Workers in the Montgomery, AL Metropolitan Statistical Area had an average (mean) hourly wage of $24.94 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 ($53.71) and legal ($47.05). Lower paying occupations included food preparation and serving related ($12.96), building and grounds cleaning and maintenance ($14.31), and personal care and service ($14.80). (See table A.)

Occupational groups with the highest employment in the Montgomery area included office and administrative support (12.6 percent), production (10.0 percent), and transportation and material moving (9.7 percent). Major occupational groups on the lower end of local employment included life, physical, and social science (0.8 percent) and legal (1.1 percent). (See table A.)

One occupational group—production—was chosen to illustrate the diversity of data available for any of the 22 major occupational categories. Montgomery had 16,130 jobs in production, accounting for 10.0 percent of local area employment, compared to the 5.8-percent share nationally. The average hourly wage for this occupational group locally was $21.23, compared to the national wage of $22.90.

Some of the larger detailed occupations within the production group included miscellaneous assemblers and fabricators (6,110); first-line supervisors of production and operating workers (1,360); and inspectors, testers, sorters, samplers, and weighers (1,170). Among the higher-paying jobs in this group were power plant operators and first-line supervisors of production and operating workers, with mean hourly wages of $46.94 and $35.46, respectively. At the lower end of the wage scale were laundry and dry-cleaning workers ($12.98) and bakers ($14.39). (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_33860.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 Montgomery area, above-average concentrations of employment were found in many of the occupations within the production group. For instance, miscellaneous assemblers and fabricators were employed at 3.9 times the national rate in Montgomery, and meat, poultry, and fish cutters and trimmers, at 3.8 times the U.S. average. Bakers had a location quotient of 0.9 in Montgomery, 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 Alabama 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 Montgomery, AL Metropolitan Statistical Area included 1,687 establishments with a response rate of 55 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 Montgomery, AL Metropolitan Statistical Area includes Autauga County, Elmore County, Lowndes County, and Montgomery 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 production occupations, Montgomery metropolitan area, May 2023

Occupation (1)	Employment		Mean wages ($)
	Level (2)	Location quotient (3)	Hourly	Annual (4)
Production occupations	16,130	1.7	21.23	44,160
First-line supervisors of production and operating workers	1,360	1.9	35.46	73,750
Electrical, electronic, and electromechanical assemblers, except coil winders, tapers, and finishers	490	1.7	20.92	43,520
Structural metal fabricators and fitters	130	2.1	21.01	43,700
Miscellaneous assemblers and fabricators	6,110	3.9	20.27	42,170
Bakers	200	0.9	14.39	29,920
Butchers and meat cutters	170	1.2	15.98	33,240
Meat, poultry, and fish cutters and trimmers	550	3.8	15.13	31,460
Food batchmakers	90	0.5	17.01	35,380
Extruding and drawing machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	110	1.6	16.26	33,830
Cutting, punching, and press machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	350	1.9	18.55	38,580
Grinding, lapping, polishing, and buffing machine tool setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	60	0.8	19.39	40,330
Machinists	380	1.2	24.60	51,170
Molding, coremaking, and casting machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	250	1.5	18.40	38,270
Multiple machine tool setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	160	1.2	18.79	39,070
Tool and die makers	40	0.6	26.36	54,830
Welders, cutters, solderers, and brazers	580	1.3	22.98	47,800
Prepress technicians and workers	30	1.2	16.95	35,260
Printing press operators	230	1.4	17.03	35,430
Print binding and finishing workers	30	0.8	16.53	34,390
Laundry and dry-cleaning workers	240	1.2	12.98	27,000
Sewing machine operators	90	0.7	15.13	31,470
Cabinetmakers and bench carpenters	100	1.1	16.94	35,240
Sawing machine setters, operators, and tenders, wood	90	2.0	19.48	40,510
Power plant operators	40	1.3	46.94	97,630
Water and wastewater treatment plant and system operators	190	1.5	22.30	46,380
Chemical equipment operators and tenders	170	1.3	(5)	(5)
Mixing and blending machine setters, operators, and tenders	80	0.7	20.75	43,160
Cutting and slicing machine setters, operators, and tenders	50	0.8	17.72	36,850
Inspectors, testers, sorters, samplers, and weighers	1,170	1.9	20.59	42,820
Dental laboratory technicians	40	1.0	18.89	39,290
Packaging and filling machine operators and tenders	290	0.7	17.18	35,740
Coating, painting, and spraying machine setters, operators, and tenders	280	1.7	21.59	44,910
Computer numerically controlled tool operators	260	1.3	20.29	42,210
Paper goods machine setters, operators, and tenders	170	1.7	24.87	51,730
Helpers--production workers	580	3.0	16.58	34,480
Production workers, all other	60	0.2	16.10	33,490
Footnotes: (1) For a complete listing of all detailed occupations in the Montgomery, AL Metropolitan Statistical Area, see www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_33860.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.