Workers in the Tuscaloosa, AL Metropolitan Statistical Area had an average (mean) hourly wage of $24.81 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 ($51.60), legal ($42.63), and architecture and engineering ($42.53). Lower paying occupations included food preparation and serving related ($13.17), healthcare support ($15.08), and personal care and service ($15.71). (See table A.)

Occupational groups with the highest employment in the Tuscaloosa area included production (15.2 percent), office and administrative support (9.6 percent), and food preparation and serving related (9.5 percent). Major occupational groups on the lower end of local employment included legal (0.4 percent); life, physical, and social science (0.6 percent); and arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media (0.9 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. Tuscaloosa had 15,750 jobs in production, accounting for 15.2 percent of local area employment, compared to the 5.8-percent share nationally. The average hourly wage for this occupational group locally was $23.46, compared to the national wage of $22.90.

Miscellaneous assemblers and fabricators (7,750) was among the larger detailed occupations within the production group. Among the higher-paying jobs in this group were first-line supervisors of production and operating workers and chemical equipment operators and tenders, with mean hourly wages of $34.61 and $33.10, respectively. At the lower end of the wage scale were laundry and dry-cleaning workers ($13.87), sewing machine operators ($14.58), and bakers ($14.78). (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_46220.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 Tuscaloosa 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 7.6 times the national rate in Tuscaloosa, and helpers of production workers, at 3.9 times the U.S. average. Machinists had a location quotient of 0.8 in Tuscaloosa, 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 Tuscaloosa, AL Metropolitan Statistical Area included 1,211 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 Tuscaloosa, AL Metropolitan Statistical Area includes Hale County, Pickens County, and Tuscaloosa 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, Tuscaloosa metropolitan area, May 2023

Occupation (1)	Employment		Mean wages ($)
	Level (2)	Location quotient (3)	Hourly	Annual (4)
Production occupations	15,750	2.6	23.46	48,790
First-line supervisors of production and operating workers	810	1.8	34.61	71,980
Structural metal fabricators and fitters	40	1.0	22.36	46,500
Miscellaneous assemblers and fabricators	7,750	7.6	24.11	50,150
Bakers	130	0.9	14.78	30,740
Butchers and meat cutters	140	1.5	15.54	32,330
Cutting, punching, and press machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	130	1.1	19.18	39,890
Grinding, lapping, polishing, and buffing machine tool setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	50	0.9	17.84	37,110
Machinists	160	0.8	25.06	52,120
Molding, coremaking, and casting machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	(5)	(5)	20.27	42,170
Multiple machine tool setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	80	0.9	16.32	33,950
Welders, cutters, solderers, and brazers	380	1.3	23.23	48,320
Tool grinders, filers, and sharpeners	40	9.5	24.40	50,760
Printing press operators	80	0.7	16.39	34,090
Laundry and dry-cleaning workers	170	1.4	13.87	28,860
Sewing machine operators	40	0.5	14.58	30,330
Cabinetmakers and bench carpenters	30	0.6	21.77	45,290
Sawing machine setters, operators, and tenders, wood	440	14.9	17.90	37,240
Woodworking machine setters, operators, and tenders, except sawing	230	5.6	15.59	32,430
Water and wastewater treatment plant and system operators	190	2.3	23.16	48,180
Chemical equipment operators and tenders	70	0.9	33.10	68,850
Mixing and blending machine setters, operators, and tenders	210	3.0	25.48	52,990
Cutting and slicing machine setters, operators, and tenders	40	1.1	17.70	36,810
Furnace, kiln, oven, drier, and kettle operators and tenders	70	6.7	25.18	52,370
Inspectors, testers, sorters, samplers, and weighers	620	1.6	20.46	42,560
Packaging and filling machine operators and tenders	180	0.7	22.59	47,000
Coating, painting, and spraying machine setters, operators, and tenders	140	1.3	19.45	40,450
Computer numerically controlled tool operators	60	0.5	23.25	48,360
Helpers--production workers	480	3.9	16.42	34,150
Footnotes: (1) For a complete listing of all detailed occupations in the Tuscaloosa, AL Metropolitan Statistical Area, see www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_46220.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.