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News Release Information

16-1112-SAN
Wednesday, June 01, 2016

Contacts Technical information: Media contact:
  • (415) 625-2270

County Employment and Wages in Washington – Third Quarter 2015

Employment increased in 9 of Washington’s 10 large counties from September 2014 to September 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 Richard Holden noted that employment increases ranged from 3.8 percent in Clark County to 1.8 percent each in Spokane and Whatcom Counties.

Nationally, employment advanced 1.9 percent from September 2014 to September 2015 as 312 of the 342 largest U.S. counties gained jobs. Williamson, Tenn., had the largest percentage increase in the country, up 6.5 percent over the year. Ector, Texas, had the largest over-the-year decrease in employment with a loss of 8.3 percent.

Among the 10 largest counties in Washington, employment was highest in King County (1,292,100) in September 2015, while Benton County had the smallest employment level (84,500). Together, Washington’s large counties accounted for 85.0 percent of total employment within the state. Nationwide, the 342 largest counties made up 72.2 percent of total U.S. employment, which stood at 140.4 million in September 2015.

Average weekly wages increased in all 10 of Washington’s largest counties from the third quarter of 2014 to the third quarter of 2015. King County had the highest average weekly wage ($1,463) followed by Snohomish County ($1,050). Both counties exceeded the national average weekly wage of $974, which rose 2.6 percent over the year ending in the third quarter of 2015. (See table 1.)

Employment and wage levels (but not over-the-year changes) are also available for the 29 counties in Washington with employment below 75,000. All of these smaller counties had average weekly wages below the national average in the third quarter of 2015. (See table 2.)

Large county wage changes

All 10 large counties in Washington recorded increases in average weekly wages in the third quarter of 2015. Thurston County’s 4.8-percent wage gain placed 13th among the nation’s 342 large counties. Pierce County’s 3.6-percent increase (ranked 64th) and Snohomish County’s 3.2-percent wage increase (ranked 91st) also placed in the top 100. Four additional large counties exceeded the national 2.6 percent increase in the third quarter of 2015. King County had the smallest weekly wage gain, 1.0 percent, which ranked 300th in the nation. (See table 1.)

Nationally, 319 of the 342 largest counties registered over-the-year wage increases. Rockland, N.Y., had the largest wage gain, up 24.9 percent from the third quarter of 2014. Lake, Ill., was second with a wage increase of 11.7 percent, followed by the counties of Onondaga, N.Y. (6.5 percent), Washington, Ore. (6.4 percent), and Marin, Calif. and Santa Cruz, Calif. (6.1 percent each).

Among the largest U.S. counties, 20 experienced over-the-year wage decreases. Midland, Texas, had the largest wage decrease with a loss of 6.7 percent. Ector, Texas, had the second largest decrease in average weekly wages, down 4.9 percent from the third quarter of 2014, followed by Lafayette, La. (-3.2 percent), Stark, Ohio (-2.1 percent), and Gregg, Texas (-1.5 percent).

Large county average weekly wages

Average weekly wages in two of Washington’s large counties placed in the top third of the national ranking. As noted, King County ($1,463, 8th) and Snohomish ($1,050, 70th) exceeded the national average in the third quarter of 2015. Benton County also ranked in the top third ($965, 106th), but its average wage was lower than the national average. The two counties with the lowest average weekly wages—Whatcom ($801, 274th) and Yakima ($679, 335th)—placed in the bottom third of the largest U.S. counties.

Nationally, 100 large counties registered average weekly wages above the U.S. average of $974 in the third quarter of 2015. Santa Clara, Calif., held the top position among the highest-paid large counties with an average weekly wage of $2,090. San Mateo, Calif., was second at $1,894, followed by New York, N.Y. ($1,829), San Francisco, Calif. ($1,712) and Washington, D.C. ($1,667).

Seventy-one percent of the largest U.S. counties (242) reported weekly wages below the national average. Horry County, S.C., reported the lowest wage ($598), followed by the counties of Cameron, Texas ($615), Hidalgo, Texas ($624), Marion, Fla. and Webb, Texas. ($658 each).

Average weekly wages in Washington’s smaller counties

All 29 counties in Washington with employment below 75,000 had average weekly wages lower than the national average of $949. Among these counties, Pend Oreille County had the highest average weekly wage at $867. Okanogan County reported the lowest weekly wage among all counties in the state, averaging $582 in the third quarter of 2015. (See table 2.)

When all 39 counties in Washington were considered, 13 had wages below $700. Eleven counties had average weekly wages ranging from $700 to $799, 9 had wages from $800 to $899, and 6 had wages at or above $900. (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, which was published in September 2015, 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 https://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 2015 is scheduled to be released on Wednesday, June 8, 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 9.6 million employer reports cover 140.4 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: (800) 877-8339.

Table 1. Covered employment and wages in the United States and the 10 largest counties in Washington, third quarter 2015
AreaEmploymentAverage weekly wage (1)
September 2015 (thousands)Percent change, September 2014-15 (2)National ranking by percent change (3)Average weekly wageNational ranking by level (3)Percent change, third quarter 2014-15 (2)National ranking by percent change (3)

United States (4)

140,442.21.9--974.00--2.6--

Washington

3,187.62.5--1111.007.002.2034.00

Benton, Wash.

84.53.371965.00106.003.1104

Clark, Wash.

147.93.842915.00157.003.0117

King, Wash.

1,292.13.4661463.008.001.0300

Kitsap, Wash.

85.62.3137921.00152.002.4178

Pierce, Wash.

288.51.9162898.00171.003.664

Snohomish, Wash.

277.82.81041050.0070.003.291

Spokane, Wash.

211.61.8172842.00223.002.3193

Thurston, Wash.

107.12.3137919.00155.004.813

Whatcom, Wash.

84.91.8172801.00274.002.7147

Yakima, Wash.

121.3(5)--679.00335.002.9129.00

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 Washington, third quarter 2015
AreaEmployment September 2015Average Weekly Wage (1)

United States (2)

140,442,224$974

Washington

3,187,5751,111

Adams

8,683679

Asotin

5,993680

Benton

84,459965

Chelan

46,844689

Clallam

22,809701

Clark

147,852915

Columbia

1,281753

Cowlitz

38,001851

Douglas

12,436649

Ferry

1,862736

Franklin

34,968701

Garfield

739828

Grant

42,757694

Grays Harbor

22,131736

Island

15,463701

Jefferson

8,264695

King

1,292,0671,463

Kitsap

85,574921

Kittitas

14,696709

Klickitat

7,320835

Lewis

24,273750

Lincoln

2,769680

Mason

13,480756

Okanogan

20,811582

Pacific

6,434629

Pend Oreille

2,964867

Pierce

288,464898

San Juan

6,069629

Skagit

49,675815

Skamania

2,211687

Snohomish

277,8131,050

Spokane

211,648842

Stevens

10,066727

Thurston

107,119919

Wahkiakum

735668

Walla Walla

27,514778

Whatcom

84,932801

Whitman

18,084858

Yakima

121,322679

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 2015
StateEmploymentAverage weekly wage (1)
September 2015 (thousands)Percent change, September 2014-15Average weekly wageNational ranking by levelPercent change, third quarter 2014-15National ranking by percent change

United States (2)

140,442.21.9$974--2.6--

Alabama

1,893.61.2830341.840

Alaska

346.40.41,04192.234

Arizona

2,613.92.9889241.542

Arkansas

1,193.41.9756482.622

California

16,474.43.01,13453.46

Colorado

2,513.02.91,006122.430

Connecticut

1,668.30.21,14742.038

Delaware

436.32.1963150.348

District of Columbia

743.61.41,66712.333

Florida

8,023.23.5852313.110

Georgia

4,171.12.8916222.819

Hawaii

635.41.4896233.110

Idaho

680.33.3736502.137

Illinois

5,888.61.31,020103.93

Indiana

2,971.71.6818392.430

Iowa

1,535.90.4823383.014

Kansas

1,370.90.6809411.840

Kentucky

1,852.51.4804422.918

Louisiana

1,926.3-0.2858300.747

Maine

609.70.7779463.37

Maryland

2,607.81.31,06782.430

Massachusetts

3,446.91.41,19723.014

Michigan

4,203.01.6921202.720

Minnesota

2,800.71.4990142.622

Mississippi

1,118.91.2706511.343

Missouri

2,737.91.9846322.234

Montana

457.91.9759473.74

Nebraska

964.01.4811404.22

Nevada

1,254.53.2862292.527

New Hampshire

642.81.5952182.720

New Jersey

3,933.91.41,11662.622

New Mexico

809.20.6798431.343

New York

9,065.41.81,18033.110

North Carolina

4,194.12.5863283.014

North Dakota

438.0-3.895617-2.351

Ohio

5,282.71.2878251.939

Oklahoma

1,598.00.2825370.049

Oregon

1,812.83.0924194.41

Pennsylvania

5,722.10.8961162.527

Rhode Island

477.41.2919212.622

South Carolina

1,959.72.9788442.622

South Dakota

419.50.9756483.110

Tennessee

2,850.62.7864273.28

Texas

11,681.02.1999131.145

Utah

1,353.93.7829353.28

Vermont

308.20.5829353.014

Virginia

3,759.72.51,014112.527

Washington

3,187.62.51,11172.234

West Virginia

702.4-1.1785450.946

Wisconsin

2,815.70.9834333.55

Wyoming

287.4-1.586626-1.150

Puerto Rico

891.1-0.7512(3)1.4(3)

Virgin Islands

36.8-2.1738(3)2.1(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.
 

 

Last Modified Date: Wednesday, June 01, 2016