Employment rose in the four largest counties in Kansas from June 2011 to June 2012, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported today. (Large counties are defined as those with employment of 75,000 or more as measured by 2011 annual average employment.) Regional Commissioner Stanley W. Suchman noted that Wyandotte County and Johnson County experienced the fastest job growth, up 3.6 and 3.4 percent, respectively, over the year. Both of these counties registered employment gains that exceeded the national average of 1.8 percent.

Nationally, employment increased in 287 of the 328 largest U.S. counties from June 2011 to June 2012. Yakima, Wash., posted the largest increase, with a gain of 8.2 percent over the year. Madison, Ill., St. Clair, Ill., and Clay, Mo., had the largest over-the-year decreases in employment with a losses of 2.0 percent each.

Among the four largest counties in Kansas, employment was highest in Johnson County (313,300) and lowest in Wyandotte (85,400). Together, the four largest counties accounted for 55.0 percent of total employment within the state. Nationwide, the 328 large counties made up 70.9 percent of total U.S. employment.

The average weekly wage in Johnson County rose 2.0 percent from the second quarter of 2011 to the second quarter of 2012, exceeding the 1.3-percent increase for the nation. Johnson County also had the highest average weekly wage among the largest counties in the state at $929 and was above the national average of $903. (See table 1.)

Employment and wage levels (but not over-the-year changes) are also available for the 101 counties in Kansas with employment below 75,000. Of these smaller counties, only Coffey ($1,010) had an average weekly wage above the national average. (See table 2.)

Large county wage changes

In the second quarter of 2012, the 2.0-percent wage gain in Johnson County ranked 101st among the 328 largest counties in the nation. (See table 1.) Average wages in Sedgwick County rose 0.2 percent and placed 221st. Shawnee and Wyandotte Counties experienced over-the-year declines in average weekly wages of 1.0 and 1.4 percent, respectively, ranking 289th and 302nd.

Among the 328 largest counties in the U.S., 233 had over-the-year increases in average weekly wages in the second quarter of 2012. Washington, Ore., ranked first in average weekly wage growth with an increase of 8.5 percent. Williamson, Texas, had the largest wage decline with a loss of 17.0 percent over the year.

Large county average weekly wages

Average weekly wages in 2 of Kansas’s 4 largest counties were in the top half of the national ranking among the 328 largest counties in the United States in the second quarter of 2012. Johnson County ($929, 86th) was above the U.S. average of $903 and ranked in the top 100 nationwide. The other county in the top half of the ranking was Wyandotte ($839, 161st). The state’s remaining large counties, Sedgwick ($818) and Shawnee ($771), placed 181st and 241st, respectively.

Nationally, weekly wages were higher than average in 109 of the 328 largest U.S. counties. Santa Clara, Calif., held the top position among the highest-paid large counties with an average weekly wage of $1,754. New York, N.Y., was second at $1,646, followed by Washington, D.C. ($1,544) and San Mateo, Calif. ($1,515). Among the 219 large counties with an average weekly wage below the U.S. average in the second quarter of 2012, Horry, S.C. ($532) reported the lowest wage.

Average weekly wages in Kansas’s smaller counties

Of the 101 counties in Kansas with employment below 75,000, only one county—Coffey ($1,010)—had an average weekly wage above the national average of $903. Decatur County reported the lowest weekly wage in the state with an average of $439 in the second quarter of 2012. (See table 2.)

When all 105 counties in Kansas were considered, all but 2 had wages below the national average. Nine reported average weekly wages under $500, 45 reported wages from $500 to $599, 40 had wages from $600 to $699, 6 had wages from $700 to $799, and 5 had wages above $800. (See chart 1.)

Additional statistics and other information

Quarterly 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 or visit the QCEW Web site at www.bls.gov/cew/.

Employment and Wages Annual Averages Online features comprehensive information by detailed industry on establishments, employment, and wages for the nation and all states. The 2011 edition of this publication, which was published in October 2012, contains selected data produced by Business Employment Dynamics (BED) on job gains and losses, as well as selected data from the first quarter 2012 version of the national news release. Tables and additional content from Employment and Wages Annual Averages 2011 are now available online at www.bls.gov/cew/cewbultn11.htm. The 2012 edition of Employment and Wages Annual Averages Online will be available later in 2013.

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.

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 9.2 million employer reports cover 132.9 million full- and part-time workers. 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.

Table 1. Covered (1) employment and wages in the United States and the 4 largest counties in Kansas, second quarter 2012 (2)

Area	Employment			Average Weekly Wage (3)
	June 2012 (thousands)	Percent change, June 2011-12 (4)	National ranking by percent change (5)	Average weekly wage	National ranking by level (5)	Percent change, second quarter 2011-12 (4)	National ranking by percent change (5)
United States (6)	132,896.0	1.8	--	$903	--	1.3	--
Kansas	1,334.4	1.7	--	763	41	1.1	35
Johnson, Kan.	313.3	3.4	34	929	86	2.0	101
Sedgwick, Kan.	240.6	1.2	196	818	181	0.2	221
Shawnee, Kan.	94.7	0.6	246	771	241	-1.0	289
Wyandotte, Kan.	85.4	3.6	27	839	161	-1.4	302
Footnotes: (1) Includes workers covered by Unemployment Insurance (UI) and Unemployment Compensation for Federal Employees (UCFE) programs. (2) Data are preliminary. (3) Average weekly wages were calculated using unrounded data. (4) Percent changes were computed from quarterly employment and pay data adjusted for noneconomic county reclassifications. (5) Ranking does not include the county of San Juan, Puerto Rico. (6) Totals for the United States do not include data for Puerto Rico or the Virgin Islands.

Table 2. Covered (1) employment and wages in the United States and all counties in Kansas, second quarter 2012 (2)

Area	Employment June 2012	Average weekly wage (3)		Area	Employment June 2012	Average weekly wage (3)
United States (4)	132,896,015	$903
Kansas	1,334,357	763		Lincoln	1,025	$514
Allen	5,604	591		Linn	2,012	707
Anderson	2,077	517		Logan	1,342	562
Atchison	6,121	631		Lyon	15,356	582
Barber	1,855	553		Mcpherson	14,581	699
Barton	13,093	659		Marion	3,743	522
Bourbon	5,817	581		Marshall	4,939	613
Brown	4,788	568		Meade	1,696	675
Butler	18,169	617		Miami	7,882	621
Chase	768	456		Mitchell	3,506	599
Chautauqua	871	489		Montgomery	17,541	586
Cherokee	5,655	646		Morris	1,469	519
Cheyenne	865	534		Morton	1,235	655
Clark	809	542		Nemaha	5,567	590
Clay	2,934	550		Neosho	6,878	606
Cloud	3,797	507		Ness	1,378	687
Coffey	4,063	1,010		Norton	2,694	585
Comanche	724	454		Osage	2,978	475
Cowley	14,015	622		Osborne	1,517	517
Crawford	16,644	571		Ottawa	1,368	536
Decatur	1,000	439		Pawnee	3,228	599
Dickinson	6,847	543		Phillips	2,596	584
Doniphan	2,232	608		Pottawatomie	9,543	724
Douglas	44,931	656		Pratt	4,962	642
Edwards	1,023	603		Rawlins	950	527
Elk	703	454		Reno	28,019	608
Ellis	15,960	643		Republic	2,005	478
Ellsworth	3,116	600		Rice	3,935	595
Finney	18,387	650		Riley	28,882	654
Ford	18,424	642		Rooks	1,989	584
Franklin	9,018	626		Rush	1,244	610
Geary	14,431	702		Russell	2,875	602
Gove	1,260	518		Saline	29,550	639
Graham	1,054	581		Scott	2,179	616
Grant	3,587	755		Sedgwick	240,550	818
Gray	3,205	606		Seward	11,705	638
Greeley	685	550		Shawnee	94,703	771
Greenwood	1,852	583		Sheridan	1,028	622
Hamilton	1,238	584		Sherman	2,711	532
Harper	2,576	711		Smith	1,449	495
Harvey	13,170	659		Stafford	1,374	508
Haskell	1,865	644		Stanton	772	697
Hodgeman	571	560		Stevens	1,825	676
Jackson	4,127	601		Sumner	7,178	593
Jefferson	3,551	606		Thomas	4,150	574
Jewell	836	550		Trego	1,332	586
Johnson	313,256	929		Wabaunsee	1,383	503
Kearny	1,351	560		Wallace	517	536
Kingman	2,742	642		Washington	2,167	456
Kiowa	1,143	554		Wichita	861	616
Labette	8,980	597		Wilson	3,474	611
Lane	716	600		Woodson	673	549
Leavenworth	21,087	815		Wyandotte	85,357	839
Footnotes: (1) Includes workers covered by Unemployment Insurance (UI) and Unemployment Compensation for Federal Employees (UCFE) programs. (2) Data are preliminary. (3) Average weekly wages were calculated using unrounded data. (4) Totals for the United States do not include data for Puerto Rico or the Virgin Islands.

Table 3. Covered (1) employment and wages by state, second quarter 2012 (2)

State	Employment		Average weekly wage (3)
	June 2012 (thousands)	Percent change, June 2011-12	Average weekly wage	National ranking by level	Percent change, second quarter 2011-12	National ranking by percent change
United States (4)	132,896.0	1.8	$903	--	1.3	--
Alabama	1,841.7	0.9	783	34	2.0	20
Alaska	342.9	2.1	955	8	1.5	29
Arizona	2,393.9	2.6	862	18	2.1	17
Arkansas	1,157.4	1.1	717	47	2.1	17
California	15,045.8	2.4	1,034	6	1.8	24
Colorado	2,291.8	2.5	918	14	2.0	20
Connecticut	1,650.0	1.2	1,111	2	-0.4	50
Delaware	409.3	0.2	948	11	2.4	13
District of Columbia	717.9	0.9	1,544	1	0.3	44
Florida	7,233.7	2.0	805	30	0.4	42
Georgia	3,854.7	1.4	848	22	1.9	22
Hawaii	603.7	2.1	812	28	1.8	24
Idaho	626.1	1.5	673	51	0.9	38
Illinois	5,698.0	1.1	953	9	1.6	27
Indiana	2,832.6	2.3	763	41	1.9	22
Iowa	1,502.7	1.5	743	43	2.5	12
Kansas	1,334.4	1.7	763	41	1.1	35
Kentucky	1,780.7	1.6	772	38	1.6	27
Louisiana	1,877.2	1.6	806	29	1.5	29
Maine	601.8	1.2	719	45	1.0	37
Maryland	2,550.2	1.5	992	7	0.7	39
Massachusetts	3,301.5	1.9	1,109	3	-1.2	51
Michigan	3,984.0	2.1	859	19	1.7	26
Minnesota	2,695.1	1.5	907	15	1.1	35
Mississippi	1,087.4	0.6	681	49	2.9	3
Missouri	2,629.1	0.4	791	32	2.2	15
Montana	442.0	2.0	700	48	2.6	8
Nebraska	930.9	2.0	719	45	0.7	39
Nevada	1,141.7	1.6	815	27	-0.1	48
New Hampshire	623.8	1.4	891	17	0.3	44
New Jersey	3,884.0	1.4	1,056	5	0.0	47
New Mexico	791.9	0.4	783	34	2.6	8
New York	8,701.2	1.5	1,096	4	0.4	42
North Carolina	3,919.1	1.5	787	33	0.5	41
North Dakota	420.3	9.9	854	21	11.1	1
Ohio	5,104.0	1.9	817	25	2.8	4
Oklahoma	1,543.4	1.9	768	39	2.7	6
Oregon	1,663.9	1.6	837	24	2.3	14
Pennsylvania	5,645.9	0.7	893	16	2.1	17
Rhode Island	463.1	0.9	859	19	-0.3	49
South Carolina	1,830.7	1.5	736	44	1.4	31
South Dakota	412.8	1.9	677	50	3.2	2
Tennessee	2,669.1	2.0	816	26	2.8	4
Texas	10,779.5	3.0	922	13	2.6	8
Utah	1,225.8	3.6	766	40	1.3	34
Vermont	300.2	1.0	792	31	2.6	8
Virginia	3,659.9	1.2	952	10	0.3	44
Washington	2,948.3	2.4	947	12	2.2	15
West Virginia	712.3	1.4	776	37	1.4	31
Wisconsin	2,749.7	1.4	778	36	1.4	31
Wyoming	288.9	1.6	842	23	2.7	6
Puerto Rico	933.3	1.8	499	(5)	0.6	(5)
Virgin Islands	40.2	-8.6	819	(5)	9.8	(5)
Footnotes: (1) Includes workers covered by Unemployment Insurance (UI) and Unemployment Compensation for Federal Employees (UCFE) programs. (2) Data are preliminary. (3) Average weekly wages were calculated using unrounded data. (4) Totals for the United States do not include data for Puerto Rico or the Virgin Islands. (5) Data not included in the national ranking.

 

Last Modified Date: January 17, 2013