Workers in the Elkhart-Goshen Metropolitan Statistical Area had an average (mean) hourly wage of $18.12 in May 2014, about 20 percent below the nationwide average of $22.71, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Regional Commissioner Charlene Peiffer noted that, after testing for statistical significance, no wages in the local area were higher than their respective national averages in 22 major occupational groups. Seventeen groups had significantly lower wages than their respective national averages, including legal; computer and mathematical; and architecture and engineering.

When compared to the nationwide distribution, local employment was more highly concentrated in 1 of the 22 occupational groups: production. Conversely, 19 groups had employment shares significantly below their national representation, including office and administrative support; food preparation and serving related; and sales and related. (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. Elkhart-Goshen had 42,270 jobs in production, accounting for 35.3 percent of local area employment, significantly higher than the 6.6-percent share nationally. The average hourly wage for this occupational group locally was $14.90, significantly below the national wage of $17.06.

Some of the largest detailed occupations within the production group included team assemblers (13,210); helpers--production workers (3,140); and welders, cutters, solderers, and brazers (2,280). Among the higher paying jobs were chemical equipment operators and tenders; and tool and die makers, with mean hourly wages of $25.11 and $24.52, respectively. At the lower end of the wage scale were laundry and dry-cleaning workers ($9.51) and bakers ($10.60). (Detailed occupational data for production are presented in table 1; for a complete listing of detailed occupations available go to www.bls.gov/oes/2014/may/oes_21140.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 Elkhart-Goshen Metropolitan Statistical Area, above-average concentrations of employment were found in many of the occupations within the production group. For instance, fiberglass laminators and fabricators were employed at 73.9 times the national rate in Elkhart, and upholsterers, at 24.9 times the U.S. average. On the other hand, bakers had a location quotient of 0.9 in Elkhart, 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 Indiana Department of Workforce Development.

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. Guam, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands are also surveyed, but their data are not included in the national estimates. OES estimates are constructed from a sample of about 1.2 million establishments. Forms are mailed to approximately 200,000 sampled establishments in May and November each year. May 2014 estimates are based on responses from six semiannual panels collected over a 3-year period: May 2014, November 2013, May 2013, November 2012, May 2012, and November 2011. The overall national response rate for the six panels is 74.3 percent based on establishments and 70.5 percent based on weighted sampled employment. The unweighted employment of sampled establishments across all six semiannual panels represents approximately 57.1 percent of total national employment. (Response rates are slightly lower for these estimates due to the federal shutdown in October 2013.) The sample in the Elkhart-Goshen Metropolitan Statistical Area included 1,361 establishments with a response rate of 77 percent. For more information about OES concepts and methodology, go to www.bls.gov/news.release/ocwage.tn.htm.

The OES survey provides estimates of employment and hourly and annual wages for wage and salary workers in 22 major occupational groups and 821 detailed occupations for the nation, states, metropolitan statistical areas, metropolitan divisions, and nonmetropolitan areas. In addition, employment and wage estimates for 94 minor groups and 458 broad occupations are available in the national data. OES data by state and metropolitan/nonmetropolitan area are available from www.bls.gov/oes/current/oessrcst.htm and www.bls.gov/oes/current/oessrcma.htm, respectively.

The May 2014 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.

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 Elkhart-Goshen, Ind. Metropolitan Statistical Area  includes Elkhart County.

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/2014/may/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, Elkhart-Goshen Metropolitan Statistical Area, May 2014

Occupation (1)	Employment		Mean wages
	Level (2)	Location quotient (3)	Hourly	Annual (4)
Production Occupations	42,270	5.3	$14.90	$30,990
First-Line Supervisors of Production and Operating Workers	1,830	3.5	23.67	49,230
Electrical and Electronic Equipment Assemblers	330	1.8	13.96	29,040
Structural Metal Fabricators and Fitters	340	4.9	16.75	34,830
Fiberglass Laminators and Fabricators	1,230	73.9	13.66	28,410
Team Assemblers	13,210	13.2	14.02	29,160
Assemblers and Fabricators, All Other	3,290	15.5	13.89	28,900
Bakers	140	0.9	10.60	22,060
Butchers and Meat Cutters	90	0.7	11.81	24,560
Food Batchmakers	60	0.5	14.06	29,240
Food Cooking Machine Operators and Tenders	110	3.5	11.68	24,290
Computer-Controlled Machine Tool Operators, Metal and Plastic	620	4.7	16.80	34,950
Computer Numerically Controlled Machine Tool Programmers, Metal and Plastic	80	3.8	21.04	43,750
Extruding and Drawing Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic	520	8.2	14.21	29,560
Forging Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic	(5)	(5)	17.94	37,320
Rolling Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic	150	5.2	18.59	38,670
Cutting, Punching, and Press Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic	1,360	8.1	12.66	26,340
Drilling and Boring Machine Tool Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic	(5)	(5)	16.50	34,330
Grinding, Lapping, Polishing, and Buffing Machine Tool Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic	240	3.8	15.53	32,300
Lathe and Turning Machine Tool Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic	230	6.2	14.19	29,510
Milling and Planing Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic	(5)	(5)	12.01	24,980
Machinists	840	2.4	16.72	34,780
Model Makers, Metal and Plastic	40	7.6	23.14	48,130
Molding, Coremaking, and Casting Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic	420	3.7	14.23	29,590
Multiple Machine Tool Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic	270	3.1	18.01	37,460
Tool and Die Makers	290	4.3	24.52	51,000
Welders, Cutters, Solderers, and Brazers	2,280	7.0	15.53	32,300
Welding, Soldering, and Brazing Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders	120	2.4	14.01	29,140
Heat Treating Equipment Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic	40	2.4	19.01	39,550
Plating and Coating Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic	140	4.3	13.20	27,450
Metal Workers and Plastic Workers, All Other	250	12.6	13.76	28,610
Printing Press Operators	(5)	(5)	15.50	32,250
Laundry and Dry-Cleaning Workers	100	0.6	9.51	19,780
Sewing Machine Operators	690	5.5	12.29	25,560
Textile Cutting Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders	130	9.9	13.18	27,420
Extruding and Forming Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Synthetic and Glass Fibers	90	4.9	16.58	34,490
Upholsterers	660	24.9	13.63	28,340
Cabinetmakers and Bench Carpenters	1,810	23.2	18.06	37,570
Furniture Finishers	130	9.8	13.28	27,630
Sawing Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Wood	170	4.2	13.45	27,970
Woodworking Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Except Sawing	580	9.2	13.89	28,900
Water and Wastewater Treatment Plant and System Operators	80	0.8	20.99	43,660
Chemical Equipment Operators and Tenders	80	1.4	25.11	52,240
Grinding and Polishing Workers, Hand	360	13.9	13.20	27,450
Mixing and Blending Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders	100	0.9	16.88	35,110
Cutters and Trimmers, Hand	50	3.4	14.32	29,790
Cutting and Slicing Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders	370	6.6	13.09	27,230
Extruding, Forming, Pressing, and Compacting Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders	(5)	(5)	15.52	32,290
Inspectors, Testers, Sorters, Samplers, and Weighers	1,380	3.2	15.60	32,460
Dental Laboratory Technicians	(5)	(5)	18.13	37,720
Packaging and Filling Machine Operators and Tenders	770	2.3	13.96	29,050
Coating, Painting, and Spraying Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders	630	7.8	14.95	31,090
Painters, Transportation Equipment	350	8.0	19.66	40,890
Painting, Coating, and Decorating Workers	60	4.0	13.78	28,660
Adhesive Bonding Machine Operators and Tenders	290	17.8	13.13	27,310
Cleaning, Washing, and Metal Pickling Equipment Operators and Tenders	90	5.6	(5)	(5)
Molders, Shapers, and Casters, Except Metal and Plastic	50	1.7	14.57	30,300
Paper Goods Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders	160	2.0	15.27	31,760
Helpers--Production Workers	3,140	8.4	12.53	26,070
Production Workers, All Other	390	2.0	15.80	32,870
Footnotes: (1) For a complete listing of all detailed occupations in Elkhart-Goshen, IN, see www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_21140.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.