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News Release Information

24-1241-ATL
Tuesday, July 02, 2024

Contacts Technical information: Media contact:
  • (404) 893-4220

Occupational Employment and Wages in Decatur — May 2023

Workers in the Decatur, AL Metropolitan Statistical Area had an average (mean) hourly wage of $25.61 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 ($56.13), architecture and engineering ($49.67), and computer and mathematical ($46.58). Lower paying occupations included food preparation and serving related ($13.12), healthcare support ($14.24), personal care and service ($15.27), and building and grounds cleaning and maintenance ($15.53). (See table A.)

Occupational groups with the highest employment in the Decatur area included production (16.2 percent), transportation and material moving (10.3 percent), and office and administrative support (10.1 percent). Major occupational groups on the lower end of local employment included legal (0.3 percent); arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media (0.6 percent); and life, physical, and social science (0.9 percent). (See table A.)

Table A. Occupational employment and wages by major occupational group, United States and the Decatur metropolitan area, May 2023
Major occupational group Percent of total employment Mean hourly wage ($)
United States Decatur United States Decatur

Total, all occupations

100.0 100.0 31.48 25.61

Management

6.9 4.8 66.23 56.13

Business and financial operations

6.6 3.5 43.55 38.03

Computer and mathematical

3.4 1.3 54.39 46.58

Architecture and engineering

1.7 3.7 47.64 49.67

Life, physical, and social science

0.9 0.9 42.24 35.92

Community and social service

1.6 1.1 28.36 23.34

Legal

0.8 0.3 64.34 40.59

Educational instruction and library

5.8 4.8 31.92 23.43

Arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media

1.4 0.6 36.31 21.70

Healthcare practitioners and technical

6.1 4.6 49.07 34.32

Healthcare support

4.7 3.4 18.37 14.24

Protective service

2.3 2.3 27.74 21.89

Food preparation and serving related

8.7 7.9 16.58 13.12

Building and grounds cleaning and maintenance

2.9 2.8 18.43 15.53

Personal care and service

2.0 1.2 18.48 15.27

Sales and related

8.8 8.4 25.62 21.28

Office and administrative support

12.2 10.1 23.05 19.58

Farming, fishing, and forestry

0.3 0.2 19.22 17.99

Construction and extraction

4.1 5.1 29.57 25.41

Installation, maintenance, and repair

3.9 6.7 28.13 29.18

Production

5.8 16.2 22.90 24.26

Transportation and material moving

9.1 10.3 22.45 19.69

One occupational group—production—was chosen to illustrate the diversity of data available for any of the 22 major occupational categories. Decatur had 9,400 jobs in production, accounting for 16.2 percent of local area employment, compared to the 5.8-percent share nationally. The average hourly wage for this occupational group locally was $24.26, compared to the national wage of $22.90.

Some of the larger detailed occupations within the production group included miscellaneous assemblers and fabricators (1,320) and first-line supervisors of production and operating workers (810). Among the higher-paying jobs in this group were power plant operators, first-line supervisors of production and operating workers, and chemical equipment operators and tenders, with mean hourly wages of $44.60, $38.59, and $37.04, respectively. At the lower end of the wage scale were meat, poultry, and fish cutters and trimmers ($12.87), laundry and dry-cleaning workers ($13.36), and sewing machine operators ($14.38). (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_19460.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 Decatur area, above-average concentrations of employment were found in many of the occupations within the production group. For instance, chemical equipment operators and tenders were employed at 10.2 times the national rate in Decatur, and woodworking machine setters, operators, and tenders, except sawing, at 9.0 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 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 Decatur, AL Metropolitan Statistical Area included 885 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 Decatur, AL Metropolitan Statistical Area includes Lawrence County and Morgan 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, Decatur metropolitan area, May 2023
Occupation (1) Employment Mean wages ($)
Level (2) Location quotient (3) Hourly Annual (4)

Production occupations

9,400 2.8 24.26 50,460

First-line supervisors of production and operating workers

810 3.2 38.59 80,270

Electrical, electronic, and electromechanical assemblers, except coil winders, tapers, and finishers

(5) (5) 19.19 39,920

Structural metal fabricators and fitters

140 6.5 21.92 45,580

Miscellaneous assemblers and fabricators

1,320 2.3 18.52 38,520

Butchers and meat cutters

50 1.0 15.25 31,710

Meat, poultry, and fish cutters and trimmers

(5) (5) 12.87 26,770

Food batchmakers

80 1.3 17.09 35,540

Extruding and drawing machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic

150 6.2 21.11 43,910

Cutting, punching, and press machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic

330 4.9 20.17 41,960

Machinists

380 3.4 25.88 53,820

Multiple machine tool setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic

170 3.6 24.45 50,860

Tool and die makers

40 1.8 26.36 54,830

Welders, cutters, solderers, and brazers

500 3.1 24.93 51,850

Welding, soldering, and brazing machine setters, operators, and tenders

90 7.0 19.97 41,530

Printing press operators

80 1.4 16.97 35,310

Laundry and dry-cleaning workers

60 0.9 13.36 27,800

Sewing machine operators

100 2.3 14.38 29,900

Extruding and forming machine setters, operators, and tenders, synthetic and glass fibers

110 20.7 33.12 68,890

Sawing machine setters, operators, and tenders, wood

110 6.6 19.86 41,310

Woodworking machine setters, operators, and tenders, except sawing

210 9.0 (5) (5)

Power plant operators

40 3.6 44.60 92,770

Water and wastewater treatment plant and system operators

60 1.3 23.57 49,030

Chemical plant and system operators

90 13.0 (5) (5)

Chemical equipment operators and tenders

470 10.2 37.04 77,030

Mixing and blending machine setters, operators, and tenders

100 2.6 28.88 60,060

Extruding, forming, pressing, and compacting machine setters, operators, and tenders

60 2.5 18.34 38,150

Inspectors, testers, sorters, samplers, and weighers

400 1.8 19.62 40,810

Packaging and filling machine operators and tenders

180 1.3 17.53 36,450

Coating, painting, and spraying machine setters, operators, and tenders

130 2.2 19.66 40,890

Computer numerically controlled tool operators

130 1.8 22.66 47,130

Helpers--production workers

350 5.1 17.14 35,660

Footnotes:
(1) For a complete listing of all detailed occupations in the Decatur, AL Metropolitan Statistical Area, see www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_19460.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.
(5) Estimate not released.

 

Last Modified Date: Tuesday, July 02, 2024