Workers in the Cleveland-Elyria-Mentor Metropolitan Statistical Area had an average (mean) hourly wage of $21.82 in May 2013, about 2 percent below the nationwide average of $22.33, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Regional Commissioner Charlene Peiffer noted that, after testing for statistical significance, wages in the local area were significantly higher than their respective national averages in 5 of the 22 major occupational groups, including education, training, and library; construction and extraction; and community and social service. Eleven groups had significantly lower wages than their respective national averages, including legal; computer and mathematical; and arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media.

When compared to the nationwide distribution, local employment was more highly concentrated in 3 of the 22 occupational groups: production; healthcare practitioners and technical; and healthcare support. Conversely, 10 groups had employment shares significantly below their national representation, including construction and extraction; sales and related; and transportation and material moving. (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. Cleveland-Elyria-Mentor had 91,880 jobs in production, accounting for 9.1 percent of local area employment, significantly higher than the 6.6-percent share nationally. The average hourly wage for this occupational group locally was $17.00, compared to the national wage of $16.79.

With employment of 9,290, team assemblers was the largest occupation within the production group, followed by machinists (6,610) and first-line supervisors of production and operating workers (5,530). Among the higher paying jobs were power distributors and dispatchers along with power plant operators, with mean hourly wages of $31.08 and $29.75, respectively. At the lower end of the wage scale were pressers, textile, garment, and related materials ($10.44) and laundry and dry-cleaning workers ($10.71). (Detailed occupational data for production workers are presented in table 1; for a complete listing of detailed occupations available go to www.bls.gov/oes/2013/may/oes_17460.htm.)

Location quotients allow for the exploration of an area’s occupational make-up 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 Cleveland-Elyria-Mentor Metropolitan Statistical Area, above average concentrations of employment were found in many of the occupations within the production group. For instance, foundry mold and coremakers were employed at 5.7 times the national rate in Cleveland, and rolling machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic, at 5.5 times the U.S. average. On the other hand, cabinetmakers and bench carpenters had a location quotient of 1.0 in Cleveland, 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 and Family Services.

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 for a 3-year period. May 2013 estimates are based on responses from six semiannual panels collected in May 2013, November 2012, May 2012, November 2011, May 2011, and November 2010. The overall national response rate for the six panels is 75.3 percent based on establishments and 71.6 percent based on employment. The sample in the Cleveland Metropolitan Statistical Area included 5,573 establishments with a response rate of 75 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 2013 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 Cleveland-Elyria-Mentor, Ohio Metropolitan Statistical Area includes Cuyahoga, Geauga, Lake, Lorain, and Medina Counties.

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/2013/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: 1-800-877-8339.

Table 1. Employment and wage data from the Occupational Employment Statistics survey, by occupation, Cleveland-Elyria-Mentor Metropolitan Statistical Area, May 2013

Occupation (1)	Employment		Mean wages
	Level (2)	Location quotient (3)	Hourly	Annual(4)
Production Occupations	91,880	1.4	$17.00	$35,370
First-Line Supervisors of Production and Operating Workers	5,530	1.3	27.05	56,270
Aircraft Structure, Surfaces, Rigging, and Systems Assemblers	(5)	(5)	20.46	42,550
Coil Winders, Tapers, and Finishers	(5)	(5)	14.98	31,160
Electrical and Electronic Equipment Assemblers	2,070	1.3	13.50	28,080
Electromechanical Equipment Assemblers	460	1.2	13.27	27,610
Structural Metal Fabricators and Fitters	480	0.8	16.82	34,990
Fiberglass Laminators and Fabricators	(5)	(5)	14.56	30,290
Team Assemblers	9,290	1.2	15.76	32,770
Assemblers and Fabricators, All Other	2,800	1.5	13.73	28,560
Bakers	1,220	1.0	12.06	25,080
Butchers and Meat Cutters	1,450	1.4	14.03	29,180
Meat, Poultry, and Fish Cutters and Trimmers	150	0.1	11.60	24,130
Slaughterers and Meat Packers	140	0.2	12.03	25,030
Food and Tobacco Roasting, Baking, and Drying Machine Operators and Tenders	40	0.3	12.92	26,870
Food Batchmakers	380	0.5	11.86	24,680
Food Cooking Machine Operators and Tenders	110	0.4	10.91	22,690
Food Processing Workers, All Other	100	0.3	10.80	22,460
Computer-Controlled Machine Tool Operators, Metal and Plastic	2,650	2.5	17.20	35,780
Computer Numerically Controlled Machine Tool Programmers, Metal and Plastic	280	1.5	21.81	45,360
Extruding and Drawing Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic	1,490	2.7	16.39	34,100
Forging Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic	380	2.2	17.85	37,130
Rolling Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic	1,370	5.5	16.19	33,670
Cutting, Punching, and Press Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic	4,110	2.9	15.28	31,780
Drilling and Boring Machine Tool Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic	280	1.8	19.86	41,300
Grinding, Lapping, Polishing, and Buffing Machine Tool Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic	950	1.8	18.02	37,490
Lathe and Turning Machine Tool Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic	1,350	4.2	17.80	37,020
Milling and Planing Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic	280	1.6	19.57	40,700
Machinists	6,610	2.2	18.80	39,100
Metal-Refining Furnace Operators and Tenders	420	2.5	18.49	38,470
Pourers and Casters, Metal	180	2.3	15.85	32,960
Model Makers, Metal and Plastic	(5)	(5)	23.79	49,490
Patternmakers, Metal and Plastic	30	1.0	20.17	41,960
Foundry Mold and Coremakers	560	5.7	15.01	31,210
Molding, Coremaking, and Casting Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic	1,820	1.9	13.52	28,120
Multiple Machine Tool Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic	1,800	2.5	15.16	31,540
Tool and Die Makers	2,790	4.7	26.48	55,080
Welders, Cutters, Solderers, and Brazers	2,400	0.9	17.76	36,940
Welding, Soldering, and Brazing Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders	530	1.4	17.32	36,030
Heat Treating Equipment Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic	650	4.0	15.41	32,050
Layout Workers, Metal and Plastic	60	0.6	20.78	43,220
Plating and Coating Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic	740	2.7	12.42	25,840
Tool Grinders, Filers, and Sharpeners	130	1.5	22.60	47,020
Metal Workers and Plastic Workers, All Other	130	0.8	18.20	37,860
Prepress Technicians and Workers	740	2.6	18.48	38,440
Printing Press Operators	2,100	1.7	17.59	36,590
Print Binding and Finishing Workers	370	0.9	13.78	28,670
Laundry and Dry-Cleaning Workers	1,200	0.8	10.71	22,280
Pressers, Textile, Garment, and Related Materials	300	0.8	10.44	21,710
Sewing Machine Operators	900	0.8	11.40	23,710
Tailors, Dressmakers, and Custom Sewers	(5)	(5)	14.31	29,760
Textile Cutting Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders	30	0.3	13.29	27,640
Extruding and Forming Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Synthetic and Glass Fibers	(5)	(5)	12.14	25,250
Upholsterers	50	0.2	19.31	40,170
Cabinetmakers and Bench Carpenters	640	1.0	18.18	37,820
Furniture Finishers	(5)	(5)	14.98	31,170
Woodworking Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Except Sawing	540	1.1	14.97	31,150
Woodworkers, All Other	(5)	(5)	18.19	37,830
Power Distributors and Dispatchers	290	3.4	31.08	64,640
Power Plant Operators	110	0.4	29.75	61,870
Stationary Engineers and Boiler Operators	170	0.6	24.95	51,900
Water and Wastewater Treatment Plant and System Operators	520	0.6	22.83	47,490
Chemical Plant and System Operators	480	1.6	20.50	42,650
Petroleum Pump System Operators, Refinery Operators, and Gaugers	(5)	(5)	26.02	54,130
Plant and System Operators, All Other	(5)	(5)	23.17	48,180
Chemical Equipment Operators and Tenders	880	1.9	21.85	45,450
Separating, Filtering, Clarifying, Precipitating, and Still Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders	(5)	(5)	16.69	34,710
Crushing, Grinding, and Polishing Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders	200	0.9	18.38	38,240
Grinding and Polishing Workers, Hand	490	2.1	14.93	31,060
Mixing and Blending Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders	1,530	1.7	16.75	34,830
Cutters and Trimmers, Hand	(5)	(5)	10.72	22,300
Cutting and Slicing Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders	780	1.7	15.24	31,700
Extruding, Forming, Pressing, and Compacting Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders	(5)	(5)	14.64	30,460
Furnace, Kiln, Oven, Drier, and Kettle Operators and Tenders	330	2.2	17.05	35,450
Inspectors, Testers, Sorters, Samplers, and Weighers	5,460	1.5	17.99	37,410
Jewelers and Precious Stone and Metal Workers	120	0.7	16.19	33,670
Dental Laboratory Technicians	310	1.1	17.12	35,610
Medical Appliance Technicians	120	1.2	16.45	34,220
Ophthalmic Laboratory Technicians	160	0.7	14.86	30,920
Packaging and Filling Machine Operators and Tenders	3,330	1.2	14.50	30,150
Coating, Painting, and Spraying Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders	1,210	1.8	14.50	30,160
Painters, Transportation Equipment	250	0.7	21.21	44,110
Painting, Coating, and Decorating Workers	100	0.8	21.51	44,740
Photographic Process Workers and Processing Machine Operators	360	1.3	12.55	26,110
Adhesive Bonding Machine Operators and Tenders	190	1.4	14.23	29,590
Cleaning, Washing, and Metal Pickling Equipment Operators and Tenders	270	2.2	15.84	32,940
Etchers and Engravers	(5)	(5)	14.18	29,490
Molders, Shapers, and Casters, Except Metal and Plastic	420	1.7	18.95	39,410
Paper Goods Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders	820	1.1	14.49	30,150
Helpers--Production Workers	4,020	1.2	12.88	26,780
Production Workers, All Other	2,410	1.5	13.12	27,280
Footnotes: (1) For a complete listing of all detailed occupations in Cleveland-Elyria-Mentor, OH, see www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_17460.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.