Workers in the Davenport-Moline-Rock Island Metropolitan Statistical Area had an average (mean) hourly wage of $21.01 in May 2015, about 10 percent below the nationwide average of $23.23, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Assistant Commissioner for Regional Operations Charlene Peiffer noted that, after testing for statistical significance, wages in the local area were lower than their respective national averages in 14 of the 22 major occupational groups, including management; arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media; and computer and mathematical. Two groups had significantly higher wages than their respective national averages.

When compared to the nationwide distribution, local employment was more highly concentrated in 4 of the 22 occupational groups, including production; transportation and material moving; and installation, maintenance, and repair. Conversely, 10 groups had employment shares significantly below their national representation, including office and administrative support; sales and related; and personal care and service. (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. Davenport-Moline-Rock Island had 17,510 jobs in production, accounting for 9.7 percent of local area employment, significantly higher than the 6.6-percent share nationally. The average hourly wage for this occupational group locally was $17.08, compared to the national wage of $17.41.

Some of the larger detailed occupations within the production group included team assemblers (1,430); meat, poultry, and fish cutters and trimmers (1,130); and first-line supervisors of production and operating workers (960). Among the higher paying jobs were stationary engineers and boiler operators; and first-line supervisors of production and operating workers, with mean hourly wages of $42.55 and $28.66, respectively. At the lower end of the wage scale were laundry and dry-cleaning workers ($9.81) and pressers, textile, garment, and related materials ($10.76). (Detailed occupational data for production are presented in table 1; for a complete listing of detailed occupations available go to www.bls.gov/oes/2015/may/oes_19340.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 than it does nationally. In the Davenport-Moline-Rock Island Metropolitan Statistical Area, above-average concentrations of employment were found in many of the occupations within the production group. For instance, meat, poultry, and fish cutters and trimmers were employed at 5.6 times the national rate in Davenport, and lathe and turning machine tool setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic, at 3.2 times the U.S. average. On the other hand, team assemblers had a location quotient of 1.0 in Davenport, 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 Iowa Department of Workforce Development and the Illinois Department of Employment Security.

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. May 2015 estimates are based on responses from six semiannual panels collected over a 3-year period: May 2015, November 2014, May 2014, November 2013, May 2013, and November 2012. The overall national response rate for the six panels is 73.5 percent based on establishments and 69.6 percent based on weighted sampled employment. The unweighted employment of sampled establishments across all six semiannual panels represents approximately 57.9 percent of total national employment. (Response rates are slightly lower for these estimates due to the federal shutdown in October 2013.) The sample in the Davenport-Moline-Rock Island Metropolitan Statistical Area included 2,631 establishments with a response rate of 73 percent. For more information about OES concepts and methodology, go to www.bls.gov/news.release/ocwage.tn.htm.

The May 2015 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 Davenport-Moline-Rock Island, Iowa-Ill. Metropolitan Statistical Area includes Scott County of Iowa and Henry, Mercer, and Rock Island Counties of Illinois.

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/2015/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: 800-877-8339.

Table 1. Employment and wage data from the Occupational Employment Statistics survey, by occupation, Davenport-Moline-Rock Island Metropolitan Statistical Area, May 2015

Occupation (1)	Employment		Mean wages
	Level (2)	Location quotient (3)	Hourly	Annual (4)
Production Occupations	17,510	1.5	$17.08	$35,520
First-Line Supervisors of Production and Operating Workers	960	1.2	28.66	59,620
Electrical and Electronic Equipment Assemblers	120	0.4	13.28	27,620
Structural Metal Fabricators and Fitters	60	0.5	18.91	39,340
Team Assemblers	1,430	1.0	14.97	31,140
Assemblers and Fabricators, All Other	410	1.4	13.77	28,630
Bakers	170	0.7	12.41	25,810
Butchers and Meat Cutters	300	1.7	13.73	28,570
Meat, Poultry, and Fish Cutters and Trimmers	1,130	5.6	(5)	(5)
Food Batchmakers	(5)	(5)	14.08	29,290
Food Processing Workers, All Other	100	1.7	13.10	27,250
Computer-Controlled Machine Tool Operators, Metal and Plastic	510	2.6	17.87	37,160
Computer Numerically Controlled Machine Tool Programmers, Metal and Plastic	40	1.1	23.00	47,840
Forging Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic	30	1.2	18.57	38,630
Cutting, Punching, and Press Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic	180	0.7	16.04	33,370
Drilling and Boring Machine Tool Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic	(5)	(5)	16.05	33,380
Grinding, Lapping, Polishing, and Buffing Machine Tool Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic	160	1.7	17.50	36,400
Lathe and Turning Machine Tool Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic	170	3.2	15.43	32,100
Machinists	850	1.6	23.35	48,560
Metal-Refining Furnace Operators and Tenders	(5)	(5)	16.00	33,270
Molding, Coremaking, and Casting Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic	350	2.0	18.05	37,540
Multiple Machine Tool Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic	380	2.7	16.84	35,020
Tool and Die Makers	160	1.6	26.64	55,410
Welders, Cutters, Solderers, and Brazers	770	1.5	19.08	39,680
Heat Treating Equipment Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic	50	2.0	18.02	37,480
Plating and Coating Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic	80	1.7	16.24	33,770
Metal Workers and Plastic Workers, All Other	(5)	(5)	21.02	43,720
Prepress Technicians and Workers	40	0.9	16.43	34,180
Printing Press Operators	140	0.7	18.88	39,270
Print Binding and Finishing Workers	100	1.4	13.26	27,570
Laundry and Dry-Cleaning Workers	220	0.8	9.81	20,410
Pressers, Textile, Garment, and Related Materials	30	0.5	10.76	22,370
Sewing Machine Operators	60	0.3	12.22	25,410
Cabinetmakers and Bench Carpenters	40	0.3	20.98	43,640
Stationary Engineers and Boiler Operators	80	1.7	42.55	88,510
Water and Wastewater Treatment Plant and System Operators	220	1.5	20.69	43,040
Separating, Filtering, Clarifying, Precipitating, and Still Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders	60	0.9	14.78	30,730
Crushing, Grinding, and Polishing Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders	70	1.7	15.27	31,760
Mixing and Blending Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders	130	0.8	15.11	31,440
Extruding, Forming, Pressing, and Compacting Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders	(5)	(5)	16.39	34,080
Inspectors, Testers, Sorters, Samplers, and Weighers	650	1.0	17.99	37,410
Jewelers and Precious Stone and Metal Workers	30	0.9	16.20	33,690
Dental Laboratory Technicians	100	2.1	15.67	32,600
Ophthalmic Laboratory Technicians	80	2.1	13.85	28,800
Packaging and Filling Machine Operators and Tenders	740	1.5	14.44	30,040
Coating, Painting, and Spraying Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders	80	0.7	15.23	31,670
Painters, Transportation Equipment	130	1.9	21.51	44,740
Etchers and Engravers	(5)	(5)	12.47	25,940
Molders, Shapers, and Casters, Except Metal and Plastic	50	0.9	17.98	37,400
Helpers--Production Workers	930	1.6	12.72	26,460
Production Workers, All Other	(5)	(5)	12.14	25,260
Footnotes: (1) For a complete listing of all detailed occupations in the Davenport-Moline-Rock Island Metropolitan Statistical Area, see www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_19340.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) Estimates not released.