Workers in the Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI Metropolitan Statistical Area had an average (mean) hourly wage of $30.94 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 ($64.06), legal ($54.11), and computer and mathematical ($48.33). Lower paying occupations included food preparation and serving related ($16.70), healthcare support ($17.71), and personal care and service ($17.81). (See table A.)

Occupational groups with the highest employment in the Detroit area included office and administrative support (11.8 percent), production (9.8 percent), and transportation and material moving (8.7 percent). Major occupational groups on the lower end of local employment included life, physical, and social science (0.5 percent); legal (0.8 percent); and arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media (1.1 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. Detroit had 186,670 jobs in production, accounting for 9.8 percent of local area employment, compared to the 5.8-percent share nationally. The average hourly wage for this occupational group locally was $23.73, compared to the national wage of $22.90.

Some of the larger detailed occupations within the production group included miscellaneous assemblers and fabricators (59,500); cutting, punching, and press machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic (12,930); and inspectors, testers, sorters, samplers, and weighers (12,400). Among the higher-paying jobs in this group were power plant operators and gas plant operators, with mean hourly wages of $46.38 and $46.27, respectively. At the lower end of the wage scale were pressers, textile, garment, and related materials ($13.87); tailors, dressmakers, and custom sewers ($15.15); and laundry and dry-cleaning workers ($15.75). (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_19820.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 Detroit area, above-average concentrations of employment were found in some of the occupations within the production group. For instance, model makers, metal and plastic were employed at 14.8 times the national rate in Detroit, and engine and other machine assemblers, at 10.3 times the U.S. average. Butchers and meat cutters had a location quotient of 1.0 in Detroit, 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 Michigan Department of Technology, Management & Budget.

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 Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI Metropolitan Statistical Area included 7,042 establishments with a response rate of 68 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 Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI Metropolitan Statistical Area includes Lapeer County, Livingston County, Macomb County, Oakland County, St. Clair County, and Wayne 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, Detroit metropolitan area, May 2023

Occupation (1)	Employment		Mean wages ($)
	Level (2)	Location quotient (3)	Hourly	Annual (4)
Production occupations	186,670	1.7	23.73	49,350
First-line supervisors of production and operating workers	11,150	1.3	34.53	71,810
Coil winders, tapers, and finishers	60	0.4	20.82	43,310
Electrical, electronic, and electromechanical assemblers, except coil winders, tapers, and finishers	4,260	1.3	21.37	44,450
Engine and other machine assemblers	6,200	10.3	26.33	54,760
Structural metal fabricators and fitters	780	1.1	26.36	54,820
Fiberglass laminators and fabricators	70	0.3	22.03	45,820
Timing device assemblers and adjusters	80	16.7	22.00	45,760
Miscellaneous assemblers and fabricators	59,500	3.2	23.15	48,160
Bakers	3,020	1.1	17.05	35,460
Butchers and meat cutters	1,680	1.0	18.41	38,290
Meat, poultry, and fish cutters and trimmers	60	0.0	17.68	36,780
Slaughterers and meat packers	130	0.1	19.68	40,930
Food and tobacco roasting, baking, and drying machine operators and tenders	280	1.1	18.21	37,870
Food batchmakers	1,060	0.5	18.17	37,800
Food cooking machine operators and tenders	90	0.3	20.55	42,750
Food processing workers, all other	190	0.2	18.13	37,710
Extruding and drawing machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	520	0.7	22.08	45,930
Forging machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	630	5.5	24.38	50,710
Rolling machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	560	1.8	25.60	53,240
Cutting, punching, and press machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	12,930	5.8	23.81	49,510
Drilling and boring machine tool setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	100	1.4	24.15	50,240
Grinding, lapping, polishing, and buffing machine tool setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	2,140	2.3	22.33	46,440
Lathe and turning machine tool setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	1,230	5.0	23.70	49,290
Milling and planing machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	820	4.7	21.96	45,680
Machinists	10,080	2.8	25.53	53,110
Metal-refining furnace operators and tenders	500	1.9	20.34	42,310
Model makers, metal and plastic	530	14.8	31.78	66,100
Patternmakers, metal and plastic	170	6.4	29.70	61,780
Foundry mold and coremakers	310	2.1	24.70	51,380
Molding, coremaking, and casting machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	4,620	2.3	19.35	40,260
Multiple machine tool setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	2,760	1.7	22.71	47,240
Tool and die makers	4,690	6.4	31.83	66,200
Welders, cutters, solderers, and brazers	5,380	1.0	24.19	50,320
Welding, soldering, and brazing machine setters, operators, and tenders	1,480	3.6	22.38	46,550
Heat treating equipment setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	600	3.2	22.73	47,270
Layout workers, metal and plastic	110	1.3	28.06	58,370
Plating machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	1,410	3.5	18.43	38,340
Tool grinders, filers, and sharpeners	170	2.1	23.05	47,950
Metal workers and plastic workers, all other	370	1.5	22.01	45,790
Prepress technicians and workers	140	0.5	24.48	50,910
Printing press operators	1,730	0.9	21.07	43,830
Print binding and finishing workers	340	0.7	19.22	39,980
Laundry and dry-cleaning workers	2,440	1.1	15.75	32,760
Pressers, textile, garment, and related materials	190	0.5	13.87	28,850
Sewing machine operators	1,000	0.7	18.05	37,550
Tailors, dressmakers, and custom sewers	380	2.0	15.15	31,500
Upholsterers	440	1.4	20.31	42,250
Textile, apparel, and furnishings workers, all other	(5)	(5)	14.92	31,030
Cabinetmakers and bench carpenters	480	0.4	22.06	45,890
Sawing machine setters, operators, and tenders, wood	150	0.3	19.24	40,010
Woodworking machine setters, operators, and tenders, except sawing	370	0.5	19.85	41,280
Power plant operators	550	1.4	46.38	96,480
Stationary engineers and boiler operators	200	0.5	36.51	75,940
Water and wastewater treatment plant and system operators	890	0.6	28.51	59,300
Chemical plant and system operators	(5)	(5)	37.91	78,860
Gas plant operators	210	1.0	46.27	96,250
Plant and system operators, all other	220	1.2	29.82	62,030
Chemical equipment operators and tenders	1,530	1.0	24.90	51,800
Separating, filtering, clarifying, precipitating, and still machine setters, operators, and tenders	520	0.8	21.49	44,690
Crushing, grinding, and polishing machine setters, operators, and tenders	150	0.5	25.75	53,550
Grinding and polishing workers, hand	90	0.6	18.43	38,330
Mixing and blending machine setters, operators, and tenders	1,100	0.8	22.46	46,720
Cutters and trimmers, hand	50	0.5	20.51	42,650
Cutting and slicing machine setters, operators, and tenders	290	0.4	20.48	42,600
Extruding, forming, pressing, and compacting machine setters, operators, and tenders	610	0.9	19.31	40,160
Furnace, kiln, oven, drier, and kettle operators and tenders	160	0.9	24.47	50,900
Inspectors, testers, sorters, samplers, and weighers	12,400	1.7	21.82	45,380
Jewelers and precious stone and metal workers	330	1.1	24.38	50,700
Dental laboratory technicians	450	1.1	25.48	52,990
Medical appliance technicians	210	1.4	25.31	52,650
Ophthalmic laboratory technicians	170	0.7	20.27	42,170
Packaging and filling machine operators and tenders	3,960	0.9	18.02	37,470
Painting, coating, and decorating workers	150	1.1	17.66	36,730
Coating, painting, and spraying machine setters, operators, and tenders	2,660	1.4	21.70	45,130
Photographic process workers and processing machine operators	40	0.6	18.07	37,580
Computer numerically controlled tool operators	3,050	1.3	24.17	50,270
Computer numerically controlled tool programmers	1,010	2.9	31.05	64,590
Adhesive bonding machine operators and tenders	60	0.4	20.48	42,590
Cleaning, washing, and metal pickling equipment operators and tenders	190	1.0	19.43	40,420
Etchers and engravers	(5)	(5)	25.45	52,930
Molders, shapers, and casters, except metal and plastic	410	0.9	22.31	46,410
Paper goods machine setters, operators, and tenders	700	0.6	21.93	45,610
Tire builders	40	0.1	19.18	39,890
Helpers--production workers	1,800	0.8	18.85	39,210
Production workers, all other	2,110	0.7	19.85	41,290
Footnotes: (1) For a complete listing of all detailed occupations in the Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI Metropolitan Statistical Area, see www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_19820.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.