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News Release Information

14-1798-PHI
Wednesday, October 01, 2014

Contacts Technical information: Media contact:

County Employment and Wages in Virginia – First Quarter 2014

Average Wage Increase in Henrico Ranks 18th in the Nation

Eight of the 12 largest counties in Virginia registered employment increases from March 2013 to March 2014, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. (Large counties are defined as those with employment of 75,000 or more as measured by 2013 annual average employment.) Chesterfield County had the fastest employment increase at 2.0 percent, followed by Loudoun County at 1.5 percent. Sheila Watkins, the Bureau’s regional commissioner, noted that Chesterfield’s and Loudoun’s employment growth rates were in the upper half of the nation’s 339 largest counties. Arlington and Fairfax Counties along with Alexandria and Norfolk cities recorded the only employment declines among Virginia’s large counties

Nationally, employment grew 1.7 percent during this 12-month period, as 281 of the 339 large counties nationwide gained jobs. Weld, Colo., experienced the largest percentage increase in employment, up 7.5 percent over the year. Peoria, Ill., had the largest employment decrease with a loss of 2.6 percent.

Among the 12 largest counties in Virginia, employment was highest in Fairfax County (576,400) in March 2014. No other county in the Commonwealth had employment above 200,000. Together, Virginia’s large counties accounted for 56.4 percent of total employment within the Commonwealth. Nationwide, the 339 largest counties made up 72.0 percent of total U.S. employment.

The average weekly wage in Henrico County, Va., rose 6.2 percent from the first quarter of 2013 to the first quarter of 2014, the fastest increase among Virginia’s 12 largest counties, ranking 18th nationwide. Alexandria City had the second-highest rate of wage growth at 5.3 percent. Arlington County had the highest average weekly wage among the largest counties in the Commonwealth at $1,669, followed by Fairfax County ($1,580) and Alexandria City ($1,368). (See table 1.) Nationally, the average weekly wage rose 3.8 percent over the year to $1,027 in the first quarter of 2014.

Employment and wage levels (but not over-the-year changes) are also available for the 122 counties in Virginia with employment below 75,000. All but 5 (Goochland, Surry, King George, Falls Church City, and Manassas City) of these 122 counties had average weekly wages below the national average. (See table 2.)

Large county wage changes

From the first quarter of 2013 to the first quarter of 2014, 10 of the 12 large counties in Virginia recorded wage increases. Three of these counties, led by Henrico County (6.2 percent), recorded wage gains greater than the national increase of 3.8 percent. Seven other counties recorded increases in average weekly wages ranging from 3.7 to 1.2 percent. Cheasapeake City had a 0.7-percent decrease from the first quarter of 2013, while wages in Prince William County were almost unchanged, declining 0.1 percent.

Of the 339 largest counties nationwide, 323 had over-the-year increases in average weekly wages. Chester, Pa., led the nation in average weekly wage growth with an increase of 13.9 percent from the first quarter of 2013. New York, N.Y., was second with a gain of 12.0 percent, followed by San Mateo, Calif., and Forsyth, N.C., each at 9.6 percent.

Nationwide, 15 large counties recorded decreases in average weekly wages over the year. Benton, Ark., had the largest decrease in wages with a decline of 3.2 percent from the first quarter of 2013. Cumberland, N.C., had the second largest decrease in average weekly wages (-2.0 percent), followed by Dutchess, N.Y. (-1.6 percent); Ocean, N.J. (-1.3 percent); and McLean, Ill. (-1.0 percent).

Large county average weekly wages

Arlington County had the ninth highest average weekly wage among the 339 large U.S. counties. Five other large counties in Virginia—Fairfax, Alexandria City, Loudoun, Richmond City, and Henrico—also had average wages greater than $1,000, placing them in the top fifth of all large counties. These six counties were the only large counties in Virginia to record wages above the national average.

In Virginia Beach City and Chesapeake City, average weekly wages placed in the bottom fifth of the national ranking at 297th and 303rd, respectively.

Average weekly wages in Virginia’s smaller counties

All but 5 of the 122 counties in Virginia with employment below 75,000 had average weekly wages lower than the national average of $1,027. Highland County reported the lowest wage level at $480. The highest wage among Virginia’s 122 small counties was Goochland County’s $1,902, followed by Surry County’s $1,545 and King George County’s $1,504. (See table 2.)

When all 134 counties in Virginia were considered, 123 had wages below the national average of $1,027. One county—Highland—reported  average weekly wages below $500, 69 reported wages from $501 to $700, 41 had wages from $701 to $900, 12 had wages from $901 to $1,100, and 11 had wages above $1,101. Of the 11 counties with above-average wages, 6 were concentrated in the metropolitan area of Washington, D.C., and 3 were located in the Richmond area.

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 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 2012 edition of this publication, which is now available, contains selected data produced by Business Employment Dynamics (BED) on job gains and losses, as well data through the first quarter 2013 version of the national news release and the 2012 annual averages. Tables and additional content from the Employment and Wages Annual 2012 are now available online at www.bls.gov/cew/publications/employment-and-wages-annual-averages/2012/home.htm

Information in this release will be made available to sensory impaired individuals upon request. Voice phone: 202-691-5200; TDD message referral phone number: 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 9.4 million employer reports cover 134.6 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 12 largest counties in Virginia, first quarter 2014(2)
Area Employment Average Weekly Wage (3)
March 2014 (thousands) Percent change, March 2013-14(4) National ranking by percent change (5) Average weekly wage National ranking by level (5) Percent change, first quarter 2013-14(4) National ranking by percent change (5)

United States (6)

134,555.0 1.7 -- $1,027 -- 3.8 --

Virginia

3,613.2 0.0 -- 1,050 12 2.2 38

Alexandria City, Va.

93.8 -1.6 331 1,368 23 5.3 31

Arlington, Va.

163.1 -1.8 335 1,669 9 3.2 124

Chesapeake City, Va.

95.1 0.2 275 758 303 -0.7 331

Chesterfield, Va.

121.8 2 118 866 203 1.3 268

Fairfax, Va.

576.4 -1.5 330 1,580 11 1.2 275

Henrico, Va.

178.5 0.9 207 1,110 65 6.2 18

Loudoun, Va.

145.9 1.5 153 1,244 40 3.9 79

Newport News City, Va.

97.9 1.1 184 989 122 2.8 149

Norfolk City, Va.

134.2 -0.5 307 969 133 3.7 98

Prince William, Va.

116.3 0.6 238 832 237 -0.1 325

Richmond City, Va.

147.4 0.7 224 1,147 55 3.2 124

Virginia Beach City, Va.

167.2 0.5 253 769 297 1.5 252

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 Virginia, first quarter 2014(2)
Area Employment March 2014 Average weekly wage (3)

United States (4)

134,555,000 $1,027

Virginia

3,613,234 1050

Accomack

12,295 651

Albemarle

49,059 991

Alleghany

3,912 645

Amelia

2,259 603

Amherst

8,903 631

Appomattox

2,945 518

Arlington

163,121 1,669

Augusta

25,430 758

Bath

2,359 622

Bedford

15,460 652

Bland

1,967 825

Botetourt

10,023 699

Brunswick

3,937 595

Buchanan

7,490 897

Buckingham

3,161 644

Campbell

16,163 809

Caroline

5,319 685

Carroll

5,942 522

Charles City

1,474 702

Charlotte

2,767 546

Chesterfield

121,824 866

Clarke

4,128 712

Craig

649 642

Culpeper

15,296 729

Cumberland

1,280 529

Dickenson

3,815 752

Dinwiddie

7,834 759

Essex

4,063 594

Fairfax County

576,368 1,580

Fauquier

20,936 832

Floyd

2,864 530

Fluvanna

4,170 685

Franklin

14,033 574

Frederick

27,799 797

Giles

4,557 738

Gloucester

9,218 587

Goochland

12,524 1,902

Grayson

2,400 539

Greene

3,280 624

Greensville

4,332 643

Halifax

12,002 670

Hanover

47,163 733

Henrico

178,471 1110

Henry

14,682 584

Highland

548 480

Isle of Wight

10,389 837

James City

26,543 740

King and Queen

916 732

King George

10,631 1,504

King William

3,492 809

Lancaster

4,355 646

Lee

4,532 612

Loudoun

145,875 1,244

Louisa

8,282 913

Lunenburg

2,514 563

Madison

2,900 608

Mathews

1,458 507

Mecklenburg

11,396 578

Middlesex

3,081 601

Montgomery

40,928 750

Nelson

4,047 533

New Kent

3,770 647

Northampton

4,257 617

Northumberland

2,256 610

Nottoway

5,547 612

Orange

9,104 665

Page

4,997 545

Patrick

4,827 503

Pittsylvania

11,974 575

Powhatan

7,739 915

Prince Edward

8,231 633

Prince George

14,782 928

Prince William

116,334 832

Pulaski

13,236 723

Rappahannock

1,361 935

Richmond County

2,770 661

Roanoke County

35,285 717

Rockbridge

5,393 567

Rockingham

29,897 766

Russell

6,418 700

Scott

4,613 591

Shenandoah

13,376 618

Smyth

11,363 647

Southampton

3,540 618

Spotsylvania

32,165 699

Stafford

39,867 966

Surry

1,956 1,545

Sussex

3,621 696

Tazewell

15,671 615

Warren

12,285 757

Washington

20,169 724

Westmoreland

3,078 557

Wise

12,667 675

Wythe

11,336 587

York

20,443 684

Alexandria City

93,821 1,368

Bedford City

2,937 678

Bristol City

10,208 633

Buena Vista City

2,510 617

Charlottesville City

36,707 890

Chesapeake City

95,089 758

Colonial Heights City

10,597 529

Covington City

3,917 922

Danville City

26,067 633

Emporia City

3,413 527

Fairfax City

19,071 998

Falls Church City

10,808 1,196

Franklin City

4,266 617

Fredericksburg City

23,653 765

Galax City

5,925 560

Hampton City

54,182 840

Harrisonburg City

29,927 661

Hopewell City

7,987 945

Lexington City

4,812 718

Lynchburg City

50,379 833

Manassas City

22,749 1,165

Manassas Park City

2,793 837

Martinsville City

9,718 591

Newport News City

97,881 989

Norfolk City

134,196 969

Norton City

3,751 732

Petersburg City

12,802 776

Poquoson City

1,600 552

Portsmouth City

44,186 963

Radford City

5,814 814

Richmond City

147,431 1,147

Roanoke City

66,408 835

Salem City

21,911 899

Staunton City

10,974 606

Suffolk City

26,515 870

Virginia Beach City

167,153 769

Waynesboro City

9,588 701

Williamsburg City

12,711 698

Winchester City

24,373 828

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 employment and wages by state, first quarter 2014
State Employment Average weekly wage (1)
March 2014 (thousands) Percent change, March 2013-14 Average weekly wage National ranking by level Percent change, first quarter 2013-14 National ranking by percent change

United States (2)

134,555.0 1.7 $1,027 -- 3.8 --

Alabama

1,849.5 0.6 825 38 1.6 50

Alaska

319.1 0.3 1,023 15 3.5 17

Arizona

2,540.8 1.9 918 22 3.1 26

Arkansas

1,152.6 0.3 784 46 2.5 37

California

15,572.9 2.8 1,165 6 4.5 5

Colorado

2,370.1 3.1 1,046 13 4.2 9

Connecticut

1,627.2 0.5 1,362 3 3.3 24

Delaware

412.5 2.0 1,110 7 3.9 13

District of Columbia

727.3 1.2 1,701 1 5.3 3

Florida

7,752.4 2.9 868 28 3.0 28

Georgia

3,974.8 2.6 972 18 3.4 18

Hawaii

624.9 1.2 857 32 1.9 42

Idaho

631.5 3.3 722 50 3.9 13

Illinois

5,651.2 0.9 1,104 8 4.2 9

Indiana

2,842.5 1.2 845 35 1.7 48

Iowa

1,485.4 1.5 824 39 3.0 28

Kansas

1,343.0 1.7 840 36 4.1 11

Kentucky

1,784.1 1.1 811 40 2.7 33

Louisiana

1,909.8 1.2 868 28 2.6 35

Maine

565.9 0.7 786 45 1.9 42

Maryland

2,512.8 0.1 1,086 9 1.8 47

Massachusetts

3,272.2 1.3 1,300 4 5.3 3

Michigan

4,013.5 1.7 950 20 3.1 26

Minnesota

2,652.3 0.8 1,036 14 3.4 18

Mississippi

1,096.8 0.6 707 51 1.7 48

Missouri

2,634.6 1.0 866 31 2.9 30

Montana

429.9 0.7 730 49 3.3 24

Nebraska

930.7 1.7 797 42 2.6 35

Nevada

1,183.5 3.4 867 30 2.7 33

New Hampshire

614.2 1.3 970 19 3.4 18

New Jersey

3,794.3 0.6 1,263 5 2.2 38

New Mexico

787.0 0.2 793 43 1.9 42

New York

8,699.5 1.6 1,460 2 7.3 1

North Carolina

4,003.2 1.7 914 23 3.4 18

North Dakota

428.9 3.3 944 21 6.7 2

Ohio

5,071.5 1.3 909 24 2.8 32

Oklahoma

1,565.2 0.7 854 34 3.9 13

Oregon

1,688.5 2.8 893 25 3.4 18

Pennsylvania

5,560.9 0.3 1,007 16 4.1 11

Rhode Island

449.7 1.1 996 17 4.4 8

South Carolina

1,873.6 2.7 787 44 1.9 42

South Dakota

400.2 1.4 741 48 4.5 5

Tennessee

2,718.2 1.7 874 27 2.2 38

Texas

11,220.6 2.6 1,062 11 4.5 5

Utah

1,270.8 3.1 831 37 3.4 18

Vermont

301.1 0.5 807 41 1.9 42

Virginia

3,613.2 0.0 1,050 12 2.2 38

Washington

2,966.3 2.6 1,068 10 3.8 16

West Virginia

694.6 -0.9 779 47 1.4 51

Wisconsin

2,694.5 1.0 856 33 2.9 30

Wyoming

275.4 1.0 877 26 2.1 41

Puerto Rico

914.9 -1.8 521 (3) 1.4 (3)

Virgin Islands

38.3 -3.6 744 (3) 2.6 (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: Covered employment and wages includes workers covered by Unemployment Insurance (UI) and Unemployment Compensation for Federal Employees (UCFE) programs. Data are preliminary.
 

 

 Chart 1. Average weekly wages by county in Virginia, first quarter 2014

 

Last Modified Date: Wednesday, October 01, 2014