Workers in the Greenville-Anderson-Mauldin Metropolitan Statistical Area had an average (mean) hourly wage of $21.13 in May 2018, about 15 percent below the nationwide average of $24.98, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Regional Commissioner Janet S. Rankin 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 construction and extraction.

When compared to the nationwide distribution, local employment was more highly concentrated in 5 of the 22 occupational groups, including production; architecture and engineering; and transportation and material moving. Conversely, 14 groups had employment shares significantly below their national representation, including business and financial operations; office and administrative support; 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. Greenville-Anderson-Mauldin had 54,930 jobs in production, accounting for 13.3 percent of local area employment, significantly higher than the 6.3-percent share nationally. The average hourly wage for this occupational group locally was $17.91, significantly below the national wage of $18.84.

Some of the larger detailed occupations within the production group included assemblers and fabricators, all other, including team assemblers (15,230); machinists (6,020); and inspectors, testers, sorters, samplers, and weighers (4,070). Among the higher-paying jobs in this group 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 $31.30 and $28.96, respectively. At the lower end of the wage scale were laundry and dry-cleaning workers ($11.19) and sewing machine operators ($11.64). (Detailed data for production occupations 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 28.4 times the national rate in Greenville, and machinists, at 5.5 times the U.S. average. On the other hand, electrical, electronic, and electromechanical assemblers, except coil winders, tapers, and finishers had a location quotient of 0.9 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 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 1.2 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 2018 estimates are based on responses from six semiannual panels collected over a 3-year period: May 2018, November 2017, May 2017, November 2016, May 2016, and November 2015. The unweighted sample employment of 83 million across all six semiannual panels represents approximately 58 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 Greenville-Anderson-Mauldin Metropolitan Statistical Area included 3,020 establishments with a response rate of 59 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 2018 OES estimates are based on the 2010 Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) system and the 2017 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 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 Greenville-Anderson-Mauldin, SC 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 2018

Occupation (1)	Employment		Mean wages
	Level (2)	Location quotient (3)	Hourly	Annual (4)
Production occupations	54,930	2.1	$17.91	$37,260
First-line supervisors of production and operating workers	3,110	1.8	31.30	65,110
Electrical, electronic, and electromechanical assemblers, except coil winders, tapers, and finishers	700	0.9	17.71	36,830
Engine and other machine assemblers	270	2.0	20.83	43,320
Structural metal fabricators and fitters	180	0.8	16.43	34,170
Assemblers and fabricators, all other, including team assemblers	15,230	3.9	16.00	33,280
Bakers	430	0.8	12.94	26,910
Butchers and meat cutters	(5)	(5)	16.55	34,430
Food batchmakers	410	0.9	12.20	25,370
Computer-controlled machine tool operators, metal and plastic	1,070	2.5	19.92	41,430
Computer numerically controlled machine tool programmers, metal and plastic	130	1.9	21.94	45,630
Extruding and drawing machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	650	3.0	20.16	41,930
Rolling machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	430	5.7	25.35	52,730
Cutting, punching, and press machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	330	0.6	18.64	38,770
Grinding, lapping, polishing, and buffing machine tool setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	220	1.1	18.44	38,350
Milling and planing machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	30	0.6	16.14	33,560
Machinists	6,020	5.5	17.71	36,840
Model makers, metal and plastic	30	2.1	28.43	59,130
Molding, coremaking, and casting machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	(5)	(5)	15.13	31,460
Multiple machine tool setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	730	1.9	28.96	60,240
Tool and die makers	280	1.3	24.53	51,010
Welders, cutters, solderers, and brazers	1,560	1.4	20.67	42,990
Welding, soldering, and brazing machine setters, operators, and tenders	140	1.4	17.84	37,110
Heat treating equipment setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	140	2.5	19.24	40,020
Plating and coating machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	120	1.0	14.83	30,850
Prepress technicians and workers	70	0.8	15.61	32,480
Printing press operators	710	1.4	17.30	35,980
Print binding and finishing workers	180	1.4	14.65	30,470
Laundry and dry-cleaning workers	430	0.7	11.19	23,270
Pressers, textile, garment, and related materials	70	0.6	12.01	24,990
Sewing machine operators	470	1.2	11.64	24,210
Textile bleaching and dyeing machine operators and tenders	300	11.2	15.42	32,080
Textile cutting machine setters, operators, and tenders	240	6.2	12.99	27,010
Textile knitting and weaving machine setters, operators, and tenders	1,720	28.4	15.09	31,380
Textile winding, twisting, and drawing out machine setters, operators, and tenders	470	5.2	14.39	29,930
Extruding and forming machine setters, operators, and tenders, synthetic and glass fibers	(5)	(5)	18.41	38,300
Cabinetmakers and bench carpenters	380	1.3	17.54	36,480
Sawing machine setters, operators, and tenders, wood	170	1.1	15.34	31,910
Woodworking machine setters, operators, and tenders, except sawing	230	1.0	12.57	26,140
Water and wastewater treatment plant and system operators	490	1.4	21.11	43,900
Chemical plant and system operators	90	1.1	25.35	52,720
Gas plant operators	(5)	(5)	22.42	46,630
Chemical equipment operators and tenders	480	2.0	22.25	46,270
Separating, filtering, clarifying, precipitating, and still machine setters, operators, and tenders	70	0.5	21.59	44,910
Grinding and polishing workers, hand	90	1.0	13.06	27,160
Mixing and blending machine setters, operators, and tenders	910	2.5	18.49	38,460
Cutting and slicing machine setters, operators, and tenders	370	2.1	17.81	37,050
Extruding, forming, pressing, and compacting machine setters, operators, and tenders	490	2.4	20.80	43,270
Inspectors, testers, sorters, samplers, and weighers	4,070	2.6	18.89	39,300
Jewelers and precious stone and metal workers	(5)	(5)	21.56	44,850
Dental laboratory technicians	40	0.4	18.21	37,870
Ophthalmic laboratory technicians	(5)	(5)	15.74	32,730
Packaging and filling machine operators and tenders	1,380	1.2	14.54	30,230
Coating, painting, and spraying machine setters, operators, and tenders	320	1.3	17.67	36,760
Painters, transportation equipment	50	0.3	24.22	50,380
Painting, coating, and decorating workers	(5)	(5)	17.37	36,130
Cleaning, washing, and metal pickling equipment operators and tenders	40	0.8	13.68	28,450
Molders, shapers, and casters, except metal and plastic	200	1.6	21.39	44,490
Paper goods machine setters, operators, and tenders	310	1.1	17.03	35,430
Helpers--production workers	2,500	2.5	12.48	25,960
Production workers, all other	630	1.0	16.39	34,100
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.