Workers in the Cincinnati-Middletown Metropolitan Statistical Area had an average (mean) hourly wage of $21.46 in May 2012, about 2 percent below the nationwide average of $22.01, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Regional Commissioner Charlene Peiffer noted that, after testing for statistical significance, wages in the local area were significantly higher than their respective national averages in 3 of the 22 major occupational groups. Twelve groups had significantly lower wages than their respective national averages, including legal; arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media; and computer and mathematical.

When compared to the nationwide distribution, local employment was more highly concentrated in 7 of the 22 occupational groups, including production; food preparation and serving related; and transportation and material moving. Conversely, 11 groups had employment shares significantly below their national representation, including education, training, and library; construction and extraction; and personal care and service. (See table A and box note at end of release.)

One occupational group—transportation and material moving—was chosen to illustrate the diversity of data available for any of the 22 major occupational categories. Cincinnati-Middletown had 71,610 jobs in transportation and material moving, accounting for 7.3 percent of local area employment, significantly higher than the 6.7-percent share nationally. The average hourly wage for this occupational group locally was $15.63, compared to the national wage of $16.15.

With employment of 17,880, laborers and freight, stock, and material movers by hand was the largest occupation within the transportation and material moving group, followed by heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers (10,280) and hand packers and packagers (7,780). Among the higher paying jobs were captains, mates, and pilots of water vessels and transportation inspectors, with mean hourly wages of $43.64 and $34.34, respectively. At the lower end of the wage scale were automotive and watercraft service attendants ($10.56) and packers and packagers, hand ($10.64). (Detailed occupational data for transportation and material moving are presented in table 1; for a complete listing of detailed occupations available go to www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_17140.htm)

Location quotients allow for the exploration of an area’s occupational make-up 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 Cincinnati-Middletown Metropolitan Statistical Area, above average concentrations of employment were found in some of the occupations within the transportation and material moving group. For instance, airline pilots, copilots, and flight engineers were employed at 1.8 times the national rate in Cincinnati, and hand packers and packagers, at 1.6 times the U.S. average. On the other hand, first-line supervisors of helpers, laborers, and material movers by hand had a location quotient of 1.0 in Cincinnati, indicating that this particular occupation’s local and national employment shares were similar.

These statistics are from the Occupational Employment Statistics (OES) survey, a federal-state cooperative program between BLS and State Workforce Agencies, in this case, the Ohio Department of Job & Family Services, Indiana Department of Workforce Development, and Kentucky Department for Workforce Investment.

With the release of the May 2012 estimates, OES data are based on the 2010 Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) system for the first time. The OES survey provides estimates of employment and hourly and annual wages for wage and salary workers in 22 major occupational groups and more than 800 detailed occupations for the nation, states, metropolitan statistical areas, metropolitan divisions, and nonmetropolitan areas. In addition, employment and wage estimates for 94 minor groups and 458 broad occupations are available in the national data for the first time. Information about the 2010 SOC is available on the BLS website at www.bls.gov/soc.

The May 2012 OES estimates are the first to be produced using the 2012 North American Industry Classification System (NAICS). Information about the 2012 NAICS is available on the BLS website at www.bls.gov/bls/naics.htm.

Technical Note

The Occupational Employment Statistics (OES) survey is a semiannual mail survey measuring occupational employment and wage rates for wage and salary workers in nonfarm establishments in the United States. Guam, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands are also surveyed, but their data are not included in the national estimates. OES estimates are constructed from a sample of about 1.2 million establishments. Forms are mailed to approximately 200,000 sampled establishments in May and November each year for a 3-year period. May 2012 estimates are based on responses from six semiannual panels collected in May 2012, November 2011, May 2011, November 2010, May 2010, and November 2009. The overall national response rate for the six panels is 76.6 percent based on establishments and 72.9 percent based on employment. The sample in the Cincinnati-Middletown Metropolitan Statistical Area included 7,398 establishments with a response rate of 76 percent. For more information about OES concepts and methodology, go to www.bls.gov/news.release/ocwage.tn.htm.

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 Cincinnati-Middletown, Ohio-Ky.-Ind. Metropolitan Statistical Area&nbsp includes Brown, Butler, Clermont, Hamilton, and Warren Counties of Ohio; Boone, Bracken, Campbell, Gallatin, Grant, Kenton and Pendleton Counties of Kentucky; and Dearborn, Franklin, and Ohio Counties of Indiana.

Additional information

OES data are available on our regional web page at www.bls.gov/ro5/home.htm. Answers to frequently asked questions about the OES data are available at www.bls.gov/oes/oes_ques.htm. Detailed technical information about the OES survey is available in our Survey Methods and Reliability Statement on the BLS website at www.bls.gov/oes/2012/may/methods_statement.pdf. Information in this release will be made available to sensory impaired individuals upon request – Voice phone: 202-691-5200; Federal Relay Service: 1-800-877-8339.

Table 1. Employment and wage data from the Occupational Employment Statistics survey, by occupation, Cincinnati-Middletown Metropolitan Statistical Area, May 2012

Occupation (1)	Employment		Mean wages
	Level (2)	Location quotient (3)	Hourly	Annual(4)
Transportation and Material Moving Occupations	71,610	1.1	$15.63	$32,520
Aircraft Cargo Handling Supervisors	30	0.7	25.62	53,280
First-Line Supervisors of Helpers, Laborers, and Material Movers by Hand	1,300	1.0	21.96	45,670
First-Line Supervisors of Transportation and Material-Moving Machine and Vehicle Operators	1,680	1.1	24.80	51,590
Airline Pilots, Copilots, and Flight Engineers	910	1.8	(5)	129,490
Commercial Pilots	120	0.5	(5)	69,960
Flight Attendants	800	1.3	(5)	(5)
Ambulance Drivers and Attendants, Except Emergency Medical Technicians	40	0.3	13.17	27,390
Bus Drivers, Transit and Intercity	1,650	1.4	19.99	41,570
Bus Drivers, School or Special Client	5,340	1.5	14.48	30,120
Driver/Sales Workers	4,420	1.5	12.39	25,780
Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers	10,280	0.9	19.56	40,690
Light Truck or Delivery Services Drivers	5,180	0.9	16.68	34,700
Taxi Drivers and Chauffeurs	1,160	0.9	11.28	23,460
Motor Vehicle Operators, All Other	110	0.2	17.60	36,610
Sailors and Marine Oilers	400	1.7	14.76	30,690
Captains, Mates, and Pilots of Water Vessels	220	1.0	43.64	90,780
Ship Engineers	60	0.8	32.90	68,430
Parking Lot Attendants	820	0.9	11.12	23,120
Automotive and Watercraft Service Attendants	1,090	1.3	10.56	21,960
Traffic Technicians	(5)	(5)	18.81	39,130
Transportation Inspectors	120	0.6	34.34	71,430
Transportation Attendants, Except Flight Attendants	230	1.3	11.34	23,580
Transportation Workers, All Other	120	0.4	13.44	27,960
Conveyor Operators and Tenders	200	0.7	14.79	30,770
Crane and Tower Operators	230	0.7	20.40	42,430
Excavating and Loading Machine and Dragline Operators	130	0.4	16.45	34,220
Hoist and Winch Operators	40	1.8	28.90	60,110
Industrial Truck and Tractor Operators	4,890	1.3	15.16	31,540
Cleaners of Vehicles and Equipment	2,130	0.9	10.79	22,430
Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers by Hand	17,880	1.1	12.34	25,660
Machine Feeders and Offbearers	760	1.0	14.39	29,940
Hand Packers and Packagers	7,780	1.6	10.64	22,140
Pump Operators, Except Wellhead Pumpers	50	0.6	18.92	39,350
Refuse and Recyclable Material Collectors	970	1.1	16.68	34,690
Material Moving Workers, All Other	(5)	(5)	16.78	34,910
Footnotes: (1) For a complete listing of all detailed occupations in Cincinnati-Middletown, OH-KY-IN, see www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_17140.htm. (2) Estimates for detailed occupations do not sum to the totals because the totals include occupations 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.

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