Workers in the Elkhart-Goshen, IN Metropolitan Statistical Area had an average (mean) hourly wage of $26.27 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 ($60.09), healthcare practitioners and technical ($47.38), and architecture and engineering ($38.27). Lower paying occupations included food preparation and serving related ($14.53), personal care and service ($16.97), and building and grounds cleaning and maintenance ($17.64). (See table A.)

Occupational groups with the highest employment in the Elkhart area included production (34.7 percent), transportation and material moving (10.0 percent), and office and administrative support (9.6 percent). Major occupational groups on the lower end of local employment included legal (0.2 percent); life, physical, and social science (0.4 percent); and personal care and service (0.6 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. Elkhart had 47,510 jobs in production, accounting for 34.7 percent of local area employment, compared to the 5.8-percent share nationally. The average hourly wage for this occupational group locally was $23.23, compared to the national wage of $22.90.

Some of the larger detailed occupations within the production group included miscellaneous assemblers and fabricators (19,530), first-line supervisors of production and operating workers (3,310), and inspectors, testers, sorters, samplers, and weighers (2,700). 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 $32.90 and $29.22, respectively. At the lower end of the wage scale were laundry and dry-cleaning workers ($13.99) and print binding and finishing workers ($16.30). (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_21140.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 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 59.8 times the national rate in Elkhart, and furniture finishers, at 27.7 times the U.S. average. Packaging and filling machine operators and tenders had a location quotient of 1.2 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 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 Elkhart-Goshen, IN Metropolitan Statistical Area included 1,341 establishments with a response rate of 77 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 2023

Occupation (1)	Employment		Mean wages ($)
	Level (2)	Location quotient (3)	Hourly	Annual (4)
Production occupations	47,510	6.0	23.23	48,320
First-line supervisors of production and operating workers	3,310	5.5	32.90	68,440
Electrical, electronic, and electromechanical assemblers, except coil winders, tapers, and finishers	430	1.8	23.29	48,450
Engine and other machine assemblers	50	1.1	22.22	46,220
Structural metal fabricators and fitters	570	10.9	25.35	52,730
Fiberglass laminators and fabricators	1,100	59.8	23.51	48,900
Miscellaneous assemblers and fabricators	19,530	14.6	23.57	49,020
Bakers	160	0.8	17.78	36,970
Butchers and meat cutters	100	0.8	18.31	38,070
Meat, poultry, and fish cutters and trimmers	90	0.7	19.37	40,300
Food batchmakers	170	1.1	20.00	41,590
Extruding and drawing machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	270	4.8	20.71	43,090
Rolling machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	290	13.1	20.90	43,470
Cutting, punching, and press machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	1,350	8.4	20.41	42,460
Grinding, lapping, polishing, and buffing machine tool setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	410	6.1	21.82	45,390
Lathe and turning machine tool setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	110	6.4	23.55	48,980
Milling and planing machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	90	7.3	16.44	34,200
Machinists	880	3.4	22.32	46,420
Metal-refining furnace operators and tenders	60	3.1	24.97	51,930
Foundry mold and coremakers	40	3.5	22.32	46,430
Molding, coremaking, and casting machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	1,000	7.0	17.21	35,790
Multiple machine tool setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	270	2.3	21.08	43,850
Tool and die makers	230	4.4	28.07	58,380
Welders, cutters, solderers, and brazers	2,310	6.1	25.55	53,150
Welding, soldering, and brazing machine setters, operators, and tenders	420	14.2	21.29	44,290
Plating machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	90	3.3	19.38	40,310
Metal workers and plastic workers, all other	90	4.8	30.99	64,460
Printing press operators	120	0.9	21.95	45,650
Print binding and finishing workers	40	1.1	16.30	33,910
Laundry and dry-cleaning workers	70	0.4	13.99	29,110
Sewing machine operators	770	7.3	18.67	38,830
Textile cutting machine setters, operators, and tenders	40	4.7	18.11	37,660
Upholsterers	350	15.1	23.93	49,780
Textile, apparel, and furnishings workers, all other	60	4.5	17.70	36,820
Cabinetmakers and bench carpenters	1,840	23.1	21.53	44,790
Furniture finishers	360	27.7	26.97	56,090
Sawing machine setters, operators, and tenders, wood	360	9.3	19.36	40,260
Woodworking machine setters, operators, and tenders, except sawing	1,130	20.4	21.33	44,360
Water and wastewater treatment plant and system operators	50	0.4	25.21	52,450
Chemical equipment operators and tenders	290	2.7	21.00	43,680
Crushing, grinding, and polishing machine setters, operators, and tenders	90	3.7	20.43	42,500
Grinding and polishing workers, hand	170	15.2	18.32	38,100
Mixing and blending machine setters, operators, and tenders	450	4.7	23.26	48,370
Cutting and slicing machine setters, operators, and tenders	430	9.0	22.07	45,910
Extruding, forming, pressing, and compacting machine setters, operators, and tenders	320	6.1	18.80	39,100
Furnace, kiln, oven, drier, and kettle operators and tenders	60	4.2	20.91	43,480
Inspectors, testers, sorters, samplers, and weighers	2,700	5.1	20.12	41,860
Packaging and filling machine operators and tenders	400	1.2	18.09	37,620
Painting, coating, and decorating workers	140	14.1	21.50	44,720
Coating, painting, and spraying machine setters, operators, and tenders	1,650	11.8	22.81	47,440
Computer numerically controlled tool operators	580	3.4	22.20	46,170
Computer numerically controlled tool programmers	80	3.3	29.22	60,780
Adhesive bonding machine operators and tenders	180	15.8	17.45	36,290
Cleaning, washing, and metal pickling equipment operators and tenders	40	3.3	20.73	43,110
Molders, shapers, and casters, except metal and plastic	110	3.1	23.63	49,150
Helpers--production workers	280	1.7	19.92	41,430
Production workers, all other	210	0.9	19.43	40,410
Footnotes: (1) For a complete listing of all detailed occupations in the Elkhart-Goshen, IN Metropolitan Statistical Area, see www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_21140.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.