Workers in the Elkhart-Goshen, IN Metropolitan Statistical Area had an average (mean) hourly wage of $27.41 in May 2024, compared to the nationwide average of $32.66, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Acting Regional Commissioner Julie Wilson noted that higher paying major occupational groups included management ($63.54) and legal ($57.09). Lower paying occupations included food preparation and serving related ($14.97), personal care and service ($17.19), and building and grounds cleaning and maintenance ($17.97). (See table A.)

Production occupations accounted for 32.7 percent of Elkhart area employment, followed by office and administrative support occupations (9.7 percent) and transportation and material moving occupations (9.0 percent). Major occupational groups on the lower end of local employment included legal (0.3 percent) and life, physical, and social science (0.5 percent).

One occupational group—production—was chosen to illustrate the diversity of data available for any of the 22 major occupational categories. Elkhart had 42,100 jobs in production, accounting for 32.7 percent of local area employment, compared to the 5.7-percent share nationally. The average hourly wage for this occupational group locally was $23.96, compared to the national wage of $24.08.

Some of the larger detailed occupations within the production group included miscellaneous assemblers and fabricators (19,870); first-line supervisors of production and operating workers (2,430); and inspectors, testers, sorters, samplers, and weighers (1,960). Mean hourly wages among the higher-paying jobs in this group were first-line supervisors of production and operating workers ($35.50), computer numerically controlled tool programmers ($30.09), and tool and die makers ($29.75). At the lower end of the wage scale were laundry and dry-cleaning workers ($14.21) and helpers--production workers ($16.67). (Detailed data for the production occupations are presented in table 1; for a complete listing of detailed occupations available go to https://data.bls.gov/oes/#/area/0021140.)

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 2.00 indicates that an occupation accounts for twice the share of employment in the area than it does nationally. In the Elkhart area, above-average concentrations of employment were found in many of the occupations within the production group. For instance, fiberglass laminators and fabricators were employed at 63.44 times the national rate in Elkhart, and cabinetmakers and bench carpenters, at 21.22 times the U.S. average. Bakers had a location quotient of 0.87 in Elkhart, 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 530 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 is 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 65.7 percent based on establishments and 65.9 percent based on weighted sampled employment. The sample in the Elkhart-Goshen, IN Metropolitan Statistical Area included 1,338 establishments with a response rate of 78 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 Elkhart-Goshen, IN Metropolitan Statistical Area includes Elkhart 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, Elkhart metropolitan area, May 2024

Occupation (1)	Employment		Mean wages ($)
	Level (2)	Location quotient (3)	Hourly	Annual (4)
Production occupations	42,100	5.78	23.96	49,830
First-line supervisors of production and operating workers	2,430	4.26	35.50	73,830
Electrical, electronic, and electromechanical assemblers, except coil winders, tapers, and finishers	340	1.56	18.92	39,350
Structural metal fabricators and fitters	290	6.58	26.21	54,520
Fiberglass laminators and fabricators	980	63.44	23.55	48,990
Miscellaneous assemblers and fabricators	19,870	16.35	23.84	49,580
Bakers	170	0.87	19.03	39,590
Butchers and meat cutters	90	0.76	18.64	38,760
Meat, poultry, and fish cutters and trimmers	40	0.37	19.27	40,090
Food batchmakers	200	1.39	21.48	44,680
Food cooking machine operators and tenders	(5)	(5)	20.40	42,430
Extruding and drawing machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	310	5.62	21.05	43,780
Rolling machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	130	7.02	22.63	47,070
Cutting, punching, and press machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	1,000	6.90	22.32	46,420
Grinding, lapping, polishing, and buffing machine tool setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	350	5.99	22.59	46,990
Lathe and turning machine tool setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	80	4.82	25.65	53,350
Milling and planing machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	160	13.52	27.17	56,520
Machinists	820	3.28	24.22	50,380
Metal-refining furnace operators and tenders	40	2.25	25.44	52,910
Pourers and casters, metal	40	8.21	24.95	51,900
Foundry mold and coremakers	50	5.03	23.00	47,840
Molding, coremaking, and casting machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	680	5.28	19.38	40,320
Multiple machine tool setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	160	1.48	23.11	48,070
Tool and die makers	220	4.81	29.75	61,880
Welders, cutters, solderers, and brazers	1,770	5.01	26.97	56,100
Welding, soldering, and brazing machine setters, operators, and tenders	210	7.07	20.34	42,300
Plating machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	140	5.23	20.01	41,620
Printing press operators	140	1.13	22.09	45,950
Print binding and finishing workers	50	1.79	18.12	37,680
Laundry and dry-cleaning workers	70	0.45	14.21	29,550
Sewing machine operators	490	5.34	19.62	40,820
Upholsterers	260	14.72	20.09	41,800
Textile, apparel, and furnishings workers, all other	50	4.10	18.68	38,850
Cabinetmakers and bench carpenters	1,410	21.22	20.76	43,190
Furniture finishers	340	28.28	26.38	54,880
Sawing machine setters, operators, and tenders, wood	290	7.93	21.77	45,290
Woodworking machine setters, operators, and tenders, except sawing	880	16.74	22.16	46,100
Water and wastewater treatment plant and system operators	50	0.50	27.52	57,240
Chemical equipment operators and tenders	300	2.86	22.91	47,650
Separating, filtering, clarifying, precipitating, and still machine setters, operators, and tenders	30	0.67	20.54	42,720
Crushing, grinding, and polishing machine setters, operators, and tenders	80	3.28	20.91	43,480
Grinding and polishing workers, hand	150	14.69	18.12	37,680
Mixing and blending machine setters, operators, and tenders	290	3.42	24.17	50,280
Cutters and trimmers, hand	80	14.06	18.68	38,850
Cutting and slicing machine setters, operators, and tenders	330	8.23	22.65	47,120
Extruding, forming, pressing, and compacting machine setters, operators, and tenders	300	6.32	21.03	43,740
Inspectors, testers, sorters, samplers, and weighers	1,960	3.98	22.87	47,580
Packaging and filling machine operators and tenders	400	1.26	19.50	40,560
Painting, coating, and decorating workers	80	11.66	23.40	48,660
Coating, painting, and spraying machine setters, operators, and tenders	1,090	8.17	24.76	51,500
Computer numerically controlled tool operators	680	4.58	23.04	47,920
Computer numerically controlled tool programmers	80	3.36	30.09	62,590
Adhesive bonding machine operators and tenders	160	15.51	19.60	40,760
Cleaning, washing, and metal pickling equipment operators and tenders	40	3.83	21.76	45,270
Molders, shapers, and casters, except metal and plastic	100	3.51	23.47	48,810
Helpers--production workers	270	1.96	16.67	34,670
Production workers, all other	270	1.18	20.19	42,000
Footnotes: (1) For a complete listing of all detailed occupations in the Elkhart-Goshen, IN Metropolitan Statistical Area, see https://data.bls.gov/oes/#/area/0021140. (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.