Employment rose in six of the seven largest counties in Missouri from September 2010 to September 2011, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported today. (Large counties are defined as those with employment of 75,000 or more as measured by 2010 annual average employment. The independent city of St. Louis has been designated a county by the Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages program.) Regional Commissioner Stanley W. Suchman noted that Boone County reported the largest increase at 2.4 percent followed by Greene County, 1.6 percent, and St. Charles County, 1.5 percent.

Nationally, employment grew 1.6 percent, as 271 of the 322 large counties added jobs from September 2010 to September 2011. Williamson County, Tenn., posted the largest percentage increase, with a gain of 5.4 percent over the year. Frederick County, Md., experienced the largest over-the-year decrease in employment with a loss of 2.6 percent.

Among the seven largest counties in Missouri, employment was highest in St. Louis County (564,300) in September 2011. Two other counties, Jackson and St. Louis City, had employment levels exceeding 200,000. Together, Missouri’s seven large counties accounted for roughly 60.2 percent of total employment within the State. Nationwide, the 322 largest counties made up 70.5 percent of total U.S. employment.

Average weekly wages rose in all but one of the large counties in Missouri from the third quarter of 2010 to the third quarter of 2011. Wages in St. Louis City rose 7.3 percent, the largest increase among Missouri’s large counties and well above the 5.3-percent increase for the nation. St. Louis City also had the highest average weekly wage among the largest counties in the State at $1,013, followed by the counties of St. Louis ($970) and Jackson ($925). Average weekly wages in all three of these counties exceeded the national average of $916. Greene County recorded the lowest average weekly wage among the seven large counties at $714. (See table 1.)

Employment and wage levels (but not over-the-year changes) are also available for the 108 counties in Missouri with employment below 75,000. All of these smaller counties had average weekly wages below the national average. (See table 2.)

Large county wage changes

Six out of the seven large counties in Missouri recorded wage growth from the third quarter of 2010 to the third quarter of 2011; three grew faster than the U.S. average of 5.3 percent. (See table 1.) As mentioned, St. Louis City had the largest wage gain at 7.3 percent, placing 36th in the national ranking. St. Louis County’s average weekly wage rose 6.4 percent over the year, ranking 59th while Jackson County’s 6.0 percent increase ranked 78th. Clay County (-2.3 percent) was one of only three counties nationwide to register a decline in average weekly wages. The loss was led by a decline in manufacturing wages due to an acquisition that boosted wages in the third quarter of 2010.

Among the 322 largest counties, 315 had over-the-year increases in average weekly wages. Lake County, Ohio, had the largest wage gain among the largest U.S. counties (17.1 percent). Santa Clara, Calif., had the second largest increase (11.7 percent), followed by Oklahoma, Okla., (11.5 percent). Clay County, Mo., had the largest wage decline with a loss of 2.3 percent over the year.

Large county average weekly wages

Two of the State’s large counties had average weekly wages that placed in the top 100 among the 322 largest counties in the United States in the third quarter of 2011. Average wages in St. Louis City ($1,013) and St. Louis County ($970) ranked 57th and 75th, respectively. Jackson County’s average weekly wage of $925 was also above the national average of $916 and ranked 102nd. The average weekly wages in Missouri’s four other large counties were below average with Greene County ranking among the lowest 10 percent in the nation.

Nationally, average weekly wages were higher than average in 109 of the 322 largest U.S. counties. Santa Clara, Calif., held the top position among the highest-paid large counties with an average weekly wage of $1,857. New York, N.Y., was second at $1,647, followed by Arlington, Va. ($1,550), Washington, D.C. ($1,527), and San Francisco, Calif. ($1,457).

Among the 212 large counties with an average weekly wage below the U.S. average in the third quarter of 2011, 2 had wages below $600. Horry, S.C. ($561) reported the lowest wage, followed by Cameron County, Texas ($591).

Average weekly wages in Missouri’s smaller counties

Of the 108 counties in Missouri with employment below 75,000, Platte County recorded the highest average weekly wage at $732. Shannon County reported weekly wages below $400 and was the lowest among all of the counties in the State. (See table 2.)

When all 115 counties in Missouri were considered, all but 3 had wages below the national average of $916. Thirty-one reported average weekly wages under $500, 48 reported wages from $500 to $599, 24 had wages from $600 to $699, and 12 had wages of $700 and above. (See chart 1.) Of the twelve counties with wages of $700 or higher, half were located in the major metropolitan areas of Kansas City and St. Louis.

Additional statistics and other information

Quarterly data for states has 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 www.bls.gov/cew/.

Employment and Wages Annual Averages Online features comprehensive information by detailed industry on establishments, employment, and wages for the nation and all states. The 2010 edition of this publication, which was published in November 2011, contains selected data produced by Business Employment Dynamics (BED) on job gains and losses, as well as selected data from the first quarter 2011 version of the national news release. Tables and additional content from Employment and Wages Annual Averages 2010 are now available online at www.bls.gov/cew/cewbultn10.htm. The 2011 edition of Employment and Wages Annual Averages Online will be available later in 2012.

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 Mountain-Plains Information Office in Kansas City at (816) 285-7000.

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 130.5 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.

Table 1. Covered (1) employment and wages in the United States and the 7 largest counties in Missouri, third quarter 2011 (2)

Area	Employment			Average Weekly Wage (3)
	September 2011 (thousands)	Percent change, September 2010-11 (4)	National ranking by percent change (5)	Average weekly wage	National ranking by level (5)	Percent change, third quarter 2010-11 (4)	National ranking by percent change (5)
United States (6)	130,524.7	1.6	--	$916	--	5.3	--
Missouri	2,610.3	0.6	--	804	32	5.2	24
Boone, Mo.	84.4	2.4	69	733	287	4.3	204
Clay, Mo.	90.2	0.9	193	844	173	-2.3	318
Greene, Mo.	149.4	1.6	128	714	301	4.4	197
Jackson, Mo.	340.4	-0.4	296	925	102	6.0	78
St. Charles, Mo.	124.4	1.5	134	731	289	4.4	197
St. Louis City, Mo.	219.1	0.6	216	1,013	57	7.3	36
St. Louis, Mo.	564.3	0.4	236	970	75	6.4	59
Footnotes: (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.

Table 2. Covered (1) employment and wages in the United States and all counties in Missouri, third quarter 2011 (2)

Area	Employment September 2011	Average weekly wage (3)		Area	Employment September 2011	Average weekly wage (3)
United States (4)	130,524,677	$916
Missouri	2,610,285	804		Linn	3,868	581
Adair	9,895	539		Livingston	5,879	574
Andrew	2,544	509		McDonald	6,996	523
Atchison	1,653	496		Macon	4,830	536
Audrain	9,308	612		Madison	3,373	512
Barry	14,581	649		Maries	1,399	583
Barton	3,452	521		Marion	14,132	634
Bates	3,512	512		Mercer	1,798	573
Benton	3,541	488		Miller	5,820	543
Bollinger	1,774	428		Mississippi	3,983	503
Boone	84,392	733		Moniteau	4,188	519
Buchanan	45,674	724		Monroe	1,821	514
Butler	18,999	603		Montgomery	2,946	540
Caldwell	1,513	546		Morgan	3,920	463
Callaway	14,029	683		New Madrid	7,333	679
Camden	16,659	536		Newton	19,451	687
Cape Girardeau	39,777	709		Nodaway	8,050	600
Carroll	2,304	553		Oregon	2,307	404
Carter	1,619	435		Osage	3,237	530
Cass	22,891	595		Ozark	1,538	415
Cedar	3,499	486		Pemiscot	6,184	541
Chariton	2,080	588		Perry	9,123	612
Christian	14,584	554		Pettis	19,094	603
Clark	1,450	459		Phelps	17,443	647
Clay	90,165	844		Pike	5,983	553
Clinton	4,035	543		Platte	39,509	732
Cole	52,329	717		Polk	7,506	633
Cooper	5,499	568		Pulaski	14,793	654
Crawford	6,536	599		Putnam	1,011	465
Dade	1,729	469		Ralls	2,599	635
Dallas	2,377	455		Randolph	9,623	611
Daviess	1,541	473		Ray	3,981	586
De Kalb	3,280	536		Reynolds	1,543	455
Dent	4,086	544		Ripley	3,128	443
Douglas	2,396	449		St. Charles	124,401	731
Dunklin	10,068	446		St. Clair	1,747	453
Franklin	35,655	670		Ste. Genevieve	5,587	724
Gasconade	5,096	529		St. Francois	22,426	541
Gentry	2,253	473		St. Louis	564,322	970
Greene	149,426	714		Saline	8,902	601
Grundy	3,535	588		Schuyler	686	488
Harrison	2,549	468		Scotland	1,190	507
Henry	7,210	597		Scott	14,943	589
Hickory	1,068	458		Shannon	1,288	391
Holt	1,242	515		Shelby	1,873	496
Howard	2,275	484		Stoddard	10,546	543
Howell	14,775	568		Stone	5,154	464
Iron	3,481	684		Sullivan	2,483	563
Jackson	340,414	925		Taney	29,739	517
Jasper	56,173	676		Texas	6,002	516
Jefferson	46,351	619		Vernon	6,965	620
Johnson	15,213	620		Warren	6,757	591
Knox	1,098	471		Washington	4,937	494
Laclede	12,109	579		Wayne	2,763	440
Lafayette	8,965	512		Webster	6,349	547
Lawrence	8,560	584		Worth	343	416
Lewis	2,602	608		Wright	4,721	485
Lincoln	10,300	635		St. Louis City	219,079	1,013
Footnotes: (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.

Table 3. Covered (1) employment and wages by state, third quarter 2011 (2)

State	Employment		Average weekly wage (3)
	September 2011 (thousands)	Percent change, September 2010-11	Average weekly wage	National ranking by level	Percent change, third quarter 2010-11	National ranking by percent change
United States (4)	130,524.7	1.6	$916	--	5.3	--
Alabama	1,823.2	0.5	803	33	3.7	48
Alaska	341.5	2.1	963	10	4.0	42
Arizona	2,391.6	2.1	860	21	4.9	27
Arkansas	1,151.0	0.4	715	47	4.5	36
California	14,686.3	1.5	1,051	6	6.8	3
Colorado	2,234.4	2.3	948	13	5.6	13
Connecticut	1,626.5	0.9	1,118	2	4.7	31
Delaware	406.1	0.2	949	12	5.4	19
District of Columbia	708.1	2.1	1,527	1	3.9	45
Florida	7,167.5	1.7	812	30	4.2	40
Georgia	3,799.6	1.3	867	20	5.3	20
Hawaii	593.6	1.2	836	23	4.0	42
Idaho	623.8	1.1	697	48	4.7	31
Illinois	5,629.1	1.6	958	11	4.6	35
Indiana	2,797.5	2.1	785	35	5.8	9
Iowa	1,466.9	1.6	760	42	5.6	13
Kansas	1,311.7	1.1	772	40	5.6	13
Kentucky	1,757.4	1.7	764	41	4.8	28
Louisiana	1,852.3	0.9	821	27	3.9	45
Maine	595.6	0.9	734	46	2.9	51
Maryland	2,497.6	1.1	1,023	7	5.9	8
Massachusetts	3,227.8	1.8	1,114	3	4.1	41
Michigan	3,920.5	2.4	876	18	4.4	37
Minnesota	2,642.8	2.5	916	15	4.8	28
Mississippi	1,081.3	0.1	681	51	4.4	37
Missouri	2,610.3	0.6	804	32	5.2	24
Montana	433.9	1.3	687	49	6.2	4
Nebraska	905.0	0.5	747	43	5.7	11
Nevada	1,122.0	1.3	845	22	3.8	47
New Hampshire	613.2	0.7	903	17	5.6	13
New Jersey	3,774.1	0.6	1,069	5	4.3	39
New Mexico	788.7	0.4	779	37	4.7	31
New York	8,511.6	1.7	1,099	4	4.0	42
North Carolina	3,863.6	1.3	809	31	5.3	20
North Dakota	390.8	6.7	820	28	12.9	1
Ohio	5,015.3	1.4	834	25	5.6	13
Oklahoma	1,518.5	1.8	785	35	8.3	2
Oregon	1,645.0	1.4	835	24	5.7	11
Pennsylvania	5,550.9	0.9	912	16	6.2	4
Rhode Island	456.8	0.3	871	19	5.3	20
South Carolina	1,789.9	1.4	746	44	4.8	28
South Dakota	398.9	1.3	684	50	3.6	49
Tennessee	2,631.4	2.1	819	29	5.3	20
Texas	10,480.4	2.7	931	14	6.2	4
Utah	1,192.9	2.9	779	37	5.1	25
Vermont	297.0	0.8	778	39	3.3	50
Virginia	3,602.5	1.6	974	9	4.7	31
Washington	2,905.4	1.7	1,011	8	6.1	7
West Virginia	710.8	1.6	742	45	5.8	9
Wisconsin	2,697.9	1.4	792	34	5.6	13
Wyoming	284.0	1.6	832	26	5.1	25
Puerto Rico	910.3	-0.2	506	(5)	1.2	(5)
Virgin Islands	42.7	-1.5	718	(5)	-5.2	(5)
Footnotes: (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.

 

Last Modified Date: April 4, 2012