Workers in the Greenville-Anderson-Mauldin, SC Metropolitan Statistical Area had an average (mean) hourly wage of $21.57 in May 2019, about 16 percent below the nationwide average of $25.72, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Regional Commissioner Janet S. Rankin noted that, after testing for statistical significance, 21 of the 22 major occupational groups had average wages in the local area that were significantly lower than their respective national averages, including computer and mathematical, building and grounds cleaning and maintenance, and transportation and material moving.

When compared to the nationwide distribution, Greenville area employment was more highly concentrated in 3 of the 22 occupational groups: production; architecture and engineering; and installation, maintenance, and repair. Twelve groups had employment shares significantly below their national representation, including business and financial operations, computer and mathematical, and healthcare 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 had 52,250 jobs in production occupations, accounting for 12.5 percent of local area employment, significantly higher than the 6.2-percent share nationally. The local average hourly wage for this occupational group was $18.46, significantly lower than the national wage of $19.30.

Some of the larger detailed occupations within the production group included miscellaneous assemblers and fabricators (16,480); machinists (5,100); and inspectors, testers, sorters, samplers, and weighers (4,170). Among the higher paying jobs were first-line supervisors of production and operating workers, and tool and die makers, with mean hourly wages of $31.36 and $25.71, respectively. At the lower end of the wage scale were laundry and dry-cleaning workers ($11.21) and food batchmakers ($12.24). (Detailed data for the 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 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 20.0 times the national rate in Greenville, and machinists, at 4.7 times the U.S. average. Food batchmakers 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 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 1.1 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 2019 estimates are based on responses from six semiannual panels collected over a 3-year period: May 2019, November 2018, May 2018, November 2017, May 2017, and November 2016. The unweighted sampled employment of 83 million across all six semiannual panels represents approximately 57 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, SC Metropolitan Statistical Area included 2,963 establishments with a response rate of 62 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 2019 OES estimates are the first set of OES estimates to be based in part on survey data collected using the 2018 SOC. These estimates use a hybrid of the 2010 and 2018 SOC systems. More information on the hybrid classification system is available at www.bls.gov/oes/soc_2018.htm.

The May 2019 OES estimates are based on the 2017 North American Industry Classification System (NAICS). More 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.

For more information

Answers to frequently asked questions about the OES data are available at www.bls.gov/oes/oes_ques.htm. Detailed information about the OES program is available at www.bls.gov/oes/oes_doc.htm.

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 for production occupations, Greenville-Anderson-Mauldin, SC Metropolitan Statistical Area, May 2019 

Occupation (1)	Employment		Mean wages
	Level (2)	Location quotient (3)	Hourly	Annual (4)
Production occupations	52,250	2.0	$18.46	$38,400
First-line supervisors of production and operating workers	3,190	1.8	31.36	65,230
Electrical, electronic, and electromechanical assemblers, except coil winders, tapers, and finishers	600	0.7	17.89	37,210
Engine and other machine assemblers	(5)	(5)	21.65	45,040
Structural metal fabricators and fitters	260	1.2	17.02	35,410
Miscellaneous assemblers and fabricators	16,480	4.2	16.89	35,120
Bakers	440	0.8	12.71	26,440
Butchers and meat cutters	480	1.2	16.93	35,200
Meat, poultry, and fish cutters and trimmers	(5)	(5)	16.73	34,810
Food batchmakers	430	1.0	12.24	25,450
Extruding and drawing machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	520	2.4	21.79	45,320
Cutting, punching, and press machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	330	0.6	17.03	35,420
Grinding, lapping, polishing, and buffing machine tool setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	220	1.0	18.58	38,640
Machinists	5,100	4.7	18.57	38,620
Model makers, metal and plastic	30	2.7	29.38	61,110
Molding, coremaking, and casting machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	1,410	2.9	14.81	30,800
Multiple machine tool setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	880	2.1	23.45	48,780
Tool and die makers	230	1.1	25.71	53,470
Welders, cutters, solderers, and brazers	1,350	1.2	20.89	43,460
Welding, soldering, and brazing machine setters, operators, and tenders	(5)	(5)	17.61	36,640
Heat treating equipment setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	170	3.0	20.48	42,600
Plating machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	180	1.5	15.97	33,220
Prepress technicians and workers	90	1.1	17.64	36,690
Printing press operators	640	1.3	17.51	36,430
Print binding and finishing workers	220	1.7	(5)	(5)
Laundry and dry-cleaning workers	440	0.7	11.21	23,320
Pressers, textile, garment, and related materials	140	1.3	12.59	26,190
Sewing machine operators	600	1.6	12.92	26,860
Textile bleaching and dyeing machine operators and tenders	320	13.0	14.36	29,860
Textile cutting machine setters, operators, and tenders	120	3.1	13.21	27,480
Textile knitting and weaving machine setters, operators, and tenders	1,200	20.0	15.66	32,570
Textile winding, twisting, and drawing out machine setters, operators, and tenders	280	3.2	14.59	30,350
Extruding and forming machine setters, operators, and tenders, synthetic and glass fibers	600	11.6	18.32	38,110
Cabinetmakers and bench carpenters	330	1.2	17.56	36,520
Sawing machine setters, operators, and tenders, wood	140	1.0	16.66	34,660
Woodworking machine setters, operators, and tenders, except sawing	140	0.6	14.40	29,960
Water and wastewater treatment plant and system operators	320	0.9	19.01	39,540
Chemical plant and system operators	160	2.0	(5)	(5)
Gas plant operators	50	1.2	23.03	47,900
Chemical equipment operators and tenders	420	1.7	23.16	48,170
Separating, filtering, clarifying, precipitating, and still machine setters, operators, and tenders	130	0.9	18.10	37,650
Crushing, grinding, and polishing machine setters, operators, and tenders	(5)	(5)	12.43	25,850
Grinding and polishing workers, hand	70	0.8	11.64	24,220
Mixing and blending machine setters, operators, and tenders	1,290	3.6	20.85	43,360
Cutting and slicing machine setters, operators, and tenders	250	1.5	16.42	34,150
Extruding, forming, pressing, and compacting machine setters, operators, and tenders	380	1.9	18.63	38,740
Furnace, kiln, oven, drier, and kettle operators and tenders	60	1.1	20.93	43,530
Inspectors, testers, sorters, samplers, and weighers	4,170	2.5	19.33	40,210
Dental laboratory technicians	40	0.4	19.28	40,100
Ophthalmic laboratory technicians	90	1.1	16.46	34,230
Packaging and filling machine operators and tenders	1,370	1.2	17.50	36,400
Painting, coating, and decorating workers	(5)	(5)	18.29	38,040
Coating, painting, and spraying machine setters, operators, and tenders	350	0.8	18.36	38,180
Computer numerically controlled tool operators	560	1.3	18.85	39,210
Computer numerically controlled tool programmers	80	1.1	21.79	45,330
Cleaning, washing, and metal pickling equipment operators and tenders	80	1.6	13.67	28,440
Molders, shapers, and casters, except metal and plastic	360	2.8	19.10	39,730
Paper goods machine setters, operators, and tenders	320	1.1	18.25	37,950
Helpers--production workers	1,740	2.0	14.14	29,420
Production workers, all other	630	1.0	16.78	34,910
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 may not sum to the totals due to rounding, and because the totals may include occupations that are 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.