Workers in the Peoria, IL Metropolitan Statistical Area had an average (mean) hourly wage of $28.93 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 ($59.15), architecture and engineering ($49.89), and legal ($47.74). Lower paying occupations included food preparation and serving related ($15.73), building and grounds cleaning and maintenance ($17.20), and personal care and service ($17.21). (See table A.)

Occupational groups with the highest employment in the Peoria area included office and administrative support (10.7 percent), production (9.6 percent), and food preparation and serving related (8.3 percent). Major occupational groups on the lower end of local employment included legal (0.5 percent); life, physical, and social science (0.6 percent); and arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media (0.9 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. Peoria had 15,910 jobs in production, accounting for 9.6 percent of local area employment, compared to the 5.8-percent share nationally. The average hourly wage for this occupational group locally was $23.36, compared to the national wage of $22.90.

Some of the larger detailed occupations within the production group included miscellaneous assemblers and fabricators (2,980), inspectors, testers, sorters, samplers, and weighers (1,170), and welders, cutters, solderers, and brazers (1,150). Among the higher-paying jobs in this group were computer numerically controlled tool programmers and first-line supervisors of production and operating workers, with mean hourly wages of $32.64 and $31.91, respectively. At the lower end of the wage scale were laundry and dry-cleaning workers ($15.56) and bakers ($15.90). (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_37900.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 Peoria area, above-average concentrations of employment were found in many of the occupations within the production group. For instance, lathe and turning machine tool setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic were employed at 27.5 times the national rate in Peoria, and grinding, lapping, polishing, and buffing machine tool setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic, at 7.7 times the U.S. average. Packaging and filling machine operators and tenders had a location quotient of 1.0 in Peoria, 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 Illinois Department of Employment Security.

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 Peoria, IL Metropolitan Statistical Area included 1,728 establishments with a response rate of 59 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 Peoria, IL Metropolitan Statistical Area includes Marshall County, Peoria County, Stark County, Tazewell County, and Woodford 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, Peoria metropolitan area, May 2023

Occupation (1)	Employment		Mean wages ($)
	Level (2)	Location quotient (3)	Hourly	Annual (4)
Production occupations	15,910	1.7	23.36	48,580
First-line supervisors of production and operating workers	1,090	1.5	31.91	66,370
Electrical, electronic, and electromechanical assemblers, except coil winders, tapers, and finishers	130	0.4	17.05	35,450
Structural metal fabricators and fitters	180	2.9	21.89	45,530
Miscellaneous assemblers and fabricators	2,980	1.8	20.58	42,810
Bakers	280	1.2	15.90	33,070
Butchers and meat cutters	150	1.0	16.59	34,500
Food batchmakers	240	1.3	18.76	39,020
Rolling machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	30	1.2	21.93	45,620
Cutting, punching, and press machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	400	2.1	19.70	40,970
Grinding, lapping, polishing, and buffing machine tool setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	630	7.7	21.82	45,390
Lathe and turning machine tool setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	580	27.5	25.60	53,250
Machinists	660	2.1	23.95	49,820
Foundry mold and coremakers	30	2.7	(5)	(5)
Molding, coremaking, and casting machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	360	2.1	23.74	49,380
Multiple machine tool setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	920	6.6	22.68	47,170
Tool and die makers	150	2.4	29.32	60,990
Welders, cutters, solderers, and brazers	1,150	2.5	24.44	50,830
Heat treating equipment setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	(5)	(5)	20.80	43,260
Printing press operators	150	0.9	22.27	46,310
Print binding and finishing workers	90	2.2	17.55	36,510
Laundry and dry-cleaning workers	190	0.9	15.56	32,370
Sewing machine operators	60	0.5	16.28	33,870
Cabinetmakers and bench carpenters	50	0.5	23.61	49,110
Woodworking machine setters, operators, and tenders, except sawing	50	0.7	20.06	41,720
Water and wastewater treatment plant and system operators	160	1.3	29.79	61,970
Mixing and blending machine setters, operators, and tenders	190	1.7	21.75	45,240
Inspectors, testers, sorters, samplers, and weighers	1,170	1.8	24.49	50,930
Dental laboratory technicians	90	2.5	24.90	51,790
Packaging and filling machine operators and tenders	410	1.0	19.97	41,540
Coating, painting, and spraying machine setters, operators, and tenders	450	2.6	21.36	44,430
Computer numerically controlled tool operators	460	2.3	23.28	48,430
Computer numerically controlled tool programmers	60	2.0	32.64	67,880
Helpers--production workers	150	0.8	19.56	40,680
Footnotes: (1) For a complete listing of all detailed occupations in the Peoria, IL Metropolitan Statistical Area, see www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_37900.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.