Bureau of Labor Statistics
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION: FOR RELEASE:
Cheryl Abbot, Regional Economist April 24, 2008
(214) 767-6970
COUNTY EMPLOYMENT AND WAGES IN TEXAS
THIRD QUARTER 2007
Harris County wage leads the State;
Counties along Texas-Mexico border among the lowest paid in the Nation
In the third quarter of 2007, Harris County’s weekly wage averaged $1,015,
highest among the 23 Texas counties with 75,000 or more jobs as measured by
2006 annual average employment. Regional Commissioner Stanley W. Suchman noted
that at the lower end of the wage scale were a number of counties along the
Texas-Mexico border. Averaging $518, the weekly wage in Cameron County was not
only the lowest among Texas’ large counties, but also the lowest among the 328
largest counties nationwide.
Wage levels
The average weekly wage in Harris County was closely followed by high
wages in Dallas County, $1,002, and Collin County, $981. Wages in all three
areas were 20 percent or more above the national average of $818 per week in
the third quarter of 2007. The 3 counties placed in the top 50 among the
national rankings with Harris, Dallas, and Collin at 26th, 31st, and 37th,
respectively. (See table A.) Three other large Texas counties (Travis, Fort
Bend, and Tarrant) also reported weekly wages above the U.S. average.
Wages in the 17 remaining large counties in Texas were below that of the
nation, although 4 of these (Brazoria, Jefferson, Williamson, and Galveston)
were within 5 percent of the U.S. average. Four of the eight lowest-paying
large counties in the nation were located in Texas—all along the border with
Mexico. Average weekly wages in Cameron ($518), Hidalgo ($529), Webb ($548),
and El Paso ($593) Counties ranked 328th, 327th, 325th, and 321st,
respectively. Other large counties in Texas that ranked near the bottom in
average weekly wages included the counties of Lubbock (315th), Brazos (312th),
Bell (303rd), and McLennan (292nd).
Average weekly wages were higher than the national average in 112 of the
largest 328 U.S. counties. Santa Clara, Calif., recorded the highest average
weekly wage at $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 nation were located in the greater New York metropolitan
area (New York, N.Y.; Fairfield, Conn.; and Somerset, N.J.), 3 were located in
or around the San Francisco area (San Francisco, Santa Clara, and San Mateo,
all in California), and 3 were located in or around 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.
Of the large counties in the United States, 215, or about two-thirds, had
an average weekly wage below that for the nation in the third quarter of 2007.
Joining the Texas counties of Cameron, Hidalgo, and Webb among the bottom five
were Horry, S.C. ($536/326th) and Yakima, Wash. ($568/324th). Wages in these
five counties were less than 40 percent of the wage level reported for the
highest-ranked county in the nation, Santa Clara, Calif.
Table A. Covered (1) employment and wages in the United States and the 23 largest
counties in Texas, third quarter 2007 (2)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Employment | Average weekly wage (3)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Percent | Percent National
Area September change, | Average National change, ranking
2007 3rd qtr. | weekly ranking by 3rd qtr. by percent
(thousands) 2006-07(4)| wage level (5) 2006-07(4) change (5)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
United States(6).. 136,246.9 0.9 | $818 -- 4.3 --
|
Texas............ 10,304.9 2.9 | 825 14 5.0 13
|
Bell, Tx........ 98.6 3.0 | 644 303 4.9 71
Bexar, Tx....... 721.4 2.6 | 715 223 3.5 177
Brazoria, Tx.... 85.8 3.2 | 793 131 6.3 27
Brazos, Tx...... 85.3 (7) | 629 312 (7) -
Cameron, Tx..... 122.6 0.6 | 518 328 5.5 48
Collin, Tx...... 283.8 3.2 | 981 37 5.5 48
Dallas, Tx...... 1,487.3 2.2 | 1,002 31 4.2 110
Denton, Tx...... 166.1 3.0 | 716 222 2.9 216
El Paso, Tx..... 269.8 2.0 | 593 321 4.0 125
Fort Bend, Tx... 124.6 7.1 | 854 85 4.3 102
Galveston, Tx... 96.2 (7) | 776 151 (7) -
Harris, Tx...... 2,028.0 3.8 | 1,015 26 6.7 18
Hidalgo, Tx..... 211.8 4.5 | 529 327 2.5 240
Jefferson, Tx... 124.5 1.9 | 787 135 0.6 298
Lubbock, Tx..... 122.8 1.0 | 616 315 3.0 211
McLennan, Tx.... 105.0 1.7 | 656 292 3.8 140
Montgomery, Tx.. 122.1 (7) | 740 191 3.6 168
Nueces, Tx...... 151.6 1.5 | 709 234 6.0 34
Smith, Tx....... 92.6 0.9 | 715 223 3.6 168
Tarrant, Tx..... 769.0 2.6 | 830 105 2.3 254
Travis, Tx...... 572.6 3.1 | 911 57 2.7 228
Webb, Tx........ 88.3 2.8 | 548 325 4.2 110
Williamson, Tx.. 119.1 (7) | 781 143 (7) -
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(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) Percent changes were computed from quarterly employment and pay
data adjusted for noneconomic county reclassifications.
(5) Ranking does not include the county of San Juan, Puerto Rico.
(6) Totals for the United States do not include data for Puerto Rico or the
Virgin Islands.
(7) Data do not meet BLS or State agency disclosure standards.
At the state level, the average weekly wage in Texas was $825, on a par
with the $818 national average and 14th highest in the nationwide ranking.
(See table 1.) The four highest wage levels in the country were in the
District of Columbia ($1,376), Connecticut ($1,021), New York ($1,009) and
Massachusetts ($1,002). Average weekly wages in this group were more than 20
percent above the U.S. average. At the other end of the scale, three states
had wage levels that were less than 75 percent of national earnings: South
Dakota ($598), Mississippi ($607), and Montana ($608).
Over-the-year wage changes
Harris County, which recorded the highest wage level in the State, also
registered the largest wage increase in Texas at 6.7 percent, well above the
U.S. average of 4.3 percent. On a national scale, wage growth in Harris County
ranked 18th highest. Four other counties in the State ranked in the top 50
nationwide and 3 of these were located on the Gulf Coast. Brazoria County,
with an average weekly wage gain of 6.3 percent, ranked 27th and Nueces, with a
wage increase of 6.0 percent was 34th. Wages in Cameron County (lowest in the
nation) and Collin County increased at a 5.5-percent pace, placing them 48th in
the national ranking. No large county in Texas registered over-the-year
declines.
Among all large counties in the United States, Clayton, Ga., led the
nation in growth in average weekly wages, with an increase of 23.9 percent due
to increases in wage disbursements in the trade, transportation, and utilities
supersector during the quarter. 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), and Davidson, Tenn. (9.1 percent).
Across the country, 10 large counties experienced over-the-year declines
in average weekly wages. Trumbull, Ohio, had the largest decline, -10.6
percent, followed by the counties of Vanderburgh, Ind. (-6.1 percent), Genesee,
Mich. (-4.0 percent), Saginaw, Mich. (-3.1 percent), and Montgomery, Ohio (-3.0
percent).
On a statewide basis, average weekly wages rose 5.0 percent in Texas, 13th
highest in the nation and above the U.S. advance of 4.3 percent. Washington
led the United States with an over-the-year wage gain of 6.7 percent, followed
by Connecticut and New York, at 6.6 and 6.1 percent, respectively. Three
states that ranked in the bottom 10 in average wage levels ranked in the top 10
in pay growth—North Dakota (5.8 percent), Oklahoma (5.5 percent) and Nebraska
(5.4 percent). Only Rhode Island experienced an over-the-year decline in
wages among the states, down 0.1 percent.
Over-the-year employment changes
Seventeen of the 23 large counties in Texas recorded employment growth
that exceeded the national average of 0.9 percent from September 2006 to
September 2007. Fort Bend County led the State with an over-the-year gain of
7.1 percent, ranking second in the country in employment growth. Employment in
Hidalgo County rose 4.5 percent (6th), followed by Harris County at 3.8 percent
(9th). Three other counties in Texas ranked among the top 20 nationwide:
Brazoria and Collin (both 3.2 percent) and Travis (3.1 percent). Not
surprisingly, employment growth in Texas was third highest in the nation at 2.9
percent.
A total of 217 large counties in the United States experienced employment
increases from September 2006 to September 2007; of these, 130 had over-the-
year gains above the national average. Orleans County, La., had the largest
over-the-year percentage increase in employment with an 8.6-percent gain.
Second-ranked Fort Bend, Texas (7.1 percent) was followed by the counties of
Williamson, Tenn. (5.8 percent), Wake, N.C. (5.2 percent), and Utah, Utah (5.0
percent). The large employment gain in Orleans County reflected significant
recovery from the substantial job losses that occurred in 2005 and 2006, which
were related to Hurricane Katrina. Employment declined in 86 counties across
the country, with the largest percentage decline occurring in Trumbull County,
Ohio (-5.7 percent).
Industry detail
Average weekly wages by industry supersector are available for two of
Texas’ large counties, Harris and Dallas, the fourth and seventh largest
counties in the nation, respectively. In Harris County, the natural resources
and mining supersector reported the highest average weekly wage at $2,580, more
than three times the U.S. average of $820 in the third quarter of 2007. (See
table 2.) The wage level in Harris’ natural resources and mining industry was
about twice the average wage in the next four highest-paying local
supersectors: manufacturing ($1,290), information ($1,258), financial
activities ($1,256), and professional and business services ($1,156).
Partially reflecting its relatively large share of part-time employment, the
lowest-paying supersector locally (as well as nationally) was leisure and
hospitality, averaging $366 per week in Harris County in the third quarter of
2007. Over-the-year wage increases in Harris County ranged from 9.1 percent in
information to 1.7 percent in education and health services. Nationally,
information had the highest average weekly wage at $1,274, followed by
financial activities at $1,200. Natural resources and mining led all
supersectors in the country in terms of wage increase with a 7.8-percent
advance. However, unlike Harris County where this supersector was the highest
paying, average pay in this industry ranked 7th nationwide at $820 per week.
The natural resources and mining supersector in Dallas County also had the
highest average weekly wage, $2,962. Exhibiting a pattern similar to that of
Harris County, the next four highest-paying supersectors in Dallas County had
wages well below that for the top-paying natural resources and mining industry,
though the rank order was different: information ($1,385), financial
activities ($1,366), manufacturing ($1,174), and professional and business
services ($1,109). Leisure and hospitality was the lowest-paying supersector
in Dallas at $434 per week; even so, this was still nearly 25 percent above the
U.S. industry average of $348. This supersector was the only one in Dallas to
experience an over-the-year decline in wages (-1.8 percent). Locally, the
fastest over-the-year wage growth occurred in manufacturing, up 7.5 percent.
Financial activities experienced the second fastest growth rate at 6.4 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 unemployment
insurance (UI) laws. The 9.0 million employer reports cover 136.2 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 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, counties, and the nation are available on the
BLS Web site at http://www.bls.gov/cew/; however, data in QCEW press releases
have been adjusted (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
representations of QCEW data; the data tables themselves will be published
exclusively in electronic formats as PDFs. Employment and Wages Annual
Averages, 2006 is available for sale 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 is available in a portable document format (PDF) on the
BLS Web site at http://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 (QCEW) Program, as well as other Bureau programs, contact
the Dallas Information Office at 214-767-6970 from 8:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. and
1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. CT. This release is available in text and PDF format on
the Dallas BLS Web site at http://www.bls.gov/ro6/home.htm.
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.
Table 1. Covered (1) employment and wages by state, third quarter 2007 (2)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Employment | Average weekly wage (3)
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Percent | Percent National
State September change, | Average National change, ranking by
2007 3rd qtr. | weekly ranking by 3rd qtr. percent
(thousands) 2006-07 | wage level 2006-07 change
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
United States(4)....... 136,246.9 0.9 | $818 -- 4.3 --
|
Alabama............... 1,959.0 1.1 | 707 32 3.7 37
Alaska................ 327.3 0.7 | 840 13 5.4 9
Arizona............... 2,644.9 0.5 | 783 20 4.1 25
Arkansas.............. 1,184.5 0.3 | 629 46 4.1 25
California............ 15,755.0 0.7 | 932 6 4.5 18
Colorado.............. 2,314.3 2.4 | 844 12 3.2 42
Connecticut........... 1,696.9 1.0 | 1,021 2 6.6 2
Delaware.............. 425.2 0.1 | 860 10 1.2 50
District of Columbia.. 679.0 0.6 | 1,376 1 5.3 12
Florida............... 7,879.9 -0.9 | 741 26 4.1 25
Georgia............... 4,089.4 1.2 | 782 21 4.1 25
Hawaii................ 624.4 0.3 | 760 22 5.4 9
Idaho................. 675.5 2.2 | 634 45 3.4 41
Illinois.............. 5,917.6 0.6 | 866 9 4.0 32
Indiana............... 2,937.4 0.5 | 702 34 2.2 49
Iowa.................. 1,494.5 0.9 | 668 40 4.2 22
Kansas................ 1,368.7 1.7 | 680 38 2.7 46
Kentucky.............. 1,814.3 1.0 | 676 39 3.0 44
Louisiana............. 1,880.8 2.7 | 716 31 4.5 18
Maine................. 615.3 0.7 | 660 44 3.9 35
Maryland.............. 2,563.7 0.7 | 892 7 4.1 25
Massachusetts......... 3,261.0 1.0 | 1,002 4 5.5 5
Michigan.............. 4,218.2 -1.4 | 808 16 2.4 48
Minnesota............. 2,713.3 0.9 | 822 15 4.6 16
Mississippi........... 1,142.2 0.6 | 607 50 3.8 36
Missouri.............. 2,746.7 0.8 | 719 29 4.2 22
Montana............... 446.1 2.7 | 608 49 4.6 16
Nebraska.............. 922.7 1.7 | 666 41 5.4 9
Nevada................ 1,286.4 -0.1 | 792 19 5.5 5
New Hampshire......... 637.2 0.3 | 799 18 3.2 42
New Jersey............ 3,985.2 0.1 | 965 5 3.7 37
New Mexico............ 830.4 0.8 | 682 37 4.1 25
New York.............. 8,585.3 1.3 | 1,009 3 6.1 3
North Carolina........ 4,104.1 2.4 | 719 29 3.5 40
North Dakota.......... 347.4 1.5 | 621 48 5.8 4
Ohio.................. 5,331.9 -0.2 | 745 25 2.8 45
Oklahoma.............. 1,548.2 1.8 | 666 41 5.5 5
Oregon................ 1,751.7 1.2 | 750 24 4.2 22
Pennsylvania.......... 5,673.4 0.5 | 802 17 4.4 20
Rhode Island.......... 486.1 -1.0 | 759 23 -0.1 51
South Carolina........ 1,904.7 1.7 | 664 43 3.6 39
South Dakota.......... 397.5 2.0 | 598 51 4.7 15
Tennessee............. 2,774.4 0.5 | 728 28 4.3 21
Texas................. 10,304.9 2.9 | 825 14 5.0 13
Utah.................. 1,231.6 3.6 | 696 36 5.5 5
Vermont............... 305.2 -0.2 | 699 35 4.0 32
Virginia.............. 3,686.6 1.0 | 857 11 5.0 13
Washington............ 2,976.5 2.1 | 878 8 6.7 1
West Virginia......... 713.8 0.3 | 623 47 4.0 32
Wisconsin............. 2,802.3 -0.1 | 705 33 2.6 47
Wyoming............... 284.3 3.6 | 734 27 4.1 25
Puerto Rico........... 1,008.0 -1.1 | 453 (5) 2.5 (5)
Virgin Islands........ 45.0 0.7 | 682 (5) -0.3 (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.
Table 2. Covered (1) employment and wages in the United States, Harris County,
Texas, and Dallas County, Texas, third quarter 2007 (2)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Average weekly wage (3)
Employment |---------------------------
Area and Supersector September | Average Percent
2007 | weekly change,
(thousands) | wage 2006-07 (4)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
United States (5)....................... 136,246.9 $818 4.3
Private industry...................... 114,790.8 810 4.5
Natural resources and mining......... 1,931.5 820 7.8
Construction......................... 7,774.4 876 5.7
Manufacturing........................ 13,845.4 987 4.3
Trade, transportation, and utilities. 26,299.2 707 3.2
Information.......................... 3,033.1 1,274 4.6
Financial activities................. 8,123.2 1,200 5.9
Professional and business services... 18,017.6 998 6.4
Education and health services........ 17,506.6 775 3.6
Leisure and hospitality.............. 13,562.6 348 4.2
Other services....................... 4,433.8 531 4.1
Government............................ 21,456.1 859 3.2
Harris, TX............................... 2,028.0 1,015 6.7
Private industry....................... 1,783.4 1,027 7.1
Natural resources and mining.......... 78.4 2,580 (6)
Construction.......................... 151.5 968 6.1
Manufacturing......................... 182.2 1,290 7.7
Trade, transportation, and utilities.. 424.7 901 6.0
Information........................... 32.8 1,258 9.1
Financial activities.................. 120.7 1,256 7.3
Professional and business services.... 341.2 1,156 7.5
Education and health services......... 214.7 824 1.7
Leisure and hospitality............... 176.2 366 2.2
Other services........................ 58.4 595 7.6
Government............................. 244.6 922 3.1
Dallas, TX............................... 1,487.3 1,002 4.2
Private industry....................... 1,323.2 1,012 4.2
Natural resources and mining.......... 7.3 2,962 (6)
Construction.......................... 84.6 901 3.1
Manufacturing......................... 142.2 1,174 7.5
Trade, transportation, and utilities.. 306.9 960 6.0
Information........................... 48.1 1,385 (6)
Financial activities.................. 144.5 1,366 6.4
Professional and business services.... 274.8 1,109 4.6
Education and health services......... 146.2 895 2.4
Leisure and hospitality............... 127.6 434 -1.8
Other services........................ 39.3 609 3.7
Government............................. 164.1 919 2.9
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(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) Percent changes were computed from quarterly employment and pay data adjusted
for any noneconomic county and industry reclassifications.
(5) Totals for the United States do not include data for Puerto Rico or the Virgin
Islands.
(6) Data do not meet BLS or State agency disclosure standards.
Last Modified Date: April 24, 2008
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