December 2, 1998 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)
Few of the Nation's largest
counties recorded pay declines in 1996
Average annual pay declined in just 3 of the
largest 290 counties in the United States during 1996. Kern County, California (part of
the Bakersfield metropolitan area), reported a decrease in average annual pay of 1.4
percent, followed by Anchorage County, Alaska (part of the Anchorage metropolitan area),
down 0.4 percent, and Genesee County, Michigan (part of the Flint metropolitan area), down
0.3 percent.
![Percent changes in average annual pay for selected large counties, 1996](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/web/20120921214305im_/http://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/images/1998/Dec/wk1/art03.gif)
[Chart data—TXT]
Average annual pay was unchanged over the year in Ada County, Idaho;
Sacramento County, California, had the slowest positive growth rate at 0.8 percent.
Overall, 175 counties had average annual pay levels below the national average of
$28,945. The lowest level of average annual pay was reported in Horry County, South
Carolina ($18,551). Horry County was followed by Hidalgo County, Texas ($18,928), Cameron
County, Texas ($19,056), Tulare County, California ($19,768), and Yakima County,
Washington ($19,780). These 5 counties were the only ones to have average annual pay
levels below $20,000.
These data are a product of the BLS Covered Employed and Wages (ES-202) program. Additional
information is available from news release USDL 98-443, "Employment and Average Annual Pay for
Large Counties, 1996."
Of interest
Spotlight on Statistics: National Hispanic Heritage Month
In this Spotlight, we take a look at the Hispanic labor force—including labor force participation, employment and unemployment, educational attainment, geographic location, country of birth, earnings, consumer expenditures, time use, workplace injuries, and employment projections.
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Read more »