Workers in the Lakeland-Winter Haven, FL Metropolitan Statistical Area had an average (mean) hourly wage of $22.52 in May 2021, about 20 percent below the nationwide average of $28.01, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. 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 21 of the 22 major occupational groups.

When compared to the nationwide distribution, Lakeland area employment was more highly concentrated in 6 of the 22 occupational groups, including transportation and material moving; installation, maintenance, and repair; and sales and related. Fourteen groups had employment shares significantly below their national representation, including healthcare support, management, and computer and mathematical. (See table A.)

One occupational group—transportation and material moving—was chosen to illustrate the diversity of data available for any of the 22 major occupational categories. Lakeland had 38,470 jobs in transportation and material moving, accounting for 16.1 percent of local area employment, significantly higher than the 9.0-percent share nationally. The average hourly wage for this occupational group locally was $18.04, significantly below the national wage of $19.88.

Some of the larger detailed occupations within the transportation and material moving group included stockers and order fillers (10,470); hand laborers and freight, stock, and material movers (6,420); and heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers (6,390). Among the higher-paying jobs in this group were crane and tower operators and first-line supervisors of transportation and material moving workers, except aircraft cargo handling supervisors, with mean hourly wages of $28.54 and $26.47, respectively. At the lower end of the wage scale were parking attendants ($10.34) and school bus drivers ($10.55). (Detailed data for the transportation and material moving occupations are presented in table 1; for a complete listing of detailed occupations available, go to www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_29460.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 Lakeland area, above-average concentrations of employment were found in many of the occupations within the transportation and material moving group. For instance, machine feeders and offbearers were employed at 10.9 times the national rate in Lakeland, and industrial truck and tractor operators, at 3.8 times the U.S. average. School bus drivers had a location quotient of 1.1 in Lakeland, indicating that this particular occupation’s local and national employment shares were similar.

These statistics are from the Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) survey, a federal-state cooperative program between BLS and State Workforce Agencies, in this case, the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity.

Technical Note

The Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) survey is a semiannual survey measuring occupational employment and wage rates for wage and salary workers in nonfarm establishments in the United States. The OEWS 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. OEWS data are available at www.bls.gov/oes/tables.htm.

The OEWS 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. OEWS estimates are constructed from a sample of about 1.1 million establishments. Each year, two semiannual panels of approximately 179,000 to 187,000 sampled establishments are contacted, one panel in May and the other in November. Responses are obtained by Internet or other electronic means, mail, email, telephone, or personal visit. The May 2021 estimates are based on responses from six semiannual panels collected over a 3-year period: May 2021, November 2020, May 2020, November 2019, May 2019, and November 2018. The unweighted sampled employment of 82 million across all six semiannual panels represents approximately 62 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 67.2 percent based on establishments and 64.5 percent based on weighted sampled employment. The sample in the Lakeland-Winter Haven, FL Metropolitan Statistical Area included 2,029 establishments with a response rate of 70 percent. For more information about OEWS 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.

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 Lakeland-Winter Haven, FL Metropolitan Statistical Area includes Polk County.

For more information

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

Information in this release will be made available to individuals with sensory impairments upon request. Voice phone: (202) 691-5200; Telecommunications Relay Service: 7-1-1.

Table 1. Employment and wage data for transportation and material moving occupations, Lakeland metropolitan area, May 2021

Occupation (1)	Employment		Mean wages
	Level (2)	Location quotient (3)	Hourly	Annual (4)
Transportation and material moving occupations	38,470	1.8	$18.04	$37,530
First-line supervisors of transportation and material moving workers, except aircraft cargo handling supervisors	1,400	1.5	26.47	55,050
Commercial pilots	110	1.6	(6)	98,660
Driver/sales workers	930	1.2	13.35	27,770
Heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers	6,390	2.0	21.72	45,180
Light truck drivers	2,520	1.5	20.32	42,260
Bus drivers, school	650	1.1	10.55	21,940
Bus drivers, transit and intercity	(5)	(5)	15.48	32,210
Shuttle drivers and chauffeurs	190	0.6	13.18	27,410
Motor vehicle operators, all other	90	1.1	12.05	25,070
Parking attendants	140	0.9	10.34	21,500
Automotive and watercraft service attendants	200	1.1	13.95	29,020
Traffic technicians	60	4.6	21.03	43,740
Conveyor operators and tenders	70	1.4	16.30	33,900
Crane and tower operators	130	1.7	28.54	59,370
Industrial truck and tractor operators	4,870	3.8	19.24	40,020
Cleaners of vehicles and equipment	650	1.1	14.64	30,440
Laborers and freight, stock, and material movers, hand	6,420	1.4	16.04	33,360
Machine feeders and offbearers	1,130	10.9	17.55	36,500
Packers and packagers, hand	1,400	1.4	12.67	26,360
Stockers and order fillers	10,470	2.5	16.44	34,200
Pump operators, except wellhead pumpers	60	3.1	19.59	40,760
Refuse and recyclable material collectors	200	0.9	19.21	39,950
Material moving workers, all other	40	1.2	17.86	37,160
Footnotes: (1) For a complete listing of all detailed occupations in the Lakeland-Winter Haven, FL Metropolitan Statistical Area, see www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_29460.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. (6) Wages for some occupations that do not generally work year-round, full time, are reported either as hourly wages or annual salaries depending on how they are typically paid.