Workers in the Racine, WI Metropolitan Statistical Area had an average (mean) hourly wage of $26.58 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 ($61.90), healthcare practitioners and technical ($48.28), and legal ($45.21). Lower paying occupations included food preparation and serving related ($14.41), healthcare support ($17.38), and building and grounds cleaning and maintenance ($17.81). (See table A.)

Occupational groups with the highest employment in the Racine area included production (14.8 percent), transportation and material moving (11.4 percent), and office and administrative support (10.4 percent). Major occupational groups on the lower end of local employment included legal (0.4 percent); life, physical, and social science (0.5 percent); and arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media (0.8 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. Racine had 11,190 jobs in production, accounting for 14.8 percent of local area employment, compared to the 5.8-percent share nationally. The average hourly wage for this occupational group locally was $22.41, compared to the national wage of $22.90.

Some of the larger detailed occupations within the production group included miscellaneous assemblers and fabricators (1,940), first-line supervisors of production and operating workers (950), and electrical, electronic, and electromechanical assemblers, except coil winders, tapers, and finishers (830). Among the higher-paying jobs in this group were first-line supervisors of production and operating workers with mean hourly wages of $32.28, computer numerically controlled tool programmers ($31.08), and water and wastewater treatment plant and system operators ($30.99). At the lower end of the wage scale were bakers ($14.82); sewing machine operators ($17.70); and plating machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic ($17.89). (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_39540.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 Racine area, above-average concentrations of employment were found in many of the occupations within the production group. For instance, computer numerically controlled tool operators were employed at 7.9 times the national rate in Racine, and electrical, electronic, and electromechanical assemblers, except coil winders, tapers, and finishers, at 6.2 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 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 Racine, WI Metropolitan Statistical Area included 1,107 establishments with a response rate of 69 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 Racine, WI Metropolitan Statistical Area includes Racine 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, Racine metropolitan area, May 2023

Occupation (1)	Employment		Mean wages ($)
	Level (2)	Location quotient (3)	Hourly	Annual (4)
Production occupations	11,190	2.6	22.41	46,620
First-line supervisors of production and operating workers	950	2.8	32.28	67,140
Electrical, electronic, and electromechanical assemblers, except coil winders, tapers, and finishers	830	6.2	20.74	43,140
Engine and other machine assemblers	140	6.1	25.72	53,500
Structural metal fabricators and fitters	130	4.4	25.19	52,400
Miscellaneous assemblers and fabricators	1,940	2.6	19.51	40,580
Bakers	130	1.2	14.82	30,830
Butchers and meat cutters	50	0.8	20.83	43,320
Food batchmakers	350	4.1	(5)	(5)
Extruding and drawing machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	50	1.5	19.79	41,150
Cutting, punching, and press machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	380	4.3	21.94	45,640
Grinding, lapping, polishing, and buffing machine tool setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	80	2.0	19.01	39,540
Machinists	490	3.4	23.06	47,960
Molding, coremaking, and casting machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	250	3.2	21.14	43,980
Multiple machine tool setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	120	1.9	21.08	43,840
Tool and die makers	130	4.4	28.64	59,570
Welders, cutters, solderers, and brazers	480	2.3	24.89	51,770
Plating machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	50	3.2	17.89	37,210
Prepress technicians and workers	30	2.8	18.64	38,760
Printing press operators	140	1.9	21.62	44,960
Sewing machine operators	80	1.4	17.70	36,820
Water and wastewater treatment plant and system operators	40	0.7	30.99	64,460
Mixing and blending machine setters, operators, and tenders	280	5.3	19.76	41,100
Extruding, forming, pressing, and compacting machine setters, operators, and tenders	150	5.1	19.69	40,960
Inspectors, testers, sorters, samplers, and weighers	760	2.6	22.68	47,170
Packaging and filling machine operators and tenders	750	4.1	18.91	39,330
Coating, painting, and spraying machine setters, operators, and tenders	230	3.0	22.91	47,650
Computer numerically controlled tool operators	730	7.9	25.30	52,630
Computer numerically controlled tool programmers	50	3.9	31.08	64,650
Molders, shapers, and casters, except metal and plastic	50	2.5	22.84	47,520
Helpers--production workers	120	1.3	(5)	(5)
Production workers, all other	150	1.2	17.01	35,370
Footnotes: (1) For a complete listing of all detailed occupations in the Racine, WI Metropolitan Statistical Area, see www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_39540.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.