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News Release Information

24-953-CHI
Friday, July 12, 2024

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

Occupational Employment and Wages in Fort Wayne — May 2023

Workers in the Fort Wayne, IN Metropolitan Statistical Area had an average (mean) hourly wage of $26.37 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 ($54.91), healthcare practitioners and technical ($47.23), and legal ($45.62). Lower paying occupations included food preparation and serving related ($14.20), personal care and service ($15.56), and building and grounds cleaning and maintenance ($16.74). (See table A.)

Occupational groups with the highest employment in the Fort Wayne area included production (11.8 percent), office and administrative support (11.5 percent), and transportation and material moving (10.7 percent). Major occupational groups on the lower end of local employment included life, physical, and social science (0.5 percent); legal (0.5 percent); and arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media (1.2 percent). (See table A.)

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

Total, all occupations

100.0100.031.4826.37

Management

6.94.866.2354.91

Business and financial operations

6.64.543.5534.39

Computer and mathematical

3.42.054.3940.62

Architecture and engineering

1.71.647.6439.28

Life, physical, and social science

0.90.542.2436.49

Community and social service

1.61.528.3624.63

Legal

0.80.564.3445.62

Educational instruction and library

5.84.831.9224.93

Arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media

1.41.236.3123.60

Healthcare practitioners and technical

6.17.749.0747.23

Healthcare support

4.74.418.3717.30

Protective service

2.31.727.7426.90

Food preparation and serving related

8.78.716.5814.20

Building and grounds cleaning and maintenance

2.92.918.4316.74

Personal care and service

2.01.518.4815.56

Sales and related

8.89.025.6222.33

Office and administrative support

12.211.523.0520.89

Farming, fishing, and forestry

0.30.119.2220.37

Construction and extraction

4.14.229.5728.76

Installation, maintenance, and repair

3.94.528.1326.30

Production

5.811.822.9022.96

Transportation and material moving

9.110.722.4520.40

One occupational group—production—was chosen to illustrate the diversity of data available for any of the 22 major occupational categories. Fort Wayne had 26,110 jobs in production, accounting for 11.8 percent of local area employment, compared to the 5.8-percent share nationally. The average hourly wage for this occupational group locally was $22.96, compared to the national wage of $22.90.

Some of the larger detailed occupations within the production group included miscellaneous assemblers and fabricators (8,250), first-line supervisors of production and operating workers (1,780), and machinists (1,620). Among the higher-paying jobs in this group were first-line supervisors of production and operating workers and computer numerically controlled tool programmers, with mean hourly wages of $30.28 and $30.04, respectively. At the lower end of the wage scale were laundry and dry-cleaning workers ($14.18) and bakers ($15.67). (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_23060.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 Fort Wayne area, above-average concentrations of employment were found in many of the occupations within the production group. For instance, metal-refining furnace operators and tenders were employed at 9.4 times the national rate in Fort Wayne, and rolling machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic, at 5.5 times the U.S. average. Packaging and filling machine operators and tenders had a location quotient of 1.0 in Fort Wayne, 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 Indiana Department of Workforce Development.


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 Fort Wayne, IN Metropolitan Statistical Area included 2,107 establishments with a response rate of 75 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 Fort Wayne, IN Metropolitan Statistical Area includes Allen County, Wells County, and Whitley 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 production occupations, Fort Wayne metropolitan area, May 2023
Occupation (1)EmploymentMean wages ($)
Level (2)Location quotient (3)HourlyAnnual (4)

Production occupations

26,1102.022.9647,760

First-line supervisors of production and operating workers

1,7801.830.2862,980

Coil winders, tapers, and finishers

905.3(5)(5)

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

8302.118.4338,330

Engine and other machine assemblers

500.720.6542,950

Structural metal fabricators and fitters

1001.221.5244,760

Miscellaneous assemblers and fabricators

8,2503.823.7549,390

Bakers

2200.715.6732,600

Butchers and meat cutters

1300.719.2940,130

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

401.320.1241,850

Food batchmakers

3801.521.1443,980

Food cooking machine operators and tenders

300.717.6536,710

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

4304.622.4146,600

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

2005.528.6559,580

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

1,0904.219.5540,660

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

2902.719.7141,000

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

1204.424.3050,530

Machinists

1,6203.824.6051,160

Metal-refining furnace operators and tenders

2909.428.1358,510

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

4802.119.9241,440

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

4002.119.3840,310

Tool and die makers

3404.028.1958,640

Welders, cutters, solderers, and brazers

7101.222.5946,990

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

1302.721.6445,000

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

602.824.8351,640

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

1703.518.4238,310

Prepress technicians and workers

301.022.0845,930

Printing press operators

2301.022.2746,330

Print binding and finishing workers

1001.717.6836,770

Laundry and dry-cleaning workers

2801.114.1829,490

Sewing machine operators

2501.517.2535,880

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

(5)(5)17.8337,080

Upholsterers

1102.921.0343,750

Cabinetmakers and bench carpenters

2201.721.1744,040

Furniture finishers

904.319.9741,530

Sawing machine setters, operators, and tenders, wood

801.218.0037,430

Woodworking machine setters, operators, and tenders, except sawing

1401.619.8141,210

Water and wastewater treatment plant and system operators

1801.025.8753,800

Chemical equipment operators and tenders

800.521.1644,010

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

901.219.2039,930

Grinding and polishing workers, hand

402.217.7036,820

Mixing and blending machine setters, operators, and tenders

3002.022.1145,980

Cutting and slicing machine setters, operators, and tenders

1602.122.3846,540

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

1101.321.0743,820

Inspectors, testers, sorters, samplers, and weighers

1,3301.622.3846,560

Dental laboratory technicians

801.720.0841,770

Packaging and filling machine operators and tenders

5401.018.9839,480

Painting, coating, and decorating workers

402.721.9445,640

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

4502.021.5344,780

Computer numerically controlled tool operators

7402.722.9147,660

Computer numerically controlled tool programmers

701.830.0462,480

Cleaning, washing, and metal pickling equipment operators and tenders

301.518.5938,670

Molders, shapers, and casters, except metal and plastic

1001.820.5442,730

Paper goods machine setters, operators, and tenders

2802.020.2742,160

Helpers--production workers

2000.817.5136,410

Production workers, all other

1000.317.6036,600

Footnotes:
(1) For a complete listing of all detailed occupations in the Fort Wayne, IN Metropolitan Statistical Area, see www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_23060.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: Friday, July 12, 2024