Workers in the Mansfield, OH Metropolitan Statistical Area had an average (mean) hourly wage of $24.42 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 ($46.67), healthcare practitioners and technical ($40.97), and computer and mathematical ($38.00). Lower paying occupations included food preparation and serving related ($14.14), personal care and service ($15.86), and building and grounds cleaning and maintenance ($16.36). (See table A.)

Occupational groups with the highest employment in the Mansfield area included production (12.2 percent), office and administrative support (10.7 percent), and food preparation and serving related (10.2 percent). Major occupational groups on the lower end of local employment included legal (0.3 percent); life, physical, and social science (0.3 percent); arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media (1.0 percent); and computer and mathematical (1.0 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. Mansfield had 5,840 jobs in production, accounting for 12.2 percent of local area employment, compared to the 5.8-percent share nationally. The average hourly wage for this occupational group locally was $20.57, compared to the national wage of $22.90.

Some of the larger detailed occupations within the production group included miscellaneous assemblers and fabricators (1,120); inspectors, testers, sorters, samplers, and weighers (510); and first-line supervisors of production and operating workers (410). Among the higher-paying jobs in this group were first-line supervisors of production and operating workers with mean hourly wages of $30.14, tool and die makers ($27.38), and computer numerically controlled tool programmers ($26.36). At the lower end of the wage scale were bakers ($13.75) and laundry and dry-cleaning workers ($13.78). (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_31900.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 Mansfield 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 7.4 times the national rate in Mansfield, and computer numerically controlled tool operators, at 5.3 times the U.S. average.

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 Ohio Department of Job & Family Services.

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 Mansfield, OH Metropolitan Statistical Area included 815 establishments with a response rate of 72 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 Mansfield, OH Metropolitan Statistical Area includes Richland 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, Mansfield metropolitan area, May 2023

Occupation (1)	Employment		Mean wages ($)
	Level (2)	Location quotient (3)	Hourly	Annual (4)
Production occupations	5,840	2.1	20.57	42,790
First-line supervisors of production and operating workers	410	2.0	30.14	62,680
Electrical, electronic, and electromechanical assemblers, except coil winders, tapers, and finishers	240	2.8	19.08	39,680
Miscellaneous assemblers and fabricators	1,120	2.4	17.41	36,210
Bakers	50	0.7	13.75	28,600
Butchers and meat cutters	60	1.5	15.65	32,540
Extruding and drawing machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	150	7.6	19.41	40,360
Rolling machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	90	11.0	22.42	46,630
Cutting, punching, and press machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	260	4.6	19.77	41,130
Grinding, lapping, polishing, and buffing machine tool setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	100	4.0	21.59	44,920
Lathe and turning machine tool setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	40	6.2	24.99	51,970
Machinists	160	1.7	22.36	46,500
Molding, coremaking, and casting machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	110	2.1	19.57	40,710
Multiple machine tool setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	180	4.5	20.47	42,570
Tool and die makers	130	7.4	27.38	56,950
Welders, cutters, solderers, and brazers	290	2.2	21.39	44,490
Welding, soldering, and brazing machine setters, operators, and tenders	90	8.5	17.08	35,520
Printing press operators	50	1.1	18.15	37,750
Laundry and dry-cleaning workers	50	0.8	13.78	28,670
Water and wastewater treatment plant and system operators	50	1.3	22.87	47,560
Inspectors, testers, sorters, samplers, and weighers	510	2.8	19.30	40,140
Packaging and filling machine operators and tenders	230	2.0	17.45	36,290
Coating, painting, and spraying machine setters, operators, and tenders	110	2.2	19.79	41,160
Computer numerically controlled tool operators	310	5.3	22.93	47,690
Computer numerically controlled tool programmers	40	4.4	26.36	54,830
Helpers--production workers	50	0.8	18.73	38,950
Production workers, all other	60	0.8	16.95	35,260
Footnotes: (1) For a complete listing of all detailed occupations in the Mansfield, OH Metropolitan Statistical Area, see www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_31900.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.