Workers in the Augusta-Richmond County, GA-SC Metropolitan Statistical Area had an average (mean) hourly wage of $27.60 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 ($58.44), architecture and engineering ($51.42), and legal ($49.50). Lower paying occupational groups included food preparation and serving related ($13.65), personal care and service ($15.27), building and grounds cleaning and maintenance ($16.15), and healthcare support ($16.96). (See table A.)

Office and administrative support occupations accounted for 10.8 percent of Augusta area employment, followed by food preparation and serving related occupations (10.0 percent). Major occupational groups on the lower end of local employment included legal (0.5 percent); arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media (0.9 percent); life, physical, and social science (1.1 percent); and community and social service (1.2 percent).

One occupational group—production—was chosen to illustrate the diversity of data available for any of the 22 major occupational categories. Augusta had 18,600 jobs in production, accounting for 8.1 percent of local area employment, compared to the 5.7-percent share nationally. The average hourly wage for this occupational group locally was $24.95, compared to the national wage of $24.08.

Some of the larger detailed occupations within the production group included miscellaneous assemblers and fabricators (2,370); first-line supervisors of production and operating workers (1,640); and inspectors, testers, sorters, samplers, and weighers (1,130). First-line supervisors of production and operating workers were among the higher paying occupations with a mean hourly wage of $40.54. At the lower end of the wage scale were laundry and dry-cleaning workers ($12.94) and pressers, textile, garment, and related materials ($13.36). (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/0012260.)

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 Augusta area, above-average concentrations of employment were found in many of the occupations within the production group. For instance, synthetic and glass fibers extruding and forming machine setters, operators, and tenders were employed at 23.25 times the national rate in Augusta, and paper goods machine setters, operators, and tenders, at 6.91 times the U.S. average. Electrical, electronic, and electromechanical assemblers, except coil winders, tapers, and finishers, had a location quotient of 0.99 in Augusta, 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 Georgia Department of Labor, and the South Carolina Department of Employment and Workforce.

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 Augusta-Richmond County, GA-SC Metropolitan Statistical Area included 2,542 establishments with a response rate of 71 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 Augusta-Richmond County, GA-SC Metropolitan Statistical Area includes Burke County, GA; Columbia County, GA; Lincoln County, GA; McDuffie County, GA; Richmond County, GA; Aiken County, SC; and Edgefield County, SC.

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, Augusta metropolitan area, May 2024

Occupation (1)	Employment		Mean wages ($)
	Level (2)	Location quotient (3)	Hourly	Annual (4)
Production occupations	18,600	1.43	24.95	51,900
First-line supervisors of production and operating workers	1,640	1.61	40.54	84,310
Electrical, electronic, and electromechanical assemblers, except coil winders, tapers, and finishers	380	0.99	20.44	42,520
Structural metal fabricators and fitters	90	1.12	22.63	47,060
Miscellaneous assemblers and fabricators	2,370	1.09	18.11	37,670
Bakers	340	0.97	14.13	29,390
Butchers and meat cutters	270	1.28	17.56	36,520
Food batchmakers	40	0.15	25.32	52,670
Food processing workers, all other	30	0.40	16.96	35,280
Extruding and drawing machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	170	1.70	25.45	52,930
Cutting, punching, and press machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	180	0.68	19.97	41,530
Grinding, lapping, polishing, and buffing machine tool setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	120	1.15	20.83	43,320
Machinists	630	1.42	28.58	59,450
Molding, coremaking, and casting machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	150	0.66	20.15	41,900
Multiple machine tool setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	310	1.62	15.42	32,080
Tool and die makers	40	0.43	29.32	60,980
Welders, cutters, solderers, and brazers	920	1.45	24.18	50,300
Welding, soldering, and brazing machine setters, operators, and tenders	50	0.88	21.62	44,960
Metal workers and plastic workers, all other	(5)	(5)	19.88	41,360
Printing press operators	80	0.35	18.12	37,690
Laundry and dry-cleaning workers	240	0.83	12.94	26,920
Pressers, textile, garment, and related materials	40	0.91	13.36	27,790
Sewing machine operators	150	0.93	15.11	31,420
Textile knitting and weaving machine setters, operators, and tenders	170	8.07	18.65	38,790
Extruding and forming machine setters, operators, and tenders, synthetic and glass fibers	520	23.25	20.07	41,740
Cabinetmakers and bench carpenters	100	0.86	20.53	42,710
Furniture finishers	30	1.55	19.88	41,360
Sawing machine setters, operators, and tenders, wood	80	1.21	18.98	39,470
Woodworking machine setters, operators, and tenders, except sawing	40	0.46	18.04	37,530
Water and wastewater treatment plant and system operators	200	1.07	27.02	56,210
Chemical equipment operators and tenders	400	2.08	31.45	65,420
Cutting and slicing machine setters, operators, and tenders	40	0.51	20.57	42,780
Extruding, forming, pressing, and compacting machine setters, operators, and tenders	130	1.49	21.35	44,410
Furnace, kiln, oven, drier, and kettle operators and tenders	40	1.85	24.95	51,900
Inspectors, testers, sorters, samplers, and weighers	1,130	1.28	25.19	52,380
Dental laboratory technicians	70	1.48	26.18	54,460
Packaging and filling machine operators and tenders	430	0.75	21.11	43,910
Coating, painting, and spraying machine setters, operators, and tenders	290	1.20	22.03	45,820
Computer numerically controlled tool operators	150	0.58	24.74	51,460
Molders, shapers, and casters, except metal and plastic	160	3.17	22.74	47,300
Paper goods machine setters, operators, and tenders	1,000	6.91	(5)	(5)
Helpers--production workers	180	0.74	19.81	41,210
Production workers, all other	1,050	2.55	20.82	43,310
Footnotes: (1) For a complete listing of all detailed occupations in the Augusta-Richmond County, GA-SC Metropolitan Statistical Area, see https://data.bls.gov/oes/#/area/0012260. (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.