Workers in the Bowling Green, KY Metropolitan Statistical Area had an average (mean) hourly wage of $23.73 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 legal ($48.38) and management ($47.66). Lower paying occupations included food preparation and serving related ($13.59), personal care and service ($15.01), and building and grounds cleaning and maintenance ($15.55). (See table A.)

Occupational groups with the highest employment in the Bowling Green area included production (13.4 percent), office and administrative support (11.7 percent), and transportation and material moving (10.2 percent). Major occupational groups on the lower end of local employment included legal (0.5 percent) and life, physical, and social science (0.6 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. Bowling Green had 10,480 jobs in production, accounting for 13.4 percent of local area employment, compared to the 5.8-percent share nationally. The average hourly wage for this occupational group locally was $21.61, compared to the national wage of $22.90.

Some of the larger detailed occupations within the production group included miscellaneous assemblers and fabricators (3,410); inspectors, testers, sorters, samplers, and weighers (750); and first-line supervisors of production and operating workers (700). Among the higher-paying jobs in this group were first-line supervisors of production and operating workers and tool and die makers, with mean hourly wages of $31.40 and $30.04, respectively. At the lower end of the wage scale were textile, garment, and related materials pressers ($12.00) and laundry and dry-cleaning workers ($12.42). (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_14540.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 Bowling Green area, above-average concentrations of employment were found in many of the occupations within the production group. For instance, miscellaneous assemblers and fabricators were employed at 4.4 times the national rate in Bowling Green, and inspectors, testers, sorters, samplers, and weighers, at 2.5 times the U.S. average. Laundry and dry-cleaning workers had a location quotient of 1.1 in Bowling Green, 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 Kentucky Department for Workforce Investment.

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. 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 Bowling Green, KY Metropolitan Statistical Area included 1,045 establishments with a response rate of 67 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 Bowling Green, KY Metropolitan Statistical Area includes Allen County, Butler County, Edmonson County, and Warren 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, Bowling Green metropolitan area, May 2023

Occupation (1)	Employment		Mean wages ($)
	Level (2)	Location quotient (3)	Hourly	Annual (4)
Production occupations	10,480	2.3	21.61	44,950
First-line supervisors of production and operating workers	700	2.0	31.40	65,310
Electrical, electronic, and electromechanical assemblers, except coil winders, tapers, and finishers	100	0.7	18.64	38,780
Miscellaneous assemblers and fabricators	3,410	4.4	22.41	46,610
Bakers	150	1.3	18.98	39,480
Butchers and meat cutters	50	0.7	15.60	32,450
Cutting, punching, and press machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	350	3.8	20.76	43,180
Machinists	150	1.0	24.32	50,580
Molding, coremaking, and casting machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	340	4.1	20.74	43,130
Multiple machine tool setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	210	3.2	20.15	41,910
Tool and die makers	170	5.8	30.04	62,480
Welders, cutters, solderers, and brazers	440	2.0	22.75	47,320
Welding, soldering, and brazing machine setters, operators, and tenders	100	5.9	25.35	52,730
Printing press operators	180	2.3	20.82	43,300
Laundry and dry-cleaning workers	110	1.1	12.42	25,820
Pressers, textile, garment, and related materials	70	4.8	12.00	24,950
Water and wastewater treatment plant and system operators	60	0.9	21.84	45,420
Chemical equipment operators and tenders	150	2.3	23.14	48,140
Mixing and blending machine setters, operators, and tenders	160	2.9	20.37	42,370
Cutting and slicing machine setters, operators, and tenders	90	3.2	19.24	40,030
Inspectors, testers, sorters, samplers, and weighers	750	2.5	19.54	40,640
Packaging and filling machine operators and tenders	410	2.1	17.61	36,630
Coating, painting, and spraying machine setters, operators, and tenders	70	0.8	20.60	42,850
Computer numerically controlled tool operators	150	1.6	22.52	46,850
Molders, shapers, and casters, except metal and plastic	70	3.4	19.62	40,800
Paper goods machine setters, operators, and tenders	120	2.5	23.03	47,890
Helpers--production workers	250	2.7	16.08	33,440
Production workers, all other	360	2.9	18.95	39,420
Footnotes: (1) For a complete listing of all detailed occupations in the Bowling Green, KY Metropolitan Statistical Area, see www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_14540.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.