Workers in the Louisville/Jefferson County, KY-IN Metropolitan Statistical Area had an average (mean) hourly wage of $27.87 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 ($55.55), legal ($48.05), and healthcare practitioners and technical ($44.33). Lower paying occupations included food preparation and serving related ($14.68), building and grounds cleaning and maintenance ($16.88), and personal care and service ($17.06). (See table A.)

Occupational groups with the highest employment in the Louisville area included transportation and material moving (14.0 percent), office and administrative support (12.9 percent), and production (9.3 percent). Major occupational groups on the lower end of local employment included life, physical, and social science and also legal (0.6 percent each). (See table A.)

One occupational group—transportation and material moving—was chosen to illustrate the diversity of data available for any of the 22 major occupational categories. Louisville had 92,810 jobs in transportation and material moving, accounting for 14.0 percent of local area employment, compared to the 9.1-percent share nationally. The average hourly wage for this occupational group locally was $26.28, compared to the national wage of $22.45.

Some of the larger detailed occupations within the transportation and material moving group included laborers and hand freight, stock, and material movers (30,330); stockers and order fillers (17,780); and heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers (10,090). Among the higher-paying jobs in this group were captains, mates, and pilots of water vessels and transportation inspectors, with mean hourly wages of $53.03 and $45.06, respectively. At the lower end of the wage scale were parking attendants ($14.30) and automotive and watercraft service attendants ($15.59). (Detailed data for the transportation and material moving occupations are presented in table 1; for a complete listing of detailed occupations available, go to www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_31140.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 Louisville area, above-average concentrations of employment were found in some of the occupations within the transportation and material moving group. For instance, tank car, truck, and ship loaders were employed at 3.8 times the national rate in Louisville, and captains, mates, and pilots of water vessels, at 3.6 times the U.S. average. Cleaners of vehicles and equipment had a location quotient of 1.1 in Louisville, 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 and the Indiana Department of Workforce Development.

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 Louisville/Jefferson County, KY-IN Metropolitan Statistical Area included 4,880 establishments with a response rate of 65 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 Louisville/Jefferson County, KY-IN Metropolitan Statistical Area includes Clark County, IN; Floyd County, IN; Harrison County, IN; Scott County, IN; Washington County, IN; Bullitt County, KY; Henry County, KY; Jefferson County, KY; Oldham County, KY; Shelby County, KY; Spencer County, KY; and Trimble County, KY.

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 transportation and material moving occupations, Louisville metropolitan area, May 2023

Occupation (1)	Employment		Mean wages ($)
	Level (2)	Location quotient (3)	Hourly	Annual (4)
Transportation and material moving occupations	92,810	1.5	26.28	54,660
First-line supervisors of transportation and material moving workers, except aircraft cargo handling supervisors	3,680	1.4	29.96	62,310
Airline pilots, copilots, and flight engineers	(5)	(5)	(6)	371,770
Commercial pilots	190	0.8	(6)	132,410
Airfield operations specialists	140	1.8	(5)	(5)
Driver/sales workers	3,350	1.7	18.26	37,980
Heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers	10,090	1.1	28.37	59,000
Light truck drivers	5,920	1.4	24.39	50,730
Bus drivers, school	1,730	1.1	24.22	50,370
Bus drivers, transit and intercity	980	1.2	25.24	52,490
Shuttle drivers and chauffeurs	810	0.9	16.22	33,740
Motor vehicle operators, all other	190	0.8	18.04	37,530
Sailors and marine oilers	400	3.1	22.37	46,540
Captains, mates, and pilots of water vessels	550	3.6	53.03	110,300
Parking attendants	330	0.6	14.30	29,750
Automotive and watercraft service attendants	240	0.6	15.59	32,430
Aircraft service attendants	100	0.9	(5)	(5)
Transportation inspectors	110	0.9	45.06	93,720
Conveyor operators and tenders	170	1.6	20.84	43,350
Crane and tower operators	130	0.7	28.38	59,030
Industrial truck and tractor operators	4,910	1.4	22.34	46,470
Cleaners of vehicles and equipment	1,680	1.1	16.38	34,070
Laborers and freight, stock, and material movers, hand	30,330	2.3	20.38	42,380
Machine feeders and offbearers	450	2.3	20.64	42,930
Packers and packagers, hand	3,400	1.2	17.72	36,860
Stockers and order fillers	17,780	1.4	19.50	40,560
Refuse and recyclable material collectors	570	1.0	21.25	44,200
Tank car, truck, and ship loaders	190	3.8	31.09	64,680
Footnotes: (1) For a complete listing of all detailed occupations in the Louisville/Jefferson County, KY-IN Metropolitan Statistical Area, see www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_31140.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.