Occupational Employment and Wages, May 2005

51-9198 Helpers—Production Workers

Help production workers by performing duties of lesser skill. Duties include supplying or holding materials or tools, and cleaning work area and equipment. Exclude apprentice workers and report them with the appropriate production occupation (51-1011 through 51-9199).

National estimates for this occupation
Industry profile for this occupation
State profile for this occupation
Metropolitan area profile for this occupation

National estimates for this occupation: Top

Employment estimate and mean wage estimates for this occupation:

Employment (1) Employment
RSE (3)
Mean hourly
wage
Mean annual
wage (2)
Wage RSE (3)
528,610 1.4 % $10.45 $21,730 0.4 %

Percentile wage estimates for this occupation:

Percentile 10% 25% 50%
(Median)
75% 90%
Hourly Wage $6.97 $7.99 $9.80 $12.35 $15.46
Annual Wage (2) $14,490 $16,610 $20,390 $25,680 $32,150

Industry profile for this occupation: Top

Industries with the highest published employment and wages for this occupation are provided. For a list of all industries with employment in this occupation, see the Create Customized Tables function.

Industries with the highest levels of employment in this occupation:

Industry Employment Hourly mean wage Annual mean wage
Employment services 101,330 $8.95 $18,620
Animal slaughtering and processing 25,060 $9.60 $19,970
Printing and related support activities 24,820 $10.60 $22,040
Converted paper product manufacturing 23,250 $11.40 $23,710
Plastics product manufacturing 18,860 $10.65 $22,150

Top paying industries for this occupation:

Industry Employment Hourly mean wage Annual mean wage
Rail transportation 330 $17.03 $35,420
Pulp, paper, and paperboard mills 5,520 $15.52 $32,270
Metal ore mining 260 $15.50 $32,240
Power generation and supply 550 $15.20 $31,620
Coal mining 630 $14.58 $30,340

State profile for this occupation: Top

States with the highest published employment concentrations and wages for this occupation are provided. For a list of all States with employment in this occupation, see the Create Customized Tables function.

States with the highest concentration of workers in this occupation:

State Employment Hourly mean wage Annual mean wage Percent of State employment
Arkansas 17,610 $10.05 $20,900 1.542%
Delaware 4,370 $8.72 $18,130 1.047%
Indiana 22,380 $10.86 $22,580 0.774%
Tennessee 18,920 $10.54 $21,920 0.704%
South Carolina 12,440 $10.22 $21,250 0.690%

Top paying States for this occupation:

State Employment Hourly mean wage Annual mean wage Percent of State employment
District of Columbia 90 $12.53 $26,060 0.015%
Oregon 6,670 $12.15 $25,280 0.417%
Alaska 270 $12.10 $25,160 0.090%
Massachusetts 7,170 $11.69 $24,320 0.228%
Wisconsin 16,060 $11.58 $24,090 0.589%

Metropolitan area profile for this occupation: Top

Metropolitan areas with the highest published employment concentrations and wages for this occupation are provided. For a list of all Metropolitan areas with employment in this occupation, see the Create Customized Tables function.

Metropolitan areas with the highest concentration of workers in this occupation:

MSA Employment Hourly mean wage Annual mean wage Percent of MSA employment
Fort Smith, AR-OK 3,020 $9.36 $19,470 2.592%
Columbus, IN 1,010 $9.76 $20,310 2.466%
Jackson, TN 1,320 $11.00 $22,870 2.300%
Jonesboro, AR 890 $10.80 $22,460 1.884%
Elkhart-Goshen, IN 2,310 $10.53 $21,910 1.811%

Top paying Metropolitan areas for this occupation:

MSA Employment Hourly mean wage Annual mean wage Percent of MSA employment
Monroe, MI (8) $14.44 $30,020 (8)
Visalia-Porterville, CA 310 $14.43 $30,010 0.251%
Cedar Rapids, IA 330 $14.39 $29,940 0.254%
Decatur, AL 880 $14.35 $29,840 1.564%
Tacoma, WA Metropolitan Division 710 $14.13 $29,400 0.282%

About May 2005 National, State, and Metropolitan Area Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates

These estimates are calculated with data collected from employers in all industry sectors in metropolitan and non-metropolitan areas in every State and the District of Columbia. The top five employment and wage figures are provided above. The complete list is available in the downloadable Excel files (XLS).

Percentile wage estimates show the percentage of workers in an occupation that earn less than a given wage and the percentage that earn more. The median wage is the 50th percentile wage estimate—50 percent of workers earn less than the median and 50 percent of workers earn more than the median. More about percentile wages.


(1) 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.

(2) 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.

(3) The relative standard error (RSE) is a measure of the reliability of a survey statistic. The smaller the relative standard error, the more precise the estimate.

(8) Estimate not released.

Other OES estimates and related information:

May 2005 National Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates

May 2005 State Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates

May 2005 Metropolitan Area Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates

May 2005 National Industry-Specific Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates

List of Occupations in SOC Code Number Order

List of Occupations in Alphabetical Order

Download May 2005 Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates in Zipped Excel files

Technical notes

 

Last Modified Date: May 24, 2006