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News Release Information

23-1469-ATL
Friday, June 30, 2023

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

Occupational Employment and Wages in Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton — May 2022

Workers in the Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton, NC Metropolitan Statistical Area had an average (mean) hourly wage of $22.90 in May 2022, 23 percent below the nationwide average of $29.76, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Regional Commissioner Victoria G. Lee noted that, after testing for statistical significance, wages in the local area were lower than their respective national averages in all of the 22 major occupational groups.

When compared to the nationwide distribution, Hickory area employment was more highly concentrated in 3 of the 22 occupational groups: production; transportation and material moving; and installation, maintenance, and repair. Fifteen groups had employment shares significantly below their national representation, including business and financial operations, management, and computer and mathematical. (See table A.)

Table A. Occupational employment and wages by major occupational group, United States and the Hickory metropolitan area, and measures of statistical significance, May 2022
Major occupational group Percent of total employment Mean hourly wage ($)
United States Hickory United States Hickory Percent difference (1)

Total, all occupations

100.0 100.0 29.76 22.90* -23

Management

6.7 4.4* 63.08 53.32* -15

Business and financial operations

6.5 3.6* 41.39 33.34* -19

Computer and mathematical

3.4 1.3* 51.99 44.23* -15

Architecture and engineering

1.7 1.2* 45.52 36.34* -20

Life, physical, and social science

0.9 0.5* 40.21 30.21* -25

Community and social service

1.6 1.2* 26.81 24.00* -10

Legal

0.8 0.3* 59.87 40.77* -32

Educational instruction and library

5.7 5.1* 30.41 21.43* -30

Arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media

1.4 0.7* 36.78 29.18* -21

Healthcare practitioners and technical

6.1 6.1 46.52 40.72* -12

Healthcare support

4.6 4.5 17.10 15.36* -10

Protective service

2.3 2.3 25.97 19.31* -26

Food preparation and serving related

8.5 7.6* 15.45 12.88* -17

Building and grounds cleaning and maintenance

2.9 1.9* 17.26 14.59* -15

Personal care and service

1.9 1.2* 17.41 14.87* -15

Sales and related

8.9 8.8 24.22 19.47* -20

Office and administrative support

12.6 10.8* 21.90 18.89* -14

Farming, fishing, and forestry

0.3 0.1* 18.21 16.61* -9

Construction and extraction

4.1 2.5* 28.08 21.75* -23

Installation, maintenance, and repair

3.9 4.3* 26.77 23.60* -12

Production

5.9 19.4* 21.81 19.42* -11

Transportation and material moving

9.2 12.2* 21.12 19.18* -9

Footnotes:
(1) A positive percent difference measures how much the mean wage in the Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton, NC Metropolitan Statistical Area is above the national mean wage, while a negative difference reflects a lower wage.
* The mean hourly wage or percent share of employment is significantly different from the national average of all areas at the 90-percent confidence level.

One occupational group—production—was chosen to illustrate the diversity of data available for any of the 22 major occupational categories. Hickory had 29,730 jobs in production, accounting for 19.4 percent of local area employment, significantly higher than the 5.9-percent share nationally. The average hourly wage for this occupational group locally was $19.42, significantly below the national wage of $21.81.

Some of the larger detailed occupations within the production group included miscellaneous assemblers and fabricators (4,180), upholsterers (2,690), and sewing machine operators (2,470). Among the higher-paying jobs in this group were power plant operators and first-line supervisors of production and operating workers, with mean hourly wages of $31.01 and $28.92, respectively. At the lower end of the wage scale were laundry and dry-cleaning workers ($12.52) and textile, garment, and related materials pressers ($12.70). (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_25860.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 Hickory area, above-average concentrations of employment were found in many of the occupations within the production group. For instance, upholsterers were employed at 96.1 times the national rate in Hickory, and cutters and trimmers by hand, at 82.9 times the U.S. average. Welders, cutters, solderers, and brazers had a location quotient of 1.0 in Hickory, indicating that this particular occupation’s local and national employment shares were similar.

These statistics are from the Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) survey, a federal-state cooperative program between BLS and State Workforce Agencies, in this case, the North Carolina Department of Commerce.

Changes to the Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) Data

The May 2022 OEWS estimates use the model-based (MB3) estimation method implemented with the May 2021 estimates release. Additional updates were made to the MB3 wage processing methodology for May 2022. For more information, see the May 2022 Survey Methods and Reliability Statement.

The May 2022 estimates are the first OEWS estimates to be produced using the 2022 NAICS, which replaces the 2017 NAICS used for the May 2017-May 2021 estimates. See North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) at BLS for details.


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. OEWS data are available at www.bls.gov/oes/tables.htm.

The OEWS survey is a cooperative effort between BLS and the State Workforce Agencies (SWAs). BLS funds the survey and provides the procedures and technical support, while the State Workforce Agencies collect most of the data. OEWS estimates are constructed from a sample of about 1.1 million establishments. Each year, two semiannual panels of approximately 179,000 to 187,000 sampled establishments are contacted, one panel in May and the other in November. Responses are obtained by Internet or other electronic means, mail, email, telephone, or personal visit. The May 2022 estimates are based on responses from six semiannual panels collected over a 3-year period: May 2022, November 2021, May 2021, November 2020, May 2020, and November 2019. The unweighted sampled employment of 80 million across all six semiannual panels represents approximately 57 percent of total national employment. The overall national response rate for the six panels, based on the 50 states and the District of Columbia, is 65.4 percent based on establishments and 62.5 percent based on weighted sampled employment. The sample in the Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton, NC Metropolitan Statistical Area included 1,637 establishments with a response rate of 76 percent. For more information about OEWS concepts and methodology, go to www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_tec.htm.

A value that is statistically different from another does not necessarily mean that the difference has economic or practical significance. Statistical significance is concerned with the ability to make confident statements about a universe based on a sample. It is entirely possible that a large difference between two values is not significantly different statistically, while a small difference is, since both the size and heterogeneity of the sample affect the relative error of the data being tested.

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 Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton, NC Metropolitan Statistical Area includes Alexander County, Burke County, Caldwell County, and Catawba County.

For more information

Answers to frequently asked questions about the OEWS data are available at www.bls.gov/oes/oes_ques.htm. Detailed information about the OEWS program is available at www.bls.gov/oes/oes_doc.htm.

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, Hickory metropolitan area, May 2022
Occupation (1) Employment Mean wages ($)
Level (2) Location quotient (3) Hourly Annual (4)

Production occupations

29,730 3.3 19.42 40,390

First-line supervisors of production and operating workers

1,740 2.5 28.92 60,160

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

1,660 5.8 21.14 43,960

Miscellaneous assemblers and fabricators

4,180 2.8 18.37 38,210

Bakers

110 0.5 15.77 32,810

Butchers and meat cutters

80 0.6 17.93 37,290

Meat, poultry, and fish cutters and trimmers

380 2.8 17.17 35,720

Food batchmakers

150 0.8 19.87 41,330

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

460 7.0 20.14 41,890

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

180 1.0 17.62 36,650

Grinding, lapping, polishing, and buffing machine tool setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic

150 2.0 18.59 38,660

Lathe and turning machine tool setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic

40 2.2 18.97 39,460

Machinists

440 1.4 21.51 44,730

Molding, coremaking, and casting machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic

920 5.4 17.22 35,820

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

140 1.0 19.09 39,710

Tool and die makers

110 1.8 27.44 57,070

Welders, cutters, solderers, and brazers

430 1.0 21.19 44,080

Printing press operators

210 1.3 20.11 41,840

Laundry and dry-cleaning workers

210 1.1 12.52 26,050

Pressers, textile, garment, and related materials

60 1.9 12.70 26,420

Sewing machine operators

2,470 20.4 18.96 39,430

Textile bleaching and dyeing machine operators and tenders

290 42.5 14.31 29,750

Textile cutting machine setters, operators, and tenders

280 25.4 19.88 41,360

Textile knitting and weaving machine setters, operators, and tenders

440 25.4 15.71 32,680

Textile winding, twisting, and drawing out machine setters, operators, and tenders

370 15.1 14.88 30,950

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

130 8.5 19.11 39,760

Fabric and apparel patternmakers

90 29.8 24.89 51,770

Upholsterers

2,690 96.1 24.00 49,920

Textile, apparel, and furnishings workers, all other

240 17.8 14.91 31,010

Cabinetmakers and bench carpenters

170 1.7 18.36 38,180

Furniture finishers

380 24.5 17.14 35,650

Sawing machine setters, operators, and tenders, wood

200 4.3 15.71 32,670

Woodworking machine setters, operators, and tenders, except sawing

950 14.5 17.36 36,100

Power plant operators

60 2.0 31.01 64,490

Water and wastewater treatment plant and system operators

120 1.0 19.19 39,900

Chemical equipment operators and tenders

160 1.3 21.77 45,280

Separating, filtering, clarifying, precipitating, and still machine setters, operators, and tenders

40 0.8 19.45 40,450

Grinding and polishing workers, hand

80 5.3 15.34 31,900

Mixing and blending machine setters, operators, and tenders

400 3.5 18.80 39,110

Cutters and trimmers, hand

710 82.9 21.51 44,740

Cutting and slicing machine setters, operators, and tenders

620 11.1 18.60 38,690

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

130 2.1 19.20 39,930

Furnace, kiln, oven, drier, and kettle operators and tenders

30 2.1 19.77 41,120

Inspectors, testers, sorters, samplers, and weighers

1,770 3.0 18.13 37,710

Dental laboratory technicians

40 1.0 22.77 47,370

Packaging and filling machine operators and tenders

700 1.8 15.30 31,820

Painting, coating, and decorating workers

30 2.8 17.86 37,150

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

330 2.1 19.58 40,730

Computer numerically controlled tool operators

210 1.1 18.78 39,070

Computer numerically controlled tool programmers

50 1.7 23.82 49,540

Adhesive bonding machine operators and tenders

260 22.3 14.99 31,180

Paper goods machine setters, operators, and tenders

560 5.9 20.33 42,290

Helpers--production workers

740 3.8 14.07 29,260

Production workers, all other

900 3.4 17.64 36,690

Footnotes:
(1) For a complete listing of all detailed occupations in the Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton, NC Metropolitan Statistical Area, see www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_25860.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.

 

Last Modified Date: Friday, June 30, 2023