Workers in the Dalton, GA Metropolitan Statistical Area had an average (mean) hourly wage of $24.09 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 ($59.10), healthcare practitioners and technical ($43.75), legal ($42.00), and architecture and engineering ($40.53). Lower paying occupations included food preparation and serving related ($13.08), personal care and service ($13.29), and building and grounds cleaning and maintenance ($15.08). (See table A.)

Occupational groups with the highest employment in the Dalton area included production (23.2 percent), transportation and material moving (14.7 percent), and office and administrative support (11.3 percent). Major occupational groups on the lower end of local employment included legal (0.3 percent); life, physical, and social science (0.5 percent); and arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media (0.7 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. Dalton had 15,220 jobs in production, accounting for 23.2 percent of local area employment, compared to the 5.8-percent share nationally. The average hourly wage for this occupational group locally was $18.58, compared to the national wage of $22.90.

Some of the larger detailed occupations within the production group included textile winding, twisting, and drawing out machine setters, operators, and tenders (3,550); textile knitting and weaving machine setters, operators, and tenders (2,040); and first-line supervisors of production and operating workers (1,270). Among the higher-paying jobs in this group was first-line supervisors of production and operating workers, with a mean hourly wage of $29.65. At the lower end of the wage scale was bakers ($11.87). (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_19140.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 Dalton area, above-average concentrations of employment were found in many of the occupations within the production group. For instance, textile winding, twisting, and drawing out machine setters, operators, and tenders, were employed at 349.8 times the national rate in Dalton, and textile knitting and weaving machine setters, operators, and tenders, at 295.9 times the U.S. average. Miscellaneous assemblers and fabricators had a location quotient of 1.1 in Dalton, 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.

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 Dalton, GA Metropolitan Statistical Area included 831 establishments with a response rate of 75 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 Dalton, GA Metropolitan Statistical Area includes Murray County and Whitfield 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, Dalton metropolitan area, May 2023

Occupation (1)	Employment		Mean wages ($)
	Level (2)	Location quotient (3)	Hourly	Annual (4)
Production occupations	15,220	4.0	18.58	38,650
First-line supervisors of production and operating workers	1,270	4.4	29.65	61,680
Miscellaneous assemblers and fabricators	670	1.1	16.64	34,610
Bakers	50	0.5	11.87	24,700
Extruding and drawing machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	90	3.3	19.41	40,380
Cutting, punching, and press machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	90	1.2	16.43	34,170
Milling and planing machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	30	5.0	19.53	40,630
Machinists	160	1.3	21.03	43,730
Welders, cutters, solderers, and brazers	190	1.1	20.50	42,650
Prepress technicians and workers	60	5.8	19.74	41,060
Printing press operators	370	5.6	18.89	39,290
Sewing machine operators	560	11.3	14.81	30,800
Textile bleaching and dyeing machine operators and tenders	290	100.4	18.81	39,130
Textile cutting machine setters, operators, and tenders	570	136.2	16.70	34,740
Textile knitting and weaving machine setters, operators, and tenders	2,040	295.9	17.64	36,680
Textile winding, twisting, and drawing out machine setters, operators, and tenders	3,550	349.8	16.86	35,070
Extruding and forming machine setters, operators, and tenders, synthetic and glass fibers	1,040	165.2	18.97	39,450
Textile, apparel, and furnishings workers, all other	560	86.6	14.94	31,080
Woodworking machine setters, operators, and tenders, except sawing	30	1.1	16.63	34,590
Water and wastewater treatment plant and system operators	60	1.2	22.64	47,080
Chemical equipment operators and tenders	170	3.2	22.37	46,520
Mixing and blending machine setters, operators, and tenders	190	4.3	19.98	41,560
Cutters and trimmers, hand	50	17.2	14.44	30,040
Extruding, forming, pressing, and compacting machine setters, operators, and tenders	100	4.1	22.40	46,600
Inspectors, testers, sorters, samplers, and weighers	1,000	4.0	18.33	38,130
Packaging and filling machine operators and tenders	180	1.1	15.98	33,230
Coating, painting, and spraying machine setters, operators, and tenders	140	2.1	18.74	38,980
Helpers--production workers	150	1.9	15.97	33,230
Production workers, all other	630	6.0	17.29	35,960
Footnotes: (1) For a complete listing of all detailed occupations in the Dalton, GA Metropolitan Statistical Area, see www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_19140.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.