Workers in the Greenville-Anderson-Mauldin Metropolitan Statistical Area had an average (mean) hourly wage of $20.33 in May 2016, about 15 percent below the nationwide average of $23.86, 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 construction and extraction; building and grounds cleaning and maintenance; and business and financial operations. No group had an hourly wage significantly higher than its respective national average.

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, 13 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. Greenville-Anderson-Mauldin had 55,930 jobs in production, accounting for 14.1 percent of local area employment, significantly higher than the 6.5-percent share nationally. The average hourly wage for this occupational group locally was $16.96, significantly below the national wage of $17.88.

Some of the larger detailed occupations within the production group included team assemblers (16,980), machinists (4,990), and inspectors, testers, sorters, samplers, and weighers (3,400). Among the higher paying jobs were first-line supervisors of production and operating workers, and multiple metal and plastic machine tool setters, operators, and tenders, with mean hourly wages of $30.65 and $27.98, respectively. At the lower end of the wage scale were sewing machine operators ($10.72) and bakers ($11.75). (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 23.5 times the national rate in Greenville, and textile winding, twisting, and drawing out machine setters, operators, and tenders at 9.2 times the U.S. average. On the other hand, electrical and electronic equipment assemblers 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 data available from BLS include cross-industry occupational employment and wage estimates for the nation; over 650 areas, including states and the District of Columbia, metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs), metropolitan divisions, nonmetropolitan areas, and territories; national industry-specific estimates at the NAICS sector, 3-, 4-, 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.

OES estimates are constructed from a sample of about 1.2 million establishments. Each year, two semiannual panels of approximately 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 2016 estimates are based on responses from six semiannual panels collected over a 3-year period: May 2016, November 2015, May 2015, November 2014, May 2014, and November 2013. The overall national response rate for the six panels, based on the 50 states and the District of Columbia, is 73 percent based on establishments and 69 percent based on weighted sampled employment. The unweighted employment of sampled establishments across all six semiannual panels represents approximately 58 percent of total national employment. The sample in the Greenville-Anderson-Mauldin Metropolitan Statistical Area included 3,225 establishments with a response rate of 67 percent. For more information about OES concepts and methodology, go to www.bls.gov/news.release/ocwage.tn.htm.

The May 2016 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 2016

Occupation (1)	Employment		Mean wages
	Level (2)	Location quotient (3)	Hourly	Annual (4)
Production occupations	55,930	2.2	$16.96	$35,280
First-line supervisors of production and operating workers	3,040	1.8	30.65	63,750
Electrical and electronic equipment assemblers	580	1.0	14.34	29,820
Engine and other machine assemblers	380	3.5	20.95	43,580
Structural metal fabricators and fitters	600	2.8	22.63	47,070
Fiberglass laminators and fabricators	140	2.5	15.09	31,380
Team assemblers	16,980	5.4	14.63	30,430
Assemblers and fabricators, all other	280	0.4	11.22	23,330
Bakers	590	1.2	11.75	24,440
Butchers and meat cutters	480	1.3	12.66	26,330
Slaughterers and meat packers	90	0.4	10.62	22,090
Food batchmakers	300	0.7	12.04	25,030
Computer-controlled machine tool operators, metal and plastic	870	2.1	18.35	38,160
Computer numerically controlled machine tool programmers, metal and plastic	120	1.7	23.56	49,000
Extruding and drawing machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	1,020	5.0	23.29	48,430
Cutting, punching, and press machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	710	1.3	18.04	37,530
Grinding, lapping, polishing, and buffing machine tool setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	180	0.9	18.17	37,790
Lathe and turning machine tool setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	(5)	(5)	16.88	35,120
Machinists	4,990	4.5	19.99	41,570
Metal-refining furnace operators and tenders	(5)	(5)	21.25	44,200
Foundry mold and coremakers	50	1.3	23.70	49,290
Molding, coremaking, and casting machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	810	2.0	15.55	32,350
Multiple machine tool setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	500	1.5	27.98	58,200
Tool and die makers	370	1.8	25.45	52,930
Welders, cutters, solderers, and brazers	1,210	1.1	18.14	37,730
Welding, soldering, and brazing machine setters, operators, and tenders	180	1.3	17.39	36,170
Heat treating equipment setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	70	1.3	18.97	39,460
Plating and coating machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	(5)	(5)	14.32	29,770
Prepress technicians and workers	50	0.5	19.98	41,550
Printing press operators	710	1.5	18.17	37,780
Print binding and finishing workers	80	0.5	15.29	31,790
Laundry and dry-cleaning workers	480	0.8	10.07	20,950
Pressers, textile, garment, and related materials	160	1.3	10.67	22,190
Sewing machine operators	920	2.3	10.72	22,310
Tailors, dressmakers, and custom sewers	50	0.7	13.12	27,280
Textile bleaching and dyeing machine operators and tenders	280	9.2	14.16	29,450
Textile cutting machine setters, operators, and tenders	340	8.1	12.34	25,660
Textile knitting and weaving machine setters, operators, and tenders	1,430	23.5	14.07	29,270
Textile winding, twisting, and drawing out machine setters, operators, and tenders	790	9.2	12.99	27,010
Extruding and forming machine setters, operators, and tenders, synthetic and glass fibers	210	3.9	17.17	35,710
Fabric and apparel patternmakers	30	2.2	20.44	42,510
Cabinetmakers and bench carpenters	420	1.5	17.23	35,830
Sawing machine setters, operators, and tenders, wood	80	0.6	12.72	26,460
Woodworking machine setters, operators, and tenders, except sawing	210	1.0	12.80	26,630
Water and wastewater treatment plant and system operators	410	1.3	22.23	46,240
Chemical plant and system operators	120	1.2	27.33	56,850
Gas plant operators	50	1.0	21.36	44,430
Chemical equipment operators and tenders	570	2.7	18.81	39,120
Separating, filtering, clarifying, precipitating, and still machine setters, operators, and tenders	(5)	(5)	18.57	38,620
Mixing and blending machine setters, operators, and tenders	740	2.0	17.17	35,710
Cutting and slicing machine setters, operators, and tenders	(5)	(5)	18.21	37,870
Extruding, forming, pressing, and compacting machine setters, operators, and tenders	520	2.6	19.86	41,320
Furnace, kiln, oven, drier, and kettle operators and tenders	(5)	(5)	16.68	34,700
Inspectors, testers, sorters, samplers, and weighers	3,400	2.3	18.61	38,720
Jewelers and precious stone and metal workers	40	0.5	18.62	38,720
Dental laboratory technicians	(5)	(5)	19.67	40,920
Medical appliance technicians	(5)	(5)	16.82	34,990
Packaging and filling machine operators and tenders	1,370	1.3	13.03	27,110
Coating, painting, and spraying machine setters, operators, and tenders	350	1.4	16.18	33,650
Painters, transportation equipment	120	0.8	19.68	40,940
Photographic process workers and processing machine operators	40	0.6	12.36	25,710
Paper goods machine setters, operators, and tenders	340	1.3	18.46	38,400
Tire builders	1,090	17.3	17.80	37,020
Helpers--production workers	3,050	2.5	11.73	24,400
Production workers, all other	(5)	(5)	17.01	35,370
Footnotes: (1) For a complete listing of all detailed occupations in the Greenville-Anderson-Mauldin, SC Metropolitan Statistical Area, 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.