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News Release Information

23-2585-CHI
Wednesday, December 27, 2023

Contacts Technical information: Media contact:
  • (312) 353-1138

County Employment and Wages in South Dakota — Second Quarter 2023

South Dakota’s only large county, Minnehaha, reported an employment increase of 4.0 percent from June 2022 to June 2023, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. (Large counties are those with annual average employment levels of 75,000 or more in 2022.) Regional Commissioner Jason Palmer noted that in June 2023, Minnehaha County’s employment level was 138,500. (See table 1.)

National employment increased 2.4 percent over the year, with 337 of the 360 largest U.S. counties reporting gains. Midland, TX, had the largest increase in employment (+7.0 percent). Elkhart, IN, had the largest over-the-year percentage decrease in employment (-7.7 percent).

Minnehaha County’s employment accounted for 29.7 percent of total employment within the state. Within the county’s private industry, health care and social assistance accounted for the largest employment in June 2023. Nationwide, the 360 largest counties made up 72.9 percent of total U.S. employment.

Employment and wage levels (but not over-the-year changes) are also available for the 65 counties in South Dakota with employment below 75,000. All 65 smaller counties had wage levels below the national average of $1,332 in the second quarter of 2023. (See table 2.)

Large county wage changes

Minnehaha County’s 1.3-percent wage growth from the second quarter of 2022 to the second quarter of 2023 was less than the national rate of 3.2 percent. Among the 360 largest counties in the United States, 332 had over-the-year wage increases. Clayton, GA, had the largest percentage wage increase (+17.2 percent). Elkhart, IN, had the largest over-the-year percentage decrease (-13.2 percent).

Large county average weekly wages

Minnehaha County’s $1,134 average weekly wage ranked 220th among the 360 largest U.S. counties in the second quarter of 2023. Among the largest U.S. counties, 88 reported average weekly wages above the U.S. average in the second quarter of 2023. Santa Clara, CA, had the highest average weekly wage ($3,321). Average weekly wages were below the national average in the remaining 272 counties. Hidalgo, TX, had the lowest average weekly wage ($795).

Smaller county average weekly wages

Among the 65 smaller counties in South Dakota—those with employment below 75,000—Union ($1,256) reported the highest average weekly wage. Jones County ($626) reported the lowest average weekly wage in the state.

When all 66 counties in South Dakota were considered, 17 reported average weekly wages of less than $799, 22 registered wages from $800 to $899, 18 had wages from $900 to $999, and 9 had average weekly wages of $1,000 or higher. (See map 1.)

Map 1. Average weekly wages by county in South Dakota, second quarter 2023

U.S. average = $1,332

Additional statistics and other information

QCEW data for states have been included in this release in table 3. For additional information about quarterly employment and wages data, please read the Technical Note for the County Employment and Wages News Release or visit the Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages website.

Employment and Wages Annual Averages Online features comprehensive information by detailed industry on establishments, employment, and wages for the nation and all states. This publication is typically published in September of the following year of the reference period or shortly after the QCEW first quarter full data update.

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.

The County Employment and Wages release for the third quarter 2023 is scheduled to be released on Wednesday, February 21, 2024. The County Employment and Wages full data update for the third quarter 2023 is scheduled to be released on Wednesday, March 6, 2024.


Technical Note

Average weekly wage data by county are compiled under the Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW) program, also known as the ES-202 program. The data are derived from summaries of employment and total pay of workers covered by state and federal unemployment insurance (UI) legislation and provided by State Workforce Agencies (SWAs). The average weekly wage values are calculated by dividing quarterly total wages by the average of the three monthly employment levels of those covered by UI programs. The result is then divided by 13, the number of weeks in a quarter. It is to be noted, therefore, that over-the-year wage changes for geographic areas may reflect shifts in the composition of employment by industry, occupation, and such other factors as hours of work. Thus, wages may vary among counties, metropolitan areas, or states for reasons other than changes in the average wage level. Data for all states, Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs), counties, and the nation are available on the BLS web site at www.bls.gov/cew. However, data in QCEW press releases have been revised and may not match the data contained on the Bureau’s web site.

QCEW data are not designed as a time series. QCEW data are simply the sums of individual establishment records reflecting the number of establishments that exist in a county or industry at a point in time. Establishments can move in or out of a county or industry for a number of reasons–some reflecting economic events, others reflecting administrative changes.

The preliminary QCEW data presented in this release may differ from data released by the individual states as well as from the data presented on the BLS web site. These potential differences result from the states’ continuing receipt, review and editing of UI data over time. On the other hand, differences between data in this release and the data found on the BLS web site are the result of adjustments made to improve over-the-year comparisons. Specifically, these adjustments account for administrative (noneconomic) changes such as a correction to a previously reported location or industry classification. Adjusting for these administrative changes allows users to more accurately assess changes of an economic nature (such as a firm moving from one county to another or changing its primary economic activity) over a 12-month period. Currently, adjusted data are available only from BLS press releases.

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. Covered establishments, employment, and wages in the United States and the largest county in South Dakota, second quarter 2023
Area Establishments,
second quarter
(thousands)
Employment Average weekly wage (1)
June 2023
(thousands)
Percent change,
June
2022–23 (2)
National ranking
by percent change (3)
Second quarter
2023
National ranking
by level (3)
Percent change,
second quarter
2022–23 (2)
National ranking
by percent change (3)

United States (4)

11,964.6 154,308.5 2.4 -- $1,332 -- 3.2 --

South Dakota

39.6 466.8 2.7 -- 1,035 49 3.8 19

Minnehaha

9.8 138.5 4.0 31 1,134 220 1.3 292

Footnotes:
(1) Average weekly wages were calculated using unrounded data.
(2) Percent changes were computed from employment and pay data adjusted for noneconomic county reclassifications.
(3) Ranking does not include data for Puerto Rico or the Virgin Islands.
(4) Totals for the United States do not include data for Puerto Rico or the Virgin Islands.

Note: Data are preliminary. Covered employment and wages includes workers covered by Unemployment Insurance (UI) and Unemployment Compensation for Federal Employees (UCFE) programs.

Table 2. Covered establishments, employment, and wages in the United States and all counties in South Dakota, second quarter 2023
Area Establishments Employment June 2023 Average weekly wage (1)

United States (2)

11,964,606 154,308,523 $1,332

South Dakota

39,570 466,789 1,035

Aurora

105 863 759

Beadle

692 8,726 924

Bennett

97 822 803

Bon Homme

238 1,860 794

Brookings

1,333 19,409 1,023

Brown

1,534 20,525 981

Brule

254 2,141 755

Buffalo

29 523 896

Butte

463 3,028 792

Campbell

70 464 787

Charles Mix

383 3,833 847

Clark

184 1,238 803

Clay

454 6,027 879

Codington

1,406 17,451 940

Corson

67 725 903

Custer

419 3,243 825

Davison

820 12,558 998

Day

256 2,012 819

Deuel

191 1,592 938

Dewey

148 2,412 909

Douglas

128 1,070 833

Edmunds

183 1,213 929

Fall River

332 2,667 886

Faulk

120 705 764

Grant

375 4,046 975

Gregory

230 1,641 717

Haakon

115 825 883

Hamlin

269 2,643 949

Hand

172 1,470 759

Hanson

106 629 880

Harding

72 466 816

Hughes

942 11,247 1,112

Hutchinson

297 2,835 865

Hyde

66 545 1,006

Jackson

83 790 712

Jerauld

104 1,701 861

Jones

64 465 626

Kingsbury

269 1,941 848

Lake

474 5,378 1,035

Lawrence

1,569 14,189 919

Lincoln

2,453 29,611 1,219

Lyman

139 1,519 648

McCook

238 1,408 879

McPherson

93 594 775

Marshall

206 1,927 926

Meade

1,025 8,540 986

Mellette

44 337 687

Miner

108 871 773

Minnehaha

9,766 138,545 1,134

Moody

213 2,584 976

Oglala Lakota

132 3,875 971

Pennington

5,741 63,813 1,010

Perkins

137 1,156 783

Potter

143 877 834

Roberts

313 3,657 846

Sanborn

88 684 717

Spink

275 2,344 930

Stanley

157 1,374 831

Sully

94 745 918

Todd

108 2,885 905

Tripp

262 2,337 843

Turner

327 2,464 802

Union

865 10,095 1,256

Walworth

253 2,205 822

Yankton

857 13,283 1,020

Ziebach

28 294 797

Footnotes:
(1) Average weekly wages were calculated using unrounded data.
(2) Totals for the United States do not include data for Puerto Rico or the Virgin Islands.

Note: Data are preliminary. Covered employment and wages includes workers covered by Unemployment Insurance (UI) and Unemployment Compensation for Federal Employees (UCFE) programs.

Table 3. Covered establishments, employment, and wages by state, second quarter 2023
State Establishments,
second quarter
(thousands)
Employment Average weekly wage (1)
June 2023
(thousands)
Percent change,
June
2022–23
Second quarter
2023
National ranking
by level
Percent change,
second quarter
2022–23
National ranking
by percent change

United States (2)

11,964.6 154,308.5 2.4 $1,332 -- 3.2 --

Alabama

156.7 2,079.2 2.7 1,107 35 4.0 13

Alaska

25.3 342.4 3.6 1,285 15 3.9 17

Arizona

219.1 3,091.7 3.0 1,265 18 3.9 17

Arkansas

103.2 1,284.8 2.6 1,033 50 3.8 19

California

1,767.7 18,151.1 0.9 1,624 4 3.4 26

Colorado

256.6 2,914.3 2.7 1,426 8 4.8 5

Connecticut

148.0 1,692.0 1.8 1,511 6 3.8 19

Delaware

41.6 476.2 3.0 1,248 19 2.3 44

District of Columbia

51.3 762.6 2.2 2,193 1 3.7 23

Florida

891.8 9,547.7 3.7 1,234 21 4.3 8

Georgia

384.5 4,802.8 2.2 1,247 20 2.6 39

Hawaii

56.5 636.0 3.2 1,198 24 4.0 13

Idaho

94.3 855.8 3.1 1,038 48 3.3 30

Illinois

410.8 6,101.2 1.9 1,357 12 2.6 39

Indiana

191.1 3,164.7 1.5 1,102 37 2.0 47

Iowa

110.5 1,581.8 1.1 1,082 42 2.6 39

Kansas

98.7 1,428.6 3.2 1,081 43 4.0 13

Kentucky

150.1 1,974.5 2.8 1,100 38 3.0 35

Louisiana

153.8 1,887.3 1.7 1,093 40 2.7 38

Maine

65.0 654.1 2.1 1,123 34 3.3 30

Maryland

187.1 2,716.4 2.1 1,402 9 2.2 45

Massachusetts

296.4 3,703.4 1.2 1,670 2 2.0 47

Michigan

318.4 4,463.0 2.5 1,220 23 3.4 26

Minnesota

205.7 2,964.0 2.3 1,315 14 2.2 45

Mississippi

87.7 1,158.0 1.4 924 51 4.3 8

Missouri

246.7 2,908.7 2.0 1,150 32 4.0 13

Montana

65.5 521.0 3.0 1,072 46 4.4 7

Nebraska

76.8 1,022.1 3.0 1,092 41 3.4 26

Nevada

106.7 1,522.8 3.2 1,189 27 2.9 36

New Hampshire

65.3 694.8 2.3 1,387 10 3.2 32

New Jersey

330.2 4,341.4 2.8 1,464 7 1.6 50

New Mexico

66.7 859.1 3.8 1,107 35 6.5 1

New York

699.6 9,623.8 2.4 1,621 5 2.5 42

North Carolina

370.9 4,857.5 3.3 1,198 24 3.4 26

North Dakota

35.4 430.4 2.9 1,184 28 4.9 3

Ohio

341.8 5,521.9 1.7 1,160 31 3.1 34

Oklahoma

129.7 1,669.0 3.1 1,052 47 3.6 25

Oregon

200.8 2,010.7 2.2 1,281 16 2.4 43

Pennsylvania

393.0 6,014.8 1.9 1,277 17 2.0 47

Rhode Island

48.0 498.8 1.3 1,221 22 -0.3 51

South Carolina

175.9 2,248.6 2.8 1,079 44 3.7 23

South Dakota

39.6 466.8 2.7 1,035 49 3.8 19

Tennessee

215.9 3,254.2 3.0 1,195 26 3.8 19

Texas

824.9 13,716.3 3.9 1,322 13 3.2 32

Utah

135.7 1,699.4 2.8 1,183 29 4.2 11

Vermont

31.8 310.3 2.3 1,175 30 4.1 12

Virginia

357.1 4,082.3 2.8 1,371 11 4.3 8

Washington

241.0 3,639.8 2.7 1,649 3 4.9 3

West Virginia

58.8 695.7 2.9 1,075 45 6.1 2

Wisconsin

204.4 2,975.8 1.9 1,126 33 2.9 36

Wyoming

30.5 288.6 2.7 1,096 39 4.6 6

Puerto Rico

52.6 929.7 1.6 622 (3) 4.2 (3)

Virgin Islands

3.8 36.3 4.7 992 (3) 1.1 (3)

Footnotes:
(1) Average weekly wages were calculated using unrounded data.
(2) Totals for the United States do not include data for Puerto Rico or the Virgin Islands.
(3) Data not included in the national ranking.

Note: Data are preliminary. Covered employment and wages includes workers covered by Unemployment Insurance (UI) and Unemployment Compensation for Federal Employees (UCFE) programs.

 

Last Modified Date: Wednesday, December 27, 2023