Workers in the Macon, GA Metropolitan Statistical Area had an average (mean) hourly wage of $25.44 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 ($53.93) and legal ($44.29). Lower paying occupations included food preparation and serving related ($13.26), building and grounds cleaning and maintenance ($15.14), personal care and service ($15.52), and healthcare support ($16.44). (See table A.)

Occupational groups with the highest employment in the Macon area included office and administrative support (15.4 percent) and also transportation and material moving and food preparation and serving related (9.6 percent each). Major occupational groups on the lower end of local employment included life, physical, and social science (0.3 percent) and both arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media and architecture and engineering (0.7 percent each). (See table A.)

One occupational group—office and administrative support—was chosen to illustrate the diversity of data available for any of the 22 major occupational categories. Macon had 14,730 jobs in office and administrative support, accounting for 15.4 percent of local area employment, compared to the 12.2-percent share nationally. The average hourly wage for this occupational group locally was $20.12, compared to the national wage of $23.05.

Some of the larger detailed occupations within the office and administrative support group included customer service representatives (2,740); general office clerks (1,640); first-line supervisors of office and administrative support workers (1,230); and secretaries and administrative assistant's, except legal, medical, and executive (1,180). Among the higher-paying jobs in this group were executive secretaries and executive administrative assistants as well as first-line supervisors of office and administrative support workers, with mean hourly wages of $30.57 and $30.52, respectively. At the lower end of the wage scale was hotel, motel, and resort desk clerks ($12.42). (Detailed data for the office and administrative support occupations are presented in table 1; for a complete listing of detailed occupations available, go to www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_31420.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 Macon area, above-average concentrations of employment were found in some of the occupations within the office and administrative support group. For instance, switchboard operators, including answering service, were employed at 4.4 times the national rate in Macon, and postal service mail sorters, processors, and processing machine operators, at 3.4 times the U.S. average. Shipping, receiving, and inventory clerks had a location quotient of 1.0 in Macon, 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 Georgia 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 Macon, GA Metropolitan Statistical Area included 1,236 establishments with a response rate of 70 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 Macon, GA Metropolitan Statistical Area includes Bibb County, Crawford County, Jones County, Monroe County, and Twiggs 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 office and administrative support occupations, Macon metropolitan area, May 2023

Occupation (1)	Employment		Mean wages ($)
	Level (2)	Location quotient (3)	Hourly	Annual (4)
Office and administrative support occupations	14,730	1.3	20.12	41,850
First-line supervisors of office and administrative support workers	1,230	1.3	30.52	63,490
Switchboard operators, including answering service	120	4.4	17.70	36,810
Bill and account collectors	200	1.7	19.74	41,060
Billing and posting clerks	290	1.1	20.03	41,670
Bookkeeping, accounting, and auditing clerks	710	0.8	20.84	43,340
Payroll and timekeeping clerks	80	0.9	23.79	49,480
Tellers	240	1.1	17.12	35,610
Court, municipal, and license clerks	120	1.2	18.16	37,770
Customer service representatives	2,740	1.5	18.05	37,530
Eligibility interviewers, government programs	80	0.8	17.24	35,870
Hotel, motel, and resort desk clerks	300	1.8	12.42	25,840
Loan interviewers and clerks	80	0.6	21.40	44,500
New accounts clerks	40	1.6	21.45	44,610
Human resources assistants, except payroll and timekeeping	30	0.5	18.66	38,820
Receptionists and information clerks	810	1.3	16.07	33,430
Information and record clerks, all other	40	0.4	19.13	39,800
Couriers and messengers	60	1.4	16.00	33,270
Public safety telecommunicators	110	1.8	16.77	34,890
Dispatchers, except police, fire, and ambulance	(5)	(5)	18.18	37,810
Postal service clerks	50	1.0	28.01	58,270
Postal service mail carriers	300	1.4	26.96	56,090
Postal service mail sorters, processors, and processing machine operators	250	3.4	26.02	54,120
Production, planning, and expediting clerks	190	0.8	25.56	53,160
Shipping, receiving, and inventory clerks	530	1.0	17.63	36,670
Executive secretaries and executive administrative assistants	170	0.6	30.57	63,580
Legal secretaries and administrative assistants	50	0.5	27.90	58,020
Medical secretaries and administrative assistants	390	0.8	18.25	37,960
Secretaries and administrative assistants, except legal, medical, and executive	1,180	1.1	17.37	36,130
Data entry keyers	30	0.4	17.62	36,650
Insurance claims and policy processing clerks	(5)	(5)	24.56	51,090
Office clerks, general	1,640	1.0	17.62	36,640
Office machine operators, except computer	70	4.2	17.09	35,550
Office and administrative support workers, all other	120	1.2	16.97	35,290
Footnotes: (1) For a complete listing of all detailed occupations in the Macon, GA Metropolitan Statistical Area, see www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_31420.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.