Workers in the Elkhart-Goshen Metropolitan Statistical Area had an average (mean) hourly wage of $19.77 in May 2016, about 17 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 19 of the 22 major occupational groups, including legal; computer and mathematical; and architecture and engineering. 

When compared to the nationwide distribution, local employment was more highly concentrated in 3 of the 22 occupational groups: production; transportation and material moving; and installation, maintenance, and repair. Conversely, 19 groups had employment shares significantly below their national representation, including food preparation and serving related; office and administrative support; and sales and related. (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. Elkhart-Goshen had 45,530 jobs in production, accounting for 35.9 percent of local area employment, significantly higher than the 6.5-percent share nationally. The average hourly wage for this occupational group locally was $17.76, compared to the national wage of $17.88.

Some of the largest detailed occupations within the production group included team assemblers (16,750), first-line supervisors of production and operating workers (2,230), and welders, cutters, solderers, and brazers (1,920). Among the higher paying jobs were first-line supervisors of production and operating workers with mean hourly wages of $25.40 and tool and die makers, $24.30. At the lower end of the wage scale were laundry and dry-cleaning workers ($9.25) and bakers ($10.83). (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_21140.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 Elkhart-Goshen Metropolitan Statistical Area, above-average concentrations of employment were found in many of the occupations within the production group. For instance, fiberglass laminators and fabricators in Elkhart were employed at 84.2 times the national rate, and upholsterers, at 28.8 times the U.S. average. On the other hand, printing press operators in Elkhart had a location quotient of 0.9, 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 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 Elkhart-Goshen Metropolitan Statistical Area included 1,368 establishments with a response rate of 77 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 Elkhart-Goshen, Ind. Metropolitan Statistical Area  includes Elkhart County.

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, Elkhart-Goshen Metropolitan Statistical Area, May 2016

Occupation (1)	Employment		Mean wages
	Level (2)	Location quotient (3)	Hourly	Annual (4)
Production occupations	45,530	5.5	$17.76	$36,940
First-line supervisors of production and operating workers	2,230	4.0	25.40	52,830
Electrical and electronic equipment assemblers	(5)	(5)	13.56	28,210
Structural metal fabricators and fitters	240	3.5	17.75	36,910
Fiberglass laminators and fabricators	1,470	84.2	14.03	29,180
Team assemblers	16,750	16.7	20.22	42,050
Assemblers and fabricators, all other	2,750	13.2	16.43	34,180
Bakers	180	1.1	10.83	22,530
Butchers and meat cutters	80	0.7	11.12	23,130
Food batchmakers	(5)	(5)	12.15	25,270
Computer-controlled machine tool operators, metal and plastic	700	5.3	16.32	33,940
Computer numerically controlled machine tool programmers, metal and plastic	40	1.9	23.88	49,670
Extruding and drawing machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	200	3.1	17.46	36,330
Rolling machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	60	2.3	18.16	37,770
Cutting, punching, and press machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	930	5.4	14.24	29,630
Grinding, lapping, polishing, and buffing machine tool setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	230	3.4	16.48	34,280
Lathe and turning machine tool setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	(5)	(5)	16.26	33,830
Machinists	720	2.0	17.10	35,580
Molding, coremaking, and casting machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	1,620	12.3	15.38	32,000
Multiple machine tool setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	300	2.9	18.82	39,150
Tool and die makers	220	3.5	24.30	50,530
Welders, cutters, solderers, and brazers	1,920	5.6	17.26	35,890
Welding, soldering, and brazing machine setters, operators, and tenders	150	3.6	16.65	34,620
Heat treating equipment setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	100	5.7	16.01	33,310
Layout workers, metal and plastic	40	4.4	(5)	(5)
Plating and coating machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	(5)	(5)	13.51	28,110
Tool grinders, filers, and sharpeners	40	4.8	12.68	26,370
Metal workers and plastic workers, all other	(5)	(5)	14.00	29,110
Printing press operators	140	0.9	17.43	36,260
Print binding and finishing workers	30	0.7	12.41	25,810
Laundry and dry-cleaning workers	110	0.6	9.25	19,240
Sewing machine operators	910	7.2	14.36	29,870
Textile cutting machine setters, operators, and tenders	110	8.1	14.09	29,300
Extruding and forming machine setters, operators, and tenders, synthetic and glass fibers	(5)	(5)	12.21	25,410
Upholsterers	840	28.8	15.43	32,090
Textile, apparel, and furnishings workers, all other	(5)	(5)	10.70	22,270
Cabinetmakers and bench carpenters	1,000	11.4	18.65	38,790
Furniture finishers	370	23.7	14.54	30,240
Sawing machine setters, operators, and tenders, wood	350	7.6	13.91	28,940
Woodworking machine setters, operators, and tenders, except sawing	730	10.7	14.68	30,530
Water and wastewater treatment plant and system operators	50	0.5	20.21	42,040
Crushing, grinding, and polishing machine setters, operators, and tenders	40	1.5	12.38	25,740
Grinding and polishing workers, hand	250	10.2	14.79	30,770
Mixing and blending machine setters, operators, and tenders	220	1.9	15.85	32,960
Cutters and trimmers, hand	40	3.4	14.36	29,880
Cutting and slicing machine setters, operators, and tenders	350	6.3	13.53	28,140
Extruding, forming, pressing, and compacting machine setters, operators, and tenders	80	1.2	14.88	30,950
Inspectors, testers, sorters, samplers, and weighers	1,470	3.2	17.34	36,070
Packaging and filling machine operators and tenders	800	2.3	13.78	28,670
Coating, painting, and spraying machine setters, operators, and tenders	510	6.6	14.47	30,090
Painters, transportation equipment	(5)	(5)	16.86	35,060
Painting, coating, and decorating workers	90	6.5	14.08	29,280
Adhesive bonding machine operators and tenders	280	18.4	13.73	28,560
Molders, shapers, and casters, except metal and plastic	80	2.3	19.35	40,240
Paper goods machine setters, operators, and tenders	70	0.9	14.90	31,000
Helpers--production workers	1,730	4.5	13.31	27,690
Production workers, all other	390	1.7	14.58	30,320
Footnotes: (1) For a complete listing of all detailed occupations in the Elkhart-Goshen, IN, see www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_21140.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.