Workers in the Lexington-Fayette, KY Metropolitan Statistical Area had an average (mean) hourly wage of $27.49 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 ($52.65), legal ($46.89), and healthcare practitioners and technical ($45.31). Lower paying occupations included food preparation and serving related ($14.62), personal care and service ($15.99), and building and grounds cleaning and maintenance ($16.52). (See table A.)

Occupational groups with the highest employment in the Lexington area included office and administrative support (12.8 percent), food preparation and serving related (9.4 percent), and transportation and material moving (9.1 percent). Major occupational groups on the lower end of local employment included legal (0.6 percent); life, physical, and social science (0.9 percent); and arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media (1.1 percent). (See table A.)

One occupational group—healthcare practitioners and technical—was chosen to illustrate the diversity of data available for any of the 22 major occupational categories. Lexington had 24,050 jobs in healthcare practitioners and technical, accounting for 8.6 percent of local area employment, compared to the 6.1-percent share nationally. The average hourly wage for this occupational group locally was $45.31, compared to the national wage of $49.07.

Registered nurses (8,310) was among the larger detailed occupations within the healthcare practitioners and technical group. Among the higher-paying jobs in this group were obstetricians and gynecologists and family medicine physicians, with mean hourly wages of $171.52 and $152.12, respectively. At the lower end of the wage scale were psychiatric technicians ($17.72) and dietetic technicians ($17.88). (Detailed data for the healthcare practitioners and technical occupations are presented in table 1; for a complete listing of detailed occupations available, go to www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_30460.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 Lexington area, above-average concentrations of employment were found in many of the occupations within the healthcare practitioners and technical group. For instance, health information technologists and medical registrars were employed at 4.0 times the national rate in Lexington, and veterinary technologists and technicians, at 2.4 times the U.S. average. Occupational therapists had a location quotient of 1.1 in Lexington, 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 Lexington-Fayette, KY Metropolitan Statistical Area included 2,373 establishments with a response rate of 63 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 Lexington-Fayette, KY Metropolitan Statistical Area includes Bourbon County, Clark County, Fayette County, Jessamine County, Scott County, and Woodford 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 healthcare practitioners and technical occupations, Lexington metropolitan area, May 2023

Occupation (1)	Employment		Mean wages ($)
	Level (2)	Location quotient (3)	Hourly	Annual (4)
Healthcare practitioners and technical occupations	24,050	1.4	45.31	94,250
Chiropractors	50	0.7	36.40	75,710
Dietitians and nutritionists	230	1.7	31.34	65,180
Optometrists	50	0.7	68.12	141,690
Pharmacists	1,010	1.7	60.84	126,550
Physician assistants	230	0.9	46.71	97,150
Occupational therapists	290	1.1	42.20	87,780
Physical therapists	560	1.3	41.17	85,630
Radiation therapists	40	1.2	45.08	93,760
Recreational therapists	60	2.1	24.25	50,430
Respiratory therapists	430	1.8	32.63	67,860
Speech-language pathologists	360	1.1	39.64	82,460
Therapists, all other	100	3.3	49.43	102,810
Veterinarians	320	2.2	58.05	120,730
Registered nurses	8,310	1.4	39.73	82,640
Nurse practitioners	870	1.7	55.39	115,220
Dermatologists	40	2.0	(5)	(5)
Emergency medicine physicians	80	1.2	120.53	250,700
Family medicine physicians	280	1.4	152.12	316,420
General internal medicine physicians	270	2.2	110.77	230,390
Obstetricians and gynecologists	40	1.1	171.52	356,760
Pediatricians, general	100	1.6	119.98	249,570
Physicians, pathologists	110	5.6	152.52	317,230
Psychiatrists	50	1.1	105.00	218,390
Radiologists	90	1.5	141.83	295,000
Physicians, all other	450	0.8	130.12	270,650
Surgeons, all other	150	3.0	188.05	391,150
Dental hygienists	440	1.1	36.73	76,400
Healthcare diagnosing or treating practitioners, all other	40	0.8	44.06	91,650
Clinical laboratory technologists and technicians	1,030	1.7	27.38	56,960
Cardiovascular technologists and technicians	180	1.8	27.61	57,430
Diagnostic medical sonographers	180	1.2	35.76	74,380
Radiologic technologists and technicians	650	1.6	31.93	66,400
Magnetic resonance imaging technologists	60	0.8	37.05	77,060
Emergency medical technicians	220	0.7	22.98	47,800
Paramedics	250	1.4	26.23	54,560
Dietetic technicians	60	1.3	17.88	37,190
Pharmacy technicians	1,470	1.7	20.15	41,910
Psychiatric technicians	190	0.9	17.72	36,850
Surgical technologists	380	1.9	25.82	53,710
Veterinary technologists and technicians	540	2.4	18.12	37,690
Ophthalmic medical technicians	210	1.5	19.24	40,020
Licensed practical and licensed vocational nurses	1,050	0.9	26.96	56,070
Medical records specialists	630	1.9	23.89	49,690
Opticians, dispensing	120	0.9	22.56	46,930
Health technologists and technicians, all other	660	2.1	29.20	60,730
Health information technologists and medical registrars	250	4.0	30.87	64,210
Athletic trainers	90	1.8	(6)	52,710
Surgical assistants	50	1.3	44.05	91,630
Footnotes: (1) For a complete listing of all detailed occupations in the Lexington-Fayette, KY Metropolitan Statistical Area, see www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_30460.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. (6) Wages for some occupations that do not generally work year-round, full time, are reported either as hourly wages or annual salaries depending on how they are typically paid.