Internet: www.bls.gov/ro5/ | FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE |
GENERAL INFORMATION: (312) 353-1880 | Thursday, June 5, 2008 |
MEDIA CONTACT: Paul LaPorte | |
(312) 353-1138 |
County Employment and Wages in Minnesota, Third Quarter 2007
The average weekly wage in Ramsey County increased 5.5 percent from the third quarter of 2006 to the third quarter of 2007, the largest advance among Minnesotas seven counties with employment of 75,000 or more (as measured by 2006 annual average employment.) Hennepin Countys 5.4-percent wage growth was the second fastest in the State. Hennepin County also had the highest average weekly wage level in Minnesota at $1,043 followed by the counties of Olmsted ($904) and Ramsey ($896). (See table 1.) Regional Commissioner Jay A. Mousa noted that among Minnesotas seven largest counties, only Ramsey and Hennepin reported wage growth above the national increase of 4.3 percent. Three countiesHennepin, Olmsted, and Ramseyhad weekly wages that exceeded the national average of $818.
Among the seven largest counties in Minnesota, employment was highest in Hennepin County (849,500) and lowest in Stearns County (82,800). Four counties Stearns, St. Louis, Dakota, and Olmstedhad over-the-year employment growth above the 0.9 percent national average.
Employment and wage levels (but not over-the-year changes) are also available for the 80 counties in Minnesota with employment below 75,000. All of the States smaller counties had average weekly wages below the national level. (See table 2.)
County Wage levels
In Hennepin County, wages were $225 or 27.5 percent above the national average, ranking it 22nd among the 328 largest counties in the U.S. Wages in Olmsted and Ramsey Counties were $86 and $78 above the national average and ranked 59th and 62nd, respectively. All three counties were in the top quarter of the nationwide rankings by wage level.
At the other end of the wage spectrum, Stearns and St. Louis Counties reported the lowest average weekly wages among the States largest counties, $657 and $667, respectively, ranking them 290th and 279th nationally.Both of these Minnesota counties had wage levels in the bottom quarter of the national ranking.
Across the country, 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).
Nationwide, 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).
County Wage Changes
As noted, only two of Minnesotas seven largest counties recorded over-the-year wage growth at a pace greater than the national average increase of 4.3 percent. Ramsey Countys 5.5-percent increase ranked 48th in the nation and Hennepin Countys 5.4-percent increase ranked 55th among the 328 large counties nationwide. (See table 1.) The States five remaining large countiesDakota, Anoka, Olmsted, Stearns, and St. Louis, experienced wage increases ranging from 2.1 to 4.2 percent over the year.
Among the largest counties in the nation, 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 to the third quarter of 2007. 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).
Over the year, 10 large counties experienced declines in average weekly wages. The five largest decreases in wages occurred in 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 Minnesotas Smaller Counties
All of the 80 counties in Minnesota with employment below 75,000 had average weekly wages below the national average. Carver County reported the highest wage level at $803 followed by Scott County at $708. Traverse County reported the lowest wage level at $455.
When all 87 counties in Minnesota were considered, 55, or 63 percent, had wages below $600. Twenty-eight of the counties reported average weekly wages from $600 to $799 in the third quarter of 2007, and 4 counties had wages above $800. Three of these better-paid counties were located in the Minneapolis-St. Paul Metropolitan Area and one was located in the Rochester Metropolitan Area.
State Average Weekly Wages
At the state level, the average weekly wage in Minnesota was $822, $4 above the nationwide figure and ranked 15th 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 ($1,376), Connecticut ($1,021), New York ($1,009), Massachusetts ($1,002), and New Jersey ($965). Average weekly wages in these states were at least 18 percent higher than the national average. Three states had average earnings of less than 75 percent of the national average: South Dakota ($598), Mississippi ($607), and Montana ($608).
Minnesota experienced wage growth of 4.6 percent from the third quarter of 2006 to the third quarter of 2007, ranking 16th among the 50 states and District of Columbia. The neighboring states of North Dakota and South Dakota reported larger over-the-year-wage increases of 5.8 and 4.7 percent, respectively. Wage growth in Iowa (4.2 percent) and Wisconsin (2.6 percent) was slower than in Minnesota. The highest over-the-year wage gains in the third quarter of 2007 were recorded by Washington (6.7 percent), Connecticut (6.6 percent), and New York (6.1 percent). The only state to report a decline in average weekly wages was Rhode Island, where wages edged down 0.1 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 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 Bureaus 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. This edition includes the data on a CD for enhanced access and usability. As a result of this change, the printed booklet contains only selected graphic representation of QCEW data; the data tables themselves are published exclusively in electronic formats as PDF and fixed-width text files. Employment and Wages Annual Averages, 2006 is now available for sale from the United States Government Printing Office, Superintendent of Documents. On-line ordering information is available at bookstore.gpo.gov. The 2006 bulletin is available in a portable document format (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 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.
Area | Employment | Average Weekly Wage (3) | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
September 2007 (thousands) | Percent change, September 2006-07 (5) | Average weekly wage | National ranking by level (4) | Percent change, third quarter 2006-07 (5) | National ranking by percent change (4) | |
United States (6) |
136,246.9 | 0.9 | $818 | — | 4.3 | — |
Minnesota |
2,713.3 | 0.9 | 822 | 15 | 4.6 | 16 |
Anoka, Minn. |
116.7 | 0.6 | 769 | 159 | 2.9 | 216 |
Dakota, Minn. |
177.2 | 1.9 | 772 | 155 | 2.1 | 261 |
Hennepin, Minn. |
849.5 | 0.8 | 1,043 | 22 | 5.4 | 55 |
Olmsted, Minn. |
91.7 | 1.4 | 904 | 59 | 3.2 | 199 |
Ramsey, Minn. |
337.0 | 0.9 | 896 | 62 | 5.5 | 48 |
St. Louis, Minn. |
98.4 | 2.0 | 667 | 279 | 4.2 | 110 |
Stearns, Minn. |
82.8 | 3.0 | 657 | 290 | 4.0 | 125 |
- Includes workers covered by Unemployment Insurance (UI) and Unemployment Compensation for Federal Employees (UCFE) programs.
- Data are preliminary.
- Average weekly wages were calculated using unrounded data.
- Ranking does not include the county of San Juan, Puerto Rico.
- Percent changes were computed from quarterly employment and pay data adjusted for noneconomic county reclassifications.
- Totals for the United States do not include data for Puerto Rico or the Virgin Islands.
Area | Employment September 2007 | Average weekly wage (3) |
---|---|---|
United States (4) |
136,246,900 | $818 |
Minnesota |
2,713,335 | 822 |
Aitkin |
4,324 | 503 |
Anoka |
116,726 | 769 |
Becker |
13,183 | 523 |
Beltrami |
18,338 | 579 |
Benton |
16,899 | 633 |
Big Stone |
1,969 | 488 |
Blue Earth |
37,307 | 617 |
Brown |
14,267 | 598 |
Carlton |
13,559 | 631 |
Carver |
32,351 | 803 |
Cass |
10,225 | 466 |
Chippewa |
5,867 | 533 |
Chisago |
14,620 | 631 |
Clay |
18,087 | 542 |
Clearwater |
2,487 | 520 |
Cook |
2,978 | 491 |
Cottonwood |
5,080 | 516 |
Crow Wing |
29,769 | 573 |
Dakota |
177,151 | 772 |
Dodge |
5,624 | 644 |
Douglas |
17,654 | 579 |
Faribault |
5,647 | 653 |
Fillmore |
6,423 | 486 |
Freeborn |
12,895 | 546 |
Goodhue |
21,502 | 626 |
Grant |
1,858 | 499 |
Hennepin |
849,506 | 1,043 |
Houston |
4,965 | 459 |
Hubbard |
6,514 | 526 |
Isanti |
11,027 | 599 |
Itasca |
15,941 | 621 |
Jackson |
4,907 | 504 |
Kanabec |
3,951 | 522 |
Kandiyohi |
23,197 | 574 |
Kittson |
1,418 | 508 |
Koochiching |
5,343 | 675 |
Lac Qui Parle |
2,447 | 491 |
Lake |
4,450 | 608 |
Lake of the Woods |
1,472 | 487 |
Le Sueur |
8,288 | 561 |
Lincoln |
1,657 | 470 |
Lyon |
14,898 | 615 |
McLeod |
18,352 | 674 |
Mahnomen |
2,021 | 493 |
Marshall |
2,351 | 548 |
Martin |
9,350 | 594 |
Meeker |
6,959 | 590 |
Mille Lacs |
9,823 | 529 |
Morrison |
11,681 | 571 |
Mower |
16,521 | 622 |
Murray |
2,849 | 484 |
Nicollet |
14,610 | 627 |
Nobles |
10,483 | 544 |
Norman |
1,821 | 493 |
Olmsted |
91,690 | 904 |
Otter Tail |
22,338 | 533 |
Pennington |
9,213 | 619 |
Pine |
7,993 | 487 |
Pipestone |
4,472 | 495 |
Polk |
12,652 | 527 |
Pope |
3,992 | 527 |
Ramsey |
337,001 | 896 |
Red Lake |
1,226 | 575 |
Redwood |
6,706 | 526 |
Renville |
6,125 | 545 |
Rice |
23,549 | 658 |
Rock |
3,301 | 522 |
Roseau |
9,025 | 613 |
St. Louis |
98,390 | 667 |
Scott |
44,011 | 708 |
Sherburne |
23,929 | 677 |
Sibley |
4,420 | 535 |
Stearns |
82,808 | 657 |
Steele |
21,609 | 640 |
Stevens |
5,148 | 621 |
Swift |
3,945 | 552 |
Todd |
6,341 | 532 |
Traverse |
1,280 | 455 |
Wabasha |
7,236 | 552 |
Wadena |
5,869 | 560 |
Waseca |
8,151 | 566 |
Washington |
74,598 | 692 |
Watonwan |
4,250 | 511 |
Wilkin |
1,982 | 543 |
Winona |
25,328 | 608 |
Wright |
38,345 | 602 |
Yellow Medicine |
4,547 | 566 |
Last Modified Date: June 5, 2008