Workers in the Toledo, OH Metropolitan Statistical Area had an average (mean) hourly wage of $27.61 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 ($54.62), legal ($51.14), and healthcare practitioners and technical ($46.37). Lower paying occupations included food preparation and serving related ($14.86), building and grounds cleaning and maintenance ($16.82), and personal care and service ($16.91). (See table A.)

Occupational groups with the highest employment in the Toledo area included transportation and material moving (11.4 percent), production (10.8 percent), and office and administrative support (10.6 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 (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. Toledo had 31,420 jobs in production, accounting for 10.8 percent of local area employment, compared to the 5.8-percent share nationally. The average hourly wage for this occupational group locally was $23.52, compared to the national wage of $22.90.

Some of the larger detailed occupations within the production group included miscellaneous assemblers and fabricators (10,270); first-line supervisors of production and operating workers (1,810); multiple machine tool setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic (1,570); and inspectors, testers, sorters, samplers, and weighers (1,500). Among the higher-paying jobs in this group were petroleum pump system operators, refinery operators, and gaugers with mean hourly wages of $49.40 and first-line supervisors of production and operating workers ($33.47). At the lower end of the wage scale were laundry and dry-cleaning workers ($13.71), bakers ($15.35), and tailors, dressmakers, and custom sewers ($15.97). (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_45780.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 Toledo area, above-average concentrations of employment were found in many of the occupations within the production group. For instance, engine and other machine assemblers were employed at 14.7 times the national rate in Toledo, and heat treating equipment setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic, at 10.8 times the U.S. average. Welders, cutters, solderers, and brazers had a location quotient of 1.0 in Toledo, 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 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 Toledo, OH Metropolitan Statistical Area included 2,484 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 Toledo, OH Metropolitan Statistical Area includes Fulton County, Lucas County, and Wood 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, Toledo metropolitan area, May 2023

Occupation (1)	Employment		Mean wages ($)
	Level (2)	Location quotient (3)	Hourly	Annual (4)
Production occupations	31,420	1.9	23.52	48,920
First-line supervisors of production and operating workers	1,810	1.4	33.47	69,620
Electrical, electronic, and electromechanical assemblers, except coil winders, tapers, and finishers	280	0.6	20.19	41,990
Engine and other machine assemblers	1,350	14.7	31.32	65,150
Structural metal fabricators and fitters	80	0.7	22.73	47,280
Fiberglass laminators and fabricators	50	1.4	17.12	35,600
Miscellaneous assemblers and fabricators	10,270	3.6	23.08	48,000
Bakers	340	0.8	15.35	31,930
Butchers and meat cutters	310	1.2	17.55	36,500
Food batchmakers	310	1.0	18.44	38,360
Food processing workers, all other	70	0.6	16.42	34,150
Rolling machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	150	3.1	23.42	48,720
Cutting, punching, and press machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	900	2.6	20.11	41,820
Grinding, lapping, polishing, and buffing machine tool setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	450	3.1	22.71	47,230
Lathe and turning machine tool setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	30	0.9	22.33	46,440
Machinists	1,080	2.0	28.14	58,530
Molding, coremaking, and casting machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	480	1.6	20.97	43,630
Multiple machine tool setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	1,570	6.4	19.40	40,350
Tool and die makers	490	4.4	31.12	64,730
Welders, cutters, solderers, and brazers	820	1.0	23.07	47,990
Welding, soldering, and brazing machine setters, operators, and tenders	110	1.7	20.59	42,830
Heat treating equipment setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	310	10.8	25.16	52,330
Prepress technicians and workers	60	1.2	20.40	42,430
Printing press operators	370	1.3	19.96	41,520
Print binding and finishing workers	70	0.9	17.95	37,330
Laundry and dry-cleaning workers	390	1.1	13.71	28,520
Sewing machine operators	210	0.9	16.71	34,760
Tailors, dressmakers, and custom sewers	40	1.5	15.97	33,220
Upholsterers	50	1.0	19.94	41,480
Cabinetmakers and bench carpenters	140	0.8	18.69	38,870
Sawing machine setters, operators, and tenders, wood	50	0.6	19.50	40,560
Water and wastewater treatment plant and system operators	290	1.3	26.05	54,190
Chemical plant and system operators	60	1.8	32.30	67,180
Petroleum pump system operators, refinery operators, and gaugers	340	5.3	49.40	102,740
Chemical equipment operators and tenders	280	1.2	24.70	51,370
Separating, filtering, clarifying, precipitating, and still machine setters, operators, and tenders	70	0.7	24.94	51,880
Crushing, grinding, and polishing machine setters, operators, and tenders	100	2.1	20.12	41,840
Mixing and blending machine setters, operators, and tenders	170	0.9	22.69	47,200
Cutting and slicing machine setters, operators, and tenders	140	1.4	20.02	41,640
Extruding, forming, pressing, and compacting machine setters, operators, and tenders	230	2.1	18.45	38,380
Furnace, kiln, oven, drier, and kettle operators and tenders	90	3.3	25.75	53,550
Inspectors, testers, sorters, samplers, and weighers	1,500	1.4	23.11	48,060
Dental laboratory technicians	60	1.0	22.42	46,620
Packaging and filling machine operators and tenders	820	1.2	21.30	44,300
Coating, painting, and spraying machine setters, operators, and tenders	350	1.2	20.67	42,980
Computer numerically controlled tool operators	1,150	3.2	22.58	46,960
Computer numerically controlled tool programmers	100	1.9	30.73	63,930
Adhesive bonding machine operators and tenders	60	2.5	21.02	43,720
Cleaning, washing, and metal pickling equipment operators and tenders	70	2.5	19.57	40,700
Molders, shapers, and casters, except metal and plastic	60	0.8	19.37	40,300
Paper goods machine setters, operators, and tenders	270	1.4	21.76	45,250
Helpers--production workers	310	0.9	18.19	37,820
Production workers, all other	1,070	2.3	18.37	38,210
Footnotes: (1) For a complete listing of all detailed occupations in the Toledo, OH Metropolitan Statistical Area, see www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_45780.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.