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News Release Information

24-897-CHI
Friday, August 02, 2024

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

Occupational Employment and Wages in Columbus, Ohio — May 2023

Workers in the Columbus, OH Metropolitan Statistical Area had an average (mean) hourly wage of $30.17 in May 2023, compared to the nationwide average of $31.48, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Regional Commissioner Jason Palmer noted that higher paying major occupational groups included management ($58.96), legal ($55.39), and computer and mathematical ($49.11). Lower paying occupations included food preparation and serving related ($15.57), personal care and service ($17.16), and healthcare support ($17.77). (See table A.)

Occupational groups with the highest employment in the Columbus area included office and administrative support (12.4 percent), transportation and material moving (11.4 percent), and food preparation and serving related (8.6 percent). Major occupational groups on the lower end of local employment included legal (0.7 percent); life, physical, and social science (0.9 percent); and arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media (1.3 percent). (See table A.)

Table A. Occupational employment and wages by major occupational group, United States and the Columbus metropolitan area, May 2023
Major occupational groupPercent of total employmentMean hourly wage ($)
United StatesColumbusUnited StatesColumbus

Total, all occupations

100.0100.031.4830.17

Management

6.96.866.2358.96

Business and financial operations

6.67.443.5540.33

Computer and mathematical

3.43.654.3949.11

Architecture and engineering

1.71.747.6444.55

Life, physical, and social science

0.90.942.2437.45

Community and social service

1.61.428.3628.41

Legal

0.80.764.3455.39

Educational instruction and library

5.85.931.9232.95

Arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media

1.41.336.3130.91

Healthcare practitioners and technical

6.16.849.0746.66

Healthcare support

4.74.318.3717.77

Protective service

2.32.327.7428.92

Food preparation and serving related

8.78.616.5815.57

Building and grounds cleaning and maintenance

2.92.718.4317.80

Personal care and service

2.01.818.4817.16

Sales and related

8.87.825.6224.24

Office and administrative support

12.212.423.0522.86

Farming, fishing, and forestry

0.30.119.2223.64

Construction and extraction

4.13.329.5730.81

Installation, maintenance, and repair

3.93.728.1327.82

Production

5.85.022.9022.32

Transportation and material moving

9.111.422.4521.94

One occupational group—transportation and material moving—was chosen to illustrate the diversity of data available for any of the 22 major occupational categories. Columbus had 121,490 jobs in transportation and material moving, accounting for 11.4 percent of local area employment, compared to the 9.1-percent share nationally. The average hourly wage for this occupational group locally was $21.94, compared to the national wage of $22.45.

Some of the larger detailed occupations within the transportation and material moving group included stockers and order fillers (33,730); laborers and freight, stock, and material movers, hand (26,570); and heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers (17,680). Among the higher-paying jobs in this group were transportation inspectors and traffic technicians, with mean hourly wages of $42.73 and $31.51, respectively. At the lower end of the wage scale were parking attendants ($15.23), cleaners of vehicles and equipment ($16.60), and shuttle drivers and chauffeurs ($16.66). (Detailed data for the transportation and material moving occupations are presented in table 1; for a complete listing of detailed occupations available go to www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_18140.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 Columbus area, above-average concentrations of employment were found in some of the occupations within the transportation and material moving group. For instance, commercial pilots were employed at 5.7 times the national rate in Columbus, and stockers and order fillers, at 1.7 times the U.S. average. Bus drivers, transit and intercity had a location quotient of 1.0 in Columbus, indicating that this particular occupation’s local and national employment shares were similar.

The statistics in this release are from the Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) survey, a cooperative effort between BLS and the State Workforce Agencies (SWAs). BLS funds the survey and provides the procedures and technical support. State Workforce Agencies collect most of the data: in this case, the Ohio Department of Job & Family Services.


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. Full OEWS data tables are available online.

Additional information about the OEWS estimates and methodology are available in the national Technical Notes. The overall national response rate for the six panels, based on the 50 states and the District of Columbia, is 65.8 percent based on establishments and 64.3 percent based on weighted sampled employment. The sample in the Columbus, OH Metropolitan Statistical Area included 5,103 establishments with a response rate of 56 percent.

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 Columbus, OH Metropolitan Statistical Area includes Delaware County, Fairfield County, Franklin County, Hocking County, Licking County, Madison County, Morrow County, Perry County, Pickaway County, and Union County.

For more information

Answers to frequently asked questions about the OEWS data, as well as general program documentation, are available on the OEWS website.

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 transportation and material moving occupations, Columbus metropolitan area, May 2023
Occupation (1)EmploymentMean wages ($)
Level (2)Location quotient (3)HourlyAnnual (4)

Transportation and material moving occupations

121,4901.321.9445,640

First-line supervisors of transportation and material moving workers, except aircraft cargo handling supervisors

5,2601.330.2862,980

Commercial pilots

2,1005.7(5)98,520

Flight attendants

3700.4(5)62,330

Driver/sales workers

4,9101.517.4036,200

Heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers

17,6801.227.4057,000

Light truck drivers

7,3201.023.1448,140

Bus drivers, school

6400.220.7843,210

Bus drivers, transit and intercity

1,2901.028.0958,420

Shuttle drivers and chauffeurs

1,3801.016.6634,650

Motor vehicle operators, all other

7602.116.5834,480

Parking attendants

8001.015.2331,680

Automotive and watercraft service attendants

6501.016.9335,210

Traffic technicians

400.731.5165,530

Transportation inspectors

900.542.7388,870

Transportation workers, all other

1001.419.1039,720

Conveyor operators and tenders

1500.920.0741,740

Crane and tower operators

1800.630.1262,660

Industrial truck and tractor operators

7,9901.522.3946,560

Cleaners of vehicles and equipment

2,5201.016.6034,530

Laborers and freight, stock, and material movers, hand

26,5701.319.7541,090

Machine feeders and offbearers

4601.521.9345,610

Packers and packagers, hand

4,5701.017.6836,770

Stockers and order fillers

33,7301.718.4538,380

Refuse and recyclable material collectors

9101.024.2350,400

Tank car, truck, and ship loaders

600.824.1050,130

Material moving workers, all other

600.420.8343,320

Footnotes:
(1) For a complete listing of all detailed occupations in the Columbus, OH Metropolitan Statistical Area, see www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_18140.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) 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, August 02, 2024