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News Release Information

21-475-CHI
Monday, August 16, 2021

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

Occupational Employment and Wages in Cincinnati — May 2020

Workers in the Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN Metropolitan Statistical Area had an average (mean) hourly wage of $25.79 in May 2020, about 5 percent below the nationwide average of $27.07, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Regional Commissioner Jason Palmer noted that, after testing for statistical significance, wages in the local area were higher than their respective national averages in 2 of the 22 major occupational groups: sales and related and also production. Fourteen groups had significantly lower wages than their respective national averages, including arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media; computer and mathematical; and management.

When compared to the nationwide distribution, Cincinnati area employment was more highly concentrated in 6 of the 22 occupational groups, including production, transportation and material moving, and business and financial operations. Eleven groups had employment shares significantly below their national representation, including healthcare support, construction and extraction, and sales and related. (See table A.)

Table A. Occupational employment and wages by major occupational group, United States and the Cincinnati metropolitan area, and measures of statistical significance, May 2020
Major occupational groupPercent of total employmentMean hourly wage
United StatesCincinnatiUnited StatesCincinnatiPercent difference (1)

Total, all occupations

100.0100.0$27.07$25.79*-5

Management

5.75.2*60.8157.08*-6

Business and financial operations

6.06.6*38.7935.87*-8

Computer and mathematical

3.33.446.5342.21*-9

Architecture and engineering

1.82.0*43.4140.53*-7

Life, physical, and social science

0.90.838.1535.46*-7

Community and social service

1.61.3*25.0924.50-2

Legal

0.80.6*54.0052.65-3

Educational instruction and library

6.15.6*28.7530.065

Arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media

1.31.1*30.9626.62*-14

Healthcare practitioners and technical

6.26.5*41.3038.52*-7

Healthcare support

4.63.6*15.5015.752

Protective service

2.42.0*25.1122.90*-9

Food preparation and serving related

8.18.4*13.3012.24*-8

Building and grounds cleaning and maintenance

2.92.4*15.7515.25*-3

Personal care and service

1.92.015.6814.00*-11

Sales and related

9.48.8*22.0023.20*5

Office and administrative support

13.313.620.3819.91*-2

Farming, fishing, and forestry

0.30.1*16.0216.292

Construction and extraction

4.33.5*25.9324.89*-4

Installation, maintenance, and repair

3.93.925.1724.73-2

Production

6.18.1*20.0820.57*2

Transportation and material moving

8.710.4*19.0817.67*-7

Footnotes:
(1) A positive percent difference measures how much the mean wage in the Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN Metropolitan Statistical Area is above the national mean wage, while a negative difference reflects a lower wage.
* The mean hourly wage or percent share of employment 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. Cincinnati had 83,360 jobs in production, accounting for 8.1 percent of local area employment, significantly higher than the 6.1-percent share nationally. The average hourly wage for this occupational group locally was $20.57, significantly above the national wage of $20.08.

Some of the larger detailed occupations within the production group included miscellaneous assemblers and fabricators (10,590); packaging and filling machine operators and tenders (7,520); and inspectors, testers, sorters, samplers, and weighers (6,180). Among the higher-paying jobs in this group were power plant operators and petroleum pump system operators, refinery operators, and gaugers, with mean hourly wages of $43.17 and $36.90, respectively. At the lower end of the wage scale were laundry and dry-cleaning workers ($12.22) and pressers, textile, garment, and related materials ($12.33). (Detailed data for the production occupations are presented in table 1; for a complete listing of detailed occupations available go to www.bls.gov/oes/current/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 area, above-average concentrations of employment were found in some of the occupations within the production group. For instance, prepress technicians and workers were employed at 3.1 times the national rate in Cincinnati, and packaging and filling machine operators and tenders, at 2.7 times the U.S. average. Welders, cutters, solderers, and brazers had a location quotient of 1.0 in Cincinnati, indicating that this particular occupation’s local and national employment shares were similar.

These statistics are from the Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) survey, a federal-state cooperative program between BLS and State Workforce Agencies, in this case, the Ohio Department of Job & Family Services, Kentucky Center for Statistics and Indiana Department of Workforce Development.

Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) Name Change

The Occupational Employment Statistics (OES) program has changed its name to Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) to better reflect the range of data available from the program. Data released on or after March 31, 2021, will reflect the new program name. Webpages, publications, and other materials associated with previous data releases will retain the Occupational Employment Statistics name.

Coronavirus (COVID-19) Impact on May 2020 Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics

Due to features of the OEWS methodology, the May 2020 OEWS estimates do not fully reflect the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. The May 2020 OEWS estimates are based on survey panels collected for May 2020, November 2019, May 2019, November 2018, May 2018, and November 2017. Because 5 of the 6 survey panels used to produce the estimates date from before the COVID-19 pandemic, only the most recent (May 2020) survey panel reflects changes in occupational proportions related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The May 2020 OEWS employment estimates are benchmarked to the average of May 2020 and November 2019 employment from the Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW). Although the May 2020 QCEW data reflect the early employment effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, the November 2019 QCEW employment data precede the pandemic, and therefore do not reflect its impact.

In addition, as a result of the pandemic, response rates for the November 2019 and May 2020 panels were lower in some areas. Lower response rates may negatively affect data availability and data quality. More information is available at www.bls.gov/covid19/effects-of-covid-19-pandemic-on-occupational-employment-and-wage-statistics.htm.

Implementing the 2018 Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) System

With the May 2019 estimates, the OEWS program began implementing the 2018 Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) system. Because the May 2019 and May 2020 estimates are based on a combination of survey data collected using the 2010 SOC and survey data collected using the 2018 SOC, these estimates use a hybrid of the two classification systems that contains some combinations of occupations that are not found in either the 2010 or 2018 SOC. This is the second and final year that the hybrid occupational structure will be used. The May 2021 estimates, to be published in Spring 2022, will be the first OEWS estimates based entirely on survey data collected using the 2018 SOC. For more information on the occupational classification system used in the May 2019 and May 2020 estimates, please see www.bls.gov/oes/soc_2018.htm and www.bls.gov/oes/oes_ques.htm#qf10.

Upcoming Changes to the Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics Methodology

With the May 2021 estimates, to be released in Spring 2022, the OEWS program plans to begin using a new estimation methodology. The new model-based methodology, called MB3, has advantages over the existing methodology, as described in the Monthly Labor Review article at www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/2019/article/model-based-estimates-for-the-occupational-employment-statistics-program.htm. OEWS estimates for the years 2015-2018 were recalculated using the new estimation methodology and are available as research estimates at www.bls.gov/oes/oes-mb3-methods.htm.


Technical Note

The Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) survey is a semiannual survey measuring occupational employment and wage rates for wage and salary workers in nonfarm establishments in the United States. The OEWS data available from BLS include cross-industry occupational employment and wage estimates for the nation; over 580 areas, including states and the District of Columbia, metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs), nonmetropolitan areas, and territories; national industry-specific estimates at the NAICS sector, 3-digit, most 4-digit, and selected 5- and 6-digit industry levels, and national estimates by ownership across all industries and for schools and hospitals. OEWS data are available at www.bls.gov/oes/tables.htm.

The OEWS survey is a cooperative effort between BLS and the State Workforce Agencies (SWAs). BLS funds the survey and provides the procedures and technical support, while the State Workforce Agencies collect most of the data. OEWS estimates are constructed from a sample of about 1.1 million establishments. Each year, two semiannual panels of approximately 180,000 to 185,000 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 2020 estimates are based on responses from six semiannual panels collected over a 3-year period: May 2020, November 2019, May 2019, November 2018, May 2018, and November 2017. The unweighted sample employment of 83 million across all six semiannual panels represents approximately 56 percent of total national employment. The overall national response rate for the six panels, based on the 50 states and the District of Columbia, is 69 percent based on establishments and 66 percent based on weighted sampled employment. The sample in the Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN Metropolitan Statistical Area included 6,906 establishments with a response rate of 69 percent. For more information about OEWS concepts and methodology, go to www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_tec.htm.

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.

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, OH-KY-IN Metropolitan Statistical Area includes Dearborn, Ohio, and Union Counties in Indiana, Boone, Bracken, Campbell, Gallatin, Grant, Kenton, and Pendleton Counties in Kentucky, and Brown, Butler, Clermont, Hamilton, and Warren Counties in Ohio.

For more information

Answers to frequently asked questions about the OEWS data are available at www.bls.gov/oes/oes_ques.htm. Detailed information about the OEWS program is available at www.bls.gov/oes/oes_doc.htm.

Information in this release will be made available to individuals with sensory impairments upon request. Voice phone: (202) 691-5200; Federal Relay Service: (800) 877-8339.

Table 1. Employment and wage data for production occupations, Cincinnati metropolitan area, May 2020
Occupation (1)EmploymentMean wages
Level (2)Location quotient (3)HourlyAnnual (4)

Production occupations

83,3601.3$20.57$42,790

First-line supervisors of production and operating workers

5,6001.332.7468,090

Coil winders, tapers, and finishers

1001.118.0237,480

Electrical, electronic, and electromechanical assemblers, except coil winders, tapers, and finishers

2,0601.019.2840,090

Structural metal fabricators and fitters

2200.421.5044,720

Fiberglass laminators and fabricators

1401.016.5934,510

Miscellaneous assemblers and fabricators

10,5901.116.5634,440

Bakers

9900.816.0233,320

Butchers and meat cutters

9900.916.4034,110

Slaughterers and meat packers

6401.114.1729,470

Food and tobacco roasting, baking, and drying machine operators and tenders

(5)(5)18.9739,450

Food batchmakers

1,5201.318.4738,430

Food cooking machine operators and tenders

(5)(5)18.3138,090

Food processing workers, all other

1800.615.0531,300

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

8901.819.7341,040

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

(5)(5)17.3236,030

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

(5)(5)21.8845,500

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

2,0201.518.8239,160

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

1001.523.1148,070

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

9101.818.4838,450

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

3902.222.4046,580

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

500.522.1246,020

Machinists

5,2302.024.5751,110

Metal-refining furnace operators and tenders

1801.619.5040,560

Pourers and casters, metal

1302.518.0837,600

Foundry mold and coremakers

1000.920.3042,230

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

1,5001.318.1937,830

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

2,1902.219.8041,190

Tool and die makers

8501.927.3056,780

Welders, cutters, solderers, and brazers

2,9401.021.1143,900

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

2801.117.4236,240

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

2101.721.7045,140

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

4001.422.4146,600

Tool grinders, filers, and sharpeners

501.224.8851,760

Metal workers and plastic workers, all other

500.419.4540,460

Prepress technicians and workers

6403.120.4442,520

Printing press operators

1,9201.619.1439,820

Print binding and finishing workers

7102.316.8335,010

Laundry and dry-cleaning workers

1,4501.112.2225,430

Pressers, textile, garment, and related materials

2401.012.3325,650

Sewing machine operators

5700.714.9731,140

Tailors, dressmakers, and custom sewers

1000.619.4540,460

Upholsterers

600.320.0741,750

Textile, apparel, and furnishings workers, all other

900.715.9033,060

Cabinetmakers and bench carpenters

3500.519.3540,250

Furniture finishers

1101.016.2733,830

Sawing machine setters, operators, and tenders, wood

300.115.5632,370

Woodworking machine setters, operators, and tenders, except sawing

3700.715.6732,600

Power plant operators

2200.943.1789,780

Stationary engineers and boiler operators

1500.731.4965,490

Water and wastewater treatment plant and system operators

8300.924.5251,010

Chemical plant and system operators

2501.234.2971,330

Petroleum pump system operators, refinery operators, and gaugers

300.136.9076,750

Chemical equipment operators and tenders

1,2601.825.7153,480

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

3501.029.6661,700

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

(5)(5)20.9143,500

Grinding and polishing workers, hand

2101.219.0539,630

Mixing and blending machine setters, operators, and tenders

1,5301.820.3742,370

Cutting and slicing machine setters, operators, and tenders

5301.418.0037,430

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

5401.219.9741,540

Furnace, kiln, oven, drier, and kettle operators and tenders

2001.619.0339,580

Inspectors, testers, sorters, samplers, and weighers

6,1801.522.2846,340

Jewelers and precious stone and metal workers

800.619.4640,480

Dental laboratory technicians

700.327.1756,510

Medical appliance technicians

700.719.3340,200

Ophthalmic laboratory technicians

2801.418.2137,880

Packaging and filling machine operators and tenders

7,5202.717.8237,060

Painting, coating, and decorating workers

(5)(5)15.4232,060

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

9901.018.6638,810

Computer numerically controlled tool operators

2,2702.121.1543,980

Computer numerically controlled tool programmers

2901.629.9462,270

Adhesive bonding machine operators and tenders

3203.516.9135,170

Cleaning, washing, and metal pickling equipment operators and tenders

2102.016.9235,200

Etchers and engravers

801.216.8635,080

Molders, shapers, and casters, except metal and plastic

3001.015.6032,450

Paper goods machine setters, operators, and tenders

1,7202.319.4240,390

Helpers--production workers

2,3401.316.7334,810

Production workers, all other

1,4501.020.4942,610

Footnotes:
(1) For a complete listing of all detailed occupations in the Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN Metropolitan Statistical Area, see www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_17140.htm.
(2) Estimates for detailed occupations may not sum to the totals due to rounding, and because the totals may include occupations that are 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, August 16, 2021