Employment rose in 7 of the 8 large counties in Maryland from June 2016 to June 2017, 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 2016 annual average employment.) Sheila Watkins, the Bureau’s regional commissioner, noted that Prince George’s County had the largest employment gain, up 3.5 percent over the year. Employment in Baltimore County was unchanged over the year. 

Nationally, employment rose 1.7 percent over the previous year as 318 of the 346 largest U.S. counties gained jobs. Midland, Texas, had the largest employment gain, rising 7.3 percent over the year. Lucas, Ohio, had the largest percentage decrease in employment with a loss of 1.9 percent.

Among the eight largest counties in Maryland, employment was highest in Montgomery County (477,900) in June 2017. Three other counties—Baltimore, Baltimore City, and Prince George’s—had employment levels exceeding 300,000. Together, Maryland’s largest counties accounted for 80.3 percent of total employment within the state. Nationwide, the 346 largest counties made up 72.7 percent of total U.S. employment.

Anne Arundel and Baltimore City both had the fastest over-the-year wage growth among Maryland’s eight large counties, at 4.1 percent each, from the second quarter of 2016 to the second quarter of 2017. Montgomery County had the highest average weekly wage at $1,333. Five other counties had average weekly wages above $1,000—Howard ($1,220), Baltimore City ($1,183), Anne Arundel ($1,089), Prince George’s ($1,064), and Baltimore ($1,005). (See table 1.) Nationally, the average weekly wage rose 3.2 percent over the year to $1,020 in the second quarter of 2017.

Employment and wage levels (but not over-the-year changes) are also available for the 16 counties in Maryland with employment below 75,000. Fourteen of these smaller counties had average weekly wages below the national average. (See table 2.)

Large county wage changes

From the second quarter of 2016 to the second quarter of 2017, three counties—Anne Arundel, Baltimore City, and Prince George’s—had wage increases greater than the nationwide gain of 3.2 percent. Baltimore and Howard Counties had wage gains of 3.1 and 2.1 percent, respectively. Harford County had the lowest wage increase at 1.1 percent. (See table 1.)

Among the 346 largest U.S. counties, 325 had over-the-year increases in average weekly wages. New Hanover, N.C., had the largest percentage wage increase (11.9 percent), followed by the counties of San Mateo, Calif., and Midland, Texas (11.4 percent each).

Only 19 large counties nationwide had over-the-year declines in average weekly wages, led by McLean, Ill., with a loss of 20.4 percent. Union N.J., had the second-largest decline at 3.7 percent, followed by Warren, Ohio (-3.6 percent); Somerset, N.J. (-3.4 percent); Fairfield, Conn.; and Washington, Ore. (-1.9 percent each).

Large county average weekly wages

Average weekly wages in 5 of Maryland’s 8 large counties were above the U.S. average of $1,020, led by Montgomery County ($1,333), which ranked 17^th for wage level among the 346 largest U.S. counties in the second quarter of 2017. Two other Maryland counties placed in the top 50 nationwide for wage level—Howard ($1,220, 32^nd) and Baltimore City ($1,183, 39^th). Anne Arundel and Prince George’s Counties ranked 65^th and 78^th, respectively. Average weekly wages in two of Maryland’s three remaining large counties placed in the top half of the national ranking.

Average wages in Maryland’s smaller counties

Fourteen of the 16 counties in Maryland with employment under 75,000 had average weekly wages below the national average. The exceptions were St. Mary’s and Calvert with average weekly wages of $1,294 and $1,029, respectively. Worcester County reported the lowest weekly wage in the state, averaging $588 in the second quarter of 2017. (See table 2.)

When all 24 counties in Maryland were considered, 17 had wages below the national average of $1,020. Two of these reported average weekly wages below $700. (See chart 1.) Of the seven counties with wages above the national average, four (Montgomery, St. Mary’s, Howard, and Baltimore City) had average weekly wages above $1,100.

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 2016 edition of this publication contains selected data produced by Business Employment Dynamics (BED) on job gains and losses, as well as selected data from the first quarter 2017 version of the national news release. Tables and additional content from Employment and Wages Annual Averages 2016 are now available online at www.bls.gov/cew/publications/employment-and-wages-annual-averages/2016/home.htm. The 2017 edition of Employment and Wages Annual Averages Online will be available in September 2018.

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 9.9 million employer reports cover 145.2 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 employment and wages in the United States and the 8 largest counties in Maryland, second quarter 2017

Area	Employment			Average weekly wage (1)
	June 2017 (thousands)	Percent change, June 2016-17 (2)	National ranking by percent change (3)	Average weekly wage	National ranking by level (3)	Percent change, second quarter 2016-17 (2)	National ranking by percent change (3)
United States (4)	145,186.4	1.7	--	$1,020	--	3.2	--
Maryland	2,694.8	1.4	--	1,103	8	3.1	23
Anne Arundel, Md.	274.4	1.6	170	1,089	65	4.1	82
Baltimore City, Md.	341.5	1.5	183	1,183	39	4.1	82
Baltimore, Md.	379.4	0.0	319	1,005	113	3.1	156
Frederick, Md.	102.0	1.5	183	931	175	1.5	266
Harford, Md.	94.6	1.9	134	952	157	1.1	298
Howard, Md.	172.4	0.2	311	1,220	32	2.1	231
Montgomery, Md.	477.9	1.3	200	1,333	17	1.4	273
Prince George's, Md.	322.4	3.5	21	1,064	78	3.7	114
Footnotes: (1) Average weekly wages were calculated using unrounded data. (2) Percent changes were computed from quarterly 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 employment and wages in the United States and all of the counties in Maryland, second quarter 2017

Area	Employment June 2017	Average weekly wage (1)
United States (2)	145,186,369	$1,020
Maryland	2,694,828	1,103
Allegany	29,025	736
Anne Arundel	274,385	1,089
Baltimore County	379,414	1,005
Baltimore City	341,508	1,183
Calvert	24,888	1,029
Caroline	9,671	760
Carroll	59,494	822
Cecil	32,120	928
Charles	41,887	868
Dorchester	11,369	745
Frederick	102,023	931
Garrett	12,289	641
Harford	94,579	952
Howard	172,384	1,220
Kent	8,218	735
Montgomery	477,936	1,333
Prince George's	322,435	1,064
Queen Anne's	15,269	723
St. Mary's	43,656	1,294
Somerset	6,814	840
Talbot	19,989	780
Washington	67,434	776
Wicomico	45,760	931
Worcester	31,380	588
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: Covered employment and wages include workers covered by Unemployment Insurance (UI) and Unemployment Compensation for Federal Employees (UCFE) programs. Data are preliminary.

Table 3. Covered employment and wages by state, second quarter 2017

State	Employment		Average weekly wage (1)
	June 2017 (thousands)	Percent change, June 2016-17	Average weekly wage	National ranking by level	Percent change, second quarter 2016-17	National ranking by percent change
United States (2)	145,186.4	1.7	$1,020	--	3.2	--
Alabama	1,946.4	1.2	858	38	2.8	31
Alaska	338.4	-0.7	1,005	16	-0.5	51
Arizona	2,699.6	2.9	943	23	2.5	35
Arkansas	1,206.0	0.7	810	47	3.2	22
California	17,150.9	2.2	1,210	5	4.7	3
Colorado	2,638.8	2.5	1,042	11	4.2	5
Connecticut	1,701.2	0.6	1,216	4	0.4	50
Delaware	446.6	0.6	1,012	15	2.2	43
District of Columbia	766.5	1.0	1,675	1	3.3	19
Florida	8,390.6	2.8	905	27	2.5	35
Georgia	4,357.8	2.1	956	21	2.9	27
Hawaii	653.0	1.0	935	24	3.5	13
Idaho	723.5	3.4	765	50	3.4	16
Illinois	6,006.6	0.9	1,062	9	2.4	39
Indiana	3,041.0	1.5	859	37	3.7	9
Iowa	1,571.4	0.4	853	39	3.3	19
Kansas	1,377.8	-0.1	849	40	2.4	39
Kentucky	1,889.4	0.8	862	35	2.9	27
Louisiana	1,907.7	0.0	869	34	2.0	46
Maine	629.1	0.9	814	46	2.5	35
Maryland	2,694.8	1.4	1,103	8	3.1	23
Massachusetts	3,604.5	1.6	1,278	2	3.6	11
Michigan	4,365.3	1.6	969	19	2.9	27
Minnesota	2,902.1	2.0	1,037	12	3.9	6
Mississippi	1,128.9	0.7	732	51	0.8	49
Missouri	2,818.7	1.2	889	30	3.0	25
Montana	473.6	1.3	797	48	3.9	6
Nebraska	984.0	0.4	833	43	3.5	13
Nevada	1,333.5	3.4	900	29	2.9	27
New Hampshire	665.4	1.6	1,015	14	1.2	48
New Jersey	4,123.5	1.8	1,173	6	2.3	41
New Mexico	815.4	0.7	823	45	1.5	47
New York	9,417.4	1.6	1,237	3	2.2	43
North Carolina	4,361.4	1.8	902	28	4.3	4
North Dakota	422.7	-0.2	953	22	5.0	2
Ohio	5,422.8	1.2	912	25	3.3	19
Oklahoma	1,583.8	0.8	845	41	2.5	35
Oregon	1,912.6	2.2	967	20	3.8	8
Pennsylvania	5,859.4	1.3	1,000	17	3.0	25
Rhode Island	487.3	1.0	980	18	2.6	33
South Carolina	2,053.9	2.0	834	42	3.6	11
South Dakota	435.5	0.6	785	49	3.4	16
Tennessee	2,948.1	1.8	906	26	3.5	13
Texas	12,059.6	2.1	1,027	13	2.7	32
Utah	1,440.3	3.4	862	35	2.6	33
Vermont	314.2	1.0	870	33	2.1	45
Virginia	3,886.6	1.5	1,047	10	3.7	9
Washington	3,352.5	2.2	1,141	7	5.6	1
West Virginia	690.9	-0.3	828	44	3.4	16
Wisconsin	2,905.3	1.1	876	31	2.3	41
Wyoming	280.2	-0.7	875	32	3.1	23
Puerto Rico	873.6	-1.0	515	(3)	1.2	(3)
Virgin Islands	38.6	0.4	762	(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: Data are preliminary. Covered employment and wages includes workers covered by Unemployment Insurance (UI) and Unemployment Compensation for Federal Employees (UCFE) programs.