Workers in the Reading Metropolitan Statistical Area had an average (mean) hourly wage of $21.52 in May 2016, 10 percent below the nationwide average of $23.86, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Sheila Watkins, the Bureau’s regional commissioner, noted that, after testing for statistical significance, wages in the local area were significantly lower than their respective national averages in 12 of the 22 major occupational groups, including legal; arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media; and computer and mathematical.

When compared to the nationwide distribution, local employment shares were significantly higher in 4 of the 22 occupational groups, including production and transportation and material moving. Conversely, 11 groups had employment shares significantly below their national representation; these groups included business and financial operations; computer and mathematical; and management. (See table A and box note at end of release.)

Table A. Occupational employment and wages by major occupational group, United States and Reading Metropolitan Statistical Area, and measures of statistical significance, May 2016

Major occupational group	Percent of total employment			Mean hourly wage
	United States	Reading		United States	Reading		Percent difference (1)
Total, all occupations	100.0	100.0		$23.86	$21.52	*	-10
Management	5.1	3.6	*	56.74	56.86		0
Business and financial operations	5.2	3.6	*	36.09	31.98	*	-11
Computer and mathematical	3.0	1.4	*	42.25	35.22	*	-17
Architecture and engineering	1.8	2.0	*	40.53	36.83	*	-9
Life, physical, and social science	0.8	0.4	*	35.06	29.29	*	-16
Community and social service	1.4	1.7		22.69	21.45	*	-5
Legal	0.8	0.5	*	50.95	37.80	*	-26
Education, training, and library	6.2	6.1		26.21	24.97		-5
Arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media	1.4	0.8	*	28.07	22.16	*	-21
Healthcare practitioners and technical	5.9	5.8		38.06	34.48	*	-9
Healthcare support	2.9	3.9		14.65	13.71	*	-6
Protective service	2.4	1.5	*	22.03	22.19		1
Food preparation and serving related	9.2	8.1	*	11.47	10.90	*	-5
Building and grounds cleaning and maintenance	3.2	3.3		13.47	13.69		2
Personal care and service	3.2	3.0		12.74	12.64		-1
Sales and related	10.4	9.5	*	19.50	18.16	*	-7
Office and administrative support	15.7	15.2		17.91	17.57		-2
Farming, fishing, and forestry	0.3	0.2	*	13.37	13.93		4
Construction and extraction	4.0	3.3	*	23.51	22.69	*	-3
Installation, maintenance, and repair	3.9	4.5	*	22.45	22.30		-1
Production	6.5	12.2	*	17.88	19.06	*	7
Transportation and material moving	6.9	9.6	*	17.34	17.55		1
Footnotes:   (1) A positive percent difference measures how much the mean wage in Reading 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. Reading had 21,040 jobs in production, accounting for 12.2 percent of local area employment, nearly twice the 6.5-percent share nationally. The average hourly wage for this occupational group locally was $19.06, measurably higher than the national wage of $17.88.

With employment of 1,940, production worker helpers was the largest occupation within the production group, followed by first-line supervisors of production and operating workers (1,650). Among the higher-paying jobs were first-line supervisors of production and operating workers and printing press operators, with mean hourly wages of $27.08 and $22.88, respectively. At the lower end of the wage scale were bakers ($12.32) and sewing machine operators ($10.90). (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_39740.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 as it does nationally. In the Reading area, above-average concentrations of employment were found in many of the occupations within the production group. For instance, metal and plastic multiple machine tool setters, operators, and tenders were employed at 2.4 times the national rate in Reading, and production worker helpers at 3.7 times the U.S. average. On the other hand, inspectors, testers, sorters, samplers, and weighers had a location quotient of 1.1 in Reading, 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 Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry.

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 program produces employment and wage estimates for over 800 occupations for all industries combined in the nation; the 50 states and the District of Columbia; 432 metropolitan areas and divisions; 167 nonmetropolitan areas; and Guam, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. National estimates are also available by industry for NAICS sectors, 3-, 4-, and selected 5- and 6-digit industries, and 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. Forms are mailed to approximately 200,000 sampled establishments in May and November each year. 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 Reading, Pa. Metropolitan Statistical Area included 1,953 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 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 Reading, Pa. Metropolitan Statistical Area includes Berks County in Pennsylvania.

Additional information

OES data are available on our regional web page at https://www.bls.gov/regions/mid-atlantic. 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, Reading Metropolitan Statistical Area, May 2016

Occupation (1)	Employment (2)		Mean wage
	Level	Location quotient (3)	Hourly	Annual (4)
Production occupations	21,040	1.9	$19.06	$39,650
First-line supervisors of production and operating workers	1,650	2.2	27.08	56,330
Structural metal fabricators and fitters	120	1.3	20.17	41,960
Team assemblers	1,310	1.0	15.26	31,730
Assemblers and fabricators, all other	630	2.2	14.28	29,700
Bakers	480	2.2	12.32	25,640
Butchers and meat cutters	60	0.4	13.43	27,930
Meat, poultry, and fish cutters and trimmers	30	0.2	12.28	25,550
Food batchmakers	360	2.0	15.49	32,210
Computer-controlled machine tool operators, metal and plastic	290	1.6	19.91	41,410
Extruding and drawing machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	210	2.4	19.73	41,050
Rolling machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	140	4.0	(5)	(5)
Cutting, punching, and press machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	240	1.0	21.13	43,960
Milling and planing machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	(5)	(5)	17.94	37,320
Machinists	1,260	2.6	18.81	39,130
Foundry mold and coremakers	60	3.8	16.42	34,150
Molding, coremaking, and casting machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	360	2.0	15.50	32,240
Multiple machine tool setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	340	2.4	20.65	42,940
Tool and die makers	80	1.0	23.88	49,670
Welders, cutters, solderers, and brazers	930	2.0	19.47	40,500
Welding, soldering, and brazing machine setters, operators, and tenders	40	0.7	17.82	37,060
Heat treating equipment setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	(5)	(5)	24.52	51,000
Plating and coating machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	130	2.9	18.12	37,700
Metal workers and plastic workers, all other	100	3.5	18.88	39,260
Printing press operators	520	2.5	22.88	47,590
Print binding and finishing workers	(5)	(5)	17.73	36,870
Laundry and dry-cleaning workers	210	0.8	11.86	24,660
Sewing machine operators	380	2.3	10.90	22,670
Tailors, dressmakers, and custom sewers	(5)	(5)	13.71	28,520
Textile cutting machine setters, operators, and tenders	40	2.0	13.44	27,960
Textile knitting and weaving machine setters, operators, and tenders	120	4.7	16.67	34,670
Cabinetmakers and bench carpenters	260	2.1	19.34	40,230
Sawing machine setters, operators, and tenders, wood	(5)	(5)	14.35	29,840
Woodworking machine setters, operators, and tenders, except sawing	100	1.1	16.89	35,130
Power plant operators	40	0.8	38.40	79,870
Stationary engineers and boiler operators	80	1.9	23.34	48,550
Water and wastewater treatment plant and system operators	210	1.5	22.83	47,490
Chemical equipment operators and tenders	250	2.7	16.16	33,620
Separating, filtering, clarifying, precipitating, and still machine setters, operators, and tenders	30	0.6	19.36	40,270
Crushing, grinding, and polishing machine setters, operators, and tenders	40	1.0	16.61	34,540
Grinding and polishing workers, hand	60	1.9	12.42	25,820
Mixing and blending machine setters, operators, and tenders	100	0.6	17.02	35,400
Cutting and slicing machine setters, operators, and tenders	120	1.6	18.61	38,700
Extruding, forming, pressing, and compacting machine setters, operators, and tenders	60	0.7	20.10	41,810
Inspectors, testers, sorters, samplers, and weighers	680	1.1	20.96	43,600
Dental laboratory technicians	(5)	(5)	20.28	42,190
Packaging and filling machine operators and tenders	(5)	(5)	14.77	30,730
Coating, painting, and spraying machine setters, operators, and tenders	390	3.7	17.07	35,490
Painters, transportation equipment	70	1.0	22.58	46,960
Photographic process workers and processing machine operators	50	1.6	12.30	25,580
Cooling and freezing equipment operators and tenders	30	3.1	13.06	27,160
Molders, shapers, and casters, expect metal and plastic	(5)	(5)	17.32	36,020
Paper goods machine setters, operators, and tenders	200	1.8	19.88	41,350
Helpers--production workers	1,940	3.7	16.71	34,750
Production workers, all other	90	0.3	14.05	29,220
Footnotes: (1) For a complete listing of all detailed occupations in the Reading Metropolitan Statistical Area, see www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_39740.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.