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News Release Information

23-1456-ATL
Friday, June 30, 2023

Contacts Technical information: Media contact:
  • (404) 893-4220

Occupational Employment and Wages in Chattanooga — May 2022

Workers in the Chattanooga, TN-GA Metropolitan Statistical Area had an average (mean) hourly wage of $24.98 in May 2022, 16 percent below the nationwide average of $29.76, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Regional Commissioner Victoria G. Lee 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, Chattanooga area employment was more highly concentrated in 6 of the 22 occupational groups, including production, transportation and material moving, and office and administrative support. Thirteen groups had employment shares significantly below their national representation, including educational instruction and library, business and financial operations, and computer and mathematical. (See table A.)

Table A. Occupational employment and wages by major occupational group, United States and the Chattanooga metropolitan area, and measures of statistical significance, May 2022
Major occupational groupPercent of total employmentMean hourly wage ($)
United StatesChattanoogaUnited StatesChattanoogaPercent difference (1)

Total, all occupations

100.0100.029.7624.98*-16

Management

6.76.0*63.0855.10*-13

Business and financial operations

6.55.3*41.3934.58*-16

Computer and mathematical

3.42.2*51.9941.04*-21

Architecture and engineering

1.71.645.5239.65*-13

Life, physical, and social science

0.90.4*40.2132.52*-19

Community and social service

1.61.3*26.8122.69*-15

Legal

0.80.6*59.8755.31-8

Educational instruction and library

5.74.4*30.4123.90*-21

Arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media

1.41.0*36.7826.77*-27

Healthcare practitioners and technical

6.16.9*46.5241.82*-10

Healthcare support

4.63.4*17.1016.53*-3

Protective service

2.32.0*25.9720.07*-23

Food preparation and serving related

8.59.1*15.4512.72*-18

Building and grounds cleaning and maintenance

2.92.917.2615.20*-12

Personal care and service

1.91.5*17.4114.82*-15

Sales and related

8.98.924.2219.99*-17

Office and administrative support

12.613.7*21.9019.74*-10

Farming, fishing, and forestry

0.30.1*18.2117.03*-6

Construction and extraction

4.13.5*28.0823.39*-17

Installation, maintenance, and repair

3.94.4*26.7724.29*-9

Production

5.910.1*21.8120.98*-4

Transportation and material moving

9.210.7*21.1219.37*-8

Footnotes:
(1) A positive percent difference measures how much the mean wage in the Chattanooga, TN-GA Metropolitan Statistical Area is above the national mean wage, while a negative difference reflects a lower wage.
* The mean hourly wage or percent share of employment is significantly different from the national average of all areas at the 90-percent confidence level.

One occupational group—production—was chosen to illustrate the diversity of data available for any of the 22 major occupational categories. Chattanooga had 25,250 jobs in production, accounting for 10.1 percent of local area employment, significantly higher than the 5.9-percent share nationally. The average hourly wage for this occupational group locally was $20.98, significantly below the national wage of $21.81.

Some of the larger detailed occupations within the production group included miscellaneous assemblers and fabricators (6,100) and first-line supervisors of production and operating workers (1,860). Among the higher-paying jobs in this group were nuclear power reactor operators and power plant operators, with mean hourly wages of $54.61 and $43.64, respectively. At the lower end of the wage scale were laundry and dry-cleaning workers ($12.33) and sewing machine operators ($14.02). (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_16860.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 Chattanooga area, above-average concentrations of employment were found in many of the occupations within the production group. For instance, nuclear power reactor operators were employed at 16.2 times the national rate in Chattanooga, and textile knitting and weaving machine setters, operators, and tenders, at 11.6 times the U.S. average. Packaging and filling machine operators and tenders had a location quotient of 1.0 in Chattanooga, 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 Tennessee Department of Labor & Workforce Development, and the Georgia Department of Labor.

Changes to the Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) Data

The May 2022 OEWS estimates use the model-based (MB3) estimation method implemented with the May 2021 estimates release. Additional updates were made to the MB3 wage processing methodology for May 2022. For more information, see the May 2022 Survey Methods and Reliability Statement.

The May 2022 estimates are the first OEWS estimates to be produced using the 2022 NAICS, which replaces the 2017 NAICS used for the May 2017-May 2021 estimates. See North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) at BLS for details.


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 2022 estimates are based on responses from six semiannual panels collected over a 3-year period: May 2022, November 2021, May 2021, November 2020, May 2020, and November 2019. The unweighted sampled employment of 80 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 65.4 percent based on establishments and 62.5 percent based on weighted sampled employment. The sample in the Chattanooga, TN-GA Metropolitan Statistical Area included 2,646 establishments with a response rate of 62 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 Chattanooga, TN-GA Metropolitan Statistical Area includes Catoosa County, GA; Dade County, GA; Walker County, GA; Hamilton County, TN; Marion County, TN; and Sequatchie County, TN.

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 production occupations, Chattanooga metropolitan area, May 2022
Occupation (1)EmploymentMean wages ($)
Level (2)Location quotient (3)HourlyAnnual (4)

Production occupations

25,2501.720.9843,640

First-line supervisors of production and operating workers

1,8601.730.9664,390

Electrical, electronic, and electromechanical assemblers, except coil winders, tapers, and finishers

2100.520.0541,700

Structural metal fabricators and fitters

2102.121.3244,350

Miscellaneous assemblers and fabricators

6,1002.520.5842,800

Bakers

6301.817.4036,200

Butchers and meat cutters

1200.517.5336,460

Meat, poultry, and fish cutters and trimmers

4902.2(5)(5)

Food batchmakers

3301.219.7241,020

Food processing workers, all other

2002.517.7536,920

Extruding and drawing machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic

3603.318.4138,290

Forging machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic

703.618.8739,260

Cutting, punching, and press machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic

5701.917.4236,230

Drilling and boring machine tool setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic

302.920.9643,600

Grinding, lapping, polishing, and buffing machine tool setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic

1801.517.2735,920

Lathe and turning machine tool setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic

401.322.4846,750

Milling and planing machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic

602.119.9441,470

Machinists

6801.322.7147,240

Metal-refining furnace operators and tenders

501.622.0645,880

Foundry mold and coremakers

904.819.7941,150

Molding, coremaking, and casting machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic

2300.818.5738,620

Multiple machine tool setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic

4001.723.4948,870

Tool and die makers

3002.824.5751,110

Welders, cutters, solderers, and brazers

1,4902.223.3948,650

Welding, soldering, and brazing machine setters, operators, and tenders

2104.019.0539,620

Plating machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic

801.615.1631,530

Metal workers and plastic workers, all other

(5)(5)17.5236,450

Prepress technicians and workers

1202.818.7338,960

Printing press operators

3801.520.3142,230

Print binding and finishing workers

1502.318.1237,700

Laundry and dry-cleaning workers

3201.112.3325,650

Sewing machine operators

2101.014.0229,150

Textile bleaching and dyeing machine operators and tenders

908.316.9335,220

Textile cutting machine setters, operators, and tenders

402.315.4832,190

Textile knitting and weaving machine setters, operators, and tenders

33011.617.9237,280

Textile winding, twisting, and drawing out machine setters, operators, and tenders

3308.115.9733,220

Extruding and forming machine setters, operators, and tenders, synthetic and glass fibers

25010.421.3144,320

Textile, apparel, and furnishings workers, all other

502.415.5332,300

Cabinetmakers and bench carpenters

1000.618.9039,310

Furniture finishers

401.418.0437,510

Sawing machine setters, operators, and tenders, wood

500.718.1137,670

Woodworking machine setters, operators, and tenders, except sawing

900.916.7734,880

Woodworkers, all other

704.616.2133,730

Nuclear power reactor operators

15016.254.61113,590

Power plant operators

501.043.6490,780

Water and wastewater treatment plant and system operators

1800.921.2944,290

Chemical plant and system operators

1003.126.4955,110

Chemical equipment operators and tenders

2901.524.2750,490

Separating, filtering, clarifying, precipitating, and still machine setters, operators, and tenders

1001.117.7937,000

Crushing, grinding, and polishing machine setters, operators, and tenders

601.318.8739,240

Mixing and blending machine setters, operators, and tenders

2101.220.2142,040

Cutting and slicing machine setters, operators, and tenders

1001.119.0539,630

Extruding, forming, pressing, and compacting machine setters, operators, and tenders

1001.019.2640,060

Furnace, kiln, oven, drier, and kettle operators and tenders

301.321.6244,970

Inspectors, testers, sorters, samplers, and weighers

1,4801.521.3344,370

Dental laboratory technicians

400.723.5749,030

Packaging and filling machine operators and tenders

6201.017.5536,500

Painting, coating, and decorating workers

402.018.1537,740

Coating, painting, and spraying machine setters, operators, and tenders

3701.419.3640,280

Computer numerically controlled tool operators

2500.822.6947,200

Computer numerically controlled tool programmers

400.831.9466,440

Paper goods machine setters, operators, and tenders

4202.720.2742,160

Helpers--production workers

2300.716.7434,810

Production workers, all other

1,2002.817.7036,810

Footnotes:
(1) For a complete listing of all detailed occupations in the Chattanooga, TN-GA Metropolitan Statistical Area, see www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_16860.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.

 

Last Modified Date: Friday, June 30, 2023