Ten of the 12 largest counties in Virginia registered employment increases from March 2010 to March 2011, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. (Large counties are defined as those with employment of 75,000 or more as measured by 2010 annual average employment.) Prince William County had the largest employment increase at 4.3 percent, followed by Loudoun County at 4.2 percent and Arlington County at 3.6 percent. Sheila Watkins, the Bureau’s regional commissioner, noted that Prince Williams’ advance was the third-fastest rate of growth among the nation’s 322 largest counties, while Loudoun’s growth ranked sixth. Virginia Beach City, Va., recorded the only employment decline among Virginia’s large counties, down 0.7 percent.

Nationally, employment rose 1.3 percent during this 12-month period, as 256 of the 322 large counties nationwide gained jobs. The largest over-the-year percentage gain in employment in the nation was recorded in Elkhart County, Ind. at 6.2 percent; Sacramento, Calif., experienced the largest over-the-year percentage decrease in employment, with a loss of 1.6 percent.

Among the 12 largest counties in Virginia, employment was highest in Fairfax County (572,900) in March 2011. No other county in the Commonwealth had employment above 200,000. Together, Virginia’s large counties accounted for 56.4 percent of total employment within the Commonwealth. Nationwide, the 322 largest counties made up 70.7 percent of total U.S. employment.

The average weekly wage in Henrico County rose 6.3 percent from the first quarter of 2010 to the first quarter of 2011, the fastest increase among Virginia’s 12 largest counties and ranking 51st nationwide. Virginia Beach City had the second-highest rate of wage growth at 5.8 percent, followed by Richmond City at 4.9 percent. Arlington County had the highest average weekly wage among the 12 largest counties in the Commonwealth at $1,549, followed by Fairfax County ($1,479) and Alexandria City ($1,226). (See table 1.) Nationally, the average weekly wage rose 5.2 percent over the year to $935 in the first quarter of 2011.

Employment and wage levels (but not over-the-year changes) are also available for the 122 counties in Virginia with employment below 75,000. All but 7 (Goochland, Surry, King George, Falls Church City, Fairfax City, Manassas City, and Louisa) of these 122 counties had average weekly wages below the national average. (See table 2.)

Large county wage changes

From the first quarter of 2010 to the first quarter of 2011, 11 of the 12 largest counties in Virginia recorded wage increases. Two of these counties, Henrico (6.3 percent) and Virginia Beach City (5.8 percent), recorded wage gains greater than the national increase of 5.2 percent. Nine other counties had growth rates ranging from 0.8 percent to 4.9 percent. 

Of the 322 largest counties nationwide, 315 had over-the-year increases in average weekly wages. Peoria, Ill., led the nation in average weekly wage growth with an increase of 18.9 percent from the first quarter of 2010. Santa Clara, Calif., was second with a gain of 12.4 percent, followed by the counties of Macomb, Mich. (12.0 percent), Clayton, Ga. (11.9 percent), and Wayne, Mich. (11.3 percent).

Nationwide, three large counties recorded decreases in average weekly wages over the year. Williamson, Texas, had the largest decrease in wages with a loss of 3.8 percent from the first quarter of 2010. Smaller declines were reported in Hudson, N.J. (-1.5 percent) and Durham, N.C. (-0.5 percent).

Large county average weekly wages

Average weekly wages in 1 of Virginia’s 12 large counties, Arlington, ranked among the top 10 nationwide, placing 7th of all 322 large counties. Five other large counties in Virginia—Fairfax, Alexandria City, Loudoun, Richmond City, and Henrico—also had average wages that placed in the top fifth of all large counties. These six counties were the only large counties in Virginia to record wages above the national average.

In two other large counties, Virginia Beach City and Chesapeake City, average weekly wages placed in the bottom fifth of the national ranking at 277th and 271st, respectively.

Average weekly wages in Virginia’s smaller counties

All but 7 of the 122 counties in Virginia with employment below 75,000 had average weekly wages lower than the national average of $935. Highland County reported the lowest wage level at $458. The highest wage among Virginia’s 122 small counties was Goochland County’s $1,674, followed by Surry County’s $1,544. (See table 2.)

When all 134 counties in Virginia were considered, 121 had wages below the national average of $935. Seven reported average weekly wages below $500, 78 reported wages from $501 to $700, 34 had wages from $701 to $900, 8 had wages from $901 to $1,100, and 7 had wages above $1,101.  Of the 13 counties with above-average wages, 7 were concentrated in the metropolitan area of Washington, D.C. and 4 were located in the Richmond area.

Additional statistics and other information

QCEW data for states have been included in this release in table 3. For additional information about quarterly employment and wages data, please read the Technical Note or visit the QCEW Web site at http://www.bls.gov/cew/.

An annual bulletin, Employment and Wages Annual Averages, features comprehensive information by detailed industry on establishments, employment, and wages for the nation and all states. The 2009 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 2010 version of the national news release. Tables and additional content from the 2009 Employment and Wages Annual Bulletin are now available online at www.bls.gov/cew/cewbultn09.htm. This web-only publication has replaced the annual print bulletin, Employment and Wages Annual Averages. The March 2010 issue of this annual bulletin was the final one to be issued on paper.

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 Mid-Atlantic Information Office at 215-597-3282 from 8:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. and 1:00 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. ET.

Technical Note

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 summaries of employment and total pay of workers covered by state and federal unemployment insurance (UI) legislation and provided by State Workforce Agencies (SWAs). The 9.1 million employer reports cover 127.9 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 and may not match the data contained on the Bureau’s Web site.

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 reasons—some 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.

Last Modified Date: October 24, 2011