County Employment and Wages in West Virginia: Third Quarter 2007 (PDF)

Wages in Kanawha County rise 4.1 percent over the year

The average weekly wage in Kanawha County, West Virginia, was $704 in the third quarter of 2007, 4.1 percent higher than one year earlier, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor.  Wage growth in Kanawha County was similar to the national increase of 4.3 percent in the third quarter of 2007; however, the county’s average weekly wage was $114 below that for the nation.  Sheila Watkins, the Bureau’s regional commissioner, noted that Kanawha County ranked 242nd highest in wage level and 117th fastest in wage growth among the 328 largest counties (those with 75,000 or more jobs) in the United States.

Employment in Kanawha County stood at 108,883 in September 2007--a 0.6-percent increase from September 2006.  Employment growth in Kanawha County was slightly lower than the national rate of 0.9 percent during this same period.

Employment and wage levels (but not over-the-year changes) are also available for the 54 counties in West Virginia with employment below 75,000.  Among this group, Clay County was the only county to register an average weekly wage above that for the nation.  (See table A.)

Large County Average Weekly Wages

The national average weekly wage in the third quarter of 2007 was $818.  Average weekly wages were higher than the national average in 112 of the largest 328 U.S. counties.  Santa Clara, Calif., held the top position among the highest-paid large counties with an average weekly wage of $1,585.  New York County, N.Y., was second with an average weekly wage of $1,544, followed by Washington, D.C. ($1,376), Arlington, Va. ($1,364), and San Mateo, Calif. ($1,322).

Three of the 10 counties with the highest wages in the U.S. were located in or around the San Francisco area (Santa Clara, San Mateo, and San Francisco, all in California), 3 others were located in the greater New York metropolitan area (New York, N.Y., Fairfield, Conn., and Somerset, N.J.), while 3 more were located in the Washington D.C. metropolitan area (Washington, D.C., Arlington, Va., and Fairfax, Va.).  Rounding out the top 10 was Suffolk County, Mass., part of the Boston metropolitan area.  (See table 1.)

There were 215 counties with an average weekly wage below the national average in the third quarter of 2007.  The lowest average weekly wage was reported in Cameron County, Texas ($518), followed by the counties of Hidalgo, Texas ($529), Horry, S.C. ($536), Webb, Texas ($548), and Yakima, Wash. ($568).  The average weekly wage in the lowest-paid county, Cameron, was just under one-third the wage in the highest-paid county, Santa Clara.

From the third quarter of 2006 to the third quarter of 2007, the national average weekly wage rose by 4.3 percent.  Among the largest counties, Clayton County, Ga., led the nation in growth in average weekly wages, with an increase of 23.9 percent from the third quarter of 2006.  Muscogee, Ga., was second with growth of 12.1 percent, followed by the counties of Santa Clara, Calif. (11.8 percent), Rock Island, Ill. (11.5 percent), and Davidson, Tenn. (9.1 percent).

Ten large counties experienced over-the-year declines in average weekly wages.  The five largest decreases in wages occurred in the counties of Trumbull, Ohio (-10.6 percent), Vanderburgh, Ind. (-6.1 percent), Genesee, Mich. (-4.0 percent), Saginaw, Mich. (-3.1 percent), and Montgomery, Ohio (-3.0 percent).

Wage Levels in West Virginia’s Smaller Counties

As mentioned, all but 1 of the 54 counties in West Virginia with employment below 75,000 had average weekly wages below the national level in the third quarter of 2007.  Wirt County reported the lowest wage, $362, and Clay County, the highest, $1,086.

When all 55 counties in West Virginia were considered, 14, or approximately one-quarter, had wages at or below $500, more than $300 below the national average.  Thirty-five counties, or nearly two-thirds, reported average weekly wages from $501 to $700 in the third quarter of 2007.  Among the higher-paid counties in the State, Clay was the only one with wages above $900, while five others had wages ranging from $701 to $900.  Most of the higher-paying counties were located in the Charleston metropolitan area.  Eleven of the 14 areas with wages of $500 or less were not located in a metropolitan area.  (See chart 1.)

State Average Weekly Wages

At the state level, the weekly wage in West Virginia averaged $623, $195 below the national average and fifth lowest in the nation.  Eight of the 15 states in which the average weekly wage levels surpassed that for the nation fell in a contiguous band along the east coast stretching from Massachusetts to Virginia.  The five highest wage levels in the United States were in the District of Columbia ($1,376), Connecticut ($1,021), New York ($1,009), Massachusetts ($1,002), and New Jersey ($965).  (See table 2.)  Average weekly wages in this group were 18 percent or more above that for the nation.  At the other end of the scale, three states had wage levels averaging less than 75 percent of national earnings:  South Dakota ($598), Mississippi ($607), and Montana ($608).

Washington recorded the fastest wage growth among the states in the third quarter of 2007, at 6.7 percent, followed closely by Connecticut, at 6.6 percent.  New York and North Dakota were next, with wage growth rates of 6.1 and 5.8 percent, respectively.  Rhode Island was the only state to experience an over-the-year decline in wages, down 0.1 percent.  The smallest wage gains among the states were registered in Delaware (1.2 percent), Indiana (2.2 percent), and Michigan (2.4 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 reports submitted by employers subject to state and federal unemployment insurance (UI) laws.  The 9.0 million employer reports cover 136.2 million full- and part-time workers.  The average weekly wage is computed by dividing the total quarterly payroll of employees covered by UI programs by the average monthly number of these employees.  This number then is 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 Note below) and will 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.  Employment and Wages, Annual Averages 2006 is available in a portable document format (PDF) on the BLS Web site at www.bls.gov/cew/cewbultn06.htm.  In addition, the quarterly press release, County Employment and Wages, presents employment and wage data for the largest counties in the U.S. and is available at www.bls.gov/cew/.

QCEW-based news releases issued by other regional offices have been placed at one convenient Web site location, www.bls.gov/cew/cewregional.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 Mid-Atlantic Information Office at 215-597-3282 from 8:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. and 1:00 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. ET.