Workers in the Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin, TN Metropolitan Statistical Area had an average (mean) hourly wage of $29.59 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 ($61.93), legal ($56.60), and healthcare practitioners and technical ($50.23). Lower paying occupations included food preparation and serving related ($15.62), personal care and service ($16.90), and building and grounds cleaning and maintenance ($17.66). (See table A.)

Occupational groups with the highest employment in the Nashville area included office and administrative support (14.1 percent), transportation and material moving (11.4 percent), and food preparation and serving related (9.1 percent). Major occupational groups on the lower end of local employment included life, physical, and social science (0.7 percent); legal (0.8 percent); and architecture and engineering (1.1 percent). (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. Nashville had 122,460 jobs in transportation and material moving, accounting for 11.4 percent of local area employment, compared to the 9.1-percent share nationally. The average hourly wage for this occupational group locally was $21.09, 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 (40,510); stockers and order fillers (22,080); and heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers (17,880). Among the higher-paying jobs in this group were transportation inspectors and aircraft cargo handling supervisors, with mean hourly wages of $40.92 and $37.13, respectively. At the lower end of the wage scale were parking attendants ($13.73) and automotive and watercraft service attendants ($15.31). (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_34980.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 Nashville area, above-average concentrations of employment were found in some of the occupations within the transportation and material moving group. For instance, traffic technicians were employed at 3.0 times the national rate in Nashville, and laborers and hand freight, stock, and material movers, at 1.9 times the U.S. average. Industrial truck and tractor operators had a location quotient of 1.1 in Nashville, 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 Tennessee Department of Labor & 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 Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin, TN Metropolitan Statistical Area included 5,126 establishments with a response rate of 60 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 Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin, TN Metropolitan Statistical Area includes Cannon County, Cheatham County, Davidson County, Dickson County, Hickman County, Macon County, Maury County, Robertson County, Rutherford County, Smith County, Sumner County, Trousdale County, Williamson County, and Wilson 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 transportation and material moving occupations, Nashville metropolitan area, May 2023

Occupation (1)	Employment		Mean wages ($)
	Level (2)	Location quotient (3)	Hourly	Annual (4)
Transportation and material moving occupations	122,460	1.3	21.09	43,870
Aircraft cargo handling supervisors	50	0.8	37.13	77,240
First-line supervisors of transportation and material moving workers, except aircraft cargo handling supervisors	6,090	1.5	31.56	65,640
Airline pilots, copilots, and flight engineers	110	0.2	(5)	134,900
Commercial pilots	260	0.7	(5)	145,200
Airfield operations specialists	180	1.4	22.78	47,390
Ambulance drivers and attendants, except emergency medical technicians	60	0.8	22.43	46,660
Driver/sales workers	2,710	0.8	16.98	35,320
Heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers	17,880	1.2	27.35	56,900
Light truck drivers	9,480	1.3	22.47	46,740
Bus drivers, school	2,170	0.8	21.45	44,610
Bus drivers, transit and intercity	900	0.7	31.69	65,900
Shuttle drivers and chauffeurs	770	0.5	17.65	36,710
Motor vehicle operators, all other	740	2.0	17.02	35,400
Rail transportation workers, all other	110	8.8	20.47	42,580
Parking attendants	970	1.2	13.73	28,560
Automotive and watercraft service attendants	790	1.2	15.31	31,840
Aircraft service attendants	130	0.7	24.72	51,410
Traffic technicians	160	3.0	28.39	59,050
Transportation inspectors	140	0.7	40.92	85,110
Transportation workers, all other	210	2.7	23.52	48,910
Conveyor operators and tenders	70	0.4	19.96	41,510
Crane and tower operators	220	0.8	27.99	58,230
Industrial truck and tractor operators	5,760	1.1	20.41	42,450
Cleaners of vehicles and equipment	2,420	0.9	16.47	34,250
Laborers and freight, stock, and material movers, hand	40,510	1.9	18.63	38,760
Machine feeders and offbearers	100	0.3	19.90	41,400
Packers and packagers, hand	4,950	1.1	16.17	33,630
Stockers and order fillers	22,080	1.1	17.54	36,480
Pump operators, except wellhead pumpers	60	0.7	28.82	59,950
Refuse and recyclable material collectors	780	0.8	16.99	35,330
Material moving workers, all other	210	1.2	22.61	47,040
Footnotes: (1) For a complete listing of all detailed occupations in the Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin, TN Metropolitan Statistical Area, see www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_34980.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) 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.