All 13 large counties in Ohio reported employment gains from March 2014 to March 2015, 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 2014 annual average employment.) Regional Commissioner Charlene Peiffer noted that Franklin County had the largest increase, up 2.5 percent, followed by Warren County, up 2.0 percent. (See table 1.)

Nationally, employment advanced 2.1 percent from March 2014 to March 2015 as 323 of the 342 largest U.S. counties registered increases. Utah, Utah, recorded the largest percentage increase in the country, up 6.1 percent over the year. Atlantic, N.J., had the largest over-the-year percentage decrease in employment among the largest counties in the U.S. with a loss of 4.3 percent.

Among the 13 largest counties in Ohio, employment was highest in Franklin County (703,400) and Cuyahoga County (699,700) in March 2015. Four other counties—Hamilton (495,300), Summit (259,400), Montgomery (244,700), and Lucas (202,800)—had employment levels of more than 200,000. Collectively, Ohio's 13 large counties accounted for 65.1 percent of total employment within the state. Nationwide, the 342 largest counties made up 72.3 percent of total U.S. employment, which stood at 137.4 million in March 2015.

From the first quarter of 2014 to the first quarter of 2015, Butler County recorded the fastest rate of increase in average weekly wages among the 13 large counties in Ohio, registering a gain of 3.6 percent. (See table 1.) Hamilton County recorded the highest average weekly wage among the state’s large counties at $1,122, followed by Delaware County at $1,107. Nationally, the average weekly wage increased 2.1 percent over the year to $1,048 in the first quarter of 2015.

Employment and wage levels (but not over-the-year changes) are also available for the 75 counties in Ohio with employment levels below 75,000. Wage levels in all of these smaller counties were below the national average in the first quarter of 2015. (See table 2.)

Large county wage changes

Butler County’s 3.6-percent rise in average weekly wages from the first quarter of 2014 to the first quarter of 2015 ranked 45^th among the nation’s 342 largest counties. (See table 1.)  Two other counties registered wage increases at or above the national increase: Mahoning County (2.2 percent, 127^th) and Lucas County (2.1 percent, 133^rd). Of the 13 large counties in Ohio, Delaware County was the only large county to record a wage decrease, down 0.5 percent from a year ago.

Nationally, 297 of the 342 largest counties registered over-the-year wage increases. Olmsted, Minn., experienced the largest wage gain in the nation, up 11.7 percent from the first quarter of 2014. Washington, Pa., had the second largest increase (10.7 percent), followed by Riverside, Calif. (10.1 percent).

Among the nation’s 342 largest counties, 39 experienced over-the-year wage decreases. Snohomish, Wash., had the largest percentage decrease in average weekly wages, with a loss of 4.8 percent. Chester, Pa., had the second largest wage decline (-4.0 percent), followed by Williamson, Texas (-3.1 percent).

Large county average weekly wages

As noted, Hamilton County ($1,122) had the highest average weekly wage in the state and ranked 66^th among the 342 largest U.S. counties. Delaware County ($1,107, 68^th) and Cuyahoga County ($1,071, 82^nd) also reported average weekly wages above the national average of $1,048. Mahoning ($698, 330^th) reported the lowest average weekly wage among the state’s large counties.

In the first quarter of 2015, nearly three-fourths of the largest U.S. counties (248) reported wages below the national weekly average of $1,048. Horry County, S.C., reported the lowest wage ($583), followed by the Texas counties of Cameron ($593) and Hidalgo ($607).

Among the nation’s 342 largest counties, 93 registered weekly wages above the U.S. average. New York, N.Y., held the top position with an average weekly wage of $2,847. Santa Clara, Calif., was second at $2,203, followed by Somerset, N.J. ($2,080), San Francisco, Calif. ($2,070), and San Mateo, Calif. ($2,066). Average wages in the highest-ranked county, New York, N.Y., were nearly five times the average wage in the lowest-ranked county, Horry, S.C. ($583).

Average weekly wages in Ohio’s smaller counties

All 75 counties in Ohio with employment below 75,000 had average weekly wages below the national average of $1,048. Among these smaller counties, Union had the highest average weekly wage at $1,016, while Meigs had the lowest at $569. (See table 2.)

When all 88 counties in Ohio were considered, all but 3 had wages below the national average. Two reported average weekly wages less than $600, 31 had wages from $600 to $699, 30 reported wages from $700 to $799, 16 had wages from $800 to $899, and 9 had wages of $900 or more. (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 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 2014 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 2015 version of the national QCEW news release. Tables and additional content from Employment and Wages Annual Averages 2014 are now available online at www.bls.gov/cew/publications/employment-and-wages-annual-averages/2014/home.htm. The 2015 edition of Employment and Wages Annual Averages Online will be available in September 2016.

The County Employment and Wages release for second quarter 2015 is scheduled to be released on Thursday, December 17, 2015.

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 9.5 million employer reports cover 137.4 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.

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.

Table 1. Covered employment and wages in the United States and the 13 largest counties in Ohio, first quarter 2015

Area	Employment			Average weekly wage (1)
	March 2015 (thousands)	Percent change, March 2014-15 (2)	National ranking by percent change (3)	Average weekly wage	National ranking by level (3)	Percent change, first quarter 2014-15 (2)	National ranking by percent change (3)
United States (4)	137,412.4	2.1	--	$1,048	--	2.1	--
Ohio	5,144.5	1.4	--	922	24	1.4	38
Butler, Ohio	141.6	1.4	214	909	177	3.6	45
Cuyahoga, Ohio	699.7	0.3	309	1,071	82	1.8	162
Delaware, Ohio	81.2	0.2	314	1,107	68	-0.5	314
Franklin, Ohio	703.4	2.5	127	1,045	95	1.9	150
Hamilton, Ohio	495.3	1.3	223	1,122	66	0.6	279
Lake, Ohio	92.9	0.7	282	829	255	1.0	245
Lorain, Ohio	94.1	0.7	282	809	274	0.7	274
Lucas, Ohio	202.8	0.8	267	887	195	2.1	133
Mahoning, Ohio	96.4	0.7	282	698	330	2.2	127
Montgomery, Ohio	244.7	1.6	199	858	224	0.4	286
Stark, Ohio	155.4	0.8	267	759	315	1.3	223
Summit, Ohio	259.4	1.2	234	938	158	1.5	195
Warren, Ohio	83.9	2.0	163	873	209	1.7	175
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, first quarter 2015

State	Employment		Average weekly wage (1)
	March 2015 (thousands)	Percent change, March 2014-15	Average weekly wage	National ranking by level	Percent change, first quarter 2014-15	National ranking by percent change
United States (2)	137,412.4	2.1	$1,048	--	2.1	--
Alabama	1,873.5	1.3	844	39	2.2	19
Alaska	322.2	1.0	1,051	15	2.6	10
Arizona	2,605.6	2.5	926	23	1.0	45
Arkansas	1,166.6	1.3	790	47	0.8	47
California	16,029.5	3.0	1,207	6	3.7	3
Colorado	2,458.0	3.7	1,071	13	2.4	16
Connecticut	1,640.5	0.8	1,382	3	1.5	35
Delaware	422.8	2.5	1,105	9	-0.5	51
District of Columbia	732.6	1.4	1,764	1	3.2	4
Florida	8,018.0	3.6	885	28	1.8	27
Georgia	4,107.0	3.5	989	18	1.7	31
Hawaii	633.7	1.3	881	31	2.8	9
Idaho	650.3	3.1	736	50	2.2	19
Illinois	5,724.6	1.2	1,130	7	2.4	16
Indiana	2,894.8	1.8	857	35	1.4	38
Iowa	1,504.3	1.3	848	37	2.9	7
Kansas	1,357.1	1.0	851	36	1.4	38
Kentucky	1,810.3	1.5	823	41	1.5	35
Louisiana	1,927.1	1.0	885	28	2.0	21
Maine	571.4	0.9	793	45	0.9	46
Maryland	2,540.8	1.2	1,113	8	2.5	12
Massachusetts	3,338.6	1.7	1,341	4	3.2	4
Michigan	4,079.5	1.8	969	21	1.9	24
Minnesota	2,709.2	1.8	1,079	12	4.3	1
Mississippi	1,102.3	0.6	711	51	0.7	48
Missouri	2,678.0	1.7	882	30	1.8	27
Montana	441.0	2.7	750	49	2.6	10
Nebraska	943.1	1.4	818	42	2.5	12
Nevada	1,227.7	3.7	865	34	-0.2	50
New Hampshire	623.5	1.5	982	20	1.2	43
New Jersey	3,834.6	1.4	1,288	5	1.9	24
New Mexico	798.7	1.4	805	43	1.5	35
New York	8,865.0	1.9	1,463	2	0.2	49
North Carolina	4,099.4	2.5	930	22	1.9	24
North Dakota	436.0	1.6	984	19	4.2	2
Ohio	5,144.5	1.4	922	24	1.4	38
Oklahoma	1,592.7	1.3	869	33	2.0	21
Oregon	1,748.7	3.5	919	25	2.9	7
Pennsylvania	5,606.9	0.9	1,031	16	2.4	16
Rhode Island	456.1	1.4	1,008	17	1.2	43
South Carolina	1,919.1	2.5	801	44	1.8	27
South Dakota	406.5	1.5	763	48	3.0	6
Tennessee	2,772.7	2.1	886	27	1.4	38
Texas	11,557.0	2.9	1,089	10	2.5	12
Utah	1,318.8	3.7	845	38	1.7	31
Vermont	303.9	0.9	824	40	2.0	21
Virginia	3,649.3	1.1	1,068	14	1.7	31
Washington	3,064.4	3.2	1,087	11	1.8	27
West Virginia	692.4	-0.3	792	46	1.4	38
Wisconsin	2,734.3	1.5	877	32	2.5	12
Wyoming	277.8	0.8	892	26	1.7	31
Puerto Rico	904.9	-1.1	524	(3)	1.0	(3)
Virgin Islands	38.5	0.0	738	(3)	-0.7	(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.