For Release: Monday, January 27, 2014
MOUNTAIN-PLAINS INFORMATION OFFICE: Kansas City, Mo.
Technical information: (816) 285-7000 [email protected]
Media contact:
(816) 285-7000
14-137-KAN
www.bls.gov/regions/mountain-plains
County Employment and Wages in Kansas – Second Quarter 2013
Employment rose in the four largest counties in Kansas from June 2012 to June 2013, 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 2012 annual average employment.) Regional Commissioner Stanley W. Suchman
noted that Johnson County experienced the fastest growth, up 2.6 percent over the year, and exceeded the
national average of 1.6 percent.
Nationally, employment increased in 288 of the 334 largest U.S. counties from June 2012 to June 2013. Fort
Bend, Texas, posted the largest increase with a gain of 7.0 percent over the year. Atlantic, N.J., had the
largest over-the-year decrease in employment with a loss of 4.5 percent.
Among the four largest counties in Kansas, employment was highest in Johnson County (323,600) and
lowest in Wyandotte (83,900). Together, the four largest counties accounted for 55.2 percent of total
employment within the state. Nationwide, the 334 large counties made up 71.4 percent of total U.S.
employment.
Two of Kansas’s four large counties experienced wage growth that exceeded the 2.1-percent increase for the
nation. Sedgwick and Johnson Counties recorded wage growth of 3.1 and 2.7 percent, respectively. Johnson
County had the highest average weekly wage among the largest counties in the state at $950 and was above
the national average of $921. (See table 1.)
Employment and wage levels (but not over-the-year changes) are also available for the 101 counties in
Kansas with employment below 75,000. Of these smaller counties, only Coffey ($1,161) had an average
weekly wage above the national average. (See table 2.)
Large county wage changes
As mentioned, Sedgwick County had the largest wage gain at 3.1 percent, placing it 53rd in the national
ranking, followed by Johnson at 2.7 percent and ranking 76th. (See table 1.) Average wages in Shawnee
County rose 1.7 percent and placed 170th. Wyandotte had a decline in average weekly wages with a loss of
1.1 percent, ranking 326th.
Among the 334 largest counties in the U.S., 304 had over-the-year increases in average weekly wages in the
second quarter of 2013. Union, N.J., ranked first in average weekly wage growth with an increase of 8.1
percent. Davidson, Tenn., had the largest average weekly wage decrease with a loss of 2.2 percent.
Large county average weekly wages
Only one of Kansas’s four large counties had average weekly wages above the national average of $921 and
placed in the top 100 nationwide in the second quarter of 2013. Johnson County had an average weekly
wage of $950 and ranked 87th among the 334 largest counties. The state’s remaining large counties had
average weekly wages that placed them in the bottom half of the national ranking—Sedgwick ($843,171st),
Wyandotte ($832, 184th), and Shawnee ($784, 244th).
Nationally, weekly wages were higher than the average of $921 in 107 of the 334 largest U.S. counties.
Santa Clara, Calif., held the top position among the highest-paid large counties with an average weekly
wage of $1,810, followed by New York, N.Y., ($1,675) and San Mateo, Calif. ($1,632). Among the 227
large counties with an average weekly wage below the U.S. average in the second quarter of 2013, Horry,
S.C. ($537) reported the lowest wage.
Average weekly wages in Kansas’s smaller counties
Of the 101 counties in Kansas with employment below 75,000, only one county—Coffey ($1,161)—had an
average weekly wage above the national average of $921. Decatur County reported the lowest weekly wage
in the state with an average of $452 in the second quarter of 2013. (See table 2.)
When all 105 counties in Kansas were considered, all but 2 had wages below the national average. Fortynine reported average weekly wages under $600, 33 reported wages from $600 to $649, 11 had wages from
$650 to $699, 4 had wages from $700 to $749, and 8 had wages above $750. (See chart 1.)
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 2012 edition of this
publication, which was published in September 2013, contains selected data produced by Business
Employment Dynamics (BED) on job gains and losses, as well as selected data from the first quarter 2013
version of the national news release. Tables and additional content from Employment and Wages Annual
Averages 2012 are now available online at www.bls.gov/cew/cewbultn12.htm.
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 135.1 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,
2
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-theyear 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.
3
Table 1. Covered employment and wages in the United States and the 4 largest counties in Kansas, second
quarter 2013
Average Weekly Wage (1)
Employment
Area
June 2013
(thousands)
Percent
change,
June
2012-13 (2)
National
ranking by
percent
change (3)
Average
weekly
wage
National
ranking by
level (3)
Percent
change,
second
quarter
2012-13 (2)
National
ranking by
percent
change (3)
United States (4)...........................................
135094.0
1.6
--
$921
--
2.1
--
Kansas ....................................................
Johnson, Kan. ......................................
Sedgwick, Kan......................................
Shawnee, Kan. .....................................
Wyandotte, Kan. ...................................
1350.0
323.6
242.3
95.6
83.9
1.2
2.6
0.9
1.1
1.1
-69
216
191
191
779
950
843
784
832
41
87
171
244
184
2.1
2.7
3.1
1.7
-1.1
19
76
53
170
326
Footnotes:
(1) Average weekly wages were calculated using unrounded data.
(2) Percent changes were computed from quarterly employment and pay data adjusted for noneconomic county reclassifications.
(3) Ranking does not include data for Puerto Rico or the Virgin Islands.
(4) Totals for the United States do not include data for Puerto Rico or the Virgin Islands.
Note: Covered employment and wages includes workers covered by Unemployment Insurance (UI) and Unemployment Compensation for Federal
Employees (UCFE) programs. Data are preliminary.
4
Table 2. Covered employment and wages in the United States and all counties in Kansas, second quarter
2013
Area
Employment
June 2013
Average
weekly wage
Area
(1)
United States (2)...............................................
135,093,963
$921
Kansas .........................................................
Allen .........................................................
Anderson ..................................................
Atchison....................................................
Barber.......................................................
Barton .......................................................
Bourbon....................................................
Brown .......................................................
Butler ........................................................
Chase .......................................................
Chautauqua..............................................
Cherokee..................................................
Cheyenne .................................................
Clark .........................................................
Clay ..........................................................
Cloud ........................................................
Coffey .......................................................
Comanche ................................................
Cowley......................................................
Crawford...................................................
Decatur .....................................................
Dickinson..................................................
Doniphan ..................................................
Douglas ....................................................
Edwards ...................................................
Elk ............................................................
Ellis ...........................................................
Ellsworth ...................................................
Finney.......................................................
Ford ..........................................................
Franklin.....................................................
Geary........................................................
Gove .........................................................
Graham ....................................................
Grant ........................................................
Gray..........................................................
Greeley .....................................................
Greenwood...............................................
Hamilton ...................................................
Harper ......................................................
Harvey ......................................................
Haskell......................................................
Hodgeman................................................
Jackson ....................................................
Jefferson...................................................
Jewell .......................................................
Johnson....................................................
Kearny ......................................................
Kingman ...................................................
Kiowa........................................................
Labette .....................................................
Lane .........................................................
Leavenworth.............................................
1,349,956
5,640
2,074
5,957
1,901
13,323
6,070
5,162
17,825
720
797
5,891
886
809
2,941
3,657
4,462
753
14,176
17,101
996
6,569
2,200
46,108
1,019
677
16,045
3,028
18,483
18,025
9,244
13,962
1,233
1,042
3,579
3,236
714
1,831
1,293
2,578
13,635
1,844
584
4,235
3,586
829
323,599
1,385
2,671
1,202
9,028
717
21,106
779
596
534
617
578
661
581
606
650
460
516
623
575
547
566
542
1,161
474
624
579
452
558
616
662
623
456
660
610
663
649
632
726
528
596
742
600
547
561
588
647
668
663
589
591
608
553
950
598
639
570
609
612
811
Note: See footnotes at end of table.
5
Lincoln
Linn
Logan
Lyon
McPherson
Marion
Marshall
Meade
Miami
Mitchell
Montgomery
Morris
Morton
Nemaha
Neosho
Ness
Norton
Osage
Osborne
Ottawa
Pawnee
Phillips
Pottawatomie
Pratt
Rawlins
Reno
Republic
Rice
Riley
Rooks
Rush
Russell
Saline
Scott
Sedgwick
Seward
Shawnee
Sheridan
Sherman
Smith
Stafford
Stanton
Stevens
Sumner
Thomas
Trego
Wabaunsee
Wallace
Washington
Wichita
Wilson
Woodson
Wyandotte
Employment
June 2013
960
2,124
1,327
14,211
14,725
3,675
4,965
1,587
7,967
3,565
17,078
1,450
1,150
5,442
6,695
1,346
2,704
2,894
1,492
1,344
3,241
2,651
9,540
4,926
931
27,501
2,066
3,944
29,308
1,997
1,130
2,859
30,243
2,231
242,337
11,963
95,565
1,011
2,700
1,411
1,401
773
2,197
7,412
4,075
1,311
1,333
512
2,082
869
3,432
674
83,908
Average
weekly wage
(1)
525
855
565
571
722
531
649
614
622
607
599
520
629
607
616
740
596
496
515
540
597
600
661
658
568
617
502
586
659
594
615
615
645
623
843
668
784
647
555
504
500
642
797
598
593
620
496
565
463
639
612
561
832
Footnotes:
(1) Average weekly wages were calculated using unrounded data.
(2) Totals for the United States do not include data for Puerto Rico or the Virgin Islands.
Note: Covered employment and wages includes workers covered by Unemployment Insurance (UI) and Unemployment Compensation for Federal
Employees (UCFE) programs. Data are preliminary.
6
Table 3. Covered employment and wages by state, second quarter 2013
Average weekly wage(1)
Employment
State
June 2013
(thousands)
Percent
change, June
2012-13
Average
weekly wage
Percent
change,
second
quarter
2012-13
National
ranking by
level
National
ranking by
percent
change
United States(2)................................................
135094.0
1.6
$921
--
2.1
--
Alabama .......................................................
Alaska...........................................................
Arizona .........................................................
Arkansas ......................................................
California ......................................................
Colorado.......................................................
Connecticut ..................................................
Delaware ......................................................
District of Columbia ......................................
Florida ..........................................................
Georgia.........................................................
Hawaii...........................................................
Idaho ............................................................
Illinois ...........................................................
Indiana..........................................................
Iowa ..............................................................
Kansas .........................................................
Kentucky.......................................................
Louisiana ......................................................
Maine............................................................
Maryland.......................................................
Massachusetts .............................................
Michigan .......................................................
Minnesota.....................................................
Mississippi ....................................................
Missouri ........................................................
Montana .......................................................
Nebraska ......................................................
Nevada .........................................................
New Hampshire............................................
New Jersey...................................................
New Mexico..................................................
New York ......................................................
North Carolina ..............................................
North Dakota ................................................
Ohio ..............................................................
Oklahoma .....................................................
Oregon .........................................................
Pennsylvania ................................................
Rhode Island ................................................
South Carolina..............................................
South Dakota................................................
Tennessee ....................................................
Texas ............................................................
Utah ..............................................................
Vermont ........................................................
Virginia..........................................................
Washington...................................................
West Virginia ................................................
Wisconsin .....................................................
Wyoming ......................................................
Puerto Rico...................................................
1859.5
342.6
2438.1
1150.4
15485.8
2359.4
1666.3
417.8
725.0
7402.0
3917.2
617.0
642.7
5750.0
2863.4
1523.9
1350.0
1790.6
1894.7
604.4
2570.3
3352.7
4073.7
2745.2
1094.9
2668.2
448.4
941.0
1168.3
629.1
3917.5
795.0
8804.9
3985.1
433.7
5162.3
1560.7
1708.0
5665.9
465.5
1864.9
417.0
2709.3
11078.8
1259.7
303.1
3685.4
3013.3
713.1
2768.2
290.4
926.1
0.9
-0.1
1.8
-0.6
2.4
2.9
1.0
1.8
0.9
2.4
1.7
1.9
2.7
0.8
1.1
1.3
1.2
0.6
0.9
0.4
0.9
1.3
2.2
1.9
0.7
1.2
1.5
0.9
2.3
0.8
1.0
0.4
1.1
1.7
3.2
1.1
0.9
2.5
0.3
1.0
1.8
1.0
1.5
2.7
2.8
0.3
0.7
2.2
-0.1
0.6
0.4
-1.1
794
970
877
734
1,048
933
1,128
966
1,575
822
867
823
683
971
776
757
779
782
824
732
1,005
1,131
875
929
691
803
717
737
829
916
1,084
781
1,118
808
887
830
794
848
918
880
747
689
820
944
783
808
968
969
781
801
845
503
35
9
20
46
6
14
3
12
1
29
22
28
51
8
42
43
41
38
27
47
7
2
21
15
49
33
48
45
26
17
5
39
4
31
18
25
35
23
16
19
44
50
30
13
37
31
11
10
39
34
24
1.4
1.6
1.7
2.4
2.0
1.6
1.5
2.0
2.1
2.0
2.2
1.6
1.9
1.9
1.7
2.0
2.1
1.3
2.4
1.8
1.4
2.0
2.0
2.4
1.5
1.6
2.4
2.6
1.7
2.9
2.6
-0.3
2.0
2.5
3.7
1.7
3.5
1.3
2.8
2.3
1.5
1.8
0.5
2.4
2.2
2.7
1.7
2.4
0.6
3.0
0.5
1.0
44
37
32
10
21
37
41
21
19
21
17
37
28
28
32
21
19
46
10
30
44
21
21
10
41
37
10
7
32
4
7
51
21
9
1
32
2
46
5
16
41
30
49
10
17
6
32
10
48
3
49
Note: See footnotes at end of table.
7
(3)
(3)
Table 3. Covered employment and wages by state, second quarter 2013 - Continued
Average weekly wage(1)
Employment
State
Virgin Islands ................................................
June 2013
(thousands)
Percent
change, June
2012-13
38.9
-3.0
Average
weekly wage
706
Percent
change,
second
quarter
2012-13
National
ranking by
level
(3)
-13.8
National
ranking by
percent
change
(3)
Footnotes:
(1) Average weekly wages were calculated using unrounded data.
(2) Totals for the United States do not include data for Puerto Rico or the Virgin Islands.
(3) Data not included in the national ranking.
Note: Covered employment and wages includes workers covered by Unemployment Insurance (UI) and Unemployment Compensation for Federal
Employees (UCFE) programs. Data are preliminary.
8
9