Employment rose in the seven largest counties in Missouri from September 2012 to September 2013, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported today. (Large counties are defined as those with employment of 75,000 or more as measured by 2012 annual average employment. The independent city of St. Louis has been designated a county by the Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages program.) Regional Commissioner Stanley W. Suchman noted that Boone County reported the largest increase at 2.6 percent followed by St. Charles, 2.3 percent. These two counties registered employment gains that exceeded the national average of 1.7 percent.

Nationally, employment increased in 286 of the 334 largest U.S. counties from September 2012 to September 2013. Fort Bend, Texas, posted the largest increase with a gain of 6.0 percent over the year. Peoria, Ill., experienced the largest over-the-year decrease in employment with a loss of 3.7 percent.

Among the seven largest counties in Missouri, employment was highest in St. Louis County (573,900) in September 2013. Two other counties, Jackson and St. Louis City, had employment levels exceeding 200,000. Together, Missouri’s seven large counties accounted for 60.7 percent of total employment within the state. Nationwide, the 334 largest counties made up 71.4 percent of total U.S. employment.

Average weekly wages increased in all but one of the large counties in Missouri from the third quarter of 2012 to the third quarter of 2013. Wages in Clay County experienced the largest growth (5.1 percent) followed by Greene and Jackson (2.9 percent each). Nationally, average weekly wages increased 1.9 percent during the year ending in the third quarter of 2013. St. Louis City had the highest average weekly wage among the largest counties in the state at $1,000, followed by St. Louis ($958) and Jackson ($944). Average weekly wages in these three counties exceeded the national average of $922. Greene County recorded the lowest average weekly wage at $712. (See table 1.)

Employment and wage levels (but not over-the-year changes) are also available for the 108 counties in Missouri with employment below 75,000. All of these smaller counties had average weekly wages below the national average. (See table 2.)

Large county wage changes

Six of the seven large counties in Missouri recorded wage gains from the third quarter of 2012 to the third quarter of 2013, with three counties posting increases greater than the U.S. average of 1.9 percent. (See table 1.) As mentioned, Clay County had the largest wage gain (5.1 percent), placing 9^th in the national ranking, and Greene and Jackson (2.9 percent each) ranked 51^st. Boone (1.6 percent, 172^nd) and St. Charles and St. Louis City (0.8 percent each, 236^th) also registered wage increases while average weekly wages in St. Louis County decreased 0.8 percent and ranked 316^th.

Among the 334 largest counties, 291 had over-the-year increases in average weekly wages. San Mateo, Calif., had the largest wage gain at 9.9 percent. Forty of the 334 largest counties experienced over-the-year decreases in average weekly wages, with Pinellas, Fla., reporting the largest percentage decrease with a loss of 4.3 percent.

Large county average weekly wages

Three of the state’s large counties had average weekly wage levels that placed in the top 100 among the 334 largest counties in the United States in the third quarter of 2013. Average wages in St. Louis City ($1,000) and St. Louis County ($958) ranked 64^th and 81^st, respectively. Jackson County’s average weekly wage of $944 was also above the national average of $922 and ranked 90^th. The wage levels in Missouri’s four other large counties were below average with St. Charles and Greene ranking among the lowest 10 percent in the nation.

Nationally, weekly wages were higher than average in 101 of the 334 largest U.S. counties. Santa Clara, Calif., held the top position among the highest-paid large counties with an average weekly wage of $1,868. San Mateo, Calif., was second at $1,698, followed by New York, N.Y. ($1,667).

Among the 232 large counties with an average weekly wage below the U.S. average in the third quarter of 2013, 3 had wages below $600. Horry, S.C. ($564) reported the lowest wage, followed by Cameron, Texas ($587) and Hidalgo, Texas ($595).

Average weekly wages in Missouri’s smaller counties

Of the 108 counties in Missouri with employment below 75,000, Ralls recorded the highest average weekly wage at $758 followed by Platte at $754. Shannon County reported the lowest weekly wage in the state with an average of $379 in the third quarter of 2013. (See table 2.)

When all 115 counties in Missouri were considered, all but 3 had wages below the national average of $922. Twenty-eight reported average weekly wages under $500, 50 reported wages from $500 to $599, 24 had wages from $600 to $699, and 13 had wages of $700 and above. (See chart 1.) Of the 13 counties with wages of $700 or higher, six were located in the major metropolitan areas of Kansas City and St. Louis.

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 2012 edition of this publication, which was published in September 2013, contains selected data produced by Business Employment Dynamics (BED) on job gains and losses, as well as selected data from the first quarter 2013 version of the national news release. Tables and additional content from Employment and Wages Annual Averages 2012 are now available online at www.bls.gov/cew/publications/employment-and-wages-annual-averages/2012/home.htm . The 2013 edition of Employment and Wages Annual Averages Online will be available in September 2014.

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 9.3 million employer reports cover 135.0 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.