Workers in the Dayton, OH Metropolitan Statistical Area had an average (mean) hourly wage of $29.61 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 ($55.09), architecture and engineering ($49.59), and healthcare practitioners and technical ($47.85). Lower paying occupations included food preparation and serving related ($15.08), personal care and service ($17.05), and building and grounds cleaning and maintenance ($17.38). (See table A.)

Occupational groups with the highest employment in the Dayton area included office and administrative support (11.2 percent), food preparation and serving related (9.1 percent), and transportation and material moving (8.7 percent). Major occupational groups on the lower end of local employment included legal (0.5 percent); life, physical, and social science (0.9 percent); and arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media (1.2 percent). (See table A.)

One occupational group—production—was chosen to illustrate the diversity of data available for any of the 22 major occupational categories. Dayton had 28,590 jobs in production, accounting for 7.8 percent of local area employment, compared to the 5.8-percent share nationally. The average hourly wage for this occupational group locally was $21.98, compared to the national wage of $22.90.

Some of the larger detailed occupations within the production group included miscellaneous assemblers and fabricators (5,480) and computer numerically controlled tool operators (2,260). Mean hourly wages among the higher-paying jobs in this group were computer numerically controlled tool programmers ($34.51), first-line supervisors of production and operating workers ($32.11), and stationary engineers and boiler operators ($31.48). At the lower end of the wage scale were laundry and dry-cleaning workers ($13.94) and pressers, textile, garment, and related materials ($14.43). (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_19380.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 Dayton area, above-average concentrations of employment were found in many of the occupations within the production group. For instance, computer numerically controlled tool operators were employed at 5.0 times the national rate in Dayton, and grinding, lapping, polishing, and buffing machine tool setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic, at 3.3 times the U.S. average. Butchers and meat cutters had a location quotient of 1.0 in Dayton, 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 Dayton, OH Metropolitan Statistical Area included 2,856 establishments with a response rate of 65 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 Dayton, OH Metropolitan Statistical Area includes Greene County, Miami County, and Montgomery 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, Dayton metropolitan area, May 2023

Occupation (1)	Employment		Mean wages ($)
	Level (2)	Location quotient (3)	Hourly	Annual (4)
Production occupations	28,590	1.4	21.98	45,720
First-line supervisors of production and operating workers	1,780	1.1	32.11	66,800
Electrical, electronic, and electromechanical assemblers, except coil winders, tapers, and finishers	1,020	1.6	18.96	39,440
Engine and other machine assemblers	250	2.2	26.88	55,920
Miscellaneous assemblers and fabricators	5,480	1.5	19.71	40,990
Bakers	460	0.9	15.85	32,960
Butchers and meat cutters	340	1.0	17.80	37,010
Food batchmakers	480	1.2	18.28	38,020
Food processing workers, all other	80	0.5	17.20	35,780
Extruding and drawing machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	270	1.7	19.93	41,460
Forging machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	30	1.4	23.61	49,100
Rolling machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	170	2.9	22.13	46,030
Cutting, punching, and press machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	830	1.9	21.03	43,740
Grinding, lapping, polishing, and buffing machine tool setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	610	3.3	20.99	43,660
Lathe and turning machine tool setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	110	2.3	22.75	47,310
Milling and planing machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	40	1.3	22.91	47,660
Machinists	1,120	1.6	25.70	53,450
Metal-refining furnace operators and tenders	50	0.9	23.70	49,300
Foundry mold and coremakers	30	1.1	19.10	39,730
Molding, coremaking, and casting machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	790	2.0	18.68	38,860
Multiple machine tool setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	950	3.1	21.44	44,600
Tool and die makers	460	3.3	29.30	60,940
Welders, cutters, solderers, and brazers	900	0.9	25.31	52,650
Welding, soldering, and brazing machine setters, operators, and tenders	120	1.5	21.75	45,230
Heat treating equipment setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	90	2.4	24.64	51,240
Plating machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	210	2.7	20.65	42,960
Tool grinders, filers, and sharpeners	40	2.4	26.31	54,720
Metal workers and plastic workers, all other	200	4.1	21.90	45,560
Prepress technicians and workers	60	1.0	22.11	45,990
Printing press operators	470	1.3	20.42	42,470
Print binding and finishing workers	110	1.2	18.30	38,060
Laundry and dry-cleaning workers	710	1.6	13.94	29,000
Pressers, textile, garment, and related materials	100	1.4	14.43	30,010
Sewing machine operators	550	2.0	16.72	34,780
Cabinetmakers and bench carpenters	160	0.7	22.10	45,970
Sawing machine setters, operators, and tenders, wood	100	1.0	18.33	38,120
Woodworking machine setters, operators, and tenders, except sawing	30	0.2	18.82	39,140
Stationary engineers and boiler operators	60	0.7	31.48	65,480
Water and wastewater treatment plant and system operators	350	1.2	27.38	56,950
Plant and system operators, all other	30	0.8	26.68	55,490
Chemical equipment operators and tenders	260	0.9	25.32	52,670
Separating, filtering, clarifying, precipitating, and still machine setters, operators, and tenders	80	0.6	25.43	52,900
Grinding and polishing workers, hand	40	1.5	19.22	39,980
Mixing and blending machine setters, operators, and tenders	170	0.7	24.71	51,410
Cutting and slicing machine setters, operators, and tenders	160	1.2	20.57	42,780
Extruding, forming, pressing, and compacting machine setters, operators, and tenders	200	1.5	18.39	38,250
Inspectors, testers, sorters, samplers, and weighers	1,860	1.3	22.27	46,330
Jewelers and precious stone and metal workers	50	0.9	25.54	53,130
Dental laboratory technicians	70	0.9	25.19	52,400
Medical appliance technicians	70	2.2	24.07	50,070
Packaging and filling machine operators and tenders	620	0.7	21.16	44,010
Painting, coating, and decorating workers	40	1.6	22.88	47,590
Coating, painting, and spraying machine setters, operators, and tenders	490	1.3	22.04	45,840
Computer numerically controlled tool operators	2,260	5.0	24.17	50,280
Computer numerically controlled tool programmers	170	2.5	34.51	71,780
Adhesive bonding machine operators and tenders	60	2.0	26.04	54,160
Molders, shapers, and casters, except metal and plastic	100	1.0	21.04	43,760
Paper goods machine setters, operators, and tenders	160	0.7	21.60	44,920
Helpers--production workers	290	0.7	19.02	39,560
Production workers, all other	500	0.9	18.39	38,260
Footnotes: (1) For a complete listing of all detailed occupations in the Dayton, OH Metropolitan Statistical Area, see www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_19380.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.