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Thursday, August 04, 2016
Workers in the Wichita Metropolitan Statistical Area had an average (mean) hourly wage of $20.38 in May 2015, about 12 percent below the nationwide average of $23.23, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Assistant Commissioner for Regional Operations Stanley W. Suchman noted that, after testing for statistical significance, wages in the local area were significantly lower than their respective national averages in 18 of the 22 major occupational groups, including legal; management; and computer and mathematical.
When compared to the nationwide distribution, local employment was more highly concentrated in 5 of the 22 occupational groups, including production; installation, maintenance, and repair; and construction and extraction. Conversely, 11 groups had employment shares significantly below their national representation, including transportation and material moving; computer and mathematical; and sales and related. (See table A and box note at end of release.)
Major occupational group | Percent of total employment | Mean hourly wage | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
United States | Wichita | United States | Wichita | Percent difference (1) | |
Total, all occupations | 100.0% | 100.0% | $23.23 | $20.38* | -12 |
Management | 5.0 | 4.3* | 55.30 | 45.84* | -17 |
Business and Financial Operations | 5.1 | 4.4* | 35.48 | 31.31* | -12 |
Computer and Mathematical | 2.9 | 1.9* | 41.43 | 32.75* | -21 |
Architecture and Engineering | 1.8 | 2.4* | 39.89 | 37.54* | -6 |
Life, Physical, and Social Science | 0.8 | 0.4* | 34.24 | 31.25* | -9 |
Community and Social Service | 1.4 | 1.4 | 22.19 | 18.80* | -15 |
Legal | 0.8 | 0.5* | 49.74 | 39.65* | -20 |
Education, Training, and Library | 6.2 | 6.1 | 25.48 | 19.76* | -22 |
Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media | 1.3 | 1.3 | 27.39 | 19.26* | -30 |
Healthcare Practitioners and Technical | 5.8 | 5.8 | 37.40 | 34.05* | -9 |
Healthcare Support | 2.9 | 3.1 | 14.19 | 12.82* | -10 |
Protective Service | 2.4 | 2.1* | 21.45 | 17.93* | -16 |
Food Preparation and Serving Related | 9.1 | 8.8* | 10.98 | 9.74* | -11 |
Building and Grounds Cleaning and Maintenance | 3.2 | 2.8* | 13.02 | 12.29* | -6 |
Personal Care and Service | 3.1 | 3.3 | 12.33 | 12.19 | -1 |
Sales and Related | 10.5 | 9.6* | 18.90 | 17.18* | -9 |
Office and Administrative Support | 15.8 | 16.5* | 17.47 | 15.98* | -9 |
Farming, Fishing, and Forestry | 0.3 | 0.1* | 12.67 | 14.44* | 14 |
Construction and Extraction | 4.0 | 4.7* | 22.88 | 18.98* | -17 |
Installation, Maintenance, and Repair | 3.9 | 4.7* | 22.11 | 22.27 | 1 |
Production | 6.6 | 10.2* | 17.41 | 19.89* | 14 |
Transportation and Material Moving | 6.9 | 5.8* | 16.90 | 15.30* | -9 |
Footnotes: |
One occupational group—production—was chosen to illustrate the diversity of data available for any of the 22 major occupational categories. Wichita had 30,030 jobs in production, accounting for 10.2 percent of local area employment, significantly higher than the 6.6-percent share nationally. The average hourly wage for this occupational group locally was $19.89, significantly above the national wage of $17.41.
Some of the larger detailed occupations within the production group included team assemblers (3,140), inspectors, testers, sorters, samplers, and weighers (2,330), and first-line supervisors of production and operating workers (1,760). Among the higher paying jobs were metal and plastic layout workers, as well as petroleum pump system operators, refinery operators, and gaugers, with mean hourly wages of $32.03 and $30.91, respectively. Occupations at the lower end of the wage scale included laundry and dry-cleaning workers ($9.57) and production workers’ helpers ($11.02). (Detailed occupational data for production are presented in table 1; for a complete listing of detailed occupations available go to www.bls.gov/oes/2015/may/oes_48620.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 Wichita Metropolitan Statistical Area, above-average concentrations of employment were found in many of the occupations within the production group. For instance, metal and plastic layout workers were employed at 31.6 times the national rate in Wichita, and metal and plastic computer numerically controlled machine tool programmers, at 5.7 times the U.S. average. On the other hand, printing press operators had a location quotient of 1.0 in Wichita, indicating that this particular occupation’s local and national employment shares were similar.
These statistics are from the Occupational Employment Statistics (OES) survey, a federal-state cooperative program between BLS and State Workforce Agencies, in this case, the Kansas Department of Labor.
With the issuance of data for May 2015, the OES program has incorporated redefined metropolitan area definitions as designated by the Office of Management and Budget. OES data are available for 394 metropolitan areas, 38 metropolitan divisions, and 167 OES-defined nonmetropolitan areas. A listing of the areas and their definitions can be found at www.bls.gov/oes/current/msa_def.htm.
A value that is statistically different from another does not necessarily mean that the difference has economic or practical significance. Statistical significance is concerned with the ability to make confident statements about a universe based on a sample. It is entirely possible that a large difference between two values is not significantly different statistically, while a small difference is, since both the size and heterogeneity of the sample affect the relative error of the data being tested.
The Occupational Employment Statistics (OES) survey is a semiannual mail survey measuring occupational employment and wage rates for wage and salary workers in nonfarm establishments in the United States. The OES program produces employment and wage estimates for over 800 occupations for all industries combined in the nation; the 50 states and the District of Columbia; 432 metropolitan areas and divisions; 167 nonmetropolitan areas; and Guam, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. National estimates are also available by industry for NAICS sectors, 3-, 4-, and selected 5- and 6-digit industries, and by ownership across all industries and for schools and hospitals. OES data are available at www.bls.gov/oes/tables.htm.
OES estimates are constructed from a sample of about 1.2 million establishments. Forms are mailed to approximately 200,000 sampled establishments in May and November each year. May 2015 estimates are based on responses from six semiannual panels collected over a 3-year period: May 2015, November 2014, May 2014, November 2013, May 2013, and November 2012. The overall national response rate for the six panels is 73.5 percent based on establishments and 69.6 percent based on weighted sampled employment. The unweighted employment of sampled establishments across all six semiannual panels represents approximately 57.9 percent of total national employment. (Response rates are slightly lower for these estimates due to the federal shutdown in October 2013.) The sample in the Wichita Metropolitan Statistical Area included 2,643 establishments with a response rate of 75 percent. For more information about OES concepts and methodology, go to www.bls.gov/news.release/ocwage.tn.htm.
The May 2015 OES estimates are based on the 2010 Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) system and the 2012 North American Industry Classification System (NAICS). Information about the 2010 SOC is available on the BLS website at www.bls.gov/soc and information about the 2012 NAICS is available at www.bls.gov/bls/naics.htm.
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 Wichita, Kans. Metropolitan Statistical Area includes Butler, Harvey, Kingman, Sedgwick, and Sumner Counties.
Additional information
OES data are available on our regional web page at www.bls.gov/regions/mountain-plains. Answers to frequently asked questions about the OES data are available at www.bls.gov/oes/oes_ques.htm. Detailed technical information about the OES survey is available in our Survey Methods and Reliability Statement on the BLS website at www.bls.gov/oes/2015/may/methods_statement.pdf.
Information in this release will be made available to sensory impaired individuals upon request . Voice phone: (202) 691-5200; Federal Relay Service: (800) 877-8339.
Occupation (1) | Employment | Mean wages | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
Level (2) | Location quotient (3) | Hourly | Annual (4) | |
Production Occupations | 30,030 | 1.6 | $19.89 | $41,360 |
First-Line Supervisors of Production and Operating Workers | 1,760 | 1.4 | 29.14 | 60,620 |
Coil Winders, Tapers, and Finishers | 60 | 2.0 | 15.78 | 32,830 |
Electrical and Electronic Equipment Assemblers | 370 | 0.8 | 18.45 | 38,370 |
Electromechanical Equipment Assemblers | 60 | 0.6 | 16.08 | 33,450 |
Structural Metal Fabricators and Fitters | (5) | (5) | 25.75 | 53,570 |
Team Assemblers | 3,140 | 1.3 | 15.17 | 31,550 |
Assemblers and Fabricators, All Other | 1,170 | 2.4 | 15.78 | 32,830 |
Bakers | 400 | 1.1 | 12.34 | 25,660 |
Butchers and Meat Cutters | 150 | 0.5 | 16.53 | 34,390 |
Meat, Poultry, and Fish Cutters and Trimmers | 60 | 0.2 | 13.99 | 29,090 |
Food Batchmakers | 150 | 0.5 | 14.72 | 30,630 |
Food Processing Workers, All Other | 150 | 1.5 | 14.73 | 30,650 |
Computer-Controlled Machine Tool Operators, Metal and Plastic | 890 | 2.9 | 17.13 | 35,630 |
Computer Numerically Controlled Machine Tool Programmers, Metal and Plastic | 310 | 5.7 | 30.75 | 63,950 |
Extruding and Drawing Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic | 270 | 1.7 | 16.22 | 33,740 |
Forging Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic | 80 | 2.0 | 17.22 | 35,820 |
Cutting, Punching, and Press Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic | 580 | 1.4 | 15.62 | 32,500 |
Drilling and Boring Machine Tool Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic | 100 | 3.0 | 15.94 | 33,160 |
Grinding, Lapping, Polishing, and Buffing Machine Tool Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic | 350 | 2.2 | 13.24 | 27,540 |
Lathe and Turning Machine Tool Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic | 130 | 1.5 | 20.05 | 41,700 |
Milling and Planing Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic | 100 | 2.3 | 24.11 | 50,150 |
Machinists | 1,530 | 1.8 | 19.67 | 40,910 |
Molding, Coremaking, and Casting Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic | 220 | 0.8 | 14.59 | 30,340 |
Multiple Machine Tool Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic | (5) | (5) | 14.72 | 30,620 |
Tool and Die Makers | 670 | 4.2 | 25.01 | 52,010 |
Welders, Cutters, Solderers, and Brazers | 1,230 | 1.5 | 18.45 | 38,370 |
Welding, Soldering, and Brazing Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders | 130 | 1.2 | 17.33 | 36,050 |
Heat Treating Equipment Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic | 80 | 1.8 | 16.65 | 34,640 |
Layout Workers, Metal and Plastic | 720 | 31.6 | 32.03 | 66,630 |
Prepress Technicians and Workers | 90 | 1.2 | 18.74 | 38,990 |
Printing Press Operators | 370 | 1.0 | 15.91 | 33,100 |
Print Binding and Finishing Workers | 170 | 1.5 | 12.74 | 26,500 |
Laundry and Dry-Cleaning Workers | 300 | 0.7 | 9.57 | 19,900 |
Sewing Machine Operators | 290 | 1.0 | 11.21 | 23,310 |
Textile Cutting Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders | 30 | 1.1 | 10.48 | 21,790 |
Extruding and Forming Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Synthetic and Glass Fibers | 60 | 1.4 | 18.64 | 38,770 |
Upholsterers | 50 | 0.8 | 17.87 | 37,160 |
Cabinetmakers and Bench Carpenters | 160 | 0.8 | 14.41 | 29,980 |
Sawing Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Wood | 190 | 1.8 | 12.80 | 26,610 |
Woodworking Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Except Sawing | 180 | 1.1 | 14.11 | 29,340 |
Power Plant Operators | (5) | (5) | 25.61 | 53,260 |
Water and Wastewater Treatment Plant and System Operators | 180 | 0.7 | 18.12 | 37,690 |
Petroleum Pump System Operators, Refinery Operators, and Gaugers | 280 | 3.1 | 30.91 | 64,290 |
Separating, Filtering, Clarifying, Precipitating, and Still Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders | 70 | 0.7 | 19.31 | 40,170 |
Crushing, Grinding, and Polishing Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders | 60 | 0.9 | 16.69 | 34,720 |
Grinding and Polishing Workers, Hand | 230 | 3.8 | 14.47 | 30,110 |
Mixing and Blending Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders | 240 | 0.9 | 17.06 | 35,490 |
Cutters and Trimmers, Hand | 40 | 1.1 | 14.34 | 29,820 |
Cutting and Slicing Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders | 140 | 1.1 | 16.42 | 34,150 |
Inspectors, Testers, Sorters, Samplers, and Weighers | 2,330 | 2.2 | 24.97 | 51,940 |
Jewelers and Precious Stone and Metal Workers | 50 | 0.9 | 22.37 | 46,530 |
Dental Laboratory Technicians | 70 | 0.8 | 16.26 | 33,820 |
Packaging and Filling Machine Operators and Tenders | 480 | 0.6 | 13.54 | 28,170 |
Coating, Painting, and Spraying Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders | 390 | 2.1 | 14.88 | 30,950 |
Painters, Transportation Equipment | 150 | 1.4 | 26.47 | 55,050 |
Photographic Process Workers and Processing Machine Operators | 30 | 0.6 | 13.57 | 28,230 |
Adhesive Bonding Machine Operators and Tenders | 80 | 2.3 | 13.60 | 28,300 |
Etchers and Engravers | 30 | 1.5 | 12.40 | 25,790 |
Molders, Shapers, and Casters, Except Metal and Plastic | (5) | (5) | 14.61 | 30,380 |
Paper Goods Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders | 80 | 0.4 | (5) | (5) |
Helpers--Production Workers | 690 | 0.7 | 11.02 | 22,910 |
Production Workers, All Other | 350 | 0.7 | 13.02 | 27,090 |
Footnotes: |
Last Modified Date: Thursday, August 04, 2016