Department of Labor Logo United States Department of Labor
Dot gov

The .gov means it's official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you're on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

News Release Information

14-768-CHI
Wednesday, May 21, 2014

Contacts Technical information: Media contact:
  • (312) 353-1138

Occupational Employment and Wages in Lake County-Kenosha County, Ill.-Wis. Metropolitan Division, May 2013

Workers in the Lake County-Kenosha County Metropolitan Division had an average (mean) hourly wage of $23.25 in May 2013, about 4 percent above 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 10 of the 22 major occupational groups, including construction and extraction; life, physical, and social science; and community and social service. Four groups had significantly lower wages than their respective national averages, including arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media; architecture and engineering; and computer and mathematical.

When compared to the nationwide distribution, local employment was more highly concentrated in 4 of the 22 occupational groups, including production; management; and education, training, and library. Conversely, 10 groups had employment shares significantly below their national representation, including construction and extraction; healthcare practitioners and technical; and food preparation and serving related. (See table A and box note at end of release.)

Table A. Occupational employment and wages by major occupational group, United States and the Lake County-Kenosha County Metropolitan Division, and measures of statistical significance, May 2013
Major occupational group Percent of total employment Mean hourly wage
United States Lake County United States Lake County Percent difference (1)

Total, all occupations

100.0% 100.0% $22.33 $23.25* 4

Management

4.9 6.6* 53.15 53.39 0

Business and financial operations

5.0 5.1 34.14 33.84 -1

Computer and mathematical

2.8 3.2 39.43 37.15* -6

Architecture and engineering

1.8 1.6 38.51 35.90* -7

Life, physical, and social science

0.9 0.9 33.37 37.40* 12

Community and social services

1.4 1.1* 21.50 24.61* 14

Legal

0.8 0.4* 47.89 58.68 23

Education, training, and library

6.3 7.4* 24.76 24.87 0

Arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media

1.3 0.9* 26.72 24.04* -10

Healthcare practitioner and technical

5.8 4.7* 35.93 38.95* 8

Healthcare support

3.0 2.5* 13.61 14.35* 5

Protective service

2.5 1.6* 20.92 21.59 3

Food preparation and serving related

9.0 8.1* 10.38 10.56 2

Building and grounds cleaning and maintenance

3.2 4.1* 12.51 13.14* 5

Personal care and service

3.0 3.3 11.88 12.40* 4

Sales and related

10.6 10.8 18.37 19.98* 9

Office and administrative support

16.2 17.5 16.78 17.45* 4

Farming, fishing, and forestry

0.3 0.1* 11.70 12.66 8

Construction and extraction

3.8 2.4* 21.94 26.39* 20

Installation, maintenance, and repair

3.9 3.2* 21.35 23.53* 10

Production

6.6 8.5* 16.79 17.57 5

Transportation and material moving

6.8 6.0 16.28 14.91* -8

Footnotes:
(1) A positive percent difference measures how much the mean wage in Lake County 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. Lake County-Kenosha County had 32,190 jobs in production, accounting for 8.5 percent of local area employment, significantly higher than the 6.6-percent share nationally. The average hourly wage for this occupational group locally was $17.57, compared to the national wage of $16.79.

With employment of 4,660, team assemblers was the largest occupation within the production group, followed by machinists (2,410) and first-line supervisors of production and operating workers (2,270). Among the higher paying jobs were stationary engineers and boiler operators and power plant operators, with mean hourly wages of $34.94 and $33.77, respectively. At the lower end of the wage scale were food cooking machine operators and tenders ($9.57) and laundry and dry-cleaning workers ($9.70). (Detailed occupational data for production are presented in table 1; for a complete listing of detailed occupations available go to www.bls.gov/oes/2013/may/oes_29404.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 Lake County-Kenosha County Metropolitan Division, above average concentrations of employment were found in some of the occupations within the production group. For instance, grinding, lapping, polishing, and buffing machine tool setters, operators, and tenders of metal and plastic were employed at 3.5 times the national rate in Lake County, and computer numerically controlled machine tool programmers of metal and plastic, at 3.1 times the U.S. average. On the other hand, electrical and electronic equipment assemblers had a location quotient of 1.0 in Lake County, 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 Illinois Department of Employment Security and the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development.

OES wage and employment data for the 22 major occupational groups in the Lake County Metropolitan Division were compared to their respective national averages based on statistical significance testing. Only those occupations with wages or employment shares above or below the national wage or share after testing for significance at the 90-percent confidence level meet the criteria.

Note: 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.


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 Lake County-Kenosha County Metropolitan Division included 3,703 establishments with a response rate of 69 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 Lake County-Kenosha County, Ill.-Wis. Metropolitan Division includes Lake County of Illinois and Kenosha County of Wisconsin.

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, Lake County-Kenosha County Metropolitan Division, May 2013
Occupation (1) Employment Mean wages
Level (2) Location quotient (3) Hourly Annual(4)

Production Occupations

32,190 1.3 $17.57 $36,550

First-Line Supervisors of Production and Operating Workers

2,270 1.4 27.89 58,000

Electrical and Electronic Equipment Assemblers

590 1.0 12.90 26,840

Electromechanical Equipment Assemblers

(5) (5) 14.58 30,340

Engine and Other Machine Assemblers

80 0.7 17.03 35,420

Structural Metal Fabricators and Fitters

120 0.5 17.74 36,890

Team Assemblers

4,660 1.5 13.69 28,460

Assemblers and Fabricators, All Other

760 1.1 12.30 25,580

Bakers

450 1.0 11.80 24,550

Butchers and Meat Cutters

390 1.0 13.89 28,890

Slaughterers and Meat Packers

50 0.2 12.51 26,020

Food Batchmakers

600 1.9 12.56 26,130

Food Cooking Machine Operators and Tenders

120 1.2 9.57 19,910

Computer-Controlled Machine Tool Operators, Metal and Plastic

(5) (5) 18.58 38,640

Computer Numerically Controlled Machine Tool Programmers, Metal and Plastic

210 3.1 20.72 43,100

Extruding and Drawing Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic

80 0.4 15.65 32,540

Rolling Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic

80 0.8 18.08 37,600

Cutting, Punching, and Press Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic

1,020 1.9 15.06 31,320

Drilling and Boring Machine Tool Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic

(5) (5) 17.46 36,320

Grinding, Lapping, Polishing, and Buffing Machine Tool Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic

710 3.5 15.98 33,240

Lathe and Turning Machine Tool Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic

300 2.6 18.56 38,600

Milling and Planing Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic

(5) (5) 15.24 31,700

Machinists

2,410 2.2 19.05 39,630

Model Makers, Metal and Plastic

(5) (5) 22.08 45,930

Molding, Coremaking, and Casting Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic

570 1.6 15.94 33,160

Multiple Machine Tool Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic

410 1.5 16.50 34,310

Tool and Die Makers

280 1.2 23.29 48,440

Welders, Cutters, Solderers, and Brazers

700 0.7 18.70 38,900

Welding, Soldering, and Brazing Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders

130 0.9 16.98 35,310

Heat Treating Equipment Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic

70 1.2 16.45 34,220

Plating and Coating Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic

80 0.8 (5) (5)

Prepress Technicians and Workers

90 0.8 19.28 40,100

Printing Press Operators

590 1.2 17.35 36,100

Print Binding and Finishing Workers

170 1.2 22.40 46,590

Laundry and Dry-Cleaning Workers

490 0.9 9.70 20,170

Pressers, Textile, Garment, and Related Materials

(5) (5) 9.84 20,470

Sewing Machine Operators

110 0.3 15.47 32,170

Tailors, Dressmakers, and Custom Sewers

80 1.3 12.34 25,670

Textile, Apparel, and Furnishings Workers, All Other

(5) (5) 12.62 26,250

Cabinetmakers and Bench Carpenters

130 0.6 22.16 46,100

Woodworking Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Except Sawing

(5) (5) 17.80 37,020

Power Plant Operators

100 0.9 33.77 70,230

Stationary Engineers and Boiler Operators

160 1.6 34.94 72,680

Water and Wastewater Treatment Plant and System Operators

230 0.7 27.80 57,830

Crushing, Grinding, and Polishing Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders

130 1.4 11.12 23,140

Grinding and Polishing Workers, Hand

100 1.2 15.97 33,220

Mixing and Blending Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders

(5) (5) 17.33 36,050

Cutters and Trimmers, Hand

(5) (5) 17.96 37,360

Cutting and Slicing Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders

(5) (5) 16.85 35,050

Extruding, Forming, Pressing, and Compacting Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders

210 1.0 14.16 29,450

Inspectors, Testers, Sorters, Samplers, and Weighers

1,960 1.5 17.35 36,080

Jewelers and Precious Stone and Metal Workers

40 0.6 18.70 38,900

Dental Laboratory Technicians

60 0.6 18.29 38,040

Medical Appliance Technicians

60 1.5 24.41 50,770

Ophthalmic Laboratory Technicians

(5) (5) 14.28 29,690

Packaging and Filling Machine Operators and Tenders

1,720 1.6 13.15 27,360

Coating, Painting, and Spraying Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders

180 0.7 14.13 29,390

Painters, Transportation Equipment

120 0.9 26.30 54,700

Painting, Coating, and Decorating Workers

100 2.2 17.04 35,450

Photographic Process Workers and Processing Machine Operators

50 0.5 14.76 30,700

Molders, Shapers, and Casters, Except Metal and Plastic

50 0.6 15.99 33,270

Paper Goods Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders

350 1.3 15.09 31,380

Helpers--Production Workers

930 0.8 12.03 25,020

Production Workers, All Other

(5) (5) 13.86 28,840

Footnotes:
(1) For a complete listing of all detailed occupations in Lake County-Kenosha County, IL-WI Metropolitan Division, see www.bls.gov/oes/tables.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.
 

 

Last Modified Date: Wednesday, May 21, 2014