Workers in the Wichita, KS Metropolitan Statistical Area had an average (mean) hourly wage of $23.32 in May 2021, 17 percent below the nationwide average of $28.01, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Regional Commissioner Michael Hirniak noted that, after testing for statistical significance, wages in the local area were lower than their respective national averages in 20 of the 22 major occupational groups, including legal; arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media; and educational instruction and library. Production was the only major occupational group with wages in the local area higher than its respective national average.

When compared to the nationwide distribution, Wichita area employment was more highly concentrated in 7 of the 22 occupational groups, including production; food preparation and serving related; and installation, maintenance, and repair. Eleven groups had employment shares significantly below their national representation, including management, transportation and material moving, and business and financial operations. (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 26,490 jobs in production, accounting for 9.3 percent of local area employment, significantly higher than the 6.0-percent share nationally. The average hourly wage for this occupational group locally was $22.44, significantly above the national wage of $20.71.

Some of the larger detailed occupations within the production group included aircraft structure, surfaces, rigging, and systems assemblers (4,740); inspectors, testers, sorters, samplers, and weighers (2,260); and first-line supervisors of production and operating workers (1,920). Among the higher-paying jobs in this group were petroleum pump system operators, refinery operators, and gaugers; and computer numerically controlled tool programmers, with mean hourly wages of $43.34 and $37.65, respectively. At the lower end of the wage scale were bakers ($12.18) and laundry and dry-cleaning workers ($12.25). (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, aircraft structure, surfaces, rigging, and systems assemblers were employed at 70.6 times the national rate in Wichita, and computer numerically controlled tool programmers, at 6.2 times the U.S. average. Metal and plastic cutting, punching, and press setters, operators, and tenders had a location quotient of 1.1 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 179,000 to 187,000 sampled establishments are contacted, one panel in May and the other in November. Responses are obtained by Internet or other electronic means, mail, email, telephone, or personal visit. The May 2021 estimates are based on responses from six semiannual panels collected over a 3-year period: May 2021, November 2020, May 2020, November 2019, May 2019, and November 2018. The unweighted sampled employment of 82 million across all six semiannual panels represents approximately 62 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 67.2 percent based on establishments and 64.5 percent based on weighted sampled employment. The sample in the Wichita, KS Metropolitan Statistical Area included 2,375 establishments with a response rate of 74 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 County, Harvey County, Kingman County, Sedgwick County, and Sumner County.

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; Telecommunications Relay Service: 7-1-1.

Table 1. Employment and wage data for production occupations, Wichita metropolitan area, May 2021

Occupation (1)	Employment		Mean wages
	Level (2)	Location quotient (3)	Hourly	Annual (4)
Production occupations	26,490	1.6	$22.44	$46,670
First-line supervisors of production and operating workers	1,920	1.5	31.19	64,880
Aircraft structure, surfaces, rigging, and systems assemblers	4,740	70.6	25.66	53,370
Coil winders, tapers, and finishers	(5)	(5)	15.28	31,780
Electrical, electronic, and electromechanical assemblers, except coil winders, tapers, and finishers	750	1.4	16.89	35,130
Structural metal fabricators and fitters	180	1.4	22.21	46,200
Miscellaneous assemblers and fabricators	2,600	1.0	17.53	36,450
Bakers	230	0.6	12.18	25,330
Butchers and meat cutters	180	0.6	16.51	34,350
Meat, poultry, and fish cutters and trimmers	80	0.3	17.02	35,410
Food batchmakers	130	0.4	13.42	27,910
Food processing workers, all other	40	0.4	20.90	43,470
Extruding and drawing machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	80	0.6	18.07	37,590
Forging machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	50	2.3	(5)	(5)
Cutting, punching, and press machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	390	1.1	18.17	37,800
Grinding, lapping, polishing, and buffing machine tool setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	340	2.5	18.34	38,140
Lathe and turning machine tool setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	30	0.8	22.42	46,630
Machinists	1,400	2.1	20.99	43,650
Foundry mold and coremakers	60	2.1	20.23	42,080
Molding, coremaking, and casting machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	370	1.1	19.44	40,440
Multiple machine tool setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	140	0.5	18.08	37,600
Tool and die makers	400	3.1	29.59	61,550
Welders, cutters, solderers, and brazers	1,220	1.5	22.92	47,660
Welding, soldering, and brazing machine setters, operators, and tenders	50	0.9	26.93	56,010
Heat treating equipment setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	70	2.3	24.63	51,240
Plating machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	190	2.9	16.78	34,900
Tool grinders, filers, and sharpeners	40	3.5	26.33	54,770
Metal workers and plastic workers, all other	30	0.8	22.60	47,010
Prepress technicians and workers	70	1.3	16.11	33,520
Printing press operators	360	1.2	16.20	33,700
Print binding and finishing workers	120	1.5	13.32	27,700
Laundry and dry-cleaning workers	490	1.5	12.25	25,470
Pressers, textile, garment, and related materials	70	1.4	11.23	23,360
Sewing machine operators	280	1.2	14.31	29,760
Textile cutting machine setters, operators, and tenders	40	1.6	14.15	29,430
Upholsterers	190	3.5	23.48	48,840
Cabinetmakers and bench carpenters	480	2.6	19.88	41,360
Furniture finishers	140	4.2	15.61	32,460
Woodworking machine setters, operators, and tenders, except sawing	120	0.9	16.04	33,360
Power plant operators	50	0.9	27.78	57,780
Water and wastewater treatment plant and system operators	190	0.8	19.95	41,490
Petroleum pump system operators, refinery operators, and gaugers	280	4.1	43.34	90,150
Separating, filtering, clarifying, precipitating, and still machine setters, operators, and tenders	80	0.8	19.30	40,140
Crushing, grinding, and polishing machine setters, operators, and tenders	50	0.8	19.25	40,030
Mixing and blending machine setters, operators, and tenders	490	2.3	18.76	39,020
Cutting and slicing machine setters, operators, and tenders	160	1.5	16.45	34,220
Extruding, forming, pressing, and compacting machine setters, operators, and tenders	80	0.7	17.94	37,320
Inspectors, testers, sorters, samplers, and weighers	2,260	2.0	26.26	54,620
Dental laboratory technicians	80	1.1	20.82	43,310
Packaging and filling machine operators and tenders	480	0.7	15.87	33,010
Coating, painting, and spraying machine setters, operators, and tenders	790	2.7	22.27	46,320
Computer numerically controlled tool operators	970	3.0	23.37	48,610
Computer numerically controlled tool programmers	320	6.2	37.65	78,310
Molders, shapers, and casters, except metal and plastic	110	1.4	15.78	32,830
Paper goods machine setters, operators, and tenders	60	0.4	16.40	34,110
Helpers--production workers	490	1.2	16.50	34,320
Production workers, all other	90	0.2	16.55	34,420
(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.