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News Release Information

23-979-CHI
Friday, June 02, 2023

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

Occupational Employment and Wages in Chicago-Naperville-Elgin — May 2022

Workers in the Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN-WI Metropolitan Statistical Area had an average (mean) hourly wage of $31.81 in May 2022, 7 percent above the nationwide average of $29.76, 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 15 of the 22 major occupational groups, including construction and extraction; life, physical, and social science; and protective service.

When compared to the nationwide distribution, Chicago area employment was more highly concentrated in 7 of the 22 occupational groups, including management, transportation and material moving, and production. Eleven groups had employment shares significantly below their national representation, including construction and extraction, healthcare support, and food preparation and serving related. (See table A.)

Table A. Occupational employment and wages by major occupational group, United States and the Chicago metropolitan area, and measures of statistical significance, May 2022
Major occupational groupPercent of total employmentMean hourly wage
United StatesChicagoUnited StatesChicagoPercent difference (1)

Total, all occupations

100.0100.0$29.76$31.81*7

Management

6.78.9*63.0864.64*2

Business and financial operations

6.56.8*41.3944.50*8

Computer and mathematical

3.43.1*51.9949.27*-5

Architecture and engineering

1.71.3*45.5244.69-2

Life, physical, and social science

0.90.7*40.2143.79*9

Community and social service

1.61.3*26.8126.840

Legal

0.81.0*59.8762.304

Educational instruction and library

5.76.0*30.4129.90*-2

Arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media

1.41.3*36.7836.19-2

Healthcare practitioners and technical

6.16.146.5245.82-2

Healthcare support

4.63.8*17.1018.05*6

Protective service

2.32.5*25.9729.33*13

Food preparation and serving related

8.57.8*15.4515.99*3

Building and grounds cleaning and maintenance

2.92.817.2618.22*6

Personal care and service

1.91.817.4119.03*9

Sales and related

8.98.4*24.2226.26*8

Office and administrative support

12.612.621.9023.29*6

Farming, fishing, and forestry

0.30.1*18.2120.74*14

Construction and extraction

4.12.9*28.0837.24*33

Installation, maintenance, and repair

3.93.3*26.7729.00*8

Production

5.96.5*21.8122.18*2

Transportation and material moving

9.211.0*21.1222.48*6

Footnotes:
(1) A positive percent difference measures how much the mean wage in the Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN-WI 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—management—was chosen to illustrate the diversity of data available for any of the 22 major occupational categories. Chicago had 390,990 jobs in management, accounting for 8.9 percent of local area employment, significantly higher than the 6.7-percent share nationally. The average hourly wage for this occupational group locally was $64.64, significantly above the national wage of $63.08.

Some of the larger detailed occupations within the management group included general and operations managers (140,130), financial managers (35,030), and sales managers (23,710). Among the higher-paying jobs in this group were chief executives with mean hourly wages of ($133.38) and computer and information systems managers ($79.45). At the lower end of the wage scale were education and childcare administrators, preschool and daycare ($26.01) and food service managers ($32.12). (Detailed data for the management occupations are presented in table 1; for a complete listing of detailed occupations available go to www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_16980.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 Chicago area, above-average concentrations of employment were found in some of the occupations within the management group. For instance, marketing managers were employed at 2.0 times the national rate in Chicago, and human resources managers, at 1.9 times the U.S. average. Architectural and engineering managers had a location quotient of 1.1 in Chicago, 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 Illinois Department of Employment Security, the Indiana Department of Workforce Development, and the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development.

Changes to the Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) Data

The May 2022 OEWS estimates use the model-based (MB3) estimation method implemented with the May 2021 estimates release. Additional updates were made to the MB3 wage processing methodology for May 2022. For more information, see the May 2022 Survey Methods and Reliability Statement.

The May 2022 estimates are the first OEWS estimates to be produced using the 2022 NAICS, which replaces the 2017 NAICS used for the May 2017-May 2021 estimates. See North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) at BLS for details.


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 179,000 to 187,000 sampled establishments are contacted, one panel in May and the other in November. Responses are obtained by Internet or other electronic means, mail, email, telephone, or personal visit. The May 2022 estimates are based on responses from six semiannual panels collected over a 3-year period: May 2022, November 2021, May 2021, November 2020, May 2020, and November 2019. The unweighted sampled employment of 80 million across all six semiannual panels represents approximately 57 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 65.4 percent based on establishments and 62.5 percent based on weighted sampled employment. The sample in the Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN-WI Metropolitan Statistical Area included 14,934 establishments with a response rate of 53 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 Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN-WI Metropolitan Statistical Area includes Cook County, IL; DeKalb County, IL; DuPage County, IL; Grundy County, IL; Kane County, IL; Kendall County, IL; Lake County, IL; McHenry County, IL; Will County, IL; Jasper County, IN; Lake County, IN; Newton County, IN; Porter County, IN; and Kenosha County, WI.

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; Telecommunications Relay Service: 7-1-1.

Table 1. Employment and wage data for management occupations, Chicago metropolitan area, May 2022
Occupation (1)EmploymentMean wages
Level (2)Location quotient (3)HourlyAnnual (4)

Management occupations

390,9901.3$64.64$134,450

Chief executives

5,1600.9133.38277,430

General and operations managers

140,1301.463.64132,370

Legislators

1,5301.2(6)61,770

Advertising and promotions managers

(5)(5)57.80120,220

Marketing managers

19,4402.070.74147,140

Sales managers

23,7101.574.70155,370

Public relations managers

2,9601.567.82141,070

Fundraising managers

1,3301.751.52107,160

Administrative services managers

10,5501.557.58119,760

Facilities managers

(5)(5)49.59103,160

Computer and information systems managers

18,9601.279.45165,260

Financial managers

35,0301.678.05162,340

Industrial production managers

7,9701.360.54125,930

Purchasing managers

3,4201.571.55148,830

Transportation, storage, and distribution managers

7,4101.554.38113,120

Compensation and benefits managers

5801.164.75134,670

Human resources managers

10,4501.970.26146,140

Training and development managers

1,5801.366.42138,160

Farmers, ranchers, and other agricultural managers

(5)(5)43.1489,730

Construction managers

11,4901.356.07116,620

Education and childcare administrators, preschool and daycare

1,9201.126.0154,090

Education administrators, kindergarten through secondary

9,7401.1(6)110,530

Education administrators, postsecondary

8,0201.645.2694,140

Education administrators, all other

1,1800.845.7195,070

Architectural and engineering managers

6,3301.177.52161,230

Food service managers

7,8701.132.1266,810

Gambling managers

1200.934.9272,630

Entertainment and recreation managers, except gambling

7601.133.5369,730

Lodging managers

5700.534.5071,760

Medical and health services managers

11,9800.865.38135,990

Natural sciences managers

1,6100.765.00135,210

Postmasters and mail superintendents

2000.541.5686,440

Property, real estate, and community association managers

(5)(5)33.7570,200

Social and community service managers

4,1200.938.1179,260

Emergency management directors

(5)(5)53.93112,170

Funeral home managers

(5)(5)40.2283,650

Personal service managers, all other

3001.230.4863,390

Managers, all other

18,0801.166.40138,110

Footnotes:
(1) For a complete listing of all detailed occupations in the Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN-WI Metropolitan Statistical Area, see www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_16980.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.
(6) Wages for some occupations that do not generally work year-round, full time, are reported either as hourly wages or annual salaries depending on how they are typically paid.

 

Last Modified Date: Friday, June 02, 2023