Workers in the Chattanooga, TN-GA Metropolitan Statistical Area had an average (mean) hourly wage of $26.19 in May 2023, compared to the nationwide average of $31.48, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Regional Commissioner Victoria G. Lee noted that higher paying major occupational groups included management ($57.60) and legal ($53.67). Lower paying occupations included food preparation and serving related ($14.02), personal care and service ($15.01), and building and grounds cleaning and maintenance ($16.19). (See table A.)

Occupational groups with the highest employment in the Chattanooga area included office and administrative support (13.4 percent), transportation and material moving (10.5 percent), and production (10.1 percent). Major occupational groups on the lower end of local employment included life, physical, and social science (0.4 percent) and legal (0.5 percent). (See table A.)

One occupational group—production—was chosen to illustrate the diversity of data available for any of the 22 major occupational categories. Chattanooga had 26,510 jobs in production, accounting for 10.1 percent of local area employment, compared to the 5.8-percent share nationally. The average hourly wage for this occupational group locally was $21.53, compared to the national wage of $22.90.

Some of the larger detailed occupations within the production group included miscellaneous assemblers and fabricators (5,750); welders, cutters, solderers, and brazers (1,720); first-line supervisors of production and operating workers (1,680); and inspectors, testers, sorters, samplers, and weighers (1,590). Among the higher-paying jobs in this group were nuclear power reactor operators and power plant operators, with mean hourly wages of $57.31 and $42.85, respectively. At the lower end of the wage scale were laundry and dry-cleaning workers ($13.59) and print binding and finishing workers ($14.68). (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 15.4 times the national rate in Chattanooga, and extruding and forming machine setters, operators, and tenders, synthetic and glass fibers, at 12.7 times the U.S. average. Laundry and dry-cleaning workers had a location quotient of 1.0 in Chattanooga, indicating that this particular occupation’s local and national employment shares were similar.

The statistics in this release are from the Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) survey, a cooperative effort between BLS and the State Workforce Agencies (SWAs). BLS funds the survey and provides the procedures and technical support. State Workforce Agencies collect most of the data: in this case, the Tennessee Department of Labor & Workforce Development and the Georgia Department of Labor.

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. Full OEWS data tables are available online.

Additional information about the OEWS estimates and methodology are available in the national Technical Notes. The overall national response rate for the six panels, based on the 50 states and the District of Columbia, is 65.8 percent based on establishments and 64.3 percent based on weighted sampled employment. The sample in the Chattanooga, TN-GA Metropolitan Statistical Area included 2,700 establishments with a response rate of 64 percent.

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, as well as general program documentation, are available on the OEWS website.

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.