Workers in the Bowling Green Metropolitan Statistical Area had an average (mean) hourly wage of $18.29 in May 2015, about 21 percent below the nationwide average of $23.23, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Regional Commissioner Janet S. Rankin noted that, after testing for statistical significance, wages in the local area were lower than their respective national averages in 19 of the 22 major occupational groups, including arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media; management; and business and financial operations.

When compared to the nationwide distribution, local employment was more highly concentrated in 4 of the 22 occupational groups, including production and  food preparation and serving related. Conversely, eight groups had employment shares significantly below their national representation, including business and financial operations; computer and mathematical; and office and administrative support. (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. Bowling Green had 8,880 jobs in production, accounting for 12.7 percent of local area employment, significantly higher than the 6.6-percent share nationally. The average hourly wage for this occupational group locally was $16.52, compared to the national wage of $17.41.

Some of the largest detailed occupations within the production group included team assemblers (2,550), first-line supervisors of production and operating workers (540), and inspectors, testers, sorters, samplers, and weighers (540). Among the higher paying jobs were first-line supervisors of production and operating workers and tool and die makers, with mean hourly wages of $24.98 and $23.35, respectively. At the lower end of the wage scale were laundry and dry-cleaning workers ($10.41) and production workers helpers ($11.97). (Detailed occupational data for production are presented in table 1; for a complete listing of detailed occupations available go to www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_14540.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 Bowling Green Metropolitan Statistical Area, above-average concentrations of employment were found in many of the occupations within the production group. For instance, metal and plastic forging machine setters, operators, and tenders were employed at 12.9 times the national rate in Bowling Green, and welding, soldering, and brazing machine setters, operators, and tenders, at 5.4 times the U.S. average. On the other hand, welders, cutters, solderers, and brazers had a location quotient of 1.0 in Bowling Green, indicating that this particular occupation’s local and national employment shares were similar.

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 Kentucky Department for Workforce Investment.

Technical Note

The Occupational Employment Statistics (OES) survey is a semiannual mail survey measuring occupational employment and wage rates for wage and salary workers in nonfarm establishments in the United States. The OES program produces employment and wage estimates for over 800 occupations for all industries combined in the nation; the 50 states and the District of Columbia; 432 metropolitan areas and divisions; 167 nonmetropolitan areas; and Guam, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. National estimates are also available by industry for NAICS sectors, 3-, 4-, and selected 5- and 6-digit industries, and by ownership across all industries and for schools and hospitals. OES data are available at www.bls.gov/oes/tables.htm.

OES estimates are constructed from a sample of about 1.2 million establishments. Forms are mailed to approximately 200,000 sampled establishments in May and November each year. May 2015 estimates are based on responses from six semiannual panels collected over a 3-year period: May 2015, November 2014, May 2014, November 2013, May 2013, and November 2012. The overall national response rate for the six panels is 73.5 percent based on establishments and 69.6 percent based on weighted sampled employment. The unweighted employment of sampled establishments across all six semiannual panels represents approximately 57.9 percent of total national employment. (Response rates are slightly lower for these estimates due to the federal shutdown in October 2013.) The sample in the Bowling Green Metropolitan Statistical Area included 1,059 establishments with a response rate of 76 percent. For more information about OES concepts and methodology, go to www.bls.gov/news.release/ocwage.tn.htm.

The May 2015 OES estimates are based on the 2010 Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) system and the 2012 North American Industry Classification System (NAICS). Information about the 2010 SOC is available on the BLS website at www.bls.gov/soc and information about the 2012 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 Bowling Green, Ky. Metropolitan Statistical Area  includes Allen, Butler, Edmonson and Warren Counties.

Additional information

OES data are available on our regional web page at www.bls.gov/regions/southeast. Answers to frequently asked questions about the OES data are available at www.bls.gov/oes/oes_ques.htm. Detailed technical information about the OES survey is available in our Survey Methods and Reliability Statement on the BLS website at www.bls.gov/oes/current/methods_statement.pdf.

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 from the Occupational Employment Statistics survey, by occupation, Bowling Green Metropolitan Statistical Area, May 2015

Occupation (1)	Employment		Mean wages
	Level (2)	Location quotient (3)	Hourly	Annual (4)
Production Occupations	8,880	1.9	$16.52	$34,370
First-Line Supervisors of Production and Operating Workers	540	1.8	24.98	51,960
Team Assemblers	2,550	4.5	16.90	35,150
Assemblers and Fabricators, All Other	(5)	(5)	12.67	26,350
Bakers	40	0.5	11.05	22,990
Butchers and Meat Cutters	60	0.8	12.83	26,690
Computer-Controlled Machine Tool Operators, Metal and Plastic	(5)	(5)	17.96	37,360
Forging Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic	130	12.9	19.69	40,960
Cutting, Punching, and Press Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic	260	2.6	15.29	31,800
Machinists	70	0.4	19.63	40,830
Molding, Coremaking, and Casting Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic	190	2.7	14.19	29,520
Tool and Die Makers	100	2.8	23.35	48,570
Welders, Cutters, Solderers, and Brazers	200	1.0	19.27	40,080
Welding, Soldering, and Brazing Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders	150	5.4	16.78	34,900
Printing Press Operators	170	2.1	14.95	31,100
Laundry and Dry-Cleaning Workers	150	1.4	10.41	21,650
Sewing Machine Operators	40	0.5	11.97	24,900
Sawing Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Wood	30	1.3	14.21	29,550
Water and Wastewater Treatment Plant and System Operators	40	0.7	18.09	37,620
Mixing and Blending Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders	100	1.5	15.68	32,620
Cutting and Slicing Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders	40	1.2	15.91	33,090
Inspectors, Testers, Sorters, Samplers, and Weighers	540	2.1	18.59	38,660
Coating, Painting, and Spraying Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders	70	1.6	16.96	35,270
Adhesive Bonding Machine Operators and Tenders	40	4.0	16.59	34,510
Paper Goods Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders	230	5.0	17.77	36,960
Helpers--Production Workers	180	0.8	11.97	24,900
Footnotes: (1) For a complete listing of all detailed occupations in Bowling Green, KY, see www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_14540.htm. (2) Estimates for detailed occupations do not sum to the totals because the totals include occupations 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.