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News Release Information

23-1460-ATL
Friday, June 30, 2023

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

Occupational Employment and Wages in Knoxville — May 2022

Workers in the Knoxville, TN Metropolitan Statistical Area had an average (mean) hourly wage of $25.36 in May 2022, 15 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 21 of the 22 major occupational groups.

When compared to the nationwide distribution, Knoxville area employment was more highly concentrated in 9 of the 22 occupational groups, including office and administrative support, production, and food preparation and serving related. Eleven groups had employment shares significantly below their national representation, including business and financial operations, healthcare support, and educational instruction and library. (See table A.)

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

Total, all occupations

100.0 100.0 29.76 25.36* -15

Management

6.7 6.3* 63.08 56.11* -11

Business and financial operations

6.5 5.0* 41.39 34.48* -17

Computer and mathematical

3.4 2.5* 51.99 39.86* -23

Architecture and engineering

1.7 2.1* 45.52 42.23* -7

Life, physical, and social science

0.9 0.9 40.21 36.64* -9

Community and social service

1.6 1.3* 26.81 22.00* -18

Legal

0.8 0.6* 59.87 54.17* -10

Educational instruction and library

5.7 4.7* 30.41 26.68* -12

Arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media

1.4 1.1* 36.78 28.10* -24

Healthcare practitioners and technical

6.1 6.5* 46.52 38.57* -17

Healthcare support

4.6 3.3* 17.10 15.69* -8

Protective service

2.3 1.9* 25.97 22.46* -14

Food preparation and serving related

8.5 9.3* 15.45 13.00* -16

Building and grounds cleaning and maintenance

2.9 3.5* 17.26 15.12* -12

Personal care and service

1.9 2.0 17.41 14.68* -16

Sales and related

8.9 8.7* 24.22 20.57* -15

Office and administrative support

12.6 14.5* 21.90 20.24* -8

Farming, fishing, and forestry

0.3 0.1* 18.21 17.41 -4

Construction and extraction

4.1 4.6* 28.08 23.82* -15

Installation, maintenance, and repair

3.9 4.3* 26.77 24.29* -9

Production

5.9 7.4* 21.81 21.05* -3

Transportation and material moving

9.2 9.5* 21.12 19.18* -9

Footnotes:
(1) A positive percent difference measures how much the mean wage in the Knoxville, TN 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. Knoxville had 29,380 jobs in production, accounting for 7.4 percent of local area employment, significantly higher than the 5.9-percent share nationally. The average hourly wage for this occupational group locally was $21.05, significantly below the national wage of $21.81.

Some of the larger detailed occupations within the production group included miscellaneous assemblers and fabricators (4,810); first-line supervisors of production and operating workers (2,340); welders, cutters, solderers, and brazers (2,180); and inspectors, testers, sorters, samplers, and weighers (2,140). Among the higher-paying jobs in this group were power plant operators ($43.35), first-line supervisors of production and operating workers ($33.89), and chemical equipment operators and tenders ($33.76). At the lower end of the wage scale were laundry and dry-cleaning workers ($12.88) and sewing machine operators ($13.01). (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_28940.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 Knoxville area, above-average concentrations of employment were found in many of the occupations within the production group. For instance, metal and plastic drilling and boring machine tool setters, operators, and tenders were employed at 11.3 times the national rate in Knoxville, and food cooking machine operators and tenders, at 4.0 times the U.S. average. Laundry and dry-cleaning workers had a location quotient of 1.0 in Knoxville, 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 Tennessee Department of Labor & Workforce Development.

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 Knoxville, TN Metropolitan Statistical Area included 2,955 establishments with a response rate of 58 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 Knoxville, TN Metropolitan Statistical Area includes Anderson County, Blount County, Campbell County, Grainger County, Knox County, Loudon County, Morgan County, Roane County, and Union 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, Knoxville metropolitan area, May 2022
Occupation (1) Employment Mean wages ($)
Level (2) Location quotient (3) Hourly Annual (4)

Production occupations

29,380 1.3 21.05 43,780

First-line supervisors of production and operating workers

2,340 1.3 33.89 70,480

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

650 0.9 19.56 40,680

Structural metal fabricators and fitters

150 1.0 20.72 43,100

Fiberglass laminators and fabricators

70 1.1 16.82 34,980

Miscellaneous assemblers and fabricators

4,810 1.2 17.97 37,370

Bakers

460 0.8 15.78 32,820

Butchers and meat cutters

160 0.5 17.86 37,140

Meat, poultry, and fish cutters and trimmers

310 0.9 14.48 30,120

Food and tobacco roasting, baking, and drying machine operators and tenders

150 2.8 18.56 38,590

Food batchmakers

230 0.5 16.60 34,520

Food cooking machine operators and tenders

290 4.0 17.54 36,480

Food processing workers, all other

250 2.0 16.27 33,840

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

440 2.6 20.22 42,060

Forging machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic

100 3.6 20.09 41,800

Rolling machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic

160 2.1 21.51 44,740

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

710 1.5 20.43 42,500

Drilling and boring machine tool setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic

200 11.3 19.82 41,220

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

180 0.9 19.39 40,330

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

100 2.0 18.99 39,500

Milling and planing machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic

100 2.5 22.03 45,820

Machinists

1,320 1.6 25.73 53,510

Metal-refining furnace operators and tenders

190 3.7 26.93 56,020

Foundry mold and coremakers

80 2.5 18.39 38,260

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

970 2.2 18.14 37,740

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

250 0.7 18.13 37,700

Tool and die makers

600 3.6 24.51 50,990

Welders, cutters, solderers, and brazers

2,180 2.0 21.28 44,260

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

170 2.1 21.10 43,890

Plating machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic

100 1.2 17.32 36,030

Metal workers and plastic workers, all other

190 3.3 18.02 37,480

Prepress technicians and workers

90 1.3 17.39 36,180

Printing press operators

340 0.8 18.45 38,380

Print binding and finishing workers

120 1.1 16.91 35,180

Laundry and dry-cleaning workers

450 1.0 12.88 26,780

Sewing machine operators

470 1.5 13.01 27,050

Textile cutting machine setters, operators, and tenders

60 2.1 13.71 28,510

Upholsterers

40 0.6 18.76 39,010

Textile, apparel, and furnishings workers, all other

60 1.7 13.14 27,330

Cabinetmakers and bench carpenters

200 0.8 18.14 37,740

Sawing machine setters, operators, and tenders, wood

100 0.8 17.36 36,100

Woodworking machine setters, operators, and tenders, except sawing

140 0.8 16.76 34,850

Woodworkers, all other

70 2.7 14.81 30,810

Power plant operators

120 1.4 43.35 90,170

Water and wastewater treatment plant and system operators

370 1.1 24.75 51,470

Chemical plant and system operators

30 0.6 31.43 65,370

Chemical equipment operators and tenders

830 2.7 33.76 70,210

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

70 0.5 19.18 39,900

Crushing, grinding, and polishing machine setters, operators, and tenders

140 1.9 19.87 41,320

Grinding and polishing workers, hand

50 1.3 16.45 34,210

Mixing and blending machine setters, operators, and tenders

320 1.1 17.05 35,470

Cutters and trimmers, hand

40 2.0 18.38 38,230

Cutting and slicing machine setters, operators, and tenders

130 0.9 17.63 36,680

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

260 1.6 19.43 40,420

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

80 2.0 19.93 41,450

Inspectors, testers, sorters, samplers, and weighers

2,140 1.4 21.21 44,110

Jewelers and precious stone and metal workers

50 0.7 24.40 50,760

Packaging and filling machine operators and tenders

620 0.6 17.93 37,290

Painting, coating, and decorating workers

100 3.2 19.58 40,720

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

290 0.7 20.78 43,220

Computer numerically controlled tool operators

200 0.4 21.21 44,110

Computer numerically controlled tool programmers

40 0.5 31.45 65,420

Molders, shapers, and casters, except metal and plastic

140 1.4 17.64 36,700

Paper goods machine setters, operators, and tenders

320 1.3 19.93 41,460

Helpers--production workers

200 0.4 16.11 33,510

Production workers, all other

1,800 2.7 17.57 36,550

Footnotes:
(1) For a complete listing of all detailed occupations in the Knoxville, TN Metropolitan Statistical Area, see www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_28940.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