Workers in the Visalia-Porterville, CA Metropolitan Statistical Area had an average (mean) hourly wage of $27.42 in May 2023, compared to the nationwide average of $31.48, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Regional Commissioner Chris Rosenlund noted that higher paying major occupational groups included management ($57.62), healthcare practitioners and technical ($56.44), and legal ($55.64). Lower paying occupations included food preparation and serving related ($17.74), healthcare support ($17.99), and personal care and service ($19.33). (See table A.)

Occupational groups with the highest employment in the Visalia area included transportation and material moving (11.1 percent), office and administrative support (9.2 percent), and educational instruction and library (8.2 percent). Major occupational groups on the lower end of local employment included legal (0.2 percent), architecture and engineering (0.6 percent), and computer and mathematical (0.8 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. Visalia had 18,650 jobs in transportation and material moving, accounting for 11.1 percent of local area employment, compared to the 9.1-percent share nationally. The average hourly wage for this occupational group locally was $21.47, compared to the national wage of $22.45.

Some of the larger detailed occupations within the transportation and material moving group included hand laborers and freight, stock, and material movers (3,860), stockers and order fillers (3,410), and heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers (3,110). Among the higher-paying jobs in this group were first-line supervisors of transportation and material moving workers, except aircraft cargo handling supervisors and refuse and recyclable material collectors, with mean hourly wages of $29.50 and $27.82, respectively. At the lower end of the wage scale were hand packers and packagers ($17.31) and automotive and watercraft service attendants ($17.90). (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_47300.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 Visalia area, above-average concentrations of employment were found in many of the occupations within the transportation and material moving group. For instance, industrial truck and tractor operators were employed at 2.9 times the national rate in Visalia, and hand packers and packagers, at 2.5 times the U.S. average. First-line supervisors of transportation and material moving workers, except aircraft cargo handling supervisors had a location quotient of 1.0 in Visalia, 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 California Employment Development Department.

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 Visalia-Porterville, CA Metropolitan Statistical Area included 1,505 establishments with a response rate of 64 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 Visalia-Porterville, CA Metropolitan Statistical Area includes Tulare 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, Visalia metropolitan area, May 2023

Occupation (1)	Employment		Mean wages ($)
	Level (2)	Location quotient (3)	Hourly	Annual (4)
Transportation and material moving occupations	18,650	1.2	21.47	44,650
First-line supervisors of transportation and material moving workers, except aircraft cargo handling supervisors	670	1.0	29.50	61,350
Commercial pilots	90	1.5	(5)	(5)
Driver/sales workers	310	0.6	22.29	46,370
Heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers	3,110	1.4	24.70	51,370
Light truck drivers	1,060	1.0	22.42	46,630
Bus drivers, school	240	0.6	22.20	46,170
Automotive and watercraft service attendants	150	1.4	17.90	37,230
Conveyor operators and tenders	70	2.7	22.03	45,820
Industrial truck and tractor operators	2,550	2.9	23.11	48,060
Cleaners of vehicles and equipment	540	1.3	18.58	38,640
Laborers and freight, stock, and material movers, hand	3,860	1.2	18.75	39,000
Machine feeders and offbearers	190	3.8	23.29	48,450
Packers and packagers, hand	1,800	2.5	17.31	36,000
Stockers and order fillers	3,410	1.1	20.16	41,940
Pump operators, except wellhead pumpers	60	4.3	22.23	46,240
Refuse and recyclable material collectors	160	1.1	27.82	57,870
Material moving workers, all other	60	2.4	19.83	41,250
Footnotes: (1) For a complete listing of all detailed occupations in the Visalia-Porterville, CA Metropolitan Statistical Area, see www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_47300.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.