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

17-540-CHI
Monday, June 26, 2017

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

Occupational Employment and Wages in Warren-Troy-Farmington Hills — May 2016

Workers in the Warren-Troy-Farmington Hills Metropolitan Division had an average (mean) hourly wage of $24.34 in May 2016, similar to 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 9 of the 22 major occupational groups, including legal; computer and mathematical; and life, physical, and social science. Five groups had wages that were higher than their respective national averages.

When compared to the nationwide distribution, local employment was more highly concentrated in 6 of the 22 occupational groups, including production; architecture and engineering; and sales and related. Conversely, 11 groups had employment shares significantly below their national representation, including education, training, and library; transportation and material moving; and protective service. (See table A and box note at end of release.)

Table A. Occupational employment and wages by major occupational group, United States and the Warren-Troy-Farmington Hills Metropolitan Division, and measures of statistical significance, May 2016
Major occupational groupPercent of total employmentMean hourly wage
United StatesWarrenUnited StatesWarrenPercent difference (1)

Total, all occupations

100.0100.0$23.86$24.342

Management

5.14.956.7458.17*3

Business and financial operations

5.25.436.0935.45-2

Computer and mathematical

3.03.5*42.2538.72*-8

Architecture and engineering

1.85.0*40.5339.98-1

Life, physical, and social science

0.80.5*35.0632.55*-7

Community and social service

1.40.9*22.6922.19-2

Legal

0.81.0*50.9542.44*-17

Education, training, and library

6.24.3*26.2124.52*-6

Arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media

1.41.6*28.0727.76-1

Healthcare practitioners and technical

5.95.638.0638.682

Healthcare support

2.93.214.6514.35-2

Protective service

2.41.4*22.0319.93*-10

Food preparation and serving related

9.28.8*11.4710.79*-6

Building and grounds cleaning and maintenance

3.22.8*13.4712.99*-4

Personal care and service

3.22.8*12.7412.23*-4

Sales and related

10.411.1*19.5021.24*9

Office and administrative support

15.715.317.9117.69-1

Farming, fishing, and forestry

0.3(2)*13.37(3) 

Construction and extraction

4.03.2*23.5125.04*7

Installation, maintenance, and repair

3.93.7*22.4523.21*3

Production

6.510.0*17.8818.78*5

Transportation and material moving

6.95.2*17.3416.23*-6

Footnotes:
(1) A positive percent difference measures how much the mean wage in the Warren-Troy-Farmington Hills Metropolitan Division is above the national mean wage, while a negative difference reflects a lower wage.
(2) Indicates a value of less than 0.05 percent
(3) Estimate not released
* 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. Warren-Troy-Farmington Hills had 120,960 jobs in production, accounting for 10.0 percent of local area employment, significantly higher than the 6.5-percent share nationally. The average hourly wage for this occupational group locally was $18.78, significantly above the national wage of $17.88.

Some of the largest detailed occupations within the production group included team assemblers (22,640); inspectors, testers, sorters, samplers, and weighers (8,990); and machinists (8,960). Among the higher paying jobs were power plant operators with mean hourly wages of $37.43 and power distributors and dispatchers, $36.47. At the lower end of the wage scale were pressers, textile, garment, and related materials ($10.43) and adhesive bonding machine operators and tenders ($10.86). (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_47664.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 Warren-Troy-Farmington Hills Metropolitan Division, above-average concentrations of employment were found in many of the occupations within the production group. For instance, model makers, metal and plastic, in Warren were employed at 13.4 times the national rate, and tool and die makers, at 8.1 times the U.S. average. On the other hand, welders, cutters, solderers, and brazers in Warren 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 Michigan Department of Technology, Management & Budget.

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. 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 Warren-Troy-Farmington Hills Metropolitan Division included 5,901 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 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 Warren-Troy-Farmington Hills, Mich. Metropolitan Division includes Lapeer, Livingston, Macomb, Oakland, and St. Clair 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/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, Warren-Troy-Farmington Hills Metropolitan Division, May 2016
Occupation (1)EmploymentMean wages
Level (2)Location quotient (3)HourlyAnnual (4)

Production occupations

120,9601.6$18.78$39,070

First-line supervisors of production and operating workers

7,2801.431.9866,520

Coil winders, tapers, and finishers

(5)(5)20.1841,970

Electrical and electronic equipment assemblers

1,7400.914.8430,870

Electromechanical equipment assemblers

1500.418.4938,450

Engine and other machine assemblers

2,1706.622.7447,300

Structural metal fabricators and fitters

1,3202.018.4638,400

Fiberglass laminators and fabricators

500.315.7532,760

Team assemblers

22,6402.416.8635,070

Assemblers and fabricators, all other

1,0300.514.0129,130

Bakers

1,4000.913.0927,230

Butchers and meat cutters

9600.814.2629,660

Meat, poultry, and fish cutters and trimmers

5000.412.7826,580

Food batchmakers

5700.513.7428,580

Food processing workers, all other

500.112.4125,810

Computer-controlled machine tool operators, metal and plastic

2,5502.021.3244,360

Computer numerically controlled machine tool programmers, metal and plastic

8704.023.8049,510

Extruding and drawing machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic

7601.217.9837,390

Forging machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic

3302.013.7228,530

Cutting, punching, and press machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic

5,4603.318.7438,980

Drilling and boring machine tool setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic

2802.623.1448,120

Grinding, lapping, polishing, and buffing machine tool setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic

1,6702.616.7234,770

Lathe and turning machine tool setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic

9603.316.7034,740

Milling and planing machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic

4503.018.4738,410

Machinists

8,9602.720.6642,970

Metal-refining furnace operators and tenders

1400.914.0129,140

Model makers, metal and plastic

72013.4(5)(5)

Patternmakers, metal and plastic

(5)(5)23.2548,360

Foundry mold and coremakers

1801.717.1535,670

Molding, coremaking, and casting machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic

4,8603.914.6530,460

Multiple machine tool setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic

2,7802.818.4938,450

Tool and die makers

5,0408.124.7151,400

Welders, cutters, solderers, and brazers

3,2501.019.5540,660

Welding, soldering, and brazing machine setters, operators, and tenders

1,1502.916.8335,000

Heat treating equipment setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic

6603.918.5938,660

Layout workers, metal and plastic

901.224.6951,350

Plating and coating machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic

5101.716.3934,080

Tool grinders, filers, and sharpeners

3904.819.4440,440

Prepress technicians and workers

2400.816.7334,790

Printing press operators

1,4801.016.6234,570

Print binding and finishing workers

3800.816.0533,390

Laundry and dry-cleaning workers

1,3400.811.4423,790

Pressers, textile, garment, and related materials

1900.510.4321,700

Sewing machine operators

9400.816.8735,090

Shoe and leather workers and repairers

(5)(5)12.8226,670

Tailors, dressmakers, and custom sewers

8004.314.6130,390

Textile cutting machine setters, operators, and tenders

2902.313.2627,580

Textile winding, twisting, and drawing out machine setters, operators, and tenders

(5)(5)17.3336,050

Upholsterers

700.315.7732,810

Textile, apparel, and furnishings workers, all other

(5)(5)18.4838,430

Cabinetmakers and bench carpenters

3500.417.2835,930

Furniture finishers

600.416.8735,080

Sawing machine setters, operators, and tenders, wood

(5)(5)16.8234,990

Woodworking machine setters, operators, and tenders, except sawing

2800.413.5028,080

Power distributors and dispatchers

900.936.4775,850

Power plant operators

2800.937.4377,850

Stationary engineers and boiler operators

(5)(5)33.2769,200

Water and wastewater treatment plant and system operators

4300.424.6251,200

Gas plant operators

2001.331.3265,150

Petroleum pump system operators, refinery operators, and gaugers

800.226.2654,620

Chemical equipment operators and tenders

(5)(5)22.3946,560

Separating, filtering, clarifying, precipitating, and still machine setters, operators, and tenders

1800.419.8341,250

Crushing, grinding, and polishing machine setters, operators, and tenders

(5)(5)14.7430,660

Grinding and polishing workers, hand

(5)(5)16.1633,610

Mixing and blending machine setters, operators, and tenders

1,0400.920.1841,980

Cutters and trimmers, hand

300.316.6134,540

Cutting and slicing machine setters, operators, and tenders

4000.815.9833,250

Extruding, forming, pressing, and compacting machine setters, operators, and tenders

5100.814.2229,580

Inspectors, testers, sorters, samplers, and weighers

8,9902.018.4538,380

Jewelers and precious stone and metal workers

2100.914.7230,610

Dental laboratory technicians

4501.418.9039,310

Medical appliance technicians

800.624.6151,190

Ophthalmic laboratory technicians

5002.017.8437,110

Packaging and filling machine operators and tenders

2,4900.815.1031,410

Coating, painting, and spraying machine setters, operators, and tenders

1,3001.814.2929,720

Painters, transportation equipment

4000.925.2152,430

Painting, coating, and decorating workers

(5)(5)15.8332,930

Photographic process workers and processing machine operators

1900.912.9626,950

Adhesive bonding machine operators and tenders

(5)(5)10.8622,580

Cleaning, washing, and metal pickling equipment operators and tenders

300.214.6530,470

Etchers and engravers

400.416.1333,540

Molders, shapers, and casters, except metal and plastic

5301.614.1429,420

Paper goods machine setters, operators, and tenders

3900.522.0345,820

Helpers--production workers

6,4501.812.8826,790

Production workers, all other

2,3101.117.3236,020

Footnotes:
(1) For a complete listing of all detailed occupations in the Warren-Troy-Farmington Hills, MI Metropolitan Division, see www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_47664.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: Monday, June 26, 2017