Bureau of Labor Statistics
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FOR FURTHER INFORMATION: |
AVERAGE WEEKLY WAGES IN KANSAS: SECOND QUARTER 2007
Sedgwick County records fastest growth in wages
Johnson County has highest average weekly wage
In the second quarter of 2007, the average weekly wage in Sedgwick County rose 6.4 percent over the year, the largest increase among the four counties in Kansas with 75,000 or more jobs as measured by 2006 annual average employment. Johnson County had the next largest increase at 4.8 percent, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. In addition, Sedgwick and Johnson were the only two counties to record over-the-year wage growth greater than the 4.6-percent gain for the nation. Regional Commissioner Stanley W. Suchman noted that only Johnson County had an average weekly wage above the national average of $820. (See table A.)
| Area | Employment | Average Weekly Wage (3) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| June 2007 (thousands) | Percent change, second quarter 2006-07 (5) | Average weekly wage | National ranking by level (4) | Percent change, second quarter 2006-07 (5) | National ranking by percent change (4) | |
United States (6) |
137,018.2 | 1.2 | $820 | — | 4.6 | — |
Kansas |
1,370.7 | 2.0 | 702 | 33 | 4.8 | 15 |
Johnson, Kan. |
318.1 | 3.1 | 867 | 82 | 4.8 | 98 |
Sedgwick, Kan. |
259.9 | 3.9 | 779 | 146 | 6.4 | 33 |
Shawnee, Kan. |
96.7 | 2.3 | 723 | 215 | 4.2 | 144 |
Wyandotte, Kan. |
80.7 | 2.2 | 798 | 136 | 1.4 | 299 |
| (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. |
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Wage levels in the largest counties
Johnson County's average weekly wage of $867 was the highest in the State and ranked in the top quarter (82nd) among the 328 largest counties in the nation in the second quarter of 2007. The three remaining large counties in the State had wage levels below the national average of $820, but two ranked in the top half nationwide with Wyandotte County averaging $798 (136th) and Sedgwick, $779 (146th). Shawnee County placed in the bottom half, averaging $723 (215th).
Average weekly wages were higher than the national average in 110 of the largest 328 U.S. counties. New York County, N.Y., held the top position among the highest-paid large counties with an average weekly wage of $1,540. Santa Clara, Calif., was second with an average weekly wage of $1,504, followed by Clayton County, Ga. ($1,358), Washington, D.C. ($1,357), and Arlington, Va. ($1,352). Three of the 10 counties with the highest wages in the United States were located in the greater New York metropolitan area (New York, N.Y., Fairfield, Conn., and Somerset, N.J.), 3 others were located in or around the San Francisco area (Santa Clara, San Francisco, and San Mateo, all in California), 2 more were located in or around the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area (Washington, D.C., and Arlington, Va.), while Clayton, Ga., was part of the Atlanta metropolitan area. Rounding out the top 10 was Suffolk County, Mass., part of the Boston metropolitan area.
There were 218 counties with an average weekly wage below the national average in the second quarter of 2007. The lowest average weekly wage was reported in Cameron County, Texas ($515), followed by the counties of Hidalgo, Texas ($518), Horry, S.C., and Webb, Texas ($545 each), and Yakima, Wash. ($555).
At the state level, Kansas's weekly wage of $702 was 14.4 percent below the national average, ranking 33rd among the 50 states and the District of Columbia. (See table 1.) Two of Kansas's four neighboring states had higher average weekly wages, Colorado ($832/13th) and Missouri ($727/29th), and two had lower levels, Oklahoma ($665/40th) and Nebraska ($654/45th).
Wage levels in Kansas's smaller counties
All of the 101 smaller counties in Kansas, those with employment of less than 75,000, recorded wages below the national average. Comanche County had the lowest average weekly wage, at $361, in the second quarter of 2007. The highest wage among Kansas's smaller counties fell below that of any of the largest four counties and was recorded in Leavenworth at $712. Coffey County followed closely averaging $710. (See table 2).
When all 105 counties in Kansas are considered, 6 counties reported average weekly wages above $700 and all were located in the eastern half of the state where wages ranged from a low of $391 in Washington County to a high of $867 in Johnson County. In the western half of the state, the lowest wage was recorded in Comanche County ($361), while Grant County posted the highest wage at $645. Overall, forty-one counties had wages averaging less than $500, fifty-one counties had wages between $500 and $600, and the remaining thirteen counties had wages above $600.
Over-the-year wage changes
As mentioned, two of Kansas's four large counties recorded wage growth greater than the national increase of 4.6 percent from the second quarter of 2006 to the second quarter of 2007. Sedgwick County's 6.4-percent wage gain ranked 33rd in the nation among the 328 largest counties and Johnson County's 4.8-percent increase ranked 98th. The average weekly wage increase in Shawnee County (4.2 percent) ranked 144th while the increase in Wyandotte County (1.4 percent) placed in the bottom ten percent nationwide, at 299th.
Among the 328 largest counties in the United States, Clayton County, Ga., led the nation in average weekly wage growth with an increase of 87.3 percent from the second quarter of 2006 due to increases in wage disbursements in the trade, transportation, and utilities supersector. Queens, N.Y., ranked second with growth of 12.7 percent, followed by the counties of Rockingham, N.H. (10.1 percent), Ventura, Ca. (9.2 percent), and Lake, Ill. (9.1 percent).
Six counties experienced over-the-year declines in average weekly wages. Saginaw, Mich., had the greatest decline (-5.2 percent), followed by Orleans, La. (-2.9 percent), Lake, Fla. (-1.1 percent), Genesee, Mich. (-1.0 percent), Lorain, Ohio (-0.9 percent), and Orange, Fla. (-0.1 percent).
At the state level, Kansas's wage growth of 4.8 percent in the second quarter of 2007 was above the national average, ranking 15th among the 50 states and the District of Columbia. Across the nation, Wyoming had the fastest wage growth (8.0 percent) and Delaware, the slowest (2.2 percent). No state recorded an over-the-year decline in average weekly wages during the period.
Employment
Among the four large counties in Kansas, employment was highest in Johnson County (318,100) and lowest in Wyandotte County (80,700) in June 2007. Over-the-year rates of employment growth in all four large counties exceeded the national average of 1.2 percent. Sedgwick County had the largest over-the-year percentage increase in employment, 3.9 percent, ranking 19th among the 328 largest counties. Johnson County had the next largest increase at 3.1 percent, followed by Shawnee (2.3 percent) and Wyandotte (2.2 percent).
Of the 328 largest counties in the United States, 126 had over-the-year percentage growth in employment above the national average (1.2 percent) in June 2007; 184 large counties experienced changes below the national average. Orleans County, La., had the largest over-the-year percentage increase in employment (10.8 percent). Harrison, Miss., had the next largest increase, 10.3 percent, followed by the counties of Utah, Utah (6.7 percent), Williamson, Tenn. (6.4 percent), and Wake, N.C. (5.9 percent). The large employment gains in Orleans and Harrison counties reflected significant recovery following substantial job losses that occurred in 2005 and 2006 due to Hurricane Katrina.
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 every employer subject to unemployment insurance (UI) laws. The 8.9 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; this 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 will contain 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 will include the data on a CD for enhanced access and usability with the printed booklet containing selected graphic representations of QCEW data; the data tables themselves will be published exclusively in electronic formats as PDFs. Employment and Wages Annual Averages, 2006 will be available for sale in early 2008 from the United States Government Printing Office, Superintendent of Documents, P.O. Box 371954, Pittsburgh, PA 15250, telephone 866-512-1800, outside Washington, D.C. Within Washington, D.C., the telephone number is 202-512-1800. The fax number is 202-512-2104.
QCEW-based news releases issued by other regional offices have been placed at one convenient BLS 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 Kansas City Information Office at 816-285-7000 from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. and 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. CT.
TECHNICAL NOTE
QCEW data are the sums of individual establishment records reflecting the number of establishments that exist in a county or industry at a point in time. For this reason, county and industry data are not designed to be used as a time series.
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. The potential differences result from several causes. Differences between BLS and state published data may be due to the 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.
| State | Employment | Average weekly wage (3) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| June 2007 (thousands) | Percent change, second quarter 2006-07 | Average weekly wage | National ranking by level | Percent change, second quarter 2006-07 | National ranking by percent change | |
United States (4) |
137,018.2 | 1.2 | $820 | - | 4.6 | - |
Alabama |
1,965.4 | 1.1 | 697 | 38 | 3.6 | 38 |
Alaska |
325.8 | -0.5 | 832 | 13 | 5.6 | 9 |
Arizona |
2,612.4 | 1.2 | 786 | 20 | 4.4 | 23 |
Arkansas |
1,186.5 | 0.3 | 639 | 46 | 4.2 | 28 |
California |
15,832.5 | 0.8 | 935 | 6 | 5.4 | 11 |
Colorado |
2,326.9 | 2.2 | 832 | 13 | 4.8 | 15 |
Connecticut |
1,714.2 | 0.9 | 1,033 | 2 | 6.4 | 4 |
Delaware |
430.2 | 0.0 | 870 | 9 | 2.2 | 51 |
District of Columbia |
683.2 | 0.8 | 1,357 | 1 | 4.3 | 26 |
Florida |
7,894.2 | 0.2 | 743 | 23 | 3.2 | 45 |
Georgia |
4,091.5 | 1.4 | 792 | 19 | 6.5 | 3 |
Hawaii |
631.2 | 1.4 | 736 | 27 | 4.2 | 28 |
Idaho |
679.1 | 3.0 | 626 | 47 | 2.3 | 50 |
Illinois |
5,956.3 | 0.8 | 874 | 8 | 4.4 | 23 |
Indiana |
2,933.4 | 0.5 | 702 | 33 | 2.6 | 48 |
Iowa |
1,518.6 | 0.9 | 664 | 42 | 3.9 | 35 |
Kansas |
1,370.7 | 2.0 | 702 | 33 | 4.8 | 15 |
Kentucky |
1,828.2 | 1.7 | 700 | 35 | 4.2 | 28 |
Louisiana |
1,880.2 | 3.2 | 711 | 31 | 4.1 | 31 |
Maine |
619.6 | 0.6 | 658 | 44 | 4.1 | 31 |
Maryland |
2,584.9 | 0.7 | 899 | 7 | 5.3 | 12 |
Massachusetts |
3,300.7 | 1.2 | 1,008 | 4 | 4.8 | 15 |
Michigan |
4,252.9 | -1.4 | 807 | 17 | 2.9 | 46 |
Minnesota |
2,730.9 | 0.0 | 834 | 12 | 5.6 | 9 |
Mississippi |
1,137.4 | 0.9 | 609 | 50 | 3.6 | 38 |
Missouri |
2,764.6 | 0.8 | 727 | 29 | 3.4 | 43 |
Montana |
449.8 | 1.7 | 611 | 49 | 6.3 | 5 |
Nebraska |
930.9 | 1.6 | 654 | 45 | 3.5 | 42 |
Nevada |
1,297.9 | 1.0 | 776 | 21 | 3.7 | 36 |
New Hampshire |
643.7 | 0.7 | 823 | 16 | 6.3 | 5 |
New Jersey |
4,066.7 | 0.4 | 989 | 5 | 4.3 | 26 |
New Mexico |
833.3 | 1.1 | 686 | 39 | 5.2 | 13 |
New York |
8,688.8 | 1.3 | 1,020 | 3 | 5.9 | 7 |
North Carolina |
4,090.5 | 3.0 | 718 | 30 | 4.1 | 31 |
North Dakota |
347.7 | 1.5 | 619 | 48 | 4.7 | 19 |
Ohio |
5,384.6 | -0.1 | 740 | 25 | 3.4 | 43 |
Oklahoma |
1,538.5 | 1.6 | 665 | 40 | 4.1 | 31 |
Oregon |
1,761.6 | 1.7 | 742 | 24 | 4.5 | 22 |
Pennsylvania |
5,740.3 | 1.1 | 802 | 18 | 4.6 | 20 |
Rhode Island |
492.9 | 0.3 | 774 | 22 | 2.5 | 49 |
South Carolina |
1,917.4 | 3.0 | 665 | 40 | 2.9 | 46 |
South Dakota |
404.3 | 2.1 | 590 | 51 | 4.8 | 15 |
Tennessee |
2,768.7 | 0.7 | 729 | 28 | 3.6 | 38 |
Texas |
10,296.1 | 3.4 | 827 | 15 | 5.9 | 7 |
Utah |
1,233.7 | 4.4 | 698 | 36 | 6.6 | 2 |
Vermont |
306.6 | -0.5 | 698 | 36 | 5.0 | 14 |
Virginia |
3,731.5 | 1.0 | 859 | 10 | 4.4 | 23 |
Washington |
2,989.8 | 2.7 | 835 | 11 | 4.6 | 20 |
West Virginia |
717.1 | 0.3 | 659 | 43 | 3.6 | 38 |
Wisconsin |
2,845.8 | 0.4 | 709 | 32 | 3.7 | 36 |
Wyoming |
288.3 | 3.3 | 739 | 26 | 8.0 | 1 |
Puerto Rico |
1,020.7 | -1.6 | 460 | (5) | 6.0 | (5) |
Virgin Islands |
46.9 | 3.4 | 707 | (5) | 4.1 | (5) |
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(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. |
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| Area | Employment June 2007 (thousands) | Average weekly wage (3) |
|---|---|---|
United States (4) |
137,018.2 | $820 |
Kansas |
1,370.7 | 702 |
Allen |
6.2 | 506 |
Anderson |
2.3 | 454 |
Atchison |
7.0 | 552 |
Barber |
1.9 | 513 |
Barton |
13.4 | 560 |
Bourbon |
6.9 | 502 |
Brown |
4.9 | 498 |
Butler |
18.4 | 546 |
Chase |
0.9 | 427 |
Chautauqua |
0.9 | 409 |
Cherokee |
6.2 | 541 |
Cheyenne |
0.8 | 476 |
Clark |
0.8 | 506 |
Clay |
3.5 | 443 |
Cloud |
4.0 | 458 |
Coffey |
4.2 | 710 |
Comanche |
0.8 | 361 |
Cowley |
15.5 | 583 |
Crawford |
18.0 | 519 |
Decatur |
1.1 | 449 |
Dickinson |
7.1 | 496 |
Doniphan |
2.7 | 594 |
Douglas |
47.5 | 601 |
Edwards |
1.1 | 499 |
Elk |
0.7 | 416 |
Ellis |
15.4 | 575 |
Ellsworth |
2.9 | 510 |
Finney |
17.9 | 580 |
Ford |
16.4 | 597 |
Franklin |
9.3 | 572 |
Geary |
13.9 | 566 |
Gove |
1.3 | 462 |
Graham |
1.1 | 505 |
Grant |
3.8 | 645 |
Gray |
3.0 | 530 |
Greeley |
0.6 | 484 |
Greenwood |
2.0 | 472 |
Hamilton |
1.1 | 509 |
Harper |
2.4 | 516 |
Harvey |
13.9 | 548 |
Haskell |
1.6 | 588 |
Hodgeman |
0.6 | 456 |
Jackson |
4.6 | 529 |
Jefferson |
3.7 | 554 |
Jewell |
0.9 | 416 |
Johnson |
318.1 | 867 |
Kearny |
1.4 | 562 |
Kingman |
2.6 | 515 |
Kiowa |
1.1 | 468 |
Labette |
10.5 | 495 |
Lane |
0.8 | 535 |
Leavenworth |
20.9 | 712 |
Lincoln |
1.0 | 395 |
Linn |
2.2 | 636 |
Logan |
1.4 | 514 |
Lyon |
17.4 | 544 |
Mcpherson |
14.7 | 616 |
Marion |
4.1 | 440 |
Marshall |
4.7 | 528 |
Meade |
1.5 | 609 |
Miami |
8.8 | 552 |
Mitchell |
3.2 | 510 |
Montgomery |
17.8 | 529 |
Morris |
1.6 | 463 |
Morton |
1.3 | 590 |
Nemaha |
5.2 | 518 |
Neosho |
8.5 | 585 |
Ness |
1.3 | 567 |
Norton |
2.6 | 499 |
Osage |
3.6 | 426 |
Osborne |
1.5 | 408 |
Ottawa |
1.4 | 472 |
Pawnee |
3.8 | 522 |
Phillips |
2.9 | 489 |
Pottawatomie |
8.5 | 580 |
Pratt |
4.8 | 572 |
Rawlins |
0.8 | 435 |
Reno |
28.4 | 574 |
Republic |
2.0 | 392 |
Rice |
3.6 | 504 |
Riley |
27.4 | 609 |
Rooks |
2.1 | 494 |
Rush |
1.1 | 531 |
Russell |
2.9 | 499 |
Saline |
31.9 | 592 |
Scott |
1.9 | 566 |
Sedgwick |
259.9 | 779 |
Seward |
11.9 | 596 |
Shawnee |
96.7 | 723 |
Sheridan |
1.0 | 479 |
Sherman |
2.6 | 478 |
Smith |
1.5 | 409 |
Stafford |
1.5 | 458 |
Stanton |
0.8 | 589 |
Stevens |
1.8 | 606 |
Sumner |
6.5 | 532 |
Thomas |
3.9 | 484 |
Trego |
1.2 | 470 |
Wabaunsee |
1.4 | 474 |
Wallace |
0.5 | 456 |
Washington |
2.3 | 391 |
Wichita |
0.9 | 516 |
Wilson |
4.5 | 549 |
Woodson |
0.7 | 468 |
Wyandotte |
80.7 | 798 |
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(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. |
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Last Modified Date: July 9, 2008
