Workers in the Erie, PA Metropolitan Statistical Area had an average (mean) hourly wage of $26.50 in May 2025, compared to the nationwide average of $33.54, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Acting Regional Commissioner Lori Keller noted that higher paying major occupational groups included management ($52.26) and legal ($49.79). Lower paying occupations included food preparation and serving related ($14.99), healthcare support ($16.22), and personal care and service ($17.12). (See table A.)

Occupational groups with the highest employment shares in the Erie area included office and administrative support (10.7 percent), production (9.8 percent), and food preparation and serving related (9.6 percent). Major occupational groups on the lower end of local employment included life, physical, and social science (0.4 percent); legal (0.4 percent); and arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media (1.0 percent).

One occupational group—production—was chosen to illustrate the diversity of data available for any of the 22 major occupational categories. Erie had 11,800 jobs in production, accounting for 9.8 percent of local area employment, compared to the 5.5-percent share nationally. The average hourly wage for this occupational group locally was $22.95, compared to the national wage of $24.81.

  

View Chart Data

Chart 1. Hourly mean wages for selected higher paying production occupations in the Erie metropolitan area, May 2025

Occupation	Wage
All occupations	$26.50
Production occupations	22.95
First-line supervisors of production and operating workers	31.22
Water and wastewater treatment plant and system operators	29.47
Computer numerically controlled tool programmers	29.36
Tool and die makers	28.90
Machinists	27.03

Some of the larger detailed occupations within the production group included miscellaneous assemblers and fabricators (2,120); molding, coremaking, and casting machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic (860); and first-line supervisors of production and operating workers (820). Among the higher paying jobs in this group were first-line supervisors of production and operating workers ($31.22) and water and wastewater treatment plant and systems operators ($29.47). (See chart 1.) At the lower end of the wage scale were laundry and dry-cleaning workers ($15.09) and bakers ($16.57). (Detailed data for the production occupations are presented in table 1; for a complete listing of detailed occupations available go to data.bls.gov/oes/#/area/0021500/2025.)

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 2.00 indicates that an occupation accounts for twice the share of employment in the area than it does nationally. In the Erie area, above-average concentrations of employment were found in many of the occupations within the production group. For instance, metal and plastic molding, coremaking, and casting machine setters, operators, and tenders were employed at 7.41 times the national rate in Erie, and metal and plastic grinding, lapping, polishing, and buffing machine tool setters, operators, and tenders, at 6.24 times the U.S. average. Laundry and dry-cleaning workers had a location quotient of 1.09 in Erie, indicating that this particular occupation’s local and national employment shares were similar.

The statistics in this release are from the Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) survey, a cooperative effort between BLS and the State Workforce Agencies (SWAs). BLS funds the survey and provides the procedures and technical support. State Workforce Agencies collect most of the data: in this case, the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry.

The Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) survey is a semiannual survey measuring occupational employment and wage rates for wage and salary workers in nonfarm establishments in the United States. The OEWS data available from BLS include cross-industry occupational employment and wage estimates for the nation; over 530 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. Full OEWS data tables are available online.

Additional information about the OEWS estimates and methodology is available in the national Technical Notes. The overall national response rate for the six panels, based on the 50 states and the District of Columbia, is 66.2 percent based on establishments and 67.2 percent based on weighted sampled employment. Sample sizes and response rates by metropolitan and nonmetropolitan area are available on the Additional OEWS data sets page.

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 Erie, PA Metropolitan Statistical Area includes Erie County.

For more information

Answers to frequently asked questions about the OEWS data, as well as general program documentation, are available on the OEWS website.

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