Workers in the Wichita, KS Metropolitan Statistical Area had an average (mean) hourly wage of $22.15 in May 2019, about 14 percent below the nationwide average of $25.72, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Acting Regional Commissioner Susan Mendez noted that, after testing for statistical significance, 19 of the 22 major occupational groups had significantly lower wages than their respective national averages, including legal, computer and mathematical, and educational instruction and library. Wages in the local area were higher than their respective national average in one group: production.

When compared to the nationwide distribution, Wichita area employment was more highly concentrated in 4 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, management, and computer and mathematical. (See table A and box note at end of release.)

One occupational group—production—was chosen to illustrate the diversity of data available for any of the 22 major occupational categories. Wichita had 33,840 jobs in production, accounting for 11.2 percent of local area employment, significantly higher than the 6.2-percent share nationally. The average hourly wage for this occupational group locally was $22.60, significantly above the national wage of $19.30.

Some of the larger detailed occupations within the production group included inspectors, testers, sorters, samplers, and weighers (2,840); machinists (1,670); 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 tool and die makers, with mean hourly wages of $40.58 and $34.33, respectively. At the lower end of the wage scale were laundry and dry-cleaning workers ($11.23) and bakers ($11.67). (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, metal and plastic layout workers were employed at 33.1 times the national rate in Wichita, and computer numerically controlled tool programmers, at 7.0 times the U.S. average.

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.

Technical Note

The Occupational Employment Statistics (OES) survey is a semiannual survey measuring occupational employment and wage rates for wage and salary workers in nonfarm establishments in the United States. The OES 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. OES data are available at www.bls.gov/oes/tables.htm.

The OES 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. OES estimates are constructed from a sample of about 1.1 million establishments. Each year, two semiannual panels of approximately 180,000 to 200,000 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 2019 estimates are based on responses from six semiannual panels collected over a 3-year period: May 2019, November 2018, May 2018, November 2017, May 2017, and November 2016. The unweighted sample employment of 83 million across all six semiannual panels represents approximately 57 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 71 percent based on establishments and 68 percent based on weighted sampled employment. The sample in the Wichita, KS Metropolitan Statistical Area included 2,457 establishments with a response rate of 77 percent. For more information about OES 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.

The May 2019 OES estimates are the first set of OES estimates to be based in part on survey data collected using the 2018 SOC. These estimates use a hybrid of the 2010 and 2018 SOC systems. More information on the hybrid classification system is available at www.bls.gov/oes/soc_2018.htm.

The May 2019 OES estimates are based on the 2017 North American Industry Classification System (NAICS). More information about the 2017 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, KS Metropolitan Statistical Area includes Butler, Harvey, Sedgwick, and Sumner Counties.

For more information

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

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.

Table 1. Employment and wage data for production occupations, Wichita, KS Metropolitan Statistical Area, May 2019

Occupation (1)	Employment		Mean wages
	Level (2)	Location quotient (3)	Hourly	Annual (4)
Production occupations	33,840	1.8	$22.60	$47,000
First-line supervisors of production and operating workers	1,660	1.3	31.45	65,410
Aircraft structure, surfaces, rigging, and systems assemblers	(5)	(5)	26.07	54,220
Electrical, electronic, and electromechanical assemblers, except coil winders, tapers, and finishers	810	1.4	16.88	35,110
Fiberglass laminators and fabricators	40	0.9	15.27	31,760
Miscellaneous assemblers and fabricators	3,310	1.2	17.08	35,520
Bakers	250	0.7	11.67	24,280
Butchers and meat cutters	(5)	(5)	17.14	35,650
Meat, poultry, and fish cutters and trimmers	(5)	(5)	13.88	28,860
Food batchmakers	80	0.2	11.67	24,260
Food processing workers, all other	(5)	(5)	13.18	27,410
Extruding and drawing machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	140	0.9	16.73	34,800
Forging machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	60	1.9	19.17	39,870
Rolling machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	(5)	(5)	15.69	32,630
Cutting, punching, and press machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	310	0.8	16.77	34,890
Grinding, lapping, polishing, and buffing machine tool setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	420	2.7	15.61	32,470
Lathe and turning machine tool setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	70	1.2	18.87	39,250
Milling and planing machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	40	0.9	18.42	38,310
Machinists	1,670	2.1	19.93	41,460
Molding, coremaking, and casting machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	270	0.8	15.87	33,000
Multiple machine tool setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	120	0.4	17.78	36,990
Tool and die makers	590	4.0	34.33	71,400
Welders, cutters, solderers, and brazers	1,590	1.9	22.21	46,200
Heat treating equipment setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	70	1.8	19.75	41,080
Layout workers, metal and plastic	560	33.1	26.66	55,450
Plating machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	130	1.5	14.87	30,930
Prepress technicians and workers	60	1.0	19.02	39,550
Printing press operators	500	1.4	15.76	32,780
Print binding and finishing workers	100	1.1	14.77	30,730
Laundry and dry-cleaning workers	520	1.2	11.23	23,360
Pressers, textile, garment, and related materials	40	0.5	11.07	23,030
Sewing machine operators	400	1.5	14.76	30,690
Tailors, dressmakers, and custom sewers	40	0.8	11.81	24,570
Upholsterers	230	3.8	(5)	(5)
Textile, apparel, and furnishings workers, all other	(5)	(5)	11.86	24,660
Cabinetmakers and bench carpenters	310	1.5	21.30	44,310
Sawing machine setters, operators, and tenders, wood	50	0.5	14.03	29,180
Woodworking machine setters, operators, and tenders, except sawing	330	2.0	14.03	29,180
Power plant operators	60	0.9	19.95	41,490
Water and wastewater treatment plant and system operators	180	0.7	18.39	38,240
Petroleum pump system operators, refinery operators, and gaugers	(5)	(5)	31.49	65,500
Chemical equipment operators and tenders	300	1.7	(5)	(5)
Crushing, grinding, and polishing machine setters, operators, and tenders	50	0.7	17.41	36,220
Grinding and polishing workers, hand	110	1.8	15.02	31,240
Mixing and blending machine setters, operators, and tenders	290	1.1	15.25	31,730
Cutters and trimmers, hand	30	1.7	15.23	31,690
Cutting and slicing machine setters, operators, and tenders	90	0.7	13.25	27,560
Extruding, forming, pressing, and compacting machine setters, operators, and tenders	40	0.3	21.39	44,500
Inspectors, testers, sorters, samplers, and weighers	2,840	2.4	25.52	53,080
Jewelers and precious stone and metal workers	50	1.0	22.85	47,520
Dental laboratory technicians	40	0.6	20.67	43,000
Packaging and filling machine operators and tenders	710	0.9	15.69	32,640
Coating, painting, and spraying machine setters, operators, and tenders	910	3.0	21.47	44,650
Computer numerically controlled tool operators	830	2.6	23.16	48,170
Computer numerically controlled tool programmers	370	7.0	40.58	84,400
Cleaning, washing, and metal pickling equipment operators and tenders	(5)	(5)	16.42	34,150
Etchers and engravers	(5)	(5)	13.68	28,450
Molders, shapers, and casters, except metal and plastic	(5)	(5)	20.88	43,420
Paper goods machine setters, operators, and tenders	50	0.3	17.17	35,710
Helpers--production workers	540	0.9	15.84	32,950
Production workers, all other	220	0.5	16.70	34,740
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.