Workers in the Ogden-Clearfield, UT Metropolitan Statistical Area had an average (mean) hourly wage of $27.50 in May 2023, compared to the nationwide average of $31.48, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Assistant Commissioner for Regional Operations Michael Hirniak noted that higher paying major occupational groups included management ($52.30), computer and mathematical ($47.76), and legal ($45.62). Lower paying occupations included food preparation and serving related ($15.25), building and grounds cleaning and maintenance ($17.07), and personal care and service ($17.32). (See table A.)

Occupational groups with the highest employment in the Ogden area included office and administrative support (12.5 percent), production (8.4 percent), and transportation and material moving (8.4 percent). Major occupational groups on the lower end of local employment included legal (0.4 percent); life, physical, and social science (0.6 percent); and arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media (1.1 percent).

One occupational group—production—was chosen to illustrate the diversity of data available for any of the 22 major occupational categories. Ogden had 24,150 jobs in production, accounting for 8.4 percent of local area employment, compared to the 5.8-percent share nationally. The average hourly wage for this occupational group locally was $23.20, compared to the national wage of $22.90.

Some of the larger detailed occupations within the production group included first-line supervisors of production and operating workers (1,880); inspectors, testers, sorters, samplers, and weighers (1,670); and machinists (1,340). 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 $41.11 and $39.12, respectively. At the lower end of the wage scale were pressers, textile, garment, and related materials ($14.71) and laundry and dry-cleaning workers ($15.39). (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_36260.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 Ogden area, above-average concentrations of employment were found in many of the occupations within the production group. For instance, molders, shapers, and casters, except metal and plastic were employed at 3.1 times the national rate in Ogden, and machinists at 2.4 times the U.S. average. Dental laboratory technician workers had a location quotient of 1.1 in Ogden, 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 Utah Department of Workforce 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 Ogden-Clearfield, UT Metropolitan Statistical Area included 2,404 establishments with a response rate of 78 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 Ogden-Clearfield, UT Metropolitan Statistical Area includes Box Elder County, Davis County, Morgan County, and Weber 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, Ogden metropolitan area, May 2023

Occupation (1)	Employment		Mean wages ($)
	Level (2)	Location quotient (3)	Hourly	Annual (4)
Production occupations	24,150	1.5	23.20	48,250
First-line supervisors of production and operating workers	1,880	1.5	35.19	73,180
Electrical, electronic, and electromechanical assemblers, except coil winders, tapers, and finishers	290	0.6	22.80	47,430
Structural metal fabricators and fitters	230	2.1	23.15	48,150
Miscellaneous assemblers and fabricators	5,410	1.9	21.06	43,810
Bakers	600	1.5	16.08	33,450
Butchers and meat cutters	330	1.3	18.34	38,140
Meat, poultry, and fish cutters and trimmers	80	0.3	15.83	32,930
Slaughterers and meat packers	50	0.4	16.03	33,350
Food and tobacco roasting, baking, and drying machine operators and tenders	60	1.5	17.51	36,420
Food batchmakers	630	2.0	19.80	41,190
Food cooking machine operators and tenders	80	1.5	17.54	36,490
Food processing workers, all other	60	0.5	18.43	38,340
Extruding and drawing machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	(5)	(5)	18.88	39,270
Rolling machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	70	1.4	23.00	47,840
Cutting, punching, and press machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	240	0.7	22.46	46,710
Grinding, lapping, polishing, and buffing machine tool setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	90	0.7	19.41	40,380
Milling and planing machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	40	1.4	20.15	41,900
Machinists	1,340	2.4	27.83	57,880
Molding, coremaking, and casting machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	930	3.1	24.21	50,360
Multiple machine tool setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	290	1.2	20.91	43,500
Tool and die makers	40	0.3	32.97	68,570
Welders, cutters, solderers, and brazers	1,170	1.5	25.79	53,630
Welding, soldering, and brazing machine setters, operators, and tenders	50	0.8	23.64	49,160
Plating machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	80	1.3	25.83	53,730
Metal workers and plastic workers, all other	30	0.8	16.87	35,090
Prepress technicians and workers	60	1.4	20.66	42,960
Printing press operators	160	0.6	20.02	41,640
Print binding and finishing workers	210	2.9	17.43	36,260
Laundry and dry-cleaning workers	250	0.7	15.39	32,010
Pressers, textile, garment, and related materials	50	0.9	14.71	30,590
Sewing machine operators	150	0.7	17.83	37,090
Tailors, dressmakers, and custom sewers	40	1.4	16.73	34,790
Textile, apparel, and furnishings workers, all other	80	2.9	18.74	38,970
Cabinetmakers and bench carpenters	340	2.0	21.56	44,850
Furniture finishers	40	1.3	19.88	41,350
Sawing machine setters, operators, and tenders, wood	30	0.4	20.46	42,550
Woodworking machine setters, operators, and tenders, except sawing	110	0.9	19.29	40,120
Stationary engineers and boiler operators	50	0.8	28.71	59,730
Water and wastewater treatment plant and system operators	300	1.3	26.28	54,670
Petroleum pump system operators, refinery operators, and gaugers	400	6.3	41.11	85,500
Plant and system operators, all other	30	1.1	31.25	65,010
Chemical equipment operators and tenders	330	1.4	20.52	42,680
Separating, filtering, clarifying, precipitating, and still machine setters, operators, and tenders	90	0.9	20.64	42,920
Crushing, grinding, and polishing machine setters, operators, and tenders	60	1.2	23.86	49,620
Mixing and blending machine setters, operators, and tenders	420	2.1	22.67	47,150
Cutting and slicing machine setters, operators, and tenders	200	2.0	21.99	45,740
Extruding, forming, pressing, and compacting machine setters, operators, and tenders	150	1.4	22.62	47,040
Inspectors, testers, sorters, samplers, and weighers	1,670	1.5	25.04	52,080
Jewelers and precious stone and metal workers	60	1.3	22.75	47,320
Dental laboratory technicians	70	1.1	23.36	48,600
Packaging and filling machine operators and tenders	1,270	1.8	18.73	38,950
Painting, coating, and decorating workers	50	2.3	19.58	40,720
Coating, painting, and spraying machine setters, operators, and tenders	350	1.2	23.06	47,970
Computer numerically controlled tool operators	120	0.3	25.19	52,390
Computer numerically controlled tool programmers	30	0.6	39.12	81,370
Etchers and engravers	(5)	(5)	18.66	38,820
Molders, shapers, and casters, except metal and plastic	230	3.2	17.91	37,260
Paper goods machine setters, operators, and tenders	270	1.5	26.46	55,050
Helpers--production workers	310	0.9	16.71	34,770
Production workers, all other	1,230	2.7	19.55	40,650
(1) For a complete listing of all detailed occupations in the Ogden-Clearfield, UT Metropolitan Statistical Area, see www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_36260.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.