Bureau of Labor Statistics
| Internet: http://www.bls.gov/ro5/ | FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE |
| GENERAL INFORMATION: (312) 353-1880 | Wednesday, March 5, 2008 |
| MEDIA CONTACT: Paul LaPorte | |
| (312) 353-1138 |
AVERAGE WEEKLY WAGES IN IOWA: SECOND QUARTER 2007
The average weekly wage in Linn County increased 4.6 percent from the second quarter of 2006 to the second quarter of 2007, the largest advance among Iowa’s three counties with 75,000 or more jobs as measured by 2006 annual average employment. Polk County, the State’s largest county based on employment, had the highest average weekly wage, $811. (See table 1.) Regional Commissioner Jay A. Mousa noted that all three of Iowa’s large counties posted wage growth at or above 4.0 percent, but none surpassed the 4.6-percent increase for the nation. Likewise, none of the State’s large counties had wages exceeding the $820 national average.
Wage levels
With an average weekly wage of $811, Polk County ranked 121st highest among the nation’s 328 largest counties in the second quarter of 2007. Linn County ($771) ranked 155th and Scott County ($656), 285th. Scott County’s ranking placed it among the bottom third in the nation and none had an average weekly wage that ranked it in the top third. Nationally, there were 218 large counties with wages ranking below the U.S. average.
Among the 110 large counties in the United States with above average wages, New York County, N.Y., held the top position with an average weekly wage of $1,540. Santa Clara, Calif., was second highest 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).
At the other end of the spectrum, Cameron County, Texas, reported the lowest average weekly wage, $515, in the nation, followed by the counties of Hidalgo, Texas ($518), Horry, S.C., and Webb, Texas ($545, each), and Yakima, Wash. ($555).
At the state level, the average weekly wage in Iowa was $664, $156 below the national average and ranking it 42nd among the 50 states and the District of Columbia. (See table 2.) The five highest wage levels in the nation were in the District of Columbia ($1,357), Connecticut ($1,033), New York ($1,020), Massachusetts ($1,008), and New Jersey ($989). Average weekly wages in this group were more than 20 percent 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 ($590), Mississippi ($609) and Montana ($611).
Over-the-year changes
Linn County’s wage growth of 4.6 percent in the second quarter of 2007 ranked it 110th among the 328 largest counties nationwide. Along with Polk County (4.2 percent/144th) and Scott County (4.0 percent/154th), all of Iowa’s large counties placed in the top half in wage growth in the United States.
Clayton County Ga., led the nation in wage growth with an increase of 87.3 percent among the largest counties. Queens, N.Y., was second with wage growth of 12.7 percent, followed by the counties of Rockingham, N.H. (10.1 percent), Ventura, Calif. (9.2 percent), and Lake, Ill. (9.1 percent).
Nationally, six large counties experienced over-the-year declines in average weekly wages. Saginaw County, Mich., had the greatest decline (-5.2 percent), followed by the county of Orleans, La. (-2.9 percent).
At the state level, the average weekly wage in Iowa increased 3.9 percent, ranking it 35th in growth among the 50 states and District of Columbia. Among the six states that border Iowa, three had higher growth rates led by Minnesota with a wage gain of 5.6 percent; Missouri, on the other hand, had the lowest rate of wage growth among the bordering states at 3.4 percent. (See table 2.) Nationwide, Wyoming experienced a wage gain of 8.0 percent from the second quarter of 2006 to the second quarter of 2007, higher than any other state. Utah was second with 6.6-percent growth. Rounding out the top five were Georgia (6.5 percent), Connecticut (6.4 percent), and Montana and New Hampshire (6.3 percent, each). The smallest wage gains were in Delaware (2.2 percent) and Idaho (2.3 percent). No state experienced an over-the-year decline in wages.
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 8.9 million employer reports cover 137.0 million full- and part-time workers. The average weekly 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 the national news release. This edition will also include 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 will be published exclusively in electronic formats as PDF and fixed-width text files. 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. Also, the 2006 bulletin will be available in a portable document format (PDF) on the BLS Web site at www.bls.gov/cew/cewbultn06.htm.
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 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 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.
Last Modified Date: March 5, 2008
