Internet: www.bls.gov/ro5/ FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
GENERAL INFORMATION: (312) 353-1880 Friday, September 5, 2008
MEDIA CONTACT: Paul LaPorte 
(312) 353-1138  

 County Employment and Wages in Illinois, Fourth Quarter 2007

The average weekly wage in Lake County increased 15.6 percent from the fourth quarter of 2006 to the fourth quarter of 2007, the largest advance among Illinois’ 14 counties with employment of 75,000 or more (as measured by 2006 annual average employment).  Rock Island County had the second-highest wage growth at 6.8 percent, followed by St. Clair County at 4.9 percent.  Lake County had the highest average weekly wage in the State at $1,266, followed by the counties of Cook ($1,101) and Rock Island ($1,063).  (See table 1.)  Regional Commissioner Jay A. Mousa noted that among Illinois’ 14 largest counties, five reported wage growth above the national rate of 4.2 percent and four had average weekly wages above the national average of $898.

 
Among the 14 largest counties in Illinois, employment was highest in Cook County (2,556,200) and lowest in Rock Island County (79,800) in December 2007.  Five of the State’s 14 large counties recorded an employment gain greater than the national average of 0.8 percent from December 2006 to December 2007.  McHenry County was the only large county with employment growth that equaled the national average during this time period.


Employment and wage levels (but not over-the-year changes) are also available for the 88 counties in Illinois with employment below 75,000.  Four of the State’s smaller counties had average weekly wages above the national level, led by Putnam at $1,028.  (See table 2.)


Large County Average Weekly Wages


The average weekly wages in the counties of Lake, Cook, Rock Island, and Du Page placed in the top fourth of the national ranking among the 328 largest counties in the United States.  Lake County’s average weekly wage ranked 13th; Cook’s, 35th; Rock Island’s, 43rd; and Du Page’s, 44th.

 
The average weekly wages in four of Illinois large counties placed in the bottom fourth of the national rankings:  Winnebago ($750/251st), Champaign ($734/268th), Madison ($731/271st), and St. Clair ($724/278th).


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


In Illinois, five 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.)  As mentioned, Lake County’s 15.6-percent wage gain was the largest increase in the State and ranked 3rd in the nation.  Rock Island County, at 6.8 percent, placed 22nd.  Will County had the State’s smallest wage increase, 1.1 percent and ranked 297th among the nation’s largest counties.


Among the largest counties, Pulaski County, Ark., led the nation in growth in average weekly wages, 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).


Average Wages in Illinois’ Smaller Counties


Putnam County’s $1,028 average weekly was the highest among the 88 counties in the State that had employment below 75,000.  Along with Putnam, three other smaller counties had wages that were greater than the national average in the fourth quarter of 2007: Tazewell ($1,022), Grundy ($904), and Boone ($900).  (See table 2.)


When all 102 counties in Illinois were considered, five counties in the State reported average weekly wages below $500, and 33 reported wages in the $500-$599 range.  Thirty-six counties had average weekly wages in the $600 to $699 range.  Twenty-eight counties in the State reported average weekly wages greater than $700.


State Average Weekly Wages


At the state level, the average weekly wage in Illinois was $975, $77 above the nationwide figure, ranking 8th 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).


Illinois experienced wage growth of 5.1 percent from the fourth quarter of 2006 to the fourth quarter of 2007, ranking 13th among the 50 states and District of Columbia.  Wage gains in the neighboring states of Indiana (3.0 percent) and Wisconsin (3.1 percent) were considerably smaller.  Iowa experienced similar wage growth (4.9 percent).  Arkansas experienced a wage gain of 9.2 percent from the fourth quarter of 2006 to the fourth quarter of 2007, higher than any other state.  Next highest was North Dakota (7.3 percent) followed by Wyoming (7.1 percent) and Nevada (6.7 percent).  The only state to record a decline in average weekly wages over the year was New Hampshire, down 0.3 percent.  (See table 3.)


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 9.1 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 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. CT.

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 14 largest counties in Illinois, 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 --

Illinois

 5,933.0 0.6 975 8 5.1 13

Champaign, Ill.

 92.5 0.6 734 268 4.1 131

Cook, Ill.

 2,556.2 -0.1 1,101 35 4.8 86

Du Page, Ill.

 604.8 0.0 1,056 44 3.5 172

Kane, Ill.

 212.2 0.1 820 167 2.4 254

Lake, Ill.

 335.3 1.3 1,266 13 15.6 3

Madison, Ill.

 96.7 1.2 731 271 2.5 245

McHenry, Ill.

 103.8 0.8 784 213 1.4 292

McLean, Ill.

 86.0 0.3 814 173 2.0 271

Peoria, Ill.

 105.2 0.4 841 153 2.9 223

Rock Island, Ill.

 79.8 1.1 1,063 43 6.8 22

Sangamon, Ill.

 130.4 0.0 862 136 4.6 101

St. Clair, Ill.

 98.0 1.6 724 278 4.9 80

Will, Ill.

 195.9 3.5 797 194 1.1 297

Winnebago, Ill.

 138.6 0.7 750 251 2.6 240
  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 Illinois, fourth quarter 2007 (2)
Area Employment December 2007  Average weekly wage (3)

United States (4)

 137,027,300 $898

Illinois -- Statewide

 5,933,011 975

Adams

 33,604 668

Alexander

 1,991 660

Bond

 4,483 648

Boone

 16,593 900

Brown

 3,099 661

Bureau

 12,178 657

Calhoun

 869 442

Carroll

 4,403 561

Cass

 5,800 572

Champaign

 92,469 734

Christian

 10,972 610

Clark

 5,040 571

Clay

 5,394 587

Clinton

 12,374 607

Coles

 25,580 546

Cook

 2,556,208 1,101

Crawford

 7,397 776

Cumberland

 2,280 542

De Kalb

 37,182 713

De Witt

 5,152 795

Douglas

 7,494 611

Du Page

 604,754 1,056

Edgar

 6,817 612

Edwards

 2,754 603

Effingham

 20,427 638

Fayette

 6,202 559

Ford

 4,751 615

Franklin

 9,268 549

Fulton

 8,674 532

Gallatin

 1,653 813

Greene

 2,772 493

Grundy

 16,562 904

Hamilton

 1,569 507

Hancock

 4,780 525

Hardin

 892 494

Henderson

 1,146 471

Henry

 13,819 593

Iroquois

 8,122 536

Jackson

 26,590 621

Jasper

 2,374 617

Jefferson

 19,657 656

Jersey

 4,830 553

Jo Daviess

 8,694 585

Johnson

 2,418 654

Kane

 212,173 820

Kankakee

 44,057 674

Kendall

 23,598 790

Knox

 19,979 552

La Salle

 45,173 680

Lake

 335,316 1,266

Lawrence

 4,531 629

Lee

 13,205 692

Livingston

 15,595 706

Logan

 9,112 612

Macon

 53,710 838

Macoupin

 11,455 579

Madison

 96,720 731

Marion

 13,822 598

Marshall

 3,431 593

Mason

 3,292 562

Massac

 4,413 691

McDonough

 12,407 614

McHenry

 103,805 784

McLean

 85,958 814

Menard

 2,158 512

Mercer

 2,947 558

Monroe

 8,237 589

Montgomery

 9,986 607

Morgan

 15,215 638

Moultrie

 4,935 613

Ogle

 17,128 771

Peoria

 105,197 841

Perry

 5,046 605

Piatt

 3,449 598

Pike

 4,068 482

Pope

 764 502

Pulaski

 1,840 587

Putnam

 2,116 1,028

Randolph

 12,495 672

Richland

 6,672 566

Rock Island

 79,833 1,063

Saline

 8,419 624

Sangamon

 130,385 862

Schuyler

 1,988 749

Scott

 1,149 661

Shelby

 5,059 529

St. Clair

 98,022 724

Stark

 1,375 566

Stephenson

 19,332 714

Tazewell

 61,508 1,022

Union

 5,228 578

Vermilion

 30,060 674

Wabash

 3,427 670

Warren

 6,061 577

Washington

 5,162 655

Wayne

 4,697 562

White

 4,641 600

Whiteside

 21,307 586

Will

 195,874 797

Williamson

 26,575 632

Winnebago

 138,638 750

Woodford

 12,124 649
  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 5, 2008