Workers in the Greenville-Anderson-Mauldin Metropolitan Statistical Area had an average (mean) hourly wage of $19.72 in May 2015, about 15 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 18 of the 22 major occupational groups, including computer and mathematical; construction and extraction; and building and grounds cleaning and maintenance. 

When compared to the nationwide distribution, local employment was more highly concentrated in 4 of the 22 occupational groups, including production, and transportation and material moving. Conversely, 14 groups had employment shares significantly below their national representation, including business and financial operations; computer and mathematical; and education, training, and library. (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. Greenville-Anderson-Mauldin had 53,360 jobs in production, accounting for 13.8 percent of local area employment, significantly higher than the 6.6-percent share nationally. The average hourly wage for this occupational group locally was $16.54, significantly below the national wage of $17.41.

Some of the larger detailed occupations within the production group included team assemblers (16,610), machinists (3,640), and first-line supervisors of production and operating workers (2,970). Among the higher paying jobs were first-line supervisors of production and operating workers, and tool and die makers, with mean hourly wages of $28.67 and $27.06, respectively. At the lower end of the wage scale were laundry and dry-cleaning workers ($9.60) and bakers ($10.35). (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_24860.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 Greenville-Anderson-Mauldin Metropolitan Statistical Area, above-average concentrations of employment were found in many of the occupations within the production group. For instance, textile knitting and weaving machine setters, operators, and tenders were employed at 22.6 times the national rate in Greenville, and textile winding, twisting, and drawing out machine setters, operators, and tenders, at 10.0 times the U.S. average. On the other hand, welders, cutters, solderers, and brazers had a location quotient of 1.0 in Greenville, 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 South Carolina Department of Employment and Workforce.

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 Greenville-Anderson-Mauldin Metropolitan Statistical Area included 3,375 establishments with a response rate of 71 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 Greenville-Anderson-Mauldin, S.C. Metropolitan Statistical Area  includes Anderson, Greenville, Laurens, and Pickens 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, Greenville-Anderson-Mauldin Metropolitan Statistical Area, May 2015

Occupation (1)	Employment		Mean wages
	Level (2)	Location quotient (3)	Hourly	Annual (4)
Production Occupations	53,360	2.1	$16.54	$34,400
First-Line Supervisors of Production and Operating Workers	2,970	1.8	28.67	59,620
Electrical and Electronic Equipment Assemblers	730	1.2	14.82	30,820
Engine and Other Machine Assemblers	340	3.1	19.81	41,210
Structural Metal Fabricators and Fitters	710	3.2	18.95	39,410
Fiberglass Laminators and Fabricators	160	2.7	13.62	28,330
Team Assemblers	16,610	5.3	13.86	28,830
Assemblers and Fabricators, All Other	560	0.9	11.21	23,330
Bakers	550	1.1	10.35	21,540
Butchers and Meat Cutters	450	1.2	12.42	25,840
Food Batchmakers	220	0.6	12.24	25,460
Computer-Controlled Machine Tool Operators, Metal and Plastic	580	1.4	17.48	36,350
Computer Numerically Controlled Machine Tool Programmers, Metal and Plastic	230	3.2	23.03	47,910
Extruding and Drawing Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic	1,090	5.4	23.56	49,010
Rolling Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic	50	0.6	20.43	42,500
Cutting, Punching, and Press Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic	740	1.4	17.31	36,000
Grinding, Lapping, Polishing, and Buffing Machine Tool Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic	230	1.1	18.09	37,620
Lathe and Turning Machine Tool Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic	60	0.6	17.38	36,160
Machinists	3,640	3.3	21.19	44,070
Foundry Mold and Coremakers	(5)	(5)	16.20	33,700
Molding, Coremaking, and Casting Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic	740	2.0	15.08	31,360
Multiple Machine Tool Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic	260	0.9	21.15	44,000
Tool and Die Makers	(5)	(5)	27.06	56,280
Welders, Cutters, Solderers, and Brazers	1,080	1.0	18.35	38,180
Welding, Soldering, and Brazing Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders	190	1.3	16.02	33,320
Heat Treating Equipment Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic	(5)	(5)	16.21	33,710
Plating and Coating Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic	40	0.4	16.18	33,640
Prepress Technicians and Workers	100	1.0	17.16	35,690
Printing Press Operators	600	1.3	18.16	37,770
Print Binding and Finishing Workers	70	0.5	14.92	31,030
Laundry and Dry-Cleaning Workers	590	1.1	9.60	19,960
Pressers, Textile, Garment, and Related Materials	220	1.6	10.06	20,920
Sewing Machine Operators	770	2.0	10.29	21,400
Tailors, Dressmakers, and Custom Sewers	(5)	(5)	15.30	31,810
Textile Bleaching and Dyeing Machine Operators and Tenders	250	7.6	13.16	27,380
Textile Cutting Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders	270	6.6	11.59	24,110
Textile Knitting and Weaving Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders	1,430	22.6	14.05	29,210
Textile Winding, Twisting, and Drawing Out Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders	780	10.0	12.82	26,660
Extruding and Forming Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Synthetic and Glass Fibers	180	3.3	16.51	34,330
Cabinetmakers and Bench Carpenters	320	1.2	16.40	34,120
Furniture Finishers	30	0.7	13.48	28,040
Sawing Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Wood	(5)	(5)	11.29	23,480
Woodworking Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Except Sawing	170	0.8	13.93	28,980
Stationary Engineers and Boiler Operators	40	0.4	23.45	48,780
Water and Wastewater Treatment Plant and System Operators	370	1.1	20.01	41,620
Chemical Plant and System Operators	(5)	(5)	25.50	53,030
Chemical Equipment Operators and Tenders	430	2.3	18.68	38,860
Separating, Filtering, Clarifying, Precipitating, and Still Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders	120	0.9	(5)	(5)
Mixing and Blending Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders	640	1.8	19.02	39,570
Cutting and Slicing Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders	260	1.5	17.93	37,290
Extruding, Forming, Pressing, and Compacting Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders	250	1.3	19.64	40,860
Inspectors, Testers, Sorters, Samplers, and Weighers	2,770	2.0	18.77	39,040
Jewelers and Precious Stone and Metal Workers	30	0.4	23.33	48,530
Medical Appliance Technicians	(5)	(5)	16.55	34,430
Ophthalmic Laboratory Technicians	40	0.5	13.82	28,740
Packaging and Filling Machine Operators and Tenders	1,230	1.2	13.73	28,560
Coating, Painting, and Spraying Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders	300	1.2	16.33	33,960
Painters, Transportation Equipment	130	0.9	19.22	39,980
Cleaning, Washing, and Metal Pickling Equipment Operators and Tenders	(5)	(5)	12.65	26,310
Molders, Shapers, and Casters, Except Metal and Plastic	(5)	(5)	14.18	29,500
Paper Goods Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders	(5)	(5)	18.19	37,830
Tire Builders	(5)	(5)	17.99	37,420
Helpers--Production Workers	2,900	2.4	11.24	23,370
Production Workers, All Other	190	0.3	19.66	40,900
Footnotes: (1) For a complete listing of all detailed occupations in Greenville-Anderson-Mauldin, SC, see www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_24860.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.