U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics

Mountain-Plains Information Office

Employment rose in five of the seven largest counties in Missouri from September 2011 to September 2012, 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 2011 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 3.3 percent followed by Greene, 3.0 percent, and St. Charles, 2.3 percent. All three of these counties registered employment gains that exceeded the national average of 1.6 percent.

Nationally, employment increased in 276 of the 328 largest U.S. counties from September 2011 to September 2012. Elkhart, Ind., posted the largest increase, with a gain of 6.9 percent over the year. Benton, Wash., experienced the largest over-the-year decrease in employment with a loss of 5.2 percent.

Among the seven largest counties in Missouri, employment was highest in St. Louis County (568,500) in September 2012. Two other counties, Jackson and St. Louis City, had employment levels exceeding 200,000. Together, Missouri’s seven large counties accounted for 60.6 percent of total employment within the state. Nationwide, the 328 largest counties made up 71.0 percent of total U.S. employment.

Average weekly wages decreased in all but one of the large counties in Missouri from the third quarter of 2011 to the third quarter of 2012. Wages in Greene County experienced the largest decline (-2.8 percent) followed by St. Charles (-2.6 percent) and Clay (-2.2 percent). Nationally, average weekly wages decreased over the year by 1.1 percent in the third quarter of 2012. St. Louis City had the highest average weekly wage among the largest counties in the state at $1,001, followed by St. Louis ($963) and Jackson ($914). Average weekly wages in these three counties exceeded the national average of $906. Greene County recorded the lowest average weekly wage at $693. (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 of the seven large counties in Missouri recorded wage declines from the third quarter of 2011 to the third quarter of 2012, with five counties posting decreases greater than the U.S. average of -1.1 percent. (See table 1.) As mentioned, Greene County had the largest wage loss (-2.8 percent), placing 265th in the national ranking, St. Charles (-2.6 percent) ranked 255th, and Clay (-2.2 percent) placed 220th. Jackson (-1.7 percent, 173rd) and St. Louis City (-1.2 percent, 127th) also registered wage declines exceeding the national average, while average weekly wages in St. Louis County decreased 0.8 percent and ranked 102nd. Boone County experienced an increase of 0.4 percent in average weekly wages and placed 32nd in the national ranking.

Among the 328 largest counties, 274 had over-the-year declines in average weekly wages. Yolo, Calif., had the largest loss at -7.0 percent. Forty-six of the 328 largest counties experienced over-the-year increases in average weekly wages, with San Mateo, Calif., reporting the largest wage gain at 7.3 percent.

Large county average weekly wages

Three of the state’s large counties had average weekly wage levels that placed in the top 100 among the 328 largest counties in the United States in the third quarter of 2012. Average wages in St. Louis City ($1,001) and St. Louis County ($963) ranked 58th and 73rd, respectively. Jackson County’s average weekly wage of $914 was also above the national average of $906 and ranked 94th. The wage levels in Missouri’s four other large counties were below average with St. Charles and Greene ranking among the lowest 10 percent in the nation.

Nationally, weekly wages were higher than average in 102 of the 328 largest U.S. counties. Santa Clara, Calif., held the top position among the highest-paid large counties with an average weekly wage of $1,800. New York, N.Y., was second at $1,626, followed by San Mateo, Calif. ($1,537) and Washington, D.C. ($1,514).

Among the 225 large counties with an average weekly wage below the U.S. average in the third quarter of 2012, 3 had wages below $600. Horry, S.C. ($554) reported the lowest wage, followed by Cameron, Texas ($580) and Hidalgo, Texas ($584).

Average weekly wages in Missouri’s smaller counties

Of the 108 counties in Missouri with employment below 75,000, Platte recorded the highest average weekly wage at $728. Shannon County reported the lowest weekly wage in the state with an average of $373 in the third quarter of 2012. (See table 2.)

When all 115 counties in Missouri were considered, all but 3 had wages below the national average of $906. Thirty-six reported average weekly wages under $500, 47 reported wages from $500 to $599, 22 had wages from $600 to $699, and 10 had wages of $700 and above. (See chart 1.) Of the ten counties with wages of $700 or higher, six were located in the major metropolitan areas of Kansas City and St. Louis.

Additional statistics and other information

Quarterly 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 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 2011 edition of this publication, which was published in October 2012, contains selected data produced by Business Employment Dynamics (BED) on job gains and losses, as well as selected data from the first quarter 2012 version of the national news release. Tables and additional content from Employment and Wages Annual Averages 2011 are now available online at www.bls.gov/cew/cewbultn11.htm. The 2012 edition of Employment and Wages Annual Averages Online will be available later in 2013.

Information in this release will be made available to sensory impaired individuals upon request. Voice phone: 202-691-5200; Federal Relay Service: 1-800-877-8339.

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 9.2 million employer reports cover 132.6 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: May 3, 2013