Internet: www.bls.gov/ro5/ FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
GENERAL INFORMATION: (312) 353-1880 Wednesday, September 3, 2008
MEDIA CONTACT: Paul LaPorte 
(312) 353-1138  

 County Employment and Wages in Michigan, Fourth Quarter 2007

The average weekly wage in Ingham County increased 4.4 percent from the fourth quarter of 2006 to the fourth quarter of 2007, the largest increase among Michigan’s 10 counties with employment of 75,000 or more (as measured by 2006 annual average employment). Kalamazoo County had the second-highest wage growth at 3.9 percent, followed by Macomb County at 3.7 percent.  Oakland County had the highest average weekly wage level in the State at $1,049, followed by the counties of Wayne ($991), Washtenaw ($957), and Macomb ($922).  (See table 1.)  Regional Commissioner Jay A. Mousa noted that only one county had wage growth above the 4.2 percent national increase and four counties had wages above the national average of $898. 

Among the 10 largest counties in Michigan, employment in December 2007 was highest in Wayne County (751,000) and lowest in Saginaw County (86,300). Nine of the 10 large counties in the State reported declines in employment levels from December 2006 to December 2007.  Only Ingham County increased employment, up 0.2 percent.  Nationally, employment grew 0.8 percent during this time period. 

Employment and wage levels (but not over-the-year changes) are also available for the 73 counties in Michigan with employment below 75,000.  Seventy-two of these smaller counties had average weekly wages below the national average.  (See table 2.)

Wage Levels in Large Counties

The average weekly wage levels in the counties of Oakland, Wayne, Washtenaw, Macomb, and Ingham placed in the top half of the national rankings among the 328 largest counties in the United States.  Oakland County’s average weekly wage ranked 46th; Wayne’s, 60th; Washtenaw’s, 72nd; Macomb’s, 91st; and Ingham’s, 139th. As mentioned, the four highest-paid large counties in the State had average weekly wages above the national average of $898.

The average weekly wages in Michigan’s five other large counties placed in the bottom half of the national rankings:  Saginaw ($756/248th), Ottawa ($761/243rd), Kalamazoo ($799/191st), Genesee ($802/188th), and Kent ($804/183rd).

Across the country, average weekly wages were higher than the national average in 106 of the largest 328 U.S. counties. New York, N.Y., held the top position among the highest-paid large counties with an average weekly wage of $1,862. Santa Clara, Calif., was second with an average weekly wage of $1,700, followed by Fairfield, Conn. ($1,575), Suffolk, Mass. ($1,546), and San Francisco, Calif. ($1,529).

Nationwide, there were 222 counties with an average weekly wage below the national average in the fourth quarter of 2007. The lowest average weekly wage was reported in Cameron County, Texas ($555), followed by the counties of Hidalgo, Texas ($562), Horry, S.C. ($582), Webb, Texas ($590), and Yakima, Wash. ($596).

Wage Changes in Large Counties

Only one of Michigan’s 10 large counties recorded wage growth above the national increase of 4.2 percent from the fourth quarter of 2006 to the fourth quarter of 2007.  (See table 1.)  Ingham County’s 4.4-percent wage gain was the largest increase in the State and ranked 116th in the nation.  Kalamazoo, at 3.9 percent, placed 141st.  Ottawa County was the only county in the State to report no wage gain and ranked 307th among the nation’s largest counties.

Pulaski County, Ark., led the nation in average weekly wage growth with an increase of 26.2 percent from the fourth quarter of 2006. Williamson, Texas, was second with growth of 16.5 percent, followed by the counties of Lake, Ill. (15.6 percent), Douglas, Colo. (12.6 percent), and Westmoreland, Pa. (9.8 percent).

Eight large counties experienced over-the-year declines in average weekly wages. Among the five largest decreases in wages, Rockingham, N.H., had the greatest decline (-12.4 percent), followed by the counties of Trumbull, Ohio (-7.2 percent), Sedgwick, Kan. (-4.1 percent), Lake, Fla. (-3.9 percent), and Montgomery, Ohio (-2.4 percent).

Wage Levels in Michigan’s Smaller Counties

Seventy-two of the 73 smaller counties in Michigan with employment below 75,000 had average weekly wages below the national level of $898.  The exception was Midland County, which reported average weekly wages of $918.  The second-highest wage among the smaller counties was $852 in Monroe County.  Keweenaw County reported the lowest average weekly wage at $407 in the fourth quarter of 2007.  (See table 2.)

When all 83 counties in Michigan were considered, 22 counties in the State reported average weekly wages under $600, 33 reported average weekly wages between $600 and $699, and 18 had average weekly wages between $700 and $799.  Ten counties had average weekly wages of $800 or more and three (Oakland, Wayne, and Macomb) were in the Detroit-Livonia-Warren Metropolitan Area.

State Average Weekly Wages

At the state level, the average weekly wage in Michigan was $873, $15 below the nationwide figure, ranking 17th among the 50 states and the District of Columbia.  (See table 3.)  The five highest wage levels in the nation were in the District of Columbia ($1,506), New York ($1,152), Connecticut ($1,149), Massachusetts ($1,133) and New Jersey ($1,092).  All had wages at least 20 percent higher than the national average.  Three states had average earnings of less than 75 percent of the national average:  South Dakota ($647), Mississippi ($654), and Montana ($659).

Michigan experienced wage growth of 2.5 percent from the fourth quarter of 2006 to the fourth quarter of 2007, ranking 49th among the 50 States and District of Columbia.  Wage gains in the neighboring states of Ohio (2.8 percent), Indiana (3.0), and Wisconsin (3.1) were slightly higher, but still ranked in the bottom quartile among the 50 states and the District of Columbia.  (See table 3.)  Nationwide, the highest over-the-year wage gains in the fourth quarter of 2007 were recorded by Arkansas (9.2 percent), North Dakota (7.3 percent), and Wyoming (7.1 percent).  The only state to report a decline in average weekly wages was New Hampshire, where wages were down 0.3 percent.

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 9.1 million employer reports cover 137.0 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 (see Technical Note below) and may not match the data contained on the Bureau’s Web site.

Additional statistics and other information

An annual bulletin, Employment and Wages, features comprehensive information by detailed industry on establishments, employment, and wages for the nation and all states.  The 2006 edition of this bulletin contains selected data produced by Business Employment Dynamics (BED) on job gains and losses, as well as selected data from the first quarter 2007 version of this news release.  As with the 2005 edition, this edition includes the data on a CD for enhanced access and usability with the printed booklet containing selected graphic representation of QCEW data; the data tables themselves are published exclusively in electronic formats as PDF.  The 2006 bulletin is available in a PDF on the BLS Web site at www.bls.gov/cew/cewbultn06.htm.  Information in this release will be made available to sensory impaired individuals upon request.  Voice phone: 202-691-5200; TDD message referral phone number: 1-800-877-8339.

For personal assistance or further information on the Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages Program, as well as other Bureau programs, contact the Midwest Information Office in Chicago at (312) 353-1880 from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. ET.

TECHNICAL NOTE

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 reasonssome 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 (1) employment and wages in the United States and the 10 largest counties in Michigan, fourth quarter 2007(2)
Area Employment Average Weekly Wage (3)
December 2007 (thousands) Percent change, December 2006-07(5) Average weekly wage National ranking by level (4) Percent change, fourth quarter 2006-07 (5) National ranking by percent change (4)

United States (6)

 137,027.3 0.8 $898 -- 4.2 --

Michigan

 4,194.9 -1.2 873 17 2.5 49

Genesee, Mich.

 143.9 -3.2 802 188 2.8 226

Ingham, Mich.

 163.1 0.2 859 139 4.4 116

Kalamazoo, Mich.

 116.5 -1.0 799 191 3.9 141

Kent, Mich.

 341.0 -1.1 804 183 1.6 285

Macomb, Mich.

 313.3 -2.5 922 91 3.7 152

Oakland, Mich.

 696.6 -1.3 1,049 46 1.8 278

Ottawa, Mich.

 108.1 -2.2 761 243 0.0 307

Saginaw, Mich.

 86.3 -3.7 756 248 0.5 302

Washtenaw, Mich.

 194.1 -1.2 957 72 3.5 172

Wayne, Mich.

 751.0 -2.6 991 60 2.2 264
  1. Includes workers covered by Unemployment Insurance (UI) and Unemployment Compensation for Federal Employees (UCFE) programs.
  2. Data are preliminary.
  3. Average weekly wages were calculated using unrounded data.
  4. Ranking does not include the county of San Juan, Puerto Rico.
  5. Percent changes were computed from quarterly employment and pay data adjusted for noneconomic county reclassifications.
  6. Totals for the United States do not include data for Puerto Rico or the Virgin Islands.
 
Table 2. Covered (1) employment and wages in the United States and all of the counties in Michigan, fourth quarter 2007 (2)
Area Employment December 2007  Average weekly wage (3)

United States (4)

 137,027,300 $898

Michigan -- Statewide

 4,194,919 873

Alcona

 1,687 558

Alger

 2,895 664

Allegan

 34,101 768

Alpena

 11,740 626

Antrim

 5,562 535

Arenac

 5,062 565

Baraga

 3,531 646

Barry

 12,131 706

Bay

 37,054 718

Benzie

 3,951 538

Berrien

 62,754 757

Branch

 13,804 689

Calhoun

 56,165 806

Cass

 9,375 635

Charlevoix

 9,883 671

Cheboygan

 6,526 579

Chippewa

 13,167 640

Clare

 6,941 613

Clinton

 14,886 715

Crawford

 3,953 661

Delta

 14,233 637

Dickinson

 13,982 695

Eaton

 31,711 748

Emmet

 17,326 679

Genesee

 143,861 802

Gladwin

 4,793 585

Gogebic

 6,016 552

Grand Traverse

 47,072 716

Gratiot

 13,590 660

Hillsdale

 12,859 709

Houghton

 12,516 597

Huron

 11,870 630

Ingham

 163,058 859

Ionia

 17,949 660

Iosco

 7,280 554

Iron

 3,924 568

Isabella

 30,451 624

Jackson

 55,560 766

Kalamazoo

 116,492 799

Kalkaska

 3,826 761

Kent

 341,010 804

Keweenaw

 469 407

Lake

 1,414 667

Lapeer

 20,793 644

Leelanau

 5,599 574

Lenawee

 29,394 687

Livingston

 47,271 761

Luce

 1,890 655

Mackinac

 3,516 571

Macomb

 313,330 922

Manistee

 7,484 670

Marquette

 28,360 678

Mason

 9,967 628

Mecosta

 11,790 670

Menominee

 7,838 581

Midland

 35,343 918

Missaukee

 2,730 590

Monroe

 40,876 852

Montcalm

 15,239 644

Montmorency

 2,109 522

Muskegon

 63,144 708

Newaygo

 10,675 621

Oakland

 696,649 1,049

Oceana

 6,810 541

Ogemaw

 6,385 523

Ontonagon

 2,076 609

Osceola

 5,728 737

Oscoda

 2,339 521

Otsego

 10,490 664

Ottawa

 108,086 761

Presque Isle

 3,002 604

Roscommon

 5,611 537

Saginaw

 86,267 756

St. Clair

 50,085 706

St. Joseph

 22,168 718

Sanilac

 11,091 587

Schoolcraft

 2,857 649

Shiawassee

 16,763 591

Tuscola

 11,802 647

Van Buren

 22,490 685

Washtenaw

 194,059 957

Wayne

 751,033 991

Wexford

 14,449 647
  1. Includes workers covered by Unemployment Insurance (UI) and Unemployment Compensation for Federal Employees (UCFE) programs.
  2. Data are preliminary.
  3. Average weekly wages were calculated using unrounded data.
  4. Totals for the United States do not include data for Puerto Rico or the Virgin Islands.
 
Table 3. Covered (1) employment and wages by state, fourth quarter 2007 (2)
State Employment Average weekly wage (3)
December 2007 (thousands) Percent change, December 2006-07 Average weekly wage National ranking by level Percent change, fourth quarter 2006-07 National ranking by percent change

United States (4)

 137,027.3 0.8 $898 - 4.2 -

Alabama

 1,971.0 1.2 762 33 3.3 39

Alaska

 299.4 1.0 877 16 4.9 15

Arizona

 2,693.3 -0.1 827 22 2.6 46

Arkansas

 1,187.6 0.7 712 44 9.2 1

California

 15,794.7 0.8 1,035 6 4.8 18

Colorado

 2,329.9 2.0 927 9 5.7 7

Connecticut

 1,717.8 0.7 1,149 3 4.5 26

Delaware

 428.8 0.3 926 10 3.3 39

District of Columbia

 681.6 0.7 1,506 1 5.8 6

Florida

 8,024.3 -1.3 810 25 2.8 43

Georgia

 4,111.5 0.6 835 21 2.8 43

Hawaii

 637.2 0.7 793 28 4.1 29

Idaho

 660.2 1.7 686 47 2.1 50

Illinois

 5,933.0 0.6 975 8 5.1 13

Indiana

 2,929.1 0.1 745 35 3.0 42

Iowa

 1,498.5 0.7 732 39 4.9 15

Kansas

 1,372.7 1.2 745 35 2.6 46

Kentucky

 1,830.5 0.8 732 39 3.4 38

Louisiana

 1,903.1 2.3 783 29 4.7 20

Maine

 608.8 0.8 707 45 4.1 29

Maryland

 2,580.1 0.4 986 7 4.7 20

Massachusetts

 3,270.9 0.7 1,133 4 5.4 8

Michigan

 4,194.9 -1.2 873 17 2.5 49

Minnesota

 2,708.7 0.8 883 15 5.1 13

Mississippi

 1,148.9 0.7 654 50 3.8 34

Missouri

 2,746.2 0.3 780 30 5.3 11

Montana

 440.4 2.1 659 49 5.4 8

Nebraska

 925.2 1.3 723 41 5.2 12

Nevada

 1,290.8 0.4 872 19 6.7 4

New Hampshire

 638.8 0.3 914 12 -0.3 51

New Jersey

 4,027.4 0.2 1,092 5 3.5 36

New Mexico

 831.7 1.1 738 38 4.8 18

New York

 8,762.7 1.4 1,152 2 4.2 27

North Carolina

 4,127.7 1.5 777 31 3.5 36

North Dakota

 347.7 2.0 690 46 7.3 2

Ohio

 5,336.8 -0.2 795 27 2.8 43

Oklahoma

 1,556.1 1.3 721 42 6.2 5

Oregon

 1,740.5 0.9 798 26 4.6 22

Pennsylvania

 5,712.8 0.5 873 17 4.2 27

Rhode Island

 480.9 -1.5 838 20 2.6 46

South Carolina

 1,904.0 1.0 716 43 4.1 29

South Dakota

 393.5 1.7 647 51 5.4 8

Tennessee

 2,790.3 0.9 813 24 4.0 33

Texas

 10,460.8 3.0 911 13 4.6 22

Utah

 1,241.8 2.8 758 34 4.6 22

Vermont

 309.1 -0.2 743 37 4.9 15

Virginia

 3,709.0 0.7 921 11 3.8 34

Washington

 2,936.0 2.6 885 14 4.6 22

West Virginia

 716.8 0.4 683 48 4.1 29

Wisconsin

 2,803.9 0.3 769 32 3.1 41

Wyoming

 279.6 3.0 815 23 7.1 3

Puerto Rico

 1,055.2 -1.4 517 (5) 4.4 (5)

Virgin Islands

 46.0 0.6 738 (5) 3.9 (5)
  1. Includes workers covered by Unemployment Insurance (UI) and Unemployment Compensation for Federal Employees (UCFE) programs.
  2. Data are preliminary.
  3. Average weekly wages were calculated using unrounded data.
  4. Totals for the United States do not include data for Puerto Rico or the Virgin Islands.
  5. Data not included in the national ranking.

 

Last Modified Date: September 3, 2008