Workers in the Monroe, MI Metropolitan Statistical Area had an average (mean) hourly wage of $27.95 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 ($57.66), architecture and engineering ($48.18), and healthcare practitioners and technical ($46.93). Lower paying occupations included food preparation and serving related ($16.42) and personal care and service ($16.50). (See table A.)

Production occupations accounted for 12.4 percent of Monroe area employment, followed by transportation and material moving occupations (10.9 percent). Major occupational groups on the lower end of local employment included legal (0.3 percent); life, physical, and social science (0.8 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. Monroe had 5,040 jobs in production, accounting for 12.4 percent of local area employment, compared to the 5.7-percent share nationally. The average hourly wage for this occupational group locally was $24.83, compared to the national wage of $24.08.

Some of the larger detailed occupations within the production group included miscellaneous assemblers and fabricators (880); machinists (380); first-line supervisors of production and operating workers (360); and inspectors, testers, sorters, samplers, and weighers (360). Among the higher paying jobs in this group were first-line supervisors of production and operating workers ($38.86) and machinists ($30.40). At the lower end of the wage scale were laundry and dry-cleaning workers ($15.10). (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/0033780.)

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 Monroe area, above-average concentrations of employment were found in many of the occupations within the production group. For instance, power plant operators were employed at 16.57 times the national rate in Monroe, and tool and die makers, at 7.74 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 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 Monroe, MI Metropolitan Statistical Area included 698 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 Monroe, MI Metropolitan Statistical Area includes Monroe 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, Monroe metropolitan area, May 2024

Occupation (1)	Employment		Mean wages ($)
	Level (2)	Location quotient (3)	Hourly	Annual (4)
Production occupations	5,040	2.18	24.83	51,650
First-line supervisors of production and operating workers	360	1.99	38.86	80,820
Electrical, electronic, and electromechanical assemblers, except coil winders, tapers, and finishers	50	0.77	20.66	42,970
Miscellaneous assemblers and fabricators	880	2.29	19.62	40,820
Butchers and meat cutters	50	1.35	18.37	38,220
Rolling machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	40	7.02	22.75	47,320
Cutting, punching, and press machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	280	5.96	19.82	41,220
Grinding, lapping, polishing, and buffing machine tool setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	90	4.61	21.60	44,920
Machinists	380	4.84	30.40	63,230
Molding, coremaking, and casting machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	160	3.92	18.86	39,230
Tool and die makers	110	7.74	28.59	59,460
Welders, cutters, solderers, and brazers	200	1.80	23.62	49,140
Heat treating equipment setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	30	7.80	22.51	46,810
Plating machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	110	12.92	20.89	43,440
Laundry and dry-cleaning workers	40	0.78	15.10	31,410
Woodworking machine setters, operators, and tenders, except sawing	30	1.96	19.50	40,570
Power plant operators	130	16.57	(5)	(5)
Water and wastewater treatment plant and system operators	70	1.94	28.39	59,040
Inspectors, testers, sorters, samplers, and weighers	360	2.27	20.42	42,480
Packaging and filling machine operators and tenders	40	0.42	20.43	42,500
Coating, painting, and spraying machine setters, operators, and tenders	40	0.96	22.64	47,080
Molders, shapers, and casters, except metal and plastic	40	4.18	21.92	45,580
Helpers--production workers	50	1.15	20.15	41,920
Production workers, all other	150	2.08	16.52	34,350
Footnotes: (1) For a complete listing of all detailed occupations in the Monroe, MI Metropolitan Statistical Area, see https://data.bls.gov/oes/#/area/0033780. (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.