Workers in the Wichita, KS Metropolitan Statistical Area had an average (mean) hourly wage of $26.46 in May 2023, compared to the nationwide average of $31.48, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Regional Commissioner Michael Hirniak noted that higher paying major occupational groups included management ($55.98), architecture and engineering ($43.47), and healthcare practitioners and technical ($42.42). Lower paying occupations included food preparation and serving related ($14.24), personal care and service ($14.78), and healthcare support ($16.06). (See table A.)

Occupational groups with the highest employment in the Wichita area included office and administrative support (11.9 percent), production (10.1 percent), and food preparation and serving related (8.8 percent). Major occupational groups on the lower end of local employment included life, physical, and social science (0.6 percent); legal (0.6 percent); and arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media (1.2 percent).

One occupational group—production—was chosen to illustrate the diversity of data available for any of the 22 major occupational categories. Wichita had 30,560 jobs in production, accounting for 10.1 percent of local area employment, compared to the 5.8-percent share nationally. The average hourly wage for this occupational group locally was $25.72, compared to the national wage of $22.90.

Some of the larger detailed occupations within the production group included inspectors, testers, sorters, samplers, and weighers (2,860); first-line supervisors of production and operating workers (1,920); and welders, cutters, solderers, and brazers (1,760). 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 $43.61 and $38.62, respectively. At the lower end of the wage scale were pressers, textile, garment, and related materials ($12.87) and laundry and dry-cleaning workers ($13.80). (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 6.8 times the national rate in Wichita, and petroleum pump system operators, refinery operators, and gaugers, at 4.8 times the U.S. average. Sewing machine operators had a location quotient of 1.0 in Wichita, 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 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. 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 Wichita, KS Metropolitan Statistical Area included 2,463 establishments with a response rate of 75 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 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, 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, Wichita metropolitan area, May 2023

Occupation (1)	Employment		Mean wages ($)
	Level (2)	Location quotient (3)	Hourly	Annual (4)
Production occupations	30,560	1.7	25.72	53,500
First-line supervisors of production and operating workers	1,920	1.4	36.12	75,130
Electrical, electronic, and electromechanical assemblers, except coil winders, tapers, and finishers	780	1.5	20.97	43,620
Structural metal fabricators and fitters	170	1.5	26.18	54,450
Miscellaneous assemblers and fabricators	3,200	1.1	19.20	39,930
Bakers	230	0.5	14.43	30,010
Butchers and meat cutters	150	0.6	16.77	34,880
Food and tobacco roasting, baking, and drying machine operators and tenders	110	2.9	21.11	43,900
Food batchmakers	40	0.1	17.62	36,650
Food processing workers, all other	120	0.9	21.31	44,330
Extruding and drawing machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	120	1.0	17.47	36,340
Forging machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	100	5.7	23.94	49,800
Cutting, punching, and press machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	420	1.2	20.58	42,800
Grinding, lapping, polishing, and buffing machine tool setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	420	2.8	21.50	44,710
Lathe and turning machine tool setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	60	1.5	24.04	50,010
Machinists	1,590	2.7	24.53	51,010
Foundry mold and coremakers	100	4.2	20.32	42,270
Molding, coremaking, and casting machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	460	1.4	22.00	45,750
Multiple machine tool setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	160	0.6	20.83	43,320
Tool and die makers	470	4.0	33.32	69,300
Welders, cutters, solderers, and brazers	1,760	2.1	25.38	52,790
Welding, soldering, and brazing machine setters, operators, and tenders	140	2.2	21.30	44,300
Heat treating equipment setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	90	2.9	28.67	59,630
Plating machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	200	3.1	22.21	46,190
Tool grinders, filers, and sharpeners	40	3.4	21.16	44,010
Prepress technicians and workers	50	1.1	18.99	39,500
Printing press operators	340	1.1	17.54	36,490
Print binding and finishing workers	130	1.7	11.47	23,860
Laundry and dry-cleaning workers	330	0.9	13.80	28,710
Pressers, textile, garment, and related materials	60	1.0	12.87	26,770
Sewing machine operators	240	1.0	15.92	33,120
Extruding and forming machine setters, operators, and tenders, synthetic and glass fibers	100	3.4	22.24	46,260
Upholsterers	180	3.5	(5)	(5)
Cabinetmakers and bench carpenters	410	2.3	22.83	47,480
Furniture finishers	70	2.3	18.26	37,980
Woodworking machine setters, operators, and tenders, except sawing	140	1.1	17.69	36,790
Power plant operators	70	1.2	33.92	70,560
Water and wastewater treatment plant and system operators	200	0.8	21.62	44,980
Gas plant operators	30	1.0	36.79	76,530
Petroleum pump system operators, refinery operators, and gaugers	320	4.8	43.61	90,710
Chemical equipment operators and tenders	210	0.9	(5)	(5)
Separating, filtering, clarifying, precipitating, and still machine setters, operators, and tenders	90	0.9	22.37	46,530
Crushing, grinding, and polishing machine setters, operators, and tenders	70	1.3	23.16	48,170
Mixing and blending machine setters, operators, and tenders	430	2.0	22.25	46,280
Extruding, forming, pressing, and compacting machine setters, operators, and tenders	90	0.8	22.32	46,430
Inspectors, testers, sorters, samplers, and weighers	2,860	2.5	30.87	64,220
Dental laboratory technicians	80	1.2	22.63	47,070
Packaging and filling machine operators and tenders	780	1.1	19.12	39,780
Coating, painting, and spraying machine setters, operators, and tenders	1,140	3.7	23.79	49,480
Computer numerically controlled tool operators	1,150	3.1	25.55	53,150
Computer numerically controlled tool programmers	380	6.8	38.62	80,330
Molders, shapers, and casters, except metal and plastic	80	1.1	20.19	41,990
Helpers--production workers	400	1.1	20.72	43,090
Production workers, all other	170	0.3	17.74	36,890
(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.