Workers in the Macon-Bibb County, GA Metropolitan Statistical Area had an average (mean) hourly wage of $26.73 in May 2024, compared to the nationwide average of $32.66, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Regional Commissioner Victoria G. Lee noted that higher paying major occupational groups included management ($56.98), legal ($43.96), and healthcare practitioners and technical ($43.32). Lower paying occupational groups included food preparation and serving related ($13.57), personal care and service ($15.42), building and grounds cleaning and maintenance ($15.72), and healthcare support ($16.60). (See table A.)

Office and administrative occupations accounted for 12.3 percent of Macon area employment, followed by food preparation and serving related occupations (9.8 percent). Major occupational groups on the lower end of local employment included life, physical, and social science (0.3 percent); arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media (0.7 percent); and architecture and engineering (0.7 percent).

One occupational group—healthcare practitioners and technical—was chosen to illustrate the diversity of data available for any of the 22 major occupational categories. Macon had 8,360 jobs in healthcare practitioners and technical, accounting for 8.8 percent of local area employment, compared to the 6.2-percent share nationally. The average hourly wage for this occupational group locally was $43.32, compared to the national wage of $50.59.

Some of the larger detailed occupations within the healthcare practitioners and technical group included registered nurses (2,950) and licensed practical and licensed vocational nurses (790). Among the higher paying jobs in this group were family medicine physicians ($145.50) and nurse anesthetists ($109.44). At the lower end of the wage scale were veterinary technologists and technicians ($16.57). (Detailed data for the healthcare practitioners and technical occupations are presented in table 1; for a complete listing of detailed occupations available go to https://data.bls.gov/oes/#/area/0031420.)

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 2.00 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 many of the occupations within the healthcare practitioners and technical group. For instance, cardiovascular technologists and technicians were employed at 3.98 times the national rate in Macon, and paramedics, at 2.54 times the U.S. average. Physical therapists had a location quotient of 0.82 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 530 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 is 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 65.7 percent based on establishments and 65.9 percent based on weighted sampled employment. The sample in the Macon-Bibb County, GA Metropolitan Statistical Area included 1,207 establishments with a response rate of 68 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-Bibb County, 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 healthcare practitioners and technical occupations, Macon metropolitan area, May 2024

Occupation (1)	Employment		Mean wages ($)
	Level (2)	Location quotient (3)	Hourly	Annual (4)
Healthcare practitioners and technical occupations	8,360	1.41	43.32	90,100
Dentists, general	70	1.00	98.94	205,800
Dietitians and nutritionists	70	1.50	33.56	69,800
Pharmacists	280	1.39	60.55	125,950
Physician assistants	100	1.02	56.93	118,420
Occupational therapists	70	0.73	50.00	104,010
Physical therapists	130	0.82	50.62	105,290
Respiratory therapists	110	1.37	35.93	74,730
Speech-language pathologists	80	0.74	42.89	89,210
Registered nurses	2,950	1.46	39.95	83,090
Nurse anesthetists	110	3.48	109.44	227,640
Nurse practitioners	360	1.90	55.72	115,900
Family medicine physicians	110	1.62	145.50	302,640
General internal medicine physicians	30	0.81	134.38	279,520
Physicians, all other	190	0.98	79.45	165,250
Dental hygienists	110	0.82	35.26	73,330
Clinical laboratory technologists and technicians	280	1.33	30.40	63,230
Cardiovascular technologists and technicians	150	3.98	30.39	63,200
Diagnostic medical sonographers	90	1.63	32.96	68,550
Radiologic technologists and technicians	280	2.02	30.83	64,130
Emergency medical technicians	200	1.86	19.80	41,180
Paramedics	160	2.54	24.68	51,320
Pharmacy technicians	380	1.27	18.63	38,760
Psychiatric technicians	40	0.53	18.95	39,420
Surgical technologists	130	1.85	26.20	54,490
Veterinary technologists and technicians	30	0.40	16.57	34,470
Ophthalmic medical technicians	50	1.10	18.67	38,820
Licensed practical and licensed vocational nurses	790	2.02	26.83	55,800
Medical records specialists	180	1.57	22.45	46,690
Opticians, dispensing	60	1.13	22.33	46,440
Health technologists and technicians, all other	130	1.19	22.70	47,220
Health information technologists and medical registrars	100	4.32	25.43	52,890
Surgical assistants	(5)	(5)	24.39	50,720
Footnotes: (1) For a complete listing of all detailed occupations in the Macon-Bibb County, GA Metropolitan Statistical Area, see https://data.bls.gov/oes/#/area/0031420. (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.