Workers in the Youngstown-Warren-Boardman Metropolitan Statistical Area had an average (mean) hourly wage of $20.22 in May 2018, about 19 percent below the nationwide average of $24.98, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Assistant Commissioner for Regional Operations Charlene Peiffer noted that, after testing for statistical significance, wages in the local area were lower than their respective national averages in 19 of 22 occupational groups, including legal; management; and arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media. No local occupational group had an average wage that was significantly higher than its respective national average.

When compared to the nationwide distribution, local employment was more highly concentrated in 7 of the 22 occupational groups, including production, sales and related, and food preparation and serving related. Conversely, 11 groups had employment shares significantly below their national representation, including business and financial operations, computer and mathematical, and management. (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. Youngstown-Warren-Boardman had 19,760 jobs in production, accounting for 9.2 percent of local area employment, significantly higher than the 6.3-percent share nationally. The average hourly wage for this occupational group locally was $19.54, compared to the national wage of $18.84.

Some of the larger detailed occupations within the production group included assemblers and fabricators, all other, including team assemblers (1,940); first-line supervisors of production and operating workers (1,480); and inspectors, testers, sorters, samplers, and weighers (1,310). Among the higher-paying jobs in this group were first-line supervisors of production and operating workers along as well as engine and other machine assemblers, with mean hourly wages of $30.70 and $25.56, respectively. At the lower end of the wage scale were pressers, textile, garment, and related materials ($10.24) and laundry and dry-cleaning workers ($10.60). (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_49660.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 Youngstown-Warren-Boardman Metropolitan Statistical Area, above-average concentrations of employment were found in many of the occupations within the production group. For instance, rolling machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic were employed at 11.7 times the national rate in Youngstown, and metal-refining furnace operators and tenders, at 10.2 times the U.S. average. On the other hand, electrical, electronic, and electromechanical assemblers, except coil winders, tapers, and finishers had a location quotient of 1.0 in Youngstown, 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 Ohio Department of Job & Family Services and the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry.

Technical Note

The Occupational Employment Statistics (OES) survey is a semiannual 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 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. OES data are available at www.bls.gov/oes/tables.htm.

The OES 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. OES estimates are constructed from a sample of about 1.2 million establishments. Each year, two semiannual panels of approximately 180,000 to 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 2018 estimates are based on responses from six semiannual panels collected over a 3-year period: May 2018, November 2017, May 2017, November 2016, May 2016, and November 2015. The unweighted sample employment of 83 million across all six semiannual panels represents approximately 58 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 71 percent based on establishments and 68 percent based on weighted sampled employment. The sample in the Youngstown-Warren-Boardman Metropolitan Statistical Area included 2,772 establishments with a response rate of 75 percent. For more information about OES 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.

The May 2018 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 Youngstown-Warren-Boardman, OH-PA Metropolitan Statistical Area includes Mahoning and Trumbull Counties of Ohio, and Mercer County of Pennsylvania.

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/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, Youngstown-Warren-Boardman Metropolitan Statistical Area, May 2018

Occupation (1)	Employment		Mean wages
	Level (2)	Location quotient (3)	Hourly	Annual (4)
Production occupations	19,760	1.5	$19.54	$40,640
First-line supervisors of production and operating workers	1,480	1.6	30.70	63,860
Electrical, electronic, and electromechanical assemblers, except coil winders, tapers, and finishers	410	1.0	16.88	35,110
Engine and other machine assemblers	50	0.7	25.56	53,170
Structural metal fabricators and fitters	180	1.6	18.35	38,170
Assemblers and fabricators, all other, including team assemblers	1,940	1.0	16.03	33,350
Bakers	430	1.6	15.10	31,400
Butchers and meat cutters	180	0.9	16.22	33,730
Meat, poultry, and fish cutters and trimmers	40	0.2	16.80	34,950
Food batchmakers	270	1.1	16.01	33,310
Computer-controlled machine tool operators, metal and plastic	510	2.3	18.54	38,560
Computer numerically controlled machine tool programmers, metal and plastic	40	1.1	23.16	48,170
Extruding and drawing machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	570	5.1	18.73	38,950
Forging machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	40	1.3	22.74	47,300
Rolling machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	460	11.7	18.01	37,470
Cutting, punching, and press machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	1,140	4.1	16.66	34,660
Drilling and boring machine tool setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	40	2.6	18.97	39,460
Grinding, lapping, polishing, and buffing machine tool setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	650	6.1	17.45	36,300
Lathe and turning machine tool setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	60	1.4	17.10	35,560
Milling and planing machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	70	2.6	20.31	42,250
Machinists	1,050	1.9	23.77	49,450
Metal-refining furnace operators and tenders	270	10.2	19.22	39,980
Pourers and casters, metal	(5)	(5)	18.08	37,600
Molding, coremaking, and casting machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	360	1.5	15.25	31,720
Tool and die makers	350	3.3	25.32	52,670
Welders, cutters, solderers, and brazers	960	1.7	18.94	39,400
Welding, soldering, and brazing machine setters, operators, and tenders	130	2.5	16.52	34,360
Heat treating equipment setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	80	2.8	17.54	36,480
Plating and coating machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	80	1.4	19.81	41,200
Metal workers and plastic workers, all other	130	3.5	(5)	(5)
Printing press operators	320	1.3	17.85	37,140
Laundry and dry-cleaning workers	410	1.3	10.60	22,040
Pressers, textile, garment, and related materials	60	1.1	10.24	21,290
Sewing machine operators	170	0.9	12.19	25,350
Upholsterers	40	0.8	13.90	28,920
Cabinetmakers and bench carpenters	120	0.8	17.39	36,180
Furniture finishers	80	3.0	14.96	31,110
Sawing machine setters, operators, and tenders, wood	70	0.9	15.20	31,620
Woodworking machine setters, operators, and tenders, except sawing	130	1.2	17.31	36,000
Water and wastewater treatment plant and system operators	350	1.9	22.97	47,770
Grinding and polishing workers, hand	110	2.5	12.16	25,300
Mixing and blending machine setters, operators, and tenders	90	0.5	18.53	38,540
Furnace, kiln, oven, drier, and kettle operators and tenders	40	1.4	19.30	40,130
Inspectors, testers, sorters, samplers, and weighers	1,310	1.6	19.60	40,780
Dental laboratory technicians	40	0.9	21.16	44,010
Medical appliance technicians	40	1.7	14.89	30,980
Ophthalmic laboratory technicians	100	2.3	14.44	30,040
Packaging and filling machine operators and tenders	410	0.7	14.56	30,290
Coating, painting, and spraying machine setters, operators, and tenders	210	1.6	18.97	39,450
Painters, transportation equipment	80	1.0	18.49	38,450
Molders, shapers, and casters, except metal and plastic	(5)	(5)	13.50	28,080
Paper goods machine setters, operators, and tenders	80	0.5	11.32	23,550
Helpers--production workers	540	1.0	14.66	30,480
Production workers, all other	400	1.2	14.98	31,170
Footnotes: (1) For a complete listing of all detailed occupations in the Youngstown-Warren-Boardman, OH-PA Metropolitan Statistical Area, see www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_49660.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.