Workers in the Jackson, MI Metropolitan Statistical Area had an average (mean) hourly wage of $28.15 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 ($56.33), architecture and engineering ($44.32), healthcare practitioners and technical ($44.26), and computer and mathematical ($43.93). Lower paying occupations included personal care and service ($16.23) and food preparation and serving related ($16.53). (See table A.)

Production occupations accounted for 13.2 percent of Jackson area employment, followed by office and administrative support occupations (11.4 percent). Major occupational groups on the lower end of local employment included legal (0.4 percent); life, physical, and social science (0.7 percent); and arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media (0.9 percent).

One occupational group—production—was chosen to illustrate the diversity of data available for any of the 22 major occupational categories. Jackson had 7,450 jobs in production, accounting for 13.2 percent of local area employment, compared to the 5.7-percent share nationally. The average hourly wage for this occupational group locally was $23.62, compared to the national wage of $24.08.

Some of the larger detailed occupations within the production group included miscellaneous assemblers and fabricators (1,700); first-line supervisors of production and operating workers (610); inspectors, testers, sorters, samplers, and weighers (580); and machinists (550). Among the higher paying jobs in this group were first-line supervisors of production and operating workers ($36.48) and tool and die makers ($31.91). At the lower end of the wage scale were laundry and dry-cleaning workers ($15.66) and multiple machine tool setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic ($17.61). (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/0027100.)

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 Jackson area, above-average concentrations of employment were found in many of the occupations within the production group. For instance, tool and die makers were employed at 8.76 times the national rate in Jackson, and machinists, at 5.00 times the U.S. average. Welders, cutters, solderers, and brazers had a location quotient of 1.08 in Jackson, 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 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 Jackson, MI Metropolitan Statistical Area included 850 establishments with a response rate of 67 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 Jackson, MI Metropolitan Statistical Area includes Jackson 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, Jackson metropolitan area, May 2024

Occupation (1)	Employment		Mean wages ($)
	Level (2)	Location quotient (3)	Hourly	Annual (4)
Production occupations	7,450	2.33	23.62	49,120
First-line supervisors of production and operating workers	610	2.43	36.48	75,880
Miscellaneous assemblers and fabricators	1,700	3.19	20.26	42,140
Butchers and meat cutters	50	1.04	18.37	38,210
Food batchmakers	160	2.56	23.09	48,020
Rolling machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	90	10.67	23.43	48,730
Cutting, punching, and press machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	260	4.10	20.21	42,050
Grinding, lapping, polishing, and buffing machine tool setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	140	5.34	20.77	43,200
Lathe and turning machine tool setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	70	9.38	20.54	42,720
Machinists	550	5.00	24.12	50,170
Molding, coremaking, and casting machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	150	2.57	21.87	45,480
Multiple machine tool setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	120	2.59	17.61	36,620
Tool and die makers	180	8.76	31.91	66,370
Welders, cutters, solderers, and brazers	170	1.08	26.39	54,880
Welding, soldering, and brazing machine setters, operators, and tenders	30	2.56	27.71	57,650
Plating machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	100	8.40	19.79	41,160
Laundry and dry-cleaning workers	90	1.26	15.66	32,570
Sewing machine operators	(5)	(5)	19.92	41,420
Water and wastewater treatment plant and system operators	40	0.83	26.01	54,110
Chemical equipment operators and tenders	180	3.89	25.24	52,500
Inspectors, testers, sorters, samplers, and weighers	580	2.68	22.69	47,200
Dental laboratory technicians	30	2.50	24.94	51,880
Packaging and filling machine operators and tenders	280	1.98	18.69	38,870
Coating, painting, and spraying machine setters, operators, and tenders	50	0.82	22.48	46,760
Computer numerically controlled tool operators	310	4.86	20.71	43,080
Computer numerically controlled tool programmers	80	7.83	28.97	60,250
Helpers--production workers	120	1.95	18.85	39,220
Production workers, all other	210	2.09	17.51	36,430
Footnotes: (1) For a complete listing of all detailed occupations in the Jackson, MI Metropolitan Statistical Area, see https://data.bls.gov/oes/#/area/0027100. (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.