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News Release Information

15-677-KAN
Friday, April 17, 2015

Contacts Technical information: Media contact:
  • (816) 285-7000

County Employment and Wages in Missouri – Third Quarter 2014

Employment rose in 6 of the 7 largest counties in Missouri from September 2013 to September 2014, 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 2013 annual average employment. The independent city of St. Louis has been designated as a county by the Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages program.) Regional Commissioner Stanley W. Suchman noted that Clay County reported the largest increase at 4.1 percent followed by Greene, 2.3 percent. These two counties registered employment gains that exceeded the national average of 2.0 percent.

Nationally, employment increased in 306 of the 339 largest U.S. counties from September 2013 to September 2014. Weld, Colo., posted the largest increase with a gain of 8.8 percent over the year. Atlantic, N.J., had the largest over-the-year decrease in employment with a loss of 4.0 percent.

Among the seven largest counties in Missouri, employment was highest in St. Louis County (582,500) in September 2014. Jackson County and St. Louis City also had employment levels exceeding 200,000. Together, Missouri’s seven large counties accounted for 60.9 percent of total employment within the state. Nationwide, the 339 largest counties made up 71.8 percent of total U.S. employment.

Average weekly wages increased in all seven large counties in Missouri from the third quarter of 2013 to the third quarter of 2014. Wages in St. Charles County experienced the largest growth (4.8 percent), followed by St. Louis (3.7 percent) and St. Louis City (3.1 percent). Nationally, average weekly wages increased 2.9 percent. St. Louis City had the highest average weekly wage among the largest counties in the state at $1,031, followed by St. Louis ($993) and Jackson ($961). Average weekly wages in these three counties exceeded the national average of $949. Greene County recorded the lowest average weekly wage at $725. (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

As mentioned, the 7 large counties in Missouri recorded wage gains from the third quarter of 2013 to the third quarter of 2014, with 3 counties posting increases greater than the U.S. average of 2.9 percent. (See table 1.) St. Charles County had the largest wage gain (4.8 percent), placing 19th in the national ranking, followed by St. Louis (3.7 percent, 55th) and St. Louis City (3.1 percent, 103rd). Of the remaining large counties in Missouri, Boone registered wage growth of 1.9 percent and placed 244th in the national ranking followed by Greene (1.8 percent, 257th), and Jackson (1.7 percent, 264th). Wages in Clay grew 0.4 percent, placing it near the bottom (323rd).

Among the 339 largest counties in the U.S., 328 had over-the-year increases in average weekly wages in the third quarter of 2014. Olmsted, Minn., ranked first in average weekly wage growth with an increase of 11.1 percent. Collier, Fla., had the largest percentage decrease in average weekly wages, with a loss of 3.9 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 339 largest counties in the United States in the third quarter of 2014. Average wages in St. Louis City ($1,031) and St. Louis County ($993) ranked 63rd and 77th, respectively. Jackson County’s average weekly wage of $961 was also above the national average of $949 and ranked 89th. The wage levels in Missouri’s four other large counties were below average and placed in the bottom half of the national ranking.

Nationally, weekly wages were higher than the average of $949 in 99 of the 339 largest U.S. counties. Santa Clara, Calif., held the top position among the highest-paid large counties with an average weekly wage of $2,012, followed by San Mateo, Calif. ($1,824) and New York, N.Y. ($1,733). Among the 237 large counties with an average weekly wage below the U.S. average in the third quarter of 2014, Horry, S.C. ($580) reported the lowest wage.

Average weekly wages in Missouri’s smaller counties

Of the 108 counties in Missouri with employment below 75,000, Platte County recorded the highest average weekly wage at $800 followed by Ralls at $785. Shannon County reported the lowest weekly wage in the state with an average of $381 in the third quarter of 2014. (See table 2.)

When all 115 counties in Missouri were considered, all but 3 had wages below the national average of $949. Seventy-two reported average weekly wages under $600, 34 reported wages from $600 to $749, 6 had wages from $750 to $899, and 3 had wages of $900 and above. (See chart 1.) Of the 9 counties with wages of $750 or higher, 6 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 2013 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 2014 version of the national news release. Tables and additional content from Employment and Wages Annual Averages 2013 are now available online at www.bls.gov/cew/publications/employment-and-wages-annual-averages/2013/home.htm. The 2014 edition of Employment and Wages Annual Averages Online will be available in September 2015.

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.

The County Employment and Wages release for fourth quarter 2014 is scheduled to be released on Wednesday, June 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 9.4 million employer reports cover 137.7 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.

Table 1. Covered employment and wages in the United States and the 7 largest counties in Missouri, third quarter 2014
Area Employment Average Weekly Wage (1)
September 2014 (thousands) Percent change, September 2013-14 (2) National ranking by percent change (3) Average weekly wage National ranking by level (3) Percent change, third quarter 2013-14 (2) National ranking by percent change (3)

United States (4)

137,724.1 2.0 -- $949 -- 2.9 --

Missouri

2,686.4 1.0 -- 828 31 2.7 25

Boone, Mo.

91.0 1.5 171 764 287 1.9 244

Clay, Mo.

95.0 4.1 29 838 201 0.4 323

Greene, Mo.

159.6 2.3 119 725 321 1.8 257

Jackson, Mo.

349.2 0.0 307 961 89 1.7 264

St. Charles, Mo.

133.6 1.4 184 763 291 4.8 19

St. Louis City, Mo.

224.7 1.1 212 1,031 63 3.1 103

St. Louis, Mo.

582.5 1.1 212 993 77 3.7 55

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 2. Covered employment and wages in the United States and all counties in Missouri, 3rd quarter 2014
Area Employment September 2014 Average Weekly Wage (1)

United States (2)

137,724,117 $949

Missouri

2,686,363 828

Adair

9,811 574

Andrew

2,469 534

Atchison

1,671 525

Audrain

9,360 629

Barry

13,602 735

Barton

3,377 516

Bates

3,596 542

Benton

3,463 506

Bollinger

1,859 452

Boone

90,966 764

Buchanan

46,490 753

Butler

19,223 595

Caldwell

1,586 553

Callaway

14,358 712

Camden

16,869 528

Cape Girardeau

40,164 717

Carroll

2,412 558

Carter

1,468 454

Cass

24,454 600

Cedar

3,176 496

Chariton

1,877 553

Christian

16,323 558

Clark

1,549 457

Clay

94,978 838

Clinton

3,869 572

Cole

51,555 739

Cooper

5,158 579

Crawford

6,485 656

Dade

1,686 504

Dallas

2,485 437

Daviess

1,511 485

De Kalb

3,359 571

Dent

3,835 509

Douglas

2,102 483

Dunklin

10,196 467

Franklin

37,157 704

Gasconade

5,350 534

Gentry

2,223 531

Greene

159,572 725

Grundy

3,455 617

Harrison

2,534 503

Henry

7,585 676

Hickory

1,247 452

Holt

1,294 556

Howard

2,626 463

Howell

15,051 590

Iron

3,864 730

Jackson

349,231 961

Jasper

58,875 700

Jefferson

46,794 621

Johnson

15,094 622

Knox

1,111 468

Laclede

12,639 590

Lafayette

8,609 559

Lawrence

8,800 622

Lewis

2,699 543

Lincoln

11,001 645

Linn

3,823 584

Livingston

6,135 603

McDonald

7,131 571

Macon

4,835 573

Madison

3,641 525

Maries

1,296 521

Marion

13,453 618

Mercer

1,701 643

Miller

6,538 573

Mississippi

4,260 520

Moniteau

4,036 554

Monroe

2,019 535

Montgomery

2,847 566

Morgan

4,113 472

New Madrid

7,377 699

Newton

17,786 616

Nodaway

7,795 585

Oregon

2,358 424

Osage

3,582 568

Ozark

1,520 400

Pemiscot

5,970 546

Perry

9,752 657

Pettis

19,462 599

Phelps

17,520 684

Pike

6,069 555

Platte

40,774 800

Polk

7,830 629

Pulaski

13,315 646

Putnam

1,041 515

Ralls

3,548 785

Randolph

9,652 657

Ray

4,049 601

Reynolds

1,712 431

Ripley

3,083 423

St. Charles

133,560 763

St. Clair

1,712 478

Ste. Genevieve

5,439 738

St. Francois

22,699 549

St. Louis

582,530 993

Saline

8,892 602

Schuyler

600 495

Scotland

1,199 540

Scott

15,043 607

Shannon

1,469 381

Shelby

1,724 487

Stoddard

10,154 593

Stone

5,158 517

Sullivan

2,352 608

Taney

29,045 539

Texas

5,771 531

Vernon

7,044 634

Warren

6,948 623

Washington

5,060 508

Wayne

2,662 412

Webster

6,645 569

Worth

430 474

Wright

4,279 522

St. Louis City

224,732 1,031

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.
 

Note: Includes workers covered by Unemployment Insurance (UI) and Unemployment Compensation for Federal Employees (UCFE) programs. Data are preliminary.
 

Table 3. Covered employment and wages by state, third quarter 2014
State Employment Average weekly wage (1)
September 2014 (thousands) Percent change, September 2013-14 Average weekly wage National ranking by level Percent change, third quarter 2013-14 National ranking by percent change

United States (2)

137,724.1 2.0 $949 -- 2.9 --

Alabama

1,871.2 1.3 815 34 2.5 30

Alaska

344.7 -0.1 1,019 9 3.0 19

Arizona

2,539.6 1.8 876 24 2.0 40

Arkansas

1,170.9 1.3 737 47 1.8 44

California

16,013.4 3.1 1,095 5 3.7 7

Colorado

2,443.0 3.7 982 12 3.0 19

Connecticut

1,663.2 0.8 1,124 4 1.4 49

Delaware

426.1 1.9 961 16 2.2 37

District of Columbia

732.9 0.8 1,631 1 4.5 2

Florida

7,748.4 3.3 826 32 2.1 38

Georgia

4,059.0 3.4 891 21 2.8 23

Hawaii

625.1 0.9 870 25 3.9 4

Idaho

658.4 2.1 721 50 2.6 26

Illinois

5,807.4 1.2 982 12 2.5 30

Indiana

2,924.7 1.4 799 39 1.9 42

Iowa

1,528.8 1.1 800 38 3.6 10

Kansas

1,363.1 1.2 794 40 2.3 35

Kentucky

1,827.8 1.8 781 42 2.5 30

Louisiana

1,928.3 1.7 852 27 3.1 16

Maine

604.5 0.3 754 46 2.6 26

Maryland

2,574.5 1.1 1,042 8 3.1 16

Massachusetts

3,386.7 1.8 1,164 2 3.0 19

Michigan

4,141.0 1.7 896 19 2.4 33

Minnesota

2,757.9 1.1 965 15 2.9 22

Mississippi

1,105.0 0.5 697 51 1.3 50

Missouri

2,686.4 1.0 828 31 2.7 25

Montana

449.5 0.7 732 49 3.7 7

Nebraska

950.0 1.1 779 43 1.8 44

Nevada

1,215.8 4.0 840 28 0.5 51

New Hampshire

633.5 1.4 927 18 3.6 10

New Jersey

3,880.4 0.8 1,087 6 1.7 47

New Mexico

804.0 1.1 786 41 2.6 26

New York

8,902.1 2.0 1,145 3 3.2 15

North Carolina

4,085.5 1.9 839 29 2.8 23

North Dakota

455.9 4.3 977 14 6.1 1

Ohio

5,219.1 1.4 863 26 3.1 16

Oklahoma

1,592.3 1.0 826 32 3.6 10

Oregon

1,752.8 2.4 887 22 3.6 10

Pennsylvania

5,676.2 1.0 937 17 2.6 26

Rhode Island

471.8 1.4 895 20 1.8 44

South Carolina

1,902.7 2.4 768 45 2.4 33

South Dakota

415.8 1.7 733 48 3.7 7

Tennessee

2,775.5 2.4 837 30 2.1 38

Texas

11,433.6 3.1 988 11 3.8 6

Utah

1,304.7 3.1 803 37 1.5 48

Vermont

306.5 1.2 805 36 2.3 35

Virginia

3,667.9 0.6 989 10 2.0 40

Washington

3,112.8 3.2 1,087 6 3.9 4

West Virginia

709.3 -0.2 778 44 3.5 14

Wisconsin

2,783.1 1.1 808 35 1.9 42

Wyoming

291.3 1.7 877 23 4.4 3

Puerto Rico

896.7 -1.5 505 (3) 0.8 (3)

Virgin Islands

37.5 -1.0 720 (3) 2.0 (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.
 

 Chart 1. Average weekly wages for counties in Missouri, third quarter 2014

 

Last Modified Date: Friday, April 17, 2015