Workers in the Milwaukee-Waukesha-West Allis, WI Metropolitan Statistical Area had an average (mean) hourly wage of $30.11 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 ($66.65), legal ($60.07), and healthcare practitioners and technical ($52.55). Lower paying occupations included food preparation and serving related ($15.52), healthcare support ($17.34), and building and grounds cleaning and maintenance ($17.94). (See table A.)

Occupational groups with the highest employment in the Milwaukee area included office and administrative support (11.9 percent), production (9.4 percent), and transportation and material moving (8.9 percent). Major occupational groups on the lower end of local employment included life, physical, and social science (0.6 percent); legal (0.8 percent); and arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media (1.2 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. Milwaukee had 76,240 jobs in production, accounting for 9.4 percent of local area employment, compared to the 5.8-percent share nationally. The average hourly wage for this occupational group locally was $23.51, compared to the national wage of $22.90.

Some of the larger detailed occupations within the production group included miscellaneous assemblers and fabricators (11,090), first-line supervisors of production and operating workers (6,510), and computer numerically controlled tool operators (4,950). Among the higher-paying jobs in this group were power plant operators and gas plant operators, with mean hourly wages of $48.90 and $41.17, respectively. At the lower end of the wage scale were laundry and dry-cleaning workers ($15.72) and pressers, textile, garment, and related materials ($16.10). (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_33340.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 Milwaukee area, above-average concentrations of employment were found in many of the occupations within the production group. For instance, print binding and finishing workers were employed at 5.6 times the national rate in Milwaukee, and computer numerically controlled tool operators, at 4.9 times the U.S. average. Butchers and meat cutters had a location quotient of 1.0 in Milwaukee, 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 Milwaukee-Waukesha-West Allis, WI Metropolitan Statistical Area included 4,619 establishments with a response rate of 62 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 Milwaukee-Waukesha-West Allis, WI Metropolitan Statistical Area includes Milwaukee County, Ozaukee County, Washington County, and Waukesha 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, Milwaukee metropolitan area, May 2023

Occupation (1)	Employment		Mean wages ($)
	Level (2)	Location quotient (3)	Hourly	Annual (4)
Production occupations	76,240	1.6	23.51	48,890
First-line supervisors of production and operating workers	6,510	1.8	34.62	72,000
Coil winders, tapers, and finishers	240	3.8	24.07	50,070
Electrical, electronic, and electromechanical assemblers, except coil winders, tapers, and finishers	4,100	2.9	21.22	44,140
Engine and other machine assemblers	630	2.4	26.16	54,420
Structural metal fabricators and fitters	680	2.2	25.31	52,650
Miscellaneous assemblers and fabricators	11,090	1.4	20.16	41,930
Bakers	1,040	0.9	16.77	34,890
Butchers and meat cutters	730	1.0	20.29	42,200
Meat, poultry, and fish cutters and trimmers	60	0.1	18.47	38,420
Slaughterers and meat packers	370	1.0	16.69	34,720
Food and tobacco roasting, baking, and drying machine operators and tenders	70	0.7	18.99	39,500
Food batchmakers	1,950	2.2	19.85	41,290
Food cooking machine operators and tenders	130	0.8	17.15	35,660
Food processing workers, all other	80	0.2	18.78	39,070
Extruding and drawing machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	400	1.2	20.66	42,980
Forging machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	60	1.2	25.80	53,670
Rolling machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	150	1.1	22.32	46,420
Cutting, punching, and press machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	2,460	2.6	22.41	46,620
Drilling and boring machine tool setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	60	2.1	18.33	38,120
Grinding, lapping, polishing, and buffing machine tool setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	1,030	2.5	22.16	46,090
Lathe and turning machine tool setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	180	1.7	26.94	56,040
Machinists	3,860	2.5	23.92	49,750
Metal-refining furnace operators and tenders	230	2.0	25.63	53,310
Pourers and casters, metal	70	2.4	26.56	55,250
Patternmakers, metal and plastic	(5)	(5)	22.67	47,160
Foundry mold and coremakers	290	4.7	23.52	48,930
Molding, coremaking, and casting machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	2,740	3.2	19.77	41,120
Multiple machine tool setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	1,230	1.8	27.85	57,920
Tool and die makers	1,310	4.2	30.23	62,880
Welders, cutters, solderers, and brazers	4,070	1.8	26.16	54,410
Welding, soldering, and brazing machine setters, operators, and tenders	280	1.6	22.60	47,010
Heat treating equipment setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	160	2.0	23.05	47,950
Plating machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	350	2.0	19.72	41,020
Metal workers and plastic workers, all other	150	1.4	20.07	41,740
Prepress technicians and workers	440	3.5	21.63	44,980
Printing press operators	2,150	2.7	23.22	48,300
Print binding and finishing workers	1,170	5.6	19.93	41,450
Laundry and dry-cleaning workers	940	1.0	15.72	32,710
Pressers, textile, garment, and related materials	170	1.1	16.10	33,490
Sewing machine operators	620	1.0	17.89	37,200
Shoe and leather workers and repairers	210	5.5	20.52	42,680
Tailors, dressmakers, and custom sewers	80	1.0	18.19	37,840
Textile cutting machine setters, operators, and tenders	40	0.8	18.24	37,950
Upholsterers	60	0.4	21.58	44,890
Textile, apparel, and furnishings workers, all other	50	0.6	23.23	48,330
Cabinetmakers and bench carpenters	300	0.6	23.67	49,240
Furniture finishers	50	0.6	21.54	44,790
Sawing machine setters, operators, and tenders, wood	130	0.5	18.71	38,920
Woodworking machine setters, operators, and tenders, except sawing	270	0.8	18.42	38,300
Power plant operators	180	1.1	48.90	101,720
Stationary engineers and boiler operators	70	0.4	29.63	61,630
Water and wastewater treatment plant and system operators	390	0.6	30.09	62,590
Gas plant operators	90	1.1	41.17	85,620
Chemical equipment operators and tenders	570	0.9	23.21	48,280
Separating, filtering, clarifying, precipitating, and still machine setters, operators, and tenders	(5)	(5)	28.87	60,050
Crushing, grinding, and polishing machine setters, operators, and tenders	80	0.6	23.93	49,770
Grinding and polishing workers, hand	120	1.8	19.68	40,930
Mixing and blending machine setters, operators, and tenders	850	1.5	22.32	46,420
Cutting and slicing machine setters, operators, and tenders	430	1.5	22.71	47,240
Extruding, forming, pressing, and compacting machine setters, operators, and tenders	370	1.2	17.34	36,060
Furnace, kiln, oven, drier, and kettle operators and tenders	80	1.0	20.76	43,170
Inspectors, testers, sorters, samplers, and weighers	4,030	1.3	23.45	48,770
Jewelers and precious stone and metal workers	80	0.6	24.49	50,930
Dental laboratory technicians	200	1.1	23.74	49,390
Ophthalmic laboratory technicians	70	0.7	21.54	44,810
Packaging and filling machine operators and tenders	2,890	1.5	19.20	39,930
Coating, painting, and spraying machine setters, operators, and tenders	1,780	2.1	22.40	46,600
Photographic process workers and processing machine operators	(5)	(5)	17.60	36,610
Computer numerically controlled tool operators	4,950	4.9	26.89	55,940
Computer numerically controlled tool programmers	710	4.7	30.81	64,090
Etchers and engravers	110	2.5	21.94	45,640
Molders, shapers, and casters, except metal and plastic	160	0.8	21.45	44,610
Paper goods machine setters, operators, and tenders	720	1.4	25.24	52,500
Helpers--production workers	900	0.9	19.13	39,790
Production workers, all other	1,450	1.1	16.84	35,020
Footnotes: (1) For a complete listing of all detailed occupations in the Milwaukee-Waukesha-West Allis, WI Metropolitan Statistical Area, see www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_33340.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.