• Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics

Occupational Employment and Wages, May 2021

51-6031 Sewing Machine Operators

Operate or tend sewing machines to join, reinforce, decorate, or perform related sewing operations in the manufacture of garment or nongarment products.

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National estimates for Sewing Machine Operators
Industry profile for Sewing Machine Operators
Geographic profile for Sewing Machine Operators

National estimates for Sewing Machine Operators:

Employment estimate and mean wage estimates for Sewing Machine Operators:

Employment (1)	Employment RSE (3)	Mean hourly wage	Mean annual wage (2)	Wage RSE (3)
116,220	1.6 %	$ 14.85	$ 30,880	0.4 %

Percentile wage estimates for Sewing Machine Operators:

Percentile	10%	25%	50% (Median)	75%	90%
Hourly Wage	$ 10.72	$ 12.56	$ 14.27	$ 17.35	$ 18.47
Annual Wage (2)	$ 22,290	$ 26,120	$ 29,690	$ 36,100	$ 38,420

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Industry profile for Sewing Machine Operators:

Industries with the highest published employment and wages for Sewing Machine Operators are provided. For a list of all industries with employment in Sewing Machine Operators, see the Create Customized Tables function.

Industries with the highest levels of employment in Sewing Machine Operators:

Industry	Employment (1)	Percent of industry employment	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
Cut and Sew Apparel Manufacturing	27,250	38.52	$ 14.08	$ 29,280
Other Textile Product Mills	18,500	31.58	$ 14.90	$ 30,980
Textile Furnishings Mills	8,110	18.91	$ 14.88	$ 30,960
Furniture and Related Product Manufacturing (3371 and 3372 only)	7,500	2.26	$ 16.70	$ 34,740
Printing and Related Support Activities	4,520	1.23	$ 15.26	$ 31,740

Industries with the highest concentration of employment in Sewing Machine Operators:

Industry	Employment (1)	Percent of industry employment	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
Cut and Sew Apparel Manufacturing	27,250	38.52	$ 14.08	$ 29,280
Apparel Accessories and Other Apparel Manufacturing	3,400	33.21	$ 14.30	$ 29,740
Other Textile Product Mills	18,500	31.58	$ 14.90	$ 30,980
Other Leather and Allied Product Manufacturing	2,370	21.76	$ 14.85	$ 30,900
Textile Furnishings Mills	8,110	18.91	$ 14.88	$ 30,960

Top paying industries for Sewing Machine Operators:

Industry	Employment (1)	Percent of industry employment	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
Support Activities for Air Transportation	(8)	(8)	$ 24.37	$ 50,680
Federal Executive Branch (OEWS Designation)	100	(7)	$ 21.21	$ 44,110
State Government, excluding schools and hospitals (OEWS Designation)	40	(7)	$ 21.12	$ 43,920
Management of Companies and Enterprises	260	0.01	$ 18.99	$ 39,490
Aerospace Product and Parts Manufacturing	40	0.01	$ 18.77	$ 39,040

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Geographic profile for Sewing Machine Operators:

States and areas with the highest published employment, location quotients, and wages for Sewing Machine Operators are provided. For a list of all areas with employment in Sewing Machine Operators, see the Create Customized Tables function.

States with the highest employment level in Sewing Machine Operators:

State	Employment (1)	Employment per thousand jobs	Location quotient (9)	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
California	15,220	0.92	1.12	$ 15.99	$ 33,270
North Carolina	8,320	1.88	2.28	$ 14.95	$ 31,100
Texas	7,790	0.64	0.77	$ 13.00	$ 27,050
Florida	7,060	0.82	0.99	$ 13.46	$ 28,000
New York	5,140	0.59	0.72	$ 16.89	$ 35,120

States with the highest concentration of jobs and location quotients in Sewing Machine Operators:

State	Employment (1)	Employment per thousand jobs	Location quotient (9)	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
Mississippi	3,500	3.18	3.85	$ 14.43	$ 30,020
North Carolina	8,320	1.88	2.28	$ 14.95	$ 31,100
Kentucky	2,910	1.58	1.92	$ 12.73	$ 26,470
Tennessee	4,690	1.57	1.90	$ 12.90	$ 26,840
Alabama	2,680	1.39	1.68	$ 11.89	$ 24,720

Top paying states for Sewing Machine Operators:

State	Employment (1)	Employment per thousand jobs	Location quotient (9)	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
Alaska	40	0.12	0.15	$ 20.92	$ 43,510
District of Columbia	30	0.05	0.06	$ 19.33	$ 40,210
Connecticut	750	0.48	0.58	$ 18.03	$ 37,510
Colorado	1,340	0.51	0.62	$ 17.97	$ 37,370
Washington	1,980	0.62	0.75	$ 17.61	$ 36,620

Metropolitan areas with the highest employment level in Sewing Machine Operators:

Metropolitan area	Employment (1)	Employment per thousand jobs	Location quotient (9)	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA	11,290	1.97	2.39	$ 15.75	$ 32,760
New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA	5,620	0.65	0.78	$ 16.73	$ 34,800
Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL	3,330	1.36	1.65	$ 12.75	$ 26,510
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN-WI	3,190	0.75	0.91	$ 15.64	$ 32,530
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX	2,650	0.74	0.90	$ 13.84	$ 28,790
Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton, NC	2,050	13.96	16.92	$ 17.69	$ 36,800
Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA	1,990	0.77	0.93	$ 13.94	$ 28,990
Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD	1,690	0.64	0.77	$ 15.19	$ 31,600
Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX	1,610	0.56	0.68	$ 12.70	$ 26,410
Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, AZ	1,530	0.72	0.88	$ 15.75	$ 32,750

Metropolitan areas with the highest concentration of jobs and location quotients in Sewing Machine Operators:

Metropolitan area	Employment (1)	Employment per thousand jobs	Location quotient (9)	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton, NC	2,050	13.96	16.92	$ 17.69	$ 36,800
Dalton, GA	720	11.53	13.97	$ 13.70	$ 28,490
New Bedford, MA	330	5.28	6.40	$ 15.86	$ 32,980
Elkhart-Goshen, IN	680	5.12	6.20	$ 16.02	$ 33,310
Cleveland, TN	220	4.91	5.96	$ 11.21	$ 23,320
Greensboro-High Point, NC	1,510	4.42	5.36	$ 14.80	$ 30,790
Spartanburg, SC	670	4.31	5.22	$ 16.64	$ 34,620
Oshkosh-Neenah, WI	340	3.76	4.56	$ 16.01	$ 33,310
Clarksville, TN-KY	320	3.62	4.39	$ 14.22	$ 29,580
Anniston-Oxford-Jacksonville, AL	130	3.02	3.67	$ 12.03	$ 25,030