Employment rose in all 12 of the largest counties in Virginia from June 2020 to June 2021, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. (Large counties are those with annual average employment levels of 75,000 or more in 2020.) Regional Commissioner Alexandra Hall Bovee noted that Loudoun County had the largest over-the-year increase in employment at 10.1 percent. (See chart 1 and table 1.)

National employment increased 6.7 percent over the year, with 339 of the 343 largest U.S. counties reporting gains. Atlantic, NJ, had the largest over-the-year increase in employment with a gain of 36.8 percent. Calcasieu, LA, had the largest over-the-year percentage decrease in employment with a loss of 0.9 percent.

Among the 12 largest counties in Virginia, employment was highest in Fairfax County (611,166) in June 2021. Within Fairfax County’s private industry, professional and technical services accounted for the largest employment. Together, the 12 largest Virginia counties accounted for 55.8 percent of total employment within the state. Nationwide, the 343 largest counties made up 72.2 percent of total U.S. employment.

Employment and wage levels (but not over-the-year changes) are also available for the 121 counties in Virginia with employment below 75,000. Wage levels in 116 of the 121 smaller counties were below the national average of $1,241 in the second quarter of 2021. (See table 2.)

Large county wage changes

Of the 12 largest Virginia counties, 11 reported average weekly wage gains from the second quarter of 2020 to the second quarter of 2021. (See chart 2.) At 4.8 percent, Chesapeake City had a wage gain rate that was above the national rate of 4.5 percent. Norfolk City had the second largest gain (+4.4 percent). Over-the-year wage changes among Virginia’s 10 other large counties ranged from 4.2 percent to -1.1 percent.

Among the 343 largest counties in the United States, 302 had over-the-year wage increases. San Francisco, CA, had the largest percentage wage increase (+29.7 percent). Atlantic, NJ, had the largest over-the-year percentage decrease (-7.4 percent).

Large county average weekly wages

Weekly wages in 6 of the 12 largest counties in Virginia were above the national average of $1,241 in the second quarter of 2021. Average weekly wages in 3 of these counties ranked among the top 20 nationwide: Arlington County ($1,997, 8^th), Fairfax County ($1,827, 10^th) and Alexandria City ($1,625, 16^th).

Among the largest U.S. counties, 90 reported average weekly wages above the U.S. average in the second quarter of 2021. Santa Clara, CA, had the highest average weekly wage at $3,516. Average weekly wages were at or below the national average in the remaining 253 counties. At $728 a week, Hidalgo, TX, had the lowest average weekly wage.

Average weekly wages in Virginia’s smaller counties

Among the 121 smaller counties in Virginia—those with employment below 75,000—Goochland County ($2,044), King George County ($1,679), Surry County ($1,633), Falls Church City ($1,495), and Manassas City ($1,345) reported an average weekly wage above the national average. Grayson County ($602) reported the lowest average weekly wage in the state.

When all 133 counties in Virginia were considered, 32 reported average weekly wages of less than $750, 36 registered wages from $750 to $849, 23 had wages from $850 to $949, 18 had wages from $950 to $1,049, and 24 had average weekly wages of $1,050 or higher.

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 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. This publication is typically published in September of the following year of the reference period or shortly after the QCEW first quarter full data update. The Employment and Wages Annual Averages Online is available at www.bls.gov/cew/publications/employment-and-wages-annual-averages/.

The County Employment and Wages release for third quarter 2021 is scheduled to be released on Wednesday, February 23, 2022. The County Employment and Wages full data update for third quarter 2021 is scheduled to be released on Wednesday, March 9, 2022.

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 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.

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

Table 1. Covered establishments, employment, and wages in the United States and the 12 largest counties in Virginia, second quarter 2021

Area	Establishments, second quarter (thousands)	Employment			Average weekly wage (1)
		June 2021 (thousands)	Percent change, June 2020–21 (2)	National ranking by percent change (3)	Second quarter 2021	National ranking by level (3)	Percent change, second quarter 2020–21 (2)	National ranking by percent change (3)
United States (4)	10,863.2	144,044.8	6.7	--	$1,241	--	4.5	--
Virginia	293.6	3,854.3	6.1	--	1,257	12	3.2	27
Arlington	9.3	174.1	2.5	324	1,997	8	4.1	135
Chesterfield	9.7	135.6	5.4	200	1,013	244	4.1	135
Fairfax	37.6	611.2	6.1	162	1,827	10	2.6	201
Henrico	12.0	184.0	6.1	162	1,160	139	4.2	126
Loudoun	13.4	174.6	10.1	32	1,342	57	-1.1	320
Prince William	9.9	131.8	8.5	61	1,056	212	1.6	253
Alexandria City	6.3	84.4	3.9	279	1,625	16	1.5	256
Chesapeake City	6.4	100.9	3.6	293	946	307	4.8	97
Newport News City	4.1	100.4	3.3	307	1,130	162	3.7	155
Norfolk City	6.2	133.0	2.8	320	1,246	86	4.4	118
Richmond City	8.2	148.0	4.8	226	1,330	62	2.0	230
Virginia Beach City	12.8	173.4	5.7	174	957	303	4.2	126
Footnotes: (1) Average weekly wages were calculated using unrounded data. (2) Percent changes were computed from 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: Data are preliminary. Covered employment and wages includes workers covered by Unemployment Insurance (UI) and Unemployment Compensation for Federal Employees (UCFE) programs.

Table 2. Covered establishments, employment, and wages in the United States and all counties in Virginia, second quarter 2021

Area	Establishments	Employment June 2021	Average weekly wage (1)
United States (2)	10,863,217	144,044,799	$1,241
Virginia	293,625	3,854,347	1,257
Accomack	1,054	12,085	892
Albemarle	3,863	56,421	1,193
Alleghany	380	3,415	718
Amelia	397	2,545	782
Amherst	768	7,559	760
Appomattox	483	3,357	649
Arlington	9,329	174,055	1,997
Augusta	1,959	27,470	957
Bath	178	1,933	891
Bedford	2,277	18,370	771
Bland	117	1,849	933
Botetourt	905	10,773	875
Brunswick	577	3,113	739
Buchanan	527	5,610	932
Buckingham	439	3,018	790
Campbell	1,512	17,205	951
Caroline	607	5,533	859
Carroll	618	6,037	676
Charles City	223	1,633	936
Charlotte	346	2,753	697
Chesterfield	9,729	135,614	1,013
Clarke	455	3,685	893
Craig	124	787	664
Culpeper	1,524	15,771	919
Cumberland	229	1,251	729
Dickenson	321	3,407	805
Dinwiddie	484	8,550	1,041
Essex	361	3,572	765
Fairfax	37,630	611,166	1,827
Fauquier	2,483	22,070	1,078
Floyd	473	3,607	638
Fluvanna	621	4,402	870
Franklin	1,517	15,285	721
Frederick	1,965	34,532	994
Giles	385	5,748	993
Gloucester	1,018	9,508	771
Goochland	855	19,234	2,044
Grayson	376	2,961	602
Greene	518	3,814	747
Greensville	223	4,178	951
Halifax	1,044	11,570	791
Hanover	3,874	53,623	931
Henrico	12,041	184,024	1,160
Henry	1,654	15,382	724
Highland	102	461	642
Isle of Wight	896	10,652	865
James City	2,019	27,926	889
King and Queen	170	1,068	824
King George	625	12,907	1,679
King William	443	3,880	908
Lancaster	494	4,514	780
Lee	520	4,096	698
Loudoun	13,446	174,604	1,342
Louisa	1,023	9,903	970
Lunenburg	315	2,194	751
Madison	365	3,169	749
Mathews	217	1,488	659
Mecklenburg	1,072	11,021	778
Middlesex	381	3,298	754
Montgomery	2,369	40,831	935
Nelson	538	3,732	748
New Kent	525	5,143	813
Northampton	587	4,405	696
Northumberland	373	2,517	956
Nottoway	442	5,506	814
Orange	961	9,825	819
Page	589	5,597	723
Patrick	533	4,208	636
Pittsylvania	1,408	12,151	777
Powhatan	846	7,629	847
Prince Edward	732	8,536	807
Prince George	661	14,533	1,081
Prince William	9,869	131,849	1,056
Pulaski	831	12,891	781
Rappahannock	271	1,491	797
Richmond	248	2,814	794
Roanoke	2,584	36,935	984
Rockbridge	534	6,051	713
Rockingham	1,918	33,678	941
Russell	577	6,350	809
Scott	421	4,596	739
Shenandoah	1,162	13,324	806
Smyth	882	11,637	751
Southampton	352	3,434	815
Spotsylvania	3,257	35,577	895
Stafford	3,042	46,273	1,133
Surry	135	1,894	1,633
Sussex	261	3,179	871
Tazewell	1,028	13,617	725
Warren	1,109	13,273	849
Washington	1,489	18,680	773
Westmoreland	429	3,451	704
Wise	846	10,986	752
Wythe	902	11,241	750
York	1,646	20,914	818
Alexandria City	6,305	84,382	1,625
Bristol City	602	8,965	748
Buena Vista City	140	1,964	737
Charlottesville City	2,472	37,112	1,197
Chesapeake City	6,387	100,920	946
Colonial Heights City	742	9,889	713
Covington City	275	3,772	1,020
Danville City	1,864	23,682	796
Emporia City	288	3,352	649
Fairfax City	1,722	19,140	1,176
Falls Church City	1,035	11,639	1,495
Franklin City	337	4,044	650
Fredericksburg City	1,690	23,541	1,030
Galax City	414	5,404	668
Hampton City	2,982	50,210	1,095
Harrisonburg City	1,741	29,035	841
Hopewell City	539	7,423	1,101
Lexington City	289	4,211	929
Lynchburg City	2,705	48,043	959
Manassas City	1,554	23,104	1,345
Manassas Park City	315	3,975	995
Martinsville City	967	8,817	718
Newport News City	4,147	100,448	1,130
Norfolk City	6,156	132,959	1,246
Norton City	229	3,085	760
Petersburg City	968	11,860	851
Poquoson City	258	1,789	704
Portsmouth City	1,857	43,472	1,195
Radford City	353	5,350	933
Richmond City	8,167	147,955	1,330
Roanoke City	3,436	63,017	1,013
Salem City	1,041	18,726	1,026
Staunton City	889	10,883	765
Suffolk City	1,952	33,252	1,047
Virginia Beach City	12,758	173,429	957
Waynesboro City	751	9,046	803
Williamsburg City	543	11,120	938
Winchester City	1,503	24,865	1,055
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: Data are preliminary. Covered employment and wages includes workers covered by Unemployment Insurance (UI) and Unemployment Compensation for Federal Employees (UCFE) programs.

Table 3. Covered establishments, employment, and wages by state, second quarter 2021

State	Establishments, second quarter (thousands)	Employment		Average weekly wage (1)
		June 2021 (thousands)	Percent change, June 2020–21	Second quarter 2021	National ranking by level	Percent change, second quarter 2020–21	National ranking by percent change
United States (2)	10,863.2	144,044.8	6.7	$1,241	--	4.5	--
Alabama	137.8	1,952.0	4.4	1,010	35	4.8	15
Alaska	23.7	315.5	6.7	1,181	17	-1.2	51
Arizona	180.2	2,857.8	5.3	1,154	20	5.9	6
Arkansas	96.1	1,205.3	4.4	974	45	5.2	12
California	1,662.9	16,992.1	7.0	1,579	3	7.5	5
Colorado	228.9	2,723.9	7.1	1,283	10	4.4	19
Connecticut	130.1	1,604.1	7.9	1,411	6	0.6	47
Delaware	35.1	440.1	5.1	1,165	19	1.7	41
District of Columbia	44.0	724.6	3.3	2,096	1	5.4	8
Florida	782.5	8,654.0	6.7	1,113	24	7.7	3
Georgia	337.0	4,453.5	6.5	1,139	22	5.9	6
Hawaii	48.7	590.5	12.7	1,117	23	0.7	46
Idaho	76.4	801.8	7.3	930	50	5.3	10
Illinois	394.6	5,743.5	6.5	1,260	11	3.5	25
Indiana	178.2	3,011.8	5.2	1,013	34	5.4	8
Iowa	106.1	1,528.0	4.8	999	38	2.1	38
Kansas	90.5	1,356.0	4.0	995	41	2.7	30
Kentucky	132.4	1,851.2	5.6	999	38	2.9	28
Louisiana	142.7	1,806.6	5.4	1,005	36	2.0	39
Maine	57.0	623.0	8.7	1,005	36	2.4	33
Maryland	175.6	2,599.7	6.8	1,319	9	1.0	44
Massachusetts	277.4	3,497.0	10.1	1,591	2	1.1	43
Michigan	270.2	4,175.6	8.4	1,143	21	2.5	32
Minnesota	192.8	2,814.5	6.4	1,240	13	3.3	26
Mississippi	75.7	1,107.1	4.1	843	51	3.8	22
Missouri	221.6	2,759.3	5.3	1,052	32	3.6	23
Montana	55.1	490.7	7.0	959	47	4.5	18
Nebraska	74.4	976.6	4.8	997	40	3.9	21
Nevada	93.9	1,353.9	14.0	1,106	25	5.3	10
New Hampshire	58.5	657.4	8.7	1,345	8	10.6	1
New Jersey	300.4	3,993.8	12.0	1,387	7	0.8	45
New Mexico	63.0	790.6	4.3	987	42	2.9	28
New York	667.9	8,885.4	9.2	1,540	5	1.3	42
North Carolina	311.1	4,511.3	7.2	1,092	27	5.1	14
North Dakota	32.6	407.4	4.3	1,067	29	0.6	47
Ohio	312.4	5,266.7	4.3	1,068	28	3.6	23
Oklahoma	114.6	1,568.7	3.1	963	46	2.4	33
Oregon	169.2	1,899.6	5.6	1,196	15	4.8	15
Pennsylvania	370.9	5,674.7	6.9	1,193	16	2.0	39
Rhode Island	42.1	472.2	10.0	1,168	18	-0.3	50
South Carolina	150.1	2,091.9	4.9	977	44	5.2	12
South Dakota	36.3	442.3	6.4	936	49	2.6	31
Tennessee	182.3	3,012.4	5.9	1,094	26	7.6	4
Texas	758.0	12,466.7	5.7	1,210	14	4.7	17
Utah	119.9	1,586.0	7.6	1,060	30	4.2	20
Vermont	27.8	292.4	7.5	1,053	31	-0.2	49
Virginia	293.6	3,854.3	6.1	1,257	12	3.2	27
Washington	263.6	3,376.7	5.7	1,547	4	8.3	2
West Virginia	52.7	663.8	4.8	955	48	2.2	37
Wisconsin	186.5	2,845.7	5.7	1,037	33	2.3	35
Wyoming	28.2	275.1	5.6	987	42	2.3	35
Puerto Rico	47.6	867.2	8.6	567	(3)	2.0	(3)
Virgin Islands	3.5	35.7	0.0	923	(3)	-8.4	(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: Data are preliminary. Covered employment and wages includes workers covered by Unemployment Insurance (UI) and Unemployment Compensation for Federal Employees (UCFE) programs.