Workers in the Winston-Salem Metropolitan Statistical Area had an average (mean) hourly wage of $22.05 in May 2018, about 12 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 including legal; construction and extraction; and building and grounds cleaning and maintenance. One group—management—had a significantly higher wage than its respective national average.

When compared to the nationwide distribution, local employment was more highly concentrated in 5 of the 22 occupational groups, including production; healthcare practitioners and technical; and healthcare support. Conversely, 12 groups had employment shares significantly below their national representation, including computer and mathematical; personal care and service; and management. (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. Winston-Salem had 27,010 jobs in production, accounting for 10.2 percent of local area employment, significantly higher than the 6.3-percent share nationally. The average hourly wage for this occupational group locally was $17.27, 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 (4,780); production worker's helpers (2,070); and first-line supervisors of production and operating workers (1,580). Among the higher-paying jobs in this group were power plant operators, and first-line supervisors of production and operating workers, with mean hourly wages of $40.38 and $30.20, respectively. At the lower end of the wage scale were food batchmakers ($11.22) and sewing machine operators ($11.44). (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_49180.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 Winston-Salem Metropolitan Statistical Area, above-average concentrations of employment were found in many of the occupations within the production group. For instance, textile winding, twisting, and drawing out machine setters, operators, and tenders were employed at 14.4 times the national rate in Winston, and food and tobacco roasting, baking, and drying machine operators and tenders, at 8.9 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 1.1 in Winston, 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 North Carolina Department of Commerce.

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 Winston-Salem Metropolitan Statistical Area included 2,313 establishments with a response rate of 81 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 Winston-Salem, NC Metropolitan Statistical Area includes Davidson, Davie, Forsyth, Stokes, and Yadkin 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, Winston-Salem Metropolitan Statistical Area, May 2018

Occupation (1)	Employment		Mean wages
	Level (2)	Location quotient (3)	Hourly	Annual (4)
Production occupations	27,010	1.6	$17.27	$35,930
First-line supervisors of production and operating workers	1,580	1.4	30.20	62,820
Coil winders, tapers, and finishers	60	2.5	15.88	33,030
Electrical, electronic, and electromechanical assemblers, except coil winders, tapers, and finishers	530	1.1	16.53	34,380
Engine and other machine assemblers	50	0.5	21.04	43,750
Structural metal fabricators and fitters	120	0.9	17.96	37,360
Assemblers and fabricators, all other, including team assemblers	4,780	1.9	14.56	30,280
Bakers	350	1.1	11.54	24,010
Butchers and meat cutters	220	0.9	14.59	30,350
Slaughterers and meat packers	90	0.6	13.66	28,410
Food and tobacco roasting, baking, and drying machine operators and tenders	340	8.9	25.83	53,740
Food batchmakers	(5)	(5)	11.22	23,330
Computer-controlled machine tool operators, metal and plastic	80	0.3	18.23	37,930
Computer numerically controlled machine tool programmers, metal and plastic	30	0.7	19.47	40,500
Extruding and drawing machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	220	1.6	15.51	32,270
Cutting, punching, and press machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	550	1.6	15.62	32,490
Grinding, lapping, polishing, and buffing machine tool setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	160	1.2	16.75	34,830
Lathe and turning machine tool setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	150	2.8	21.50	44,730
Machinists	1,010	1.4	21.16	44,010
Molding, coremaking, and casting machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	950	3.2	15.31	31,850
Multiple machine tool setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	350	1.4	16.49	34,300
Tool and die makers	140	1.0	21.49	44,710
Welders, cutters, solderers, and brazers	1,110	1.6	17.90	37,230
Welding, soldering, and brazing machine setters, operators, and tenders	290	4.6	24.08	50,080
Plating and coating machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	50	0.7	14.33	29,810
Prepress technicians and workers	70	1.3	18.78	39,060
Printing press operators	560	1.8	18.42	38,320
Print binding and finishing workers	90	1.1	14.21	29,570
Laundry and dry-cleaning workers	260	0.7	9.73	20,240
Pressers, textile, garment, and related materials	80	1.2	12.78	26,590
Sewing machine operators	670	2.7	11.44	23,790
Textile bleaching and dyeing machine operators and tenders	50	3.2	14.54	30,240
Textile cutting machine setters, operators, and tenders	100	4.1	14.35	29,840
Textile knitting and weaving machine setters, operators, and tenders	310	8.1	13.61	28,320
Textile winding, twisting, and drawing out machine setters, operators, and tenders	830	14.4	13.67	28,430
Upholsterers	(5)	(5)	18.25	37,970
Textile, apparel, and furnishings workers, all other	50	1.8	13.48	28,050
Cabinetmakers and bench carpenters	190	1.0	14.38	29,920
Sawing machine setters, operators, and tenders, wood	140	1.5	16.16	33,610
Woodworking machine setters, operators, and tenders, except sawing	1,080	7.5	12.81	26,650
Power plant operators	170	2.7	40.38	83,980
Water and wastewater treatment plant and system operators	140	0.6	19.13	39,790
Chemical equipment operators and tenders	50	0.3	21.18	44,050
Separating, filtering, clarifying, precipitating, and still machine setters, operators, and tenders	380	4.2	26.29	54,690
Mixing and blending machine setters, operators, and tenders	340	1.5	17.41	36,200
Cutting and slicing machine setters, operators, and tenders	250	2.3	16.07	33,420
Extruding, forming, pressing, and compacting machine setters, operators, and tenders	160	1.2	17.89	37,200
Furnace, kiln, oven, drier, and kettle operators and tenders	(5)	(5)	15.93	33,140
Inspectors, testers, sorters, samplers, and weighers	1,540	1.5	17.11	35,590
Jewelers and precious stone and metal workers	40	0.8	21.13	43,950
Dental laboratory technicians	50	0.8	18.91	39,340
Packaging and filling machine operators and tenders	840	1.2	20.44	42,510
Coating, painting, and spraying machine setters, operators, and tenders	320	2.0	16.36	34,040
Painters, transportation equipment	100	1.0	20.38	42,400
Painting, coating, and decorating workers	40	1.7	17.89	37,220
Photographic process workers and processing machine operators	30	1.0	15.65	32,550
Adhesive bonding machine operators and tenders	60	2.1	18.71	38,910
Paper goods machine setters, operators, and tenders	260	1.4	16.85	35,040
Helpers--production workers	2,070	3.2	16.39	34,100
Production workers, all other	190	0.5	15.39	32,020
Footnotes: (1) For a complete listing of all detailed occupations in the Winston-Salem, NC Metropolitan Statistical Area, see www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_49180.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.