Employment rose in five of the eight large counties in Maryland from June 2018 to June 2019, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. (Large counties are those with annual average employment levels of 75,000 or more in 2018.) Sheila Watkins, the Bureau’s regional commissioner, noted that Prince George’s County had the largest employment gain, up 1.8 percent over the year. Employment in Anne Arundel County was unchanged over the year, while employment in Harford County and Baltimore City declined 0.5 percent and 0.3 percent, respectively. 

Nationally, employment rose 1.1 percent over the year as 279 of the 355 largest U.S. counties gained jobs. Adams, CO, had the largest employment gain, rising 5.3 percent over the year. Bay, FL, had the largest percentage decrease in employment with a loss of 6.4 percent.

Among the eight largest counties in Maryland, employment was highest in Montgomery County (479,500) in June 2019. Three other counties—Baltimore, Baltimore City, and Prince George’s—had employment levels exceeding 300,000. Together, Maryland’s largest counties accounted for 80.1 percent of total employment within the state. Nationwide, the 355 largest counties made up 73.4 percent of total U.S. employment.

Baltimore City (4.8 percent) and Anne Arundel County (4.7 percent) had the fastest over-the-year wage growth among Maryland’s eight large counties from the second quarter of 2018 to the second quarter of 2019. Montgomery County had the highest average weekly wage at $1,421. Only one large county had average weekly wages below $1,000—Frederick ($988). (See table 1.) Nationally, the average weekly wage rose 3.8 percent over the year to $1,095 in the second quarter of 2019.

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

Large county wage changes

From the second quarter of 2018 to the second quarter of 2019, Anne Arundel, Baltimore City, and Harford had wage increases that matched or were above the nationwide gain of 3.8 percent. Montgomery and Prince George’s Counties had the lowest wage increases at 2.2 percent each. (See table 1.)

Among the 355 largest U.S. counties, 347 had over-the-year increases in average weekly wages. Benton, AR, had the largest percentage wage increase (16.3 percent), followed by San Francisco, CA (15.5 percent).

Eight large counties nationwide had over-the-year declines in average weekly wages, led by McLean, IL, with a loss of 5.8 percent. Shawnee, KS, had the second-largest decline at 2.9 percent.

Large county average weekly wages

Average weekly wages in five of Maryland’s eight large counties were above the U.S. average of $1,095, led by Montgomery County ($1,421), which ranked 18^th for wage level among the 355 largest U.S. counties in the second quarter of 2019. Howard ($1,316, 29^th) and Baltimore City ($1,282, 38^th) also placed in the top 50 nationwide for wage level.

Average wages in Maryland’s smaller counties

Fifteen of the 16 counties in Maryland with employment under 75,000 had average weekly wages below the national average. The exception was St. Mary’s County with average weekly wages of $1,343. Worcester County reported the lowest weekly wage in the state, averaging $624 in the second quarter of 2019. (See table 2.)

When all 24 counties in Maryland were considered, 18 had wages below the national average of $1,095. Two of these reported average weekly wages below $700. (See chart 1.)

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 2018 edition of this publication, which was published in September 2019, contains selected data produced by Business Employment Dynamics (BED) on job gains and losses, as well as selected data from the first quarter 2019 version of the national news release. Tables and additional content from the 2018 edition of Employment and Wages Annual Averages Online are now available online at www.bls.gov/cew/publications/employment-and-wages-annual-averages/2018/home.htm. The 2019 edition of Employment and Wages Annual Online will be available in September 2020.

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 sensory impaired individuals upon request. Voice phone: (202) 691-5200; Federal Relay Service: (800) 877-8339.

Table 1. Covered employment and wages in the United States and the 8 largest counties in Maryland, second quarter 2019

Area	Employment			Average weekly wage (1)
	June 2019 (thousands)	Percent change, June 2018-19 (2)	National ranking by percent change (3)	Average weekly wage	National ranking by level (3)	Percent change, second quarter 2018-19 (2)	National ranking by percent change (3)
United States (4)	149,089.20	1.1	--	$1,095	--	3.8	--
Maryland	2,733.60	0.7	--	1,178	8	3.3	33
Anne Arundel, MD	276.7	0.0	280	1,159	71	4.7	53
Baltimore City, MD	344.2	-0.3	308	1,282	38	4.8	48
Baltimore, MD	384.3	0.4	236	1,076	106	3.5	166
Frederick, MD	106.9	1.7	97	988	183	3.6	156
Harford, MD	95.8	-0.5	317	1,032	152	3.8	133
Howard, MD	177.1	1.0	160	1,316	29	3.7	148
Montgomery, MD	479.5	0.1	269	1,421	18	2.2	290
Prince George's, MD	324.6	1.8	84	1,137	81	2.2	290
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 3. Covered employment and wages by state, second quarter 2019

State	Employment		Average weekly wage (1)
	June 2019 (thousands)	Percent change, June 2018-19	Average weekly wage	National ranking by level	Percent change, second quarter 2018-19	National ranking by percent change
United States (2)	149,089.2	1.1	$1,095	--	3.8	--
Alabama	1,993.7	1.1	911	36	3.4	28
Alaska	338.9	0.7	1,078	15	3.6	26
Arizona	2,843.3	2.6	1,010	23	3.8	16
Arkansas	1,222.5	0.6	862	47	4.6	4
California	17,717.4	1.5	1,325	4	4.7	3
Colorado	2,765.7	2.2	1,128	9	4.9	2
Connecticut	1,690.8	-0.8	1,266	6	3.9	11
Delaware	458.0	0.8	1,057	17	3.4	28
District of Columbia	780.4	0.5	1,778	1	3.8	16
Florida	8,722.9	1.8	968	26	3.9	11
Georgia	4,507.1	1.7	1,016	22	3.9	11
Hawaii	652.2	-1.2	992	24	3.7	22
Idaho	765.1	2.6	820	50	3.3	33
Illinois	6,074.7	0.3	1,122	10	2.4	47
Indiana	3,089.8	0.5	910	38	3.1	39
Iowa	1,584.7	0.1	902	40	2.5	45
Kansas	1,403.0	0.6	905	39	2.8	42
Kentucky	1,909.7	0.3	911	36	3.3	33
Louisiana	1,920.2	-0.2	923	35	2.4	47
Maine	639.6	0.4	874	45	3.7	22
Maryland	2,733.6	0.7	1,178	8	3.3	33
Massachusetts	3,690.1	0.9	1,377	2	4.3	5
Michigan	4,419.7	0.1	1,018	21	2.4	47
Minnesota	2,952.6	0.8	1,101	13	2.6	44
Mississippi	1,135.9	0.4	767	51	2.0	51
Missouri	2,836.7	0.3	948	30	2.5	45
Montana	483.1	1.0	843	48	3.3	33
Nebraska	991.5	0.1	889	42	3.5	27
Nevada	1,408.8	2.6	961	29	3.2	38
New Hampshire	676.1	0.8	1,090	14	4.0	10
New Jersey	4,182.5	0.7	1,236	7	3.0	41
New Mexico	834.0	1.0	888	44	4.3	5
New York	9,682.8	1.0	1,347	3	3.9	11
North Carolina	4,527.3	2.0	970	25	3.9	11
North Dakota	431.8	1.3	1,026	20	4.1	7
Ohio	5,486.7	0.4	965	27	3.4	28
Oklahoma	1,618.5	0.5	900	41	3.1	39
Oregon	1,976.5	1.3	1,036	18	3.8	16
Pennsylvania	5,972.1	0.8	1,070	16	3.8	16
Rhode Island	494.5	0.7	1,034	19	3.4	28
South Carolina	2,144.2	1.3	867	46	3.7	22
South Dakota	441.8	0.4	838	49	3.8	16
Tennessee	3,047.8	1.8	964	28	3.3	33
Texas	12,585.6	2.0	1,102	12	3.8	16
Utah	1,526.1	3.0	936	32	4.1	7
Vermont	314.0	0.0	929	34	2.7	43
Virginia	3,981.6	1.0	1,113	11	3.7	22
Washington	3,500.6	1.8	1,288	5	5.9	1
West Virginia	700.4	-0.6	889	42	2.4	47
Wisconsin	2,945.3	0.3	940	31	4.1	7
Wyoming	287.6	1.7	932	33	3.4	28
Puerto Rico	867.7	1.5	531	(3)	-1.8	(3)
Virgin Islands	37.0	10.0	919	(3)	8.8	(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.