Workers in the Wichita, KS Metropolitan Statistical Area had an average (mean) hourly wage of $22.88 in May 2020, about 15 percent below the nationwide average of $27.07, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Regional Commissioner Michael Hirniak noted that, after testing for statistical significance, wages in the production occupational group were higher than their respective national average. Nineteen groups had significantly lower wages than their respective national averages, including legal, computer and mathematical, and management.

When compared to the nationwide distribution, Wichita area employment was more highly concentrated in 5 of the 22 occupational groups, including production; installation, maintenance, and repair; and food preparation and serving related. Eleven groups had employment shares significantly below their national representation, including management, transportation and material moving, and computer and mathematical. (See table A.)

One occupational group—production—was chosen to illustrate the diversity of data available for any of the 22 major occupational categories. Wichita had 31,750 jobs in production, accounting for 11.0 percent of local area employment, significantly higher than the 6.1-percent share nationally. The average hourly wage for this occupational group locally was $22.80, significantly above the national wage of $20.08.

Some of the larger detailed occupations within the production group included miscellaneous assemblers and fabricators (2,750); inspectors, testers, sorters, samplers, and weighers (2,720); and first-line supervisors of production and operating workers (1,660). 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 $36.08 and $32.26, respectively. At the lower end of the wage scale were pressers, textile, garment, and related materials ($11.22) and print binding and finishing workers ($11.81). (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_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 area, above-average concentrations of employment were found in many of the occupations within the production group. For instance, computer numerically controlled tool programmers were employed at 7.7 times the national rate in Wichita, and upholsterers, at 4.1 times the U.S. average. Helpers--production workers 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 and Wage Statistics (OEWS) survey, a federal-state cooperative program between BLS and State Workforce Agencies, in this case, the Kansas Department of Labor.

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. OEWS data are available at www.bls.gov/oes/tables.htm.

The OEWS survey is a cooperative effort between BLS and the State Workforce Agencies (SWAs). BLS funds the survey and provides the procedures and technical support, while the State Workforce Agencies collect most of the data. OEWS estimates are constructed from a sample of about 1.1 million establishments. Each year, two semiannual panels of approximately 180,000 to 185,000 sampled establishments are contacted, one panel in May and the other in November. Responses are obtained by mail, Internet or other electronic means, email, telephone, or personal visit. The May 2020 estimates are based on responses from six semiannual panels collected over a 3-year period: May 2020, November 2019, May 2019, November 2018, May 2018, and November 2017. The unweighted sample employment of 83 million across all six semiannual panels represents approximately 56 percent of total national employment. The overall national response rate for the six panels, based on the 50 states and the District of Columbia, is 69 percent based on establishments and 66 percent based on weighted sampled employment. The sample in the Wichita, KS Metropolitan Statistical Area included 2,377 establishments with a response rate of 76 percent. For more information about OEWS concepts and methodology, go to www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_tec.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.

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, KS Metropolitan Statistical Area includes Butler, Harvey, Kingman, Sedgwick, and Sumner Counties.

For more information

Answers to frequently asked questions about the OEWS data are available at www.bls.gov/oes/oes_ques.htm. Detailed information about the OEWS program is available at www.bls.gov/oes/oes_doc.htm.

Information in this release will be made available to individuals with sensory impairments upon request. Voice phone: (202) 691-5200; Federal Relay Service: (800) 877-8339.

Table 1. Employment and wage data for production occupations, Wichita metropolitan area, May 2020

Occupation (1)	Employment		Mean wages
	Level (2)	Location quotient (3)	Hourly	Annual (4)
Production occupations	31,750	1.8	$22.80	$47,430
First-line supervisors of production and operating workers	1,660	1.3	32.26	67,090
Electrical, electronic, and electromechanical assemblers, except coil winders, tapers, and finishers	1,000	1.7	16.91	35,180
Fiberglass laminators and fabricators	30	0.8	17.16	35,700
Miscellaneous assemblers and fabricators	2,750	1.1	17.97	37,380
Bakers	160	0.5	12.39	25,780
Butchers and meat cutters	(5)	(5)	18.77	39,050
Meat, poultry, and fish cutters and trimmers	(5)	(5)	14.92	31,040
Food batchmakers	(5)	(5)	11.93	24,820
Food processing workers, all other	40	0.5	13.01	27,050
Extruding and drawing machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	100	0.7	17.02	35,400
Forging machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	60	2.2	20.13	41,870
Rolling machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	(5)	(5)	16.16	33,610
Cutting, punching, and press machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	440	1.2	17.02	35,400
Grinding, lapping, polishing, and buffing machine tool setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	490	3.4	17.05	35,470
Lathe and turning machine tool setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	80	1.7	20.12	41,850
Machinists	1,490	2.0	21.48	44,680
Molding, coremaking, and casting machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	270	0.9	15.50	32,240
Multiple machine tool setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	100	0.4	18.81	39,130
Tool and die makers	470	3.7	(5)	(5)
Welders, cutters, solderers, and brazers	1,470	1.8	22.82	47,460
Welding, soldering, and brazing machine setters, operators, and tenders	(5)	(5)	27.50	57,200
Heat treating equipment setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	70	2.0	25.44	52,910
Plating machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	100	1.3	16.50	34,310
Tool grinders, filers, and sharpeners	(5)	(5)	25.32	52,670
Metal workers and plastic workers, all other	(5)	(5)	21.05	43,780
Prepress technicians and workers	40	0.7	19.08	39,690
Printing press operators	350	1.1	15.48	32,190
Print binding and finishing workers	110	1.2	11.81	24,570
Laundry and dry-cleaning workers	570	1.5	11.85	24,640
Pressers, textile, garment, and related materials	40	0.6	11.22	23,330
Sewing machine operators	400	1.7	14.03	29,190
Tailors, dressmakers, and custom sewers	(5)	(5)	12.41	25,810
Upholsterers	220	4.1	(5)	(5)
Textile, apparel, and furnishings workers, all other	(5)	(5)	12.24	25,460
Cabinetmakers and bench carpenters	390	2.0	21.21	44,110
Furniture finishers	30	1.0	19.77	41,110
Sawing machine setters, operators, and tenders, wood	(5)	(5)	14.98	31,160
Woodworking machine setters, operators, and tenders, except sawing	250	1.6	13.99	29,090
Power plant operators	50	0.7	21.55	44,820
Stationary engineers and boiler operators	40	0.6	32.09	66,760
Water and wastewater treatment plant and system operators	170	0.7	18.22	37,900
Petroleum pump system operators, refinery operators, and gaugers	(5)	(5)	31.96	66,480
Chemical equipment operators and tenders	410	2.1	(5)	(5)
Separating, filtering, clarifying, precipitating, and still machine setters, operators, and tenders	40	0.4	16.71	34,750
Crushing, grinding, and polishing machine setters, operators, and tenders	50	0.7	17.20	35,780
Grinding and polishing workers, hand	70	1.3	14.39	29,930
Mixing and blending machine setters, operators, and tenders	290	1.2	15.58	32,410
Cutters and trimmers, hand	30	1.8	16.21	33,720
Cutting and slicing machine setters, operators, and tenders	120	1.1	15.13	31,460
Extruding, forming, pressing, and compacting machine setters, operators, and tenders	40	0.3	20.98	43,640
Inspectors, testers, sorters, samplers, and weighers	2,720	2.4	26.70	55,540
Dental laboratory technicians	(5)	(5)	19.60	40,770
Packaging and filling machine operators and tenders	440	0.6	15.00	31,200
Coating, painting, and spraying machine setters, operators, and tenders	900	3.2	21.79	45,320
Computer numerically controlled tool operators	860	2.8	24.18	50,290
Computer numerically controlled tool programmers	410	7.7	36.08	75,050
Etchers and engravers	80	4.3	14.79	30,760
Molders, shapers, and casters, except metal and plastic	180	2.1	18.87	39,250
Paper goods machine setters, operators, and tenders	(5)	(5)	17.17	35,710
Helpers--production workers	490	1.0	16.62	34,570
Production workers, all other	300	0.7	19.35	40,250
Footnotes: (1) For a complete listing of all detailed occupations in the Wichita, KS Metropolitan Statistical Area, see www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_48620.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.