Workers in the Lexington-Fayette Metropolitan Statistical Area had an average (mean) hourly wage of $21.59 in May 2018, about 14 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, 18 of the 22 major occupational groups had average wages in the local area that were significantly lower than their respective national averages, including life, physical, and social science; computer and mathematical; and management. One group—production—had a significantly higher wage than its respective national average.

When compared to the nationwide distribution, local employment was more highly concentrated in 6 of the 22 occupational groups, including production; healthcare practitioners and technical; and office and administrative support. Conversely, 11 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. Lexington-Fayette had 27,460 jobs in production, accounting for 10.1 percent of local area employment, significantly higher than the 6.3-percent share nationally. The average hourly wage for this occupational group locally was $21.19, significantly above 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 (14,070); first-line supervisors of production and operating workers (1,560); and inspectors, testers, sorters, samplers, and weighers (1,350). Among the higher-paying jobs in this group were first-line supervisors of production and operating workers, and tool and die makers, with mean hourly wages of $34.46 and $32.35, respectively. At the lower end of the wage scale were laundry and dry-cleaning workers ($10.55) and textile, garment, and related materials pressers ($10.60). (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_30460.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 Lexington-Fayette Metropolitan Statistical Area, above-average concentrations of employment were found in some of the occupations within the production group. For instance, metal and plastic heat treating equipment setters, operators, and tenders were employed at 8.5 times the national rate in Lexington, and assemblers and fabricators, all other, including team assemblers, 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 1.0 in Lexington, 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 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 Lexington-Fayette Metropolitan Statistical Area included 2,352 establishments with a response rate of 71 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 Lexington-Fayette, KY Metropolitan Statistical Area includes Bourbon, Clark, Fayette, Jessamine, Scott, and Woodford 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, Lexington-Fayette Metropolitan Statistical Area, May 2018

Occupation (1)	Employment		Mean wages
	Level (2)	Location quotient (3)	Hourly	Annual (4)
Production occupations	27,460	1.6	$21.19	$44,070
First-line supervisors of production and operating workers	1,560	1.3	34.46	71,680
Electrical, electronic, and electromechanical assemblers, except coil winders, tapers, and finishers	500	1.0	19.33	40,200
Structural metal fabricators and fitters	70	0.5	17.92	37,280
Assemblers and fabricators, all other, including team assemblers	14,070	5.5	22.23	46,230
Bakers	100	0.3	13.21	27,480
Butchers and meat cutters	150	0.6	16.56	34,440
Computer-controlled machine tool operators, metal and plastic	180	0.7	18.73	38,950
Forging machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	200	5.8	21.46	44,630
Cutting, punching, and press machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	250	0.7	17.40	36,200
Lathe and turning machine tool setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	(5)	(5)	20.27	42,160
Machinists	880	1.2	21.94	45,640
Molding, coremaking, and casting machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	210	0.7	15.05	31,300
Multiple machine tool setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	150	0.6	18.37	38,200
Tool and die makers	230	1.7	32.35	67,290
Welders, cutters, solderers, and brazers	400	0.5	21.39	44,480
Welding, soldering, and brazing machine setters, operators, and tenders	(5)	(5)	16.22	33,750
Heat treating equipment setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	320	8.5	17.53	36,460
Plating and coating machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	80	1.1	13.59	28,270
Printing press operators	460	1.4	15.55	32,340
Laundry and dry-cleaning workers	540	1.3	10.55	21,940
Pressers, textile, garment, and related materials	(5)	(5)	10.60	22,040
Sewing machine operators	(5)	(5)	15.13	31,470
Cabinetmakers and bench carpenters	130	0.7	15.98	33,240
Woodworking machine setters, operators, and tenders, except sawing	(5)	(5)	15.64	32,530
Water and wastewater treatment plant and system operators	280	1.2	19.13	39,780
Chemical equipment operators and tenders	310	2.0	17.03	35,430
Crushing, grinding, and polishing machine setters, operators, and tenders	(5)	(5)	12.18	25,330
Grinding and polishing workers, hand	(5)	(5)	19.44	40,440
Mixing and blending machine setters, operators, and tenders	280	1.2	18.07	37,580
Cutting and slicing machine setters, operators, and tenders	50	0.4	18.41	38,290
Extruding, forming, pressing, and compacting machine setters, operators, and tenders	40	0.3	16.29	33,880
Inspectors, testers, sorters, samplers, and weighers	1,350	1.3	17.70	36,820
Dental laboratory technicians	(5)	(5)	23.57	49,020
Packaging and filling machine operators and tenders	(5)	(5)	18.21	37,880
Coating, painting, and spraying machine setters, operators, and tenders	150	0.9	17.56	36,530
Painters, transportation equipment	60	0.6	21.80	45,340
Molders, shapers, and casters, except metal and plastic	(5)	(5)	17.67	36,750
Helpers--production workers	410	0.6	14.19	29,510
Production workers, all other	530	1.2	16.36	34,040
Footnotes: (1) For a complete listing of all detailed occupations in the Lexington-Fayette, KY Metropolitan Statistical Area, see www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_30460.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.