Workers in the Cincinnati Metropolitan Statistical Area had an average (mean) hourly wage of $23.14 in May 2016, about 3 percent below the nationwide average of $23.86, 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 15 of the 22 major occupational groups, including legal; arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media; and life, physical, and social science. Two groups had significantly higher wages than their respective national averages: sales and related; and production.

When compared to the nationwide distribution, local employment was more highly concentrated in 6 of the 22 occupational groups, including production; business and financial operations; and food preparation and serving related. Conversely, 10 groups had employment shares significantly below their national representation, including education, training, and library; construction and extraction; 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. Cincinnati had 79,890 jobs in production, accounting for 7.7 percent of local area employment, significantly higher than the 6.5-percent share nationally. The average hourly wage for this occupational group locally was $18.82, significantly above the national wage of $17.88.

Some of the largest detailed occupations within the production group included team assemblers (5,570), packaging and filling machine operators and tenders (5,570), and first-line supervisors of production and operating workers (5,100). Among the higher paying jobs were power plant operators with mean hourly wages of $34.38 and first-line supervisors of production and operating workers, $30.12. At the lower end of the wage scale were pressers, textile, garment, and related materials ($10.10) and laundry and dry-cleaning workers ($10.78). (Detailed occupational data for production are presented in table 1; for a complete listing of detailed occupations available go to www.bls.gov/oes/2016/may/oes_17140.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 Cincinnati Metropolitan Statistical Area, above-average concentrations of employment were found in some of the occupations within the production group. For instance, engine and other machine assemblers in Cincinnati were employed at 3.7 times the national rate, and chemical plant and system operators, at 3.0 times the U.S. average. On the other hand, welders, cutters, solderers, and brazers in Cincinnati had a location quotient of 1.0, 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 & Family Services, the Kentucky Department for Workforce Investment, and the Indiana Department of Workforce Development.

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 data available from BLS include cross-industry occupational employment and wage estimates for the nation; over 650 areas, including states and the District of Columbia, metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs), metropolitan divisions, nonmetropolitan areas, and territories; national industry-specific estimates at the NAICS sector, 3-, 4-, and selected 5- and 6-digit industry levels, and national estimates 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. Each year, two semiannual panels of approximately 200,000 sampled establishments are contacted, one panel in May and the other in November. Responses are obtained by mail, Internet or other electronic means, email, telephone, or personal visit. 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 Cincinnati Metropolitan Statistical Area included 7,324 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 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 Cincinnati, Ohio Metropolitan Statistical Area  includes Dearborn, Ohio, and Union Counties of Indiana, Boone, Bracken, Campbell, Gallatin, Grant, Kenton, and Pendleton Counties of Kentucky, and Brown, Butler, Clermont, Hamilton, and Warren Counties of Ohio.

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/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, Cincinnati Metropolitan Statistical Area, May 2016

Occupation (1)	Employment		Mean wages
	Level (2)	Location quotient (3)	Hourly	Annual (4)
Production occupations	79,890	1.2	$18.82	$39,150
First-line supervisors of production and operating workers	5,100	1.1	30.12	62,650
Aircraft structure, surfaces, rigging, and systems assemblers	170	0.5	19.54	40,650
Coil winders, tapers, and finishers	320	3.0	21.19	44,070
Electrical and electronic equipment assemblers	1,810	1.1	20.14	41,890
Electromechanical equipment assemblers	280	0.8	18.36	38,190
Engine and other machine assemblers	1,050	3.7	25.75	53,570
Structural metal fabricators and fitters	410	0.7	16.95	35,260
Fiberglass laminators and fabricators	140	0.9	14.23	29,590
Team assemblers	5,570	0.7	15.66	32,570
Assemblers and fabricators, all other	3,730	2.2	15.37	31,960
Bakers	750	0.6	13.42	27,910
Butchers and meat cutters	1,020	1.0	16.00	33,270
Meat, poultry, and fish cutters and trimmers	350	0.3	11.77	24,490
Slaughterers and meat packers	350	0.6	13.52	28,120
Food and tobacco roasting, baking, and drying machine operators and tenders	120	0.8	14.10	29,340
Food batchmakers	1,060	1.0	15.38	31,980
Food cooking machine operators and tenders	140	0.5	13.82	28,750
Food processing workers, all other	210	0.6	14.79	30,760
Computer-controlled machine tool operators, metal and plastic	2,050	1.9	20.77	43,210
Computer numerically controlled machine tool programmers, metal and plastic	220	1.2	27.55	57,300
Extruding and drawing machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	1,130	2.1	17.33	36,050
Rolling machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	(5)	(5)	17.24	35,850
Cutting, punching, and press machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	1,910	1.3	16.96	35,270
Drilling and boring machine tool setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	50	0.6	17.19	35,760
Grinding, lapping, polishing, and buffing machine tool setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	800	1.5	16.56	34,450
Lathe and turning machine tool setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	240	1.0	19.45	40,450
Milling and planing machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	200	1.6	20.44	42,510
Machinists	4,870	1.7	22.13	46,030
Metal-refining furnace operators and tenders	80	0.6	17.29	35,960
Pourers and casters, metal	(5)	(5)	18.13	37,710
Foundry mold and coremakers	(5)	(5)	17.54	36,470
Molding, coremaking, and casting machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	1,640	1.5	15.53	32,300
Multiple machine tool setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	2,130	2.4	21.08	43,850
Tool and die makers	770	1.4	27.19	56,560
Welders, cutters, solderers, and brazers	2,850	1.0	19.06	39,650
Welding, soldering, and brazing machine setters, operators, and tenders	280	0.8	18.45	38,370
Heat treating equipment setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	170	1.2	20.76	43,180
Plating and coating machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	290	1.1	18.40	38,270
Tool grinders, filers, and sharpeners	80	1.1	21.46	44,630
Metal workers and plastic workers, all other	590	3.4	22.76	47,340
Prepress technicians and workers	450	1.8	20.95	43,570
Printing press operators	2,080	1.7	17.77	36,970
Print binding and finishing workers	720	1.9	15.34	31,910
Laundry and dry-cleaning workers	1,580	1.0	10.78	22,410
Pressers, textile, garment, and related materials	880	2.6	10.10	21,010
Sewing machine operators	690	0.7	12.97	26,980
Shoe and leather workers and repairers	60	1.0	12.93	26,900
Tailors, dressmakers, and custom sewers	70	0.4	14.53	30,230
Textile cutting machine setters, operators, and tenders	60	0.6	14.72	30,620
Extruding and forming machine setters, operators, and tenders, synthetic and glass fibers	80	0.6	15.19	31,590
Upholsterers	90	0.4	14.95	31,090
Textile, apparel, and furnishings workers, all other	(5)	(5)	10.92	22,710
Cabinetmakers and bench carpenters	440	0.6	17.29	35,960
Furniture finishers	30	0.2	16.71	34,760
Sawing machine setters, operators, and tenders, wood	(5)	(5)	13.90	28,910
Woodworking machine setters, operators, and tenders, except sawing	320	0.6	14.96	31,120
Woodworkers, all other	50	0.9	(5)	(5)
Power plant operators	400	1.5	34.38	71,500
Stationary engineers and boiler operators	180	0.7	26.89	55,930
Water and wastewater treatment plant and system operators	780	0.9	21.12	43,930
Chemical plant and system operators	730	3.0	26.08	54,240
Plant and system operators, all other	40	0.4	27.17	56,510
Chemical equipment operators and tenders	940	1.7	24.03	49,980
Separating, filtering, clarifying, precipitating, and still machine setters, operators, and tenders	640	1.8	17.39	36,160
Crushing, grinding, and polishing machine setters, operators, and tenders	190	0.9	16.99	35,330
Grinding and polishing workers, hand	90	0.5	15.99	33,260
Mixing and blending machine setters, operators, and tenders	1,820	1.9	19.93	41,450
Cutting and slicing machine setters, operators, and tenders	740	1.6	15.96	33,190
Extruding, forming, pressing, and compacting machine setters, operators, and tenders	280	0.5	17.61	36,620
Furnace, kiln, oven, drier, and kettle operators and tenders	170	1.2	18.19	37,830
Inspectors, testers, sorters, samplers, and weighers	4,840	1.3	20.64	42,930
Jewelers and precious stone and metal workers	200	1.0	16.61	34,550
Dental laboratory technicians	130	0.5	21.24	44,190
Medical appliance technicians	(5)	(5)	19.33	40,200
Packaging and filling machine operators and tenders	5,570	1.9	17.02	35,390
Coating, painting, and spraying machine setters, operators, and tenders	800	1.3	16.47	34,270
Painters, transportation equipment	280	0.7	20.51	42,660
Photographic process workers and processing machine operators	150	0.8	14.53	30,230
Adhesive bonding machine operators and tenders	250	2.0	16.27	33,840
Cleaning, washing, and metal pickling equipment operators and tenders	160	1.2	15.33	31,890
Cooling and freezing equipment operators and tenders	40	0.6	11.15	23,200
Etchers and engravers	30	0.5	14.12	29,360
Molders, shapers, and casters, except metal and plastic	120	0.4	16.48	34,280
Paper goods machine setters, operators, and tenders	1,150	1.7	18.39	38,260
Tire builders	80	0.5	15.88	33,040
Helpers--production workers	4,360	1.4	14.61	30,380
Production workers, all other	2,020	1.1	17.06	35,490
Footnotes: (1) For a complete listing of all detailed occupations in the Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN, see www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_17140.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.