South Dakota’s only large county, Minnehaha, reported employment growth of 0.8 percent from June 2015 to June 2016, 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 2015 annual average employment.) Assistant Commissioner for Regional Operations Charlene Peiffer noted that in June 2016, Minnehaha County’s employment level of 125,900 accounted for 29.1 percent of total employment within the state. (See table 1.)

Nationally, employment rose 1.5 percent from June 2015 to June 2016, as 291 of the 344 largest U.S. counties gained jobs. Nationwide, the 344 largest counties made up 72.5 percent of total U.S. employment, which stood at 142.7 million in June 2016.

The average weekly wage in Minnehaha County was $847 in the second quarter of 2016, up 2.8 percent from the previous year. Nationally, the average weekly wage rose 2.2 percent over the year to $989 in the second quarter of 2016.

Employment and wage levels (but not over-the-year changes) are also available for the 65 counties in South Dakota with employment below 75,000. All 65 of these smaller counties had average weekly wages below the national average. (See table 2.)

Large county wage changes

Minnehaha County’s 2.8-percent wage growth from the second quarter of 2015 to the second quarter of 2016 ranked 107^th nationally. (See table 1.) Among the 344 largest U.S. counties, 304 had over-the-year increases in average weekly wages in the second quarter of 2016. McLean, Ill., ranked first in average weekly wage growth with a gain of 21.0 percent. Thirty-six of the 344 largest counties experienced over-the-year decreases in average weekly wages. Ventura, Calif., had the largest percentage decline in average weekly wages with a loss of 8.4 percent.

Large county average weekly wages

Minnehaha County’s $847 average weekly wage ranked 235^th among the 344 large U.S. counties in the second quarter of 2016. Nationally, weekly wages were higher than the U.S. average of $989 in 102 of the largest U.S. counties. Santa Clara, Calif., held the top position with an average weekly wage of $2,252. Santa Mateo, Calif., was second at $1,871, followed by New York, N.Y. ($1,866), and San Francisco, Calif. ($1,806). Minnehaha was among the 241 large U.S. counties with an average weekly wage below the national average. Horry, S.C. ($598) reported the lowest weekly wage, followed by the Texas counties of Cameron ($602), Hidalgo ($626), and Webb ($659).

Average weekly wages in South Dakota’s smaller counties

All 65 counties in South Dakota with employment below 75,000 had average weekly wages lower than the national average of $989. Among these smaller counties, Union County had the highest average weekly wage at $904 and Lyman County had the lowest at $485. (See table 2.)

When all 66 counties in South Dakota were considered, 17 reported average weekly wages of $599 or less, 18 had wages from $600 to $649, 14 reported wages from $650 to $699, and 17 had wages of $700 or more. (See chart 1.)

Additional statistics and other information

Quarterly 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 2015 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 2016 version of the national news release. Tables and additional content from Employment and Wages Annual Averages 2015 are now available online at www.bls.gov/cew/publications/employment-and-wages-annual-averages/2015/home.htm. The 2016 edition of Employment and Wages Annual Averages Online will be available in September 2017.

The County Employment and Wages release for third quarter 2016 is scheduled to be released on Tuesday, March 7, 2017.

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 142.7 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: (800) 877-8339.