.6	17.10	35,570
Lathe and turning machine tool setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	120	1.5	20.50	42,640
Milling and planing machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	60	1.3	17.40	36,200
Machinists	920	1.0	20.40	42,440
Molding, coremaking, and casting machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	1,320	3.3	14.67	30,510
Multiple machine tool setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	370	1.2	20.79	43,250
Tool and die makers	180	1.0	25.29	52,610
Welders, cutters, solderers, and brazers	920	1.0	18.90	39,300
Welding, soldering, and brazing machine setters, operators, and tenders	40	0.4	18.39	38,260
Heat treating equipment setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	(5)	(5)	14.24	29,610
Plating and coating machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	80	0.9	15.41	32,050
Tool grinders, filers, and sharpeners	(5)	(5)	25.25	52,520
Metal workers and plastic workers, all other	50	1.0	20.50	42,630
Prepress technicians and workers	70	0.8	19.36	40,270
Printing press operators	820	1.9	17.78	36,980
Print binding and finishing workers	180	1.4	15.69	32,630
Laundry and dry-cleaning workers	400	0.7	9.68	20,120
Pressers, textile, garment, and related materials	150	1.3	9.07	18,860
Sewing machine operators	2,200	6.3	13.00	27,030
Tailors, dressmakers, and custom sewers	(5)	(5)	9.47	19,700
Textile bleaching and dyeing machine operators and tenders	510	20.3	13.41	27,900
Textile cutting machine setters, operators, and tenders	280	7.7	13.17	27,400
Textile knitting and weaving machine setters, operators, and tenders	870	16.4	13.73	28,560
Textile winding, twisting, and drawing out machine setters, operators, and tenders	1,330	16.9	13.20	27,450
Fabric and apparel patternmakers	80	6.3	24.49	50,930
Upholsterers	2,020	24.4	16.27	33,840
Textile, apparel, and furnishings workers, all other	220	5.8	13.09	27,230
Cabinetmakers and bench carpenters	630	2.5	15.06	31,330
Furniture finishers	270	6.1	12.76	26,540
Sawing machine setters, operators, and tenders, wood	480	3.6	13.08	27,210
Woodworking machine setters, operators, and tenders, except sawing	660	3.3	13.18	27,400
Power plant operators	50	0.5	37.98	79,000
Water and wastewater treatment plant and system operators	320	1.1	20.63	42,900
Petroleum pump system operators, refinery operators, and gaugers	30	0.3	(5)	(5)
Chemical equipment operators and tenders	570	2.9	20.82	43,300
Separating, filtering, clarifying, precipitating, and still machine setters, operators, and tenders	70	0.6	18.53	38,530
Crushing, grinding, and polishing machine setters, operators, and tenders	30	0.4	15.48	32,210
Grinding and polishing workers, hand	140	1.8	12.95	26,940
Mixing and blending machine setters, operators, and tenders	960	2.9	19.49	40,540
Cutters and trimmers, hand	260	8.3	15.67	32,600
Cutting and slicing machine setters, operators, and tenders	410	2.7	14.70	30,580
Extruding, forming, pressing, and compacting machine setters, operators, and tenders	260	1.3	14.28	29,700
Furnace, kiln, oven, drier, and kettle operators and tenders	(5)	(5)	15.37	31,970
Inspectors, testers, sorters, samplers, and weighers	2,680	2.0	15.42	32,070
Jewelers and precious stone and metal workers	(5)	(5)	20.20	42,020
Dental laboratory technicians	80	0.9	18.58	38,640
Medical appliance technicians	(5)	(5)	18.98	39,490
Packaging and filling machine operators and tenders	1,570	1.6	19.71	41,000
Coating, painting, and spraying machine setters, operators, and tenders	420	1.9	15.06	31,320
Painters, transportation equipment	210	1.6	22.73	47,270
Painting, coating, and decorating workers	40	1.3	13.04	27,120
Photographic process workers and processing machine operators	80	1.4	14.67	30,510
Adhesive bonding machine operators and tenders	190	4.6	14.02	29,160
Cleaning, washing, and metal pickling equipment operators and tenders	40	0.8	14.94	31,070
Paper goods machine setters, operators, and tenders	730	3.0	14.99	31,180
Helpers--production workers	2,190	2.1	12.43	25,860
Production workers, all other	560	0.9	17.16	35,680
Footnotes: (1) For a complete listing of all detailed occupations in the Greensboro-High Point Metropolitan Statistical Area, see www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_24660.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.