Workers in the Anniston-Oxford, AL Metropolitan Statistical Area had an average (mean) hourly wage of $23.22 in May 2024, compared to the nationwide average of $32.66, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Regional Commissioner Victoria G. Lee noted that higher paying major occupational groups included management ($51.90), architecture and engineering ($41.64), and computer and mathematical ($39.29). Lower paying occupational groups included food preparation and serving related ($12.80), personal care and service ($13.95), and building and grounds cleaning and maintenance ($14.40). (See table A.)

Production occupations accounted for 14.0 percent of Anniston area employment, followed by food preparation and serving related occupations (10.5 percent) and sales and related occupations (10.4 percent). Major occupational groups on the lower end of local employment included legal (0.3 percent); life, physical, and social science (0.5 percent); arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media (0.7 percent); and computer and mathematical (0.9 percent).

One occupational group—production—was chosen to illustrate the diversity of data available for any of the 22 major occupational categories. Anniston had 6,060 jobs in production, accounting for 14.0 percent of local area employment, compared to the 5.7-percent share nationally. The average hourly wage for this occupational group locally was $21.59, compared to the national wage of $24.08.

Miscellaneous assemblers and fabricators (1,310) was the larger occupation within the production group. Among the higher paying jobs in this group were first-line supervisors of production and operating workers ($33.99) and machinists ($27.09). At the lower end of the wage scale were laundry and dry-cleaning workers ($13.73) and helpers of production workers ($14.43). (Detailed data for the production occupations are presented in table 1; for a complete listing of detailed occupations available go to https://data.bls.gov/oes/#/area/0011500.)

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 2.00 indicates that an occupation accounts for twice the share of employment in the area than it does nationally. In the Anniston area, above-average concentrations of employment were found in many of the occupations within the production group. For instance, metal and plastic molding, coremaking, and casting machine setters, operators, and tenders were employed at 10.87 times the national rate in Anniston, and welders, cutters, solderers, and brazers, at 3.53 times the U.S. average.

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 Alabama Department of Labor.

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 530 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 is 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 65.7 percent based on establishments and 65.9 percent based on weighted sampled employment. The sample in the Anniston-Oxford, AL Metropolitan Statistical Area included 713 establishments with a response rate of 58 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 Anniston-Oxford, AL Metropolitan Statistical Area includes Calhoun County.

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.

Table 1. Employment and wage data for production occupations, Anniston metropolitan area, May 2024

Occupation (1)	Employment		Mean wages ($)
	Level (2)	Location quotient (3)	Hourly	Annual (4)
Production occupations	6,060	2.47	21.59	44,900
First-line supervisors of production and operating workers	380	1.98	33.99	70,690
Miscellaneous assemblers and fabricators	1,310	3.19	20.49	42,620
Butchers and meat cutters	50	1.35	15.83	32,930
Cutting, punching, and press machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	110	2.18	19.61	40,800
Grinding, lapping, polishing, and buffing machine tool setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	120	5.87	19.62	40,810
Machinists	260	3.12	27.09	56,340
Metal-refining furnace operators and tenders	40	6.35	21.01	43,710
Foundry mold and coremakers	80	23.64	21.37	44,440
Molding, coremaking, and casting machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	470	10.87	18.93	39,370
Multiple machine tool setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	40	1.10	18.37	38,210
Welders, cutters, solderers, and brazers	420	3.53	26.39	54,900
Plating machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	40	5.06	21.13	43,940
Printing press operators	40	0.88	17.28	35,940
Laundry and dry-cleaning workers	30	0.61	13.73	28,560
Sewing machine operators	140	4.39	15.97	33,210
Water and wastewater treatment plant and system operators	50	1.30	23.52	48,920
Crushing, grinding, and polishing machine setters, operators, and tenders	30	3.83	24.60	51,160
Furnace, kiln, oven, drier, and kettle operators and tenders	30	7.27	21.92	45,600
Inspectors, testers, sorters, samplers, and weighers	430	2.62	21.92	45,590
Packaging and filling machine operators and tenders	30	0.28	17.09	35,540
Coating, painting, and spraying machine setters, operators, and tenders	230	5.05	21.47	44,660
Computer numerically controlled tool operators	200	3.99	25.68	53,420
Helpers--production workers	(5)	(5)	14.43	30,010
Footnotes: (1) For a complete listing of all detailed occupations in the Anniston-Oxford, AL Metropolitan Statistical Area, see https://data.bls.gov/oes/#/area/0011500. (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.