Workers in the Madison, WI Metropolitan Statistical Area had an average (mean) hourly wage of $31.74 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 ($67.62), legal ($57.75), and healthcare practitioners and technical ($53.76). Lower paying occupations included food preparation and serving related ($15.53), building and grounds cleaning and maintenance ($18.41), and personal care and service ($18.69). (See table A.)

Occupational groups with the highest employment in the Madison area included office and administrative support (12.1 percent), sales and related (8.6 percent), and food preparation and serving related (8.1 percent). Major occupational groups on the lower end of local employment included legal (0.7 percent); protective service (1.4 percent); and arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media (1.6 percent). (See table A.)

One occupational group—office and administrative support—was chosen to illustrate the diversity of data available for any of the 22 major occupational categories. Madison had 47,900 jobs in office and administrative support, accounting for 12.1 percent of local area employment, compared to the 12.2-percent share nationally. The average hourly wage for this occupational group locally was $23.07, compared to the national wage of $23.05.

Some of the larger detailed occupations within the office and administrative support group included customer service representatives (7,950), office clerks, general (6,470), and secretaries and administrative assistants, except legal, medical, and executive (4,720). Among the higher-paying jobs in this group were first-line supervisors of office and administrative support workers and executive secretaries and executive administrative assistants, with mean hourly wages of $34.47 and $31.00, respectively. At the lower end of the wage scale were hotel, motel, and resort desk clerks ($15.82) and mail clerks and mail machine operators, except postal service ($16.75). (Detailed data for the office and administrative support occupations are presented in table 1; for a complete listing of detailed occupations available go to www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_31540.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 Madison area, above-average concentrations of employment were found in some of the occupations within the office and administrative support group. For instance, couriers and messengers were employed at 2.6 times the national rate in Madison, and data entry keyers, at 1.6 times the U.S. average. Secretaries and administrative assistants, except legal, medical, and executive had a location quotient of 1.0 in Madison, 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 Wisconsin 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 Madison, WI Metropolitan Statistical Area included 2,980 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 Madison, WI Metropolitan Statistical Area includes Columbia County, Dane County, Green County, and Iowa 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 office and administrative support occupations, Madison metropolitan area, May 2023

Occupation (1)	Employment		Mean wages ($)
	Level (2)	Location quotient (3)	Hourly	Annual (4)
Office and administrative support occupations	47,900	1.0	23.07	47,990
First-line supervisors of office and administrative support workers	3,790	1.0	34.47	71,700
Switchboard operators, including answering service	90	0.8	18.76	39,020
Bill and account collectors	390	0.8	22.09	45,960
Billing and posting clerks	1,170	1.0	22.76	47,340
Bookkeeping, accounting, and auditing clerks	4,570	1.2	23.97	49,860
Payroll and timekeeping clerks	380	0.9	26.80	55,750
Procurement clerks	180	1.1	22.21	46,190
Tellers	1,130	1.3	19.01	39,530
Financial clerks, all other	60	0.5	22.69	47,190
Brokerage clerks	40	0.3	27.18	56,530
Court, municipal, and license clerks	170	0.4	28.61	59,500
Customer service representatives	7,950	1.1	21.69	45,110
Eligibility interviewers, government programs	260	0.7	28.54	59,350
File clerks	340	1.6	20.54	42,730
Hotel, motel, and resort desk clerks	660	1.0	15.82	32,910
Library assistants, clerical	220	1.0	17.81	37,040
Loan interviewers and clerks	670	1.3	22.78	47,390
New accounts clerks	260	2.4	22.72	47,250
Order clerks	120	0.5	19.92	41,440
Human resources assistants, except payroll and timekeeping	280	1.1	22.77	47,360
Receptionists and information clerks	3,690	1.4	18.31	38,070
Reservation and transportation ticket agents and travel clerks	(5)	(5)	20.79	43,240
Information and record clerks, all other	250	0.6	22.69	47,200
Cargo and freight agents	60	0.2	28.25	58,750
Couriers and messengers	480	2.6	17.63	36,680
Public safety telecommunicators	190	0.7	28.00	58,240
Dispatchers, except police, fire, and ambulance	340	0.6	23.55	48,990
Postal service clerks	150	0.7	27.98	58,190
Postal service mail carriers	700	0.8	29.07	60,460
Postal service mail sorters, processors, and processing machine operators	230	0.8	28.38	59,020
Production, planning, and expediting clerks	830	0.8	26.89	55,930
Shipping, receiving, and inventory clerks	2,090	1.0	20.43	42,490
Weighers, measurers, checkers, and samplers, recordkeeping	40	0.3	24.15	50,230
Executive secretaries and executive administrative assistants	900	0.7	31.00	64,470
Legal secretaries and administrative assistants	310	0.8	22.93	47,690
Medical secretaries and administrative assistants	890	0.5	22.77	47,360
Secretaries and administrative assistants, except legal, medical, and executive	4,720	1.0	22.98	47,790
Data entry keyers	650	1.6	17.84	37,110
Word processors and typists	80	0.8	23.42	48,710
Insurance claims and policy processing clerks	940	1.5	25.04	52,070
Mail clerks and mail machine operators, except postal service	140	0.8	16.75	34,840
Office clerks, general	6,470	1.0	20.76	43,190
Office machine operators, except computer	70	1.0	20.85	43,370
Proofreaders and copy markers	30	2.2	26.20	54,500
Office and administrative support workers, all other	720	1.6	22.67	47,140
Footnotes: (1) For a complete listing of all detailed occupations in the Madison, WI Metropolitan Statistical Area, see www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_31540.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.