Nine of Illinois’ 13 large counties reported employment increases from December 2014 to December 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.) Assistant Commissioner for Regional Operations Charlene Peiffer noted that Will County had the largest increase in employment at 2.2 percent, followed by Cook County’s 1.9-percent growth. Two counties experienced employment declines – Sangamon (-1.6 percent) and Champaign (-0.1 percent). (See table 1.)

Nationally, employment advanced 1.9 percent from December 2014 to December 2015 with 308 of the 342 largest U.S. counties registering increases. Williamson, Tenn., had the largest percentage increase in the country, up 6.8 percent over the year. Ector, Texas, had the largest percentage employment decline among the large counties, down 11.8 percent.

Among the 13 largest counties in Illinois, employment was highest in Cook County (2,575,700) in December 2015. Two other large counties, Du Page (612,200) and Lake (333,500), had employment levels of more than 300,000. Collectively, Illinois' 13 large counties accounted for 80.6 percent of the state's employment with Cook County alone accounting for 43.4 percent. Nationwide, the 342 largest counties made up 72.5 percent of total U.S. employment.

From the fourth quarter of 2014 to the fourth quarter of 2015, all 13 large counties in the state had wage increases. Lake County recorded the fastest rate of increase in average weekly wages, with a gain of 9.8 percent. (See table 1.) Lake County also had the highest average weekly wage in the state at $1,450, followed by Cook ($1,267) and Du Page ($1,257) Counties. Nationally, the average weekly wage was $1,082, up 4.4 percent from a year ago.

Employment and wage levels (but not over-the-year changes) are also available for the 89 counties in Illinois with employment levels below 75,000. Eighty-six of these smaller counties had average weekly wages below the national average. (See table 2.)

Large county wage changes

As noted, average weekly wages in all of the 13 large counties in Illinois increased from the fourth quarter of 2014 to the fourth quarter of 2015. Lake’s 9.8-percent wage gain ranked third among the 342 largest U.S. counties. Over-the-year wage increases in four other large counties in the state also ranked in the top third nationwide: Du Page (6.6 percent, 43^rd), McHenry (6.5 percent, 53^rd), Kane (6.4 percent, 61^st), and Peoria (5.9 percent, 88^th). (See table 1.)

Among the 342 large U.S. counties, 325 had over-the-year wage increases. Wyandotte, Kan., had the largest wage gain, up 10.4 percent from the fourth quarter of 2014. Sonoma, Calif., was second with a wage gain of 10.0 percent, followed by the counties of Lake, Ill. (9.8 percent) and Passaic, N.J. (9.4 percent).

Ten large U.S. counties experienced over-the-year decreases in average weekly wages. Midland, Texas, had the largest percentage decline in average weekly wages with a loss of 11.5 percent. Ector, Texas, had the second largest decrease in average weekly wages, down 8.0 percent from the fourth quarter of 2014, followed by Lafayette, La. (-4.3 percent) and Gregg, Texas (-3.2 percent).

Large county average weekly wages

Average weekly wages in 3 of Illinois' 13 large counties were above the national average of $1,082 in the fourth quarter of 2015 and ranked in the top 50 nationwide: Lake ($1,450, 14^th), Cook ($1,267, 42^nd), and Du Page ($1,257, 47^th). St. Clair ($838) reported the lowest average weekly wage among the state’s large counties and ranked 307^th nationwide.

Seventy percent of the large U.S. counties (241) reported average weekly wages below the national average of $1,082. Cameron, Texas, reported the lowest weekly wage ($649), followed by Horry, S.C. ($653) and Hidalgo, Texas ($661).

Nationally, 100 large counties registered average weekly wages above the U.S. average in the fourth quarter of 2015. Santa Clara, Calif., held the top position with an average weekly wage of $2,335. New York, N.Y., was second at $2,235, followed by San Mateo, Calif., at $2,095. Average weekly wages in the highest-ranked county, Santa Clara, Calif., were more than three times the average weekly wage in the lowest-ranked county, Cameron, Texas ($649).

Average weekly wages in Illinois’ smaller counties

Eight-six of the 89 counties in Illinois with employment below 75,000 had average weekly wages lower than the national average of $1,082. The exceptions were Rock Island ($1,296), Grundy ($1,109), and Tazewell ($1,087). Calhoun County reported the lowest weekly wage in the state, averaging $526 in the fourth quarter of 2015. (See table 2.)

When the 102 counties in Illinois were considered, all but 6 had wages below the national average of $1,082. Twenty-three counties reported average weekly wages less than $700, 36 reported wages from $700 to $799, 22 had wages from $800 to $899, and 21 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 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 first quarter 2016 is scheduled to be released on Wednesday, September 7, 2016.

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 9.7 million employer reports cover 141.9 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.

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