Workers in the Tulsa, OK Metropolitan Statistical Area had an average (mean) hourly wage of $27.52 in May 2024, compared to the nationwide average of $32.66, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Assistant Commissioner for Regional Operations Michael Hirniak noted that higher paying major occupational groups included management ($57.17), legal ($45.94), and architecture and engineering ($45.84). Lower paying occupations included food preparation and serving related ($14.26), personal care and service ($16.07), and building and grounds cleaning and maintenance ($16.26). (See table A.)

Occupational groups with the highest employment in the Tulsa area included office and administrative support (12.3 percent), food preparation and serving related (9.6 percent), and sales and related (9.3 percent). Major occupational groups on the lower end of local employment included life, physical, and social science (0.6 percent); legal (0.7 percent); and arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media (1.0 percent).

One occupational group—production—was chosen to illustrate the diversity of data available for any of the 22 major occupational categories. Tulsa had 36,760 jobs in production, accounting for 8.1 percent of local area employment, compared to the 5.7-percent share nationally. The average hourly wage for this occupational group locally was $24.19, compared to the national wage of $24.08.

Some of the larger detailed occupations within the production group included welders, cutters, solderers, and brazers (4,070), first-line supervisors of production and operating workers (3,300), and inspectors, testers, sorters, samplers, and weighers (2,710). Among the higher paying jobs in this group were petroleum pump system operators, refinery operators, and gaugers ($47.51) and power plant operators ($40.41). At the lower end of the wage scale were laundry and dry-cleaning workers ($13.63) and textile, garment, and related materials pressers ($13.81). (Detailed data for the production occupations are presented in table 1; for a complete listing of detailed occupations available go to https://data.bls.gov/oes/#/area/0046140.)

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 Tulsa area, above-average concentrations of employment were found in many of the occupations within the production group. For instance, petroleum pump system operators, refinery operators, and gaugers were employed at 5.62 times the national rate in Tulsa, and structural metal fabricators and fitters, at 3.75 times the U.S. average. Butchers and meat cutters had a location quotient of 1.08 in Tulsa, 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 Oklahoma Employment Security Commission.

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 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 65.7 percent based on establishments and 65.9 percent based on weighted sampled employment. The sample in the Tulsa, OK Metropolitan Statistical Area included 3,323 establishments with a response rate of 76 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 Tulsa, OK Metropolitan Statistical Area includes Creek County, Okmulgee County, Osage County, Pawnee County, Rogers County, Tulsa County, and Wagoner 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, Tulsa metropolitan area, May 2024

Occupation (1)	Employment		Mean wages ($)
	Level (2)	Location quotient (3)	Hourly	Annual (4)
Production occupations	36,760	1.43	24.19	50,300
First-line supervisors of production and operating workers	3,300	1.64	35.94	74,760
Aircraft structure, surfaces, rigging, and systems assemblers	130	1.31	25.05	52,100
Electrical, electronic, and electromechanical assemblers, except coil winders, tapers, and finishers	1,080	1.41	20.67	42,990
Engine and other machine assemblers	130	1.14	28.71	59,730
Structural metal fabricators and fitters	590	3.75	25.06	52,130
Fiberglass laminators and fabricators	80	1.47	18.38	38,230
Miscellaneous assemblers and fabricators	5,690	1.33	19.73	41,040
Bakers	590	0.86	15.06	31,330
Butchers and meat cutters	440	1.08	17.08	35,530
Food and tobacco roasting, baking, and drying machine operators and tenders	70	1.25	15.45	32,130
Food batchmakers	440	0.86	15.70	32,660
Food cooking machine operators and tenders	(5)	(5)	15.10	31,410
Food processing workers, all other	50	0.27	17.39	36,180
Extruding and drawing machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	210	1.08	20.74	43,140
Rolling machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	160	2.43	22.70	47,210
Cutting, punching, and press machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	1,050	2.04	21.70	45,130
Drilling and boring machine tool setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	(5)	(5)	24.04	50,010
Grinding, lapping, polishing, and buffing machine tool setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	340	1.64	19.59	40,760
Lathe and turning machine tool setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	100	1.75	23.69	49,280
Milling and planing machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	90	2.21	22.08	45,920
Machinists	1,930	2.20	25.85	53,760
Metal-refining furnace operators and tenders	50	0.76	22.64	47,080
Molding, coremaking, and casting machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	660	1.45	18.68	38,860
Multiple machine tool setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	760	2.00	20.75	43,160
Tool and die makers	130	0.78	29.81	62,010
Welders, cutters, solderers, and brazers	4,070	3.26	26.18	54,460
Welding, soldering, and brazing machine setters, operators, and tenders	270	2.51	21.60	44,930
Heat treating equipment setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	30	0.73	28.35	58,970
Plating machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	50	0.58	21.41	44,530
Prepress technicians and workers	60	0.88	16.11	33,520
Printing press operators	480	1.13	19.08	39,690
Print binding and finishing workers	80	0.71	18.78	39,060
Laundry and dry-cleaning workers	690	1.20	13.63	28,360
Pressers, textile, garment, and related materials	140	1.77	13.81	28,710
Sewing machine operators	80	0.26	16.97	35,300
Cabinetmakers and bench carpenters	270	1.14	19.46	40,470
Woodworking machine setters, operators, and tenders, except sawing	60	0.33	17.45	36,290
Power plant operators	90	0.98	40.41	84,040
Stationary engineers and boiler operators	70	0.74	30.92	64,310
Water and wastewater treatment plant and system operators	650	1.75	22.55	46,890
Gas plant operators	(5)	(5)	36.78	76,510
Petroleum pump system operators, refinery operators, and gaugers	580	5.62	47.51	98,820
Plant and system operators, all other	50	1.06	30.79	64,050
Chemical equipment operators and tenders	210	0.57	28.25	58,750
Separating, filtering, clarifying, precipitating, and still machine setters, operators, and tenders	40	0.25	19.61	40,780
Crushing, grinding, and polishing machine setters, operators, and tenders	110	1.32	17.32	36,030
Grinding and polishing workers, hand	160	4.61	17.30	35,990
Mixing and blending machine setters, operators, and tenders	270	0.91	21.97	45,700
Cutting and slicing machine setters, operators, and tenders	260	1.85	18.94	39,390
Extruding, forming, pressing, and compacting machine setters, operators, and tenders	210	1.26	20.68	43,020
Furnace, kiln, oven, drier, and kettle operators and tenders	70	1.54	21.80	45,350
Inspectors, testers, sorters, samplers, and weighers	2,710	1.56	29.86	62,110
Jewelers and precious stone and metal workers	100	1.42	19.87	41,320
Dental laboratory technicians	150	1.55	25.16	52,330
Medical appliance technicians	30	0.94	(5)	(5)
Packaging and filling machine operators and tenders	970	0.86	18.33	38,130
Painting, coating, and decorating workers	(5)	(5)	17.82	37,070
Coating, painting, and spraying machine setters, operators, and tenders	1,000	2.13	21.95	45,660
Computer numerically controlled tool operators	880	1.69	24.26	50,450
Computer numerically controlled tool programmers	120	1.43	35.11	73,040
Cleaning, washing, and metal pickling equipment operators and tenders	140	3.50	23.25	48,370
Molders, shapers, and casters, except metal and plastic	70	0.73	20.79	43,240
Paper goods machine setters, operators, and tenders	560	1.96	27.51	57,210
Helpers--production workers	940	1.91	17.37	36,120
Production workers, all other	350	0.43	23.23	48,320
(1) For a complete listing of all detailed occupations in the Tulsa, OK Metropolitan Statistical Area, see https://data.bls.gov/oes/#/area/0046140. (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.