Department of Labor Logo United States Department of Labor
Dot gov

The .gov means it's official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you're on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

News Release Information

14-1941-CHI
Friday, October 17, 2014

Contacts Technical information: Media contact:
  • (312) 353-1138

County Employment and Wages in Indiana – First Quarter 2014

Six of the eight large counties in Indiana reported employment increases from March 2013 to March 2014, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. (Large counties are defined as those with employment of 75,000 or more as measured by 2013 annual average employment.) Hamilton County had the largest increase, up 4.2 percent, followed by Elkhart County, up 4.0 percent. Regional Commissioner Charlene Peiffer noted that the employment increases in the other four large counties in Indiana were less than the national increase.

Nationally, employment advanced 1.7 percent from March 2013 to March 2014 as 281 of the 339 largest U.S. counties registered increases. Weld County, Colo., recorded the largest percentage increase in the country, up 7.5 percent over the year. Peoria, Ill., registered the largest percentage employment decline, down 2.6 percent.

Among the eight largest counties in Indiana, employment was highest in Marion County (568,000) in March 2014. Two other counties, Lake (183,100) and Allen (174,300), had employment levels above 150,000. Collectively, Indiana's eight large counties accounted for 51.5 percent of total employment within the state. Nationwide, the 339 largest counties made up 72.0 percent of total U.S. employment.

The average weekly wage in Elkhart County rose 7.2 percent from the first quarter of 2013 to the first quarter of 2014, the largest increase among Indiana's large counties. Marion County had the highest average weekly wage among the state’s large counties at $1,052, followed by Hamilton ($1,022), and Lake ($863). (See table 1.) Nationally, the average weekly wage rose 3.8 percent over the year to $1,027 in the first quarter of 2014.

Employment and wage levels (but not over-the-year changes) are also available for the 84 counties in Indiana with employment below 75,000. Wage levels in four of these smaller counties were above the national average. (See table 2.)

Large county wage changes

Elkhart County’s 7.2 percent increase in wages was not only the largest increase among the state’s eight large counties, it was also the only one to exceed the national wage gain of 3.8 percent from the first quarter of 2013 to the first quarter of 2014. (See table 1.) .) Elkart County’s increase ranked 10th among the 339 large counties in the nation. Three other large counties in Indiana experienced wage increases of 2.0 percent or more: Hamilton (3.7 percent, 98th), Vanderburgh (3.3 percent, 117th), and Allen (2.0 percent, 215th). Lake County experienced a wage decline of 0.7-percent.

Nationally, 323 of the 339 largest counties registered over-the-year wage increases from the first quarter of 2013. Chester, Pa., had the largest wage gain, up 13.9 percent. New York, N.Y., was second with a wage increase of 12.0 percent, followed by the counties of Forsyth, N.C., and San Mateo, Calif. (both up 9.6 percent).

Among the nation’s 339 largest counties, 15 experienced over-the-year wage decreases. Benton, Ark., had the largest percentage decrease in average weekly wages, with a loss of 3.2 percent. Cumberland, N.C., had the second largest wage decline (-2.0 percent), followed by Dutchess, N.Y. (-1.6 percent), Ocean, N.J. (-1.3 percent), and McLean, Ill. (-1.0 percent).

Large county average weekly wages

Average weekly wages in only one of Indiana’s eight large counties, Marion ($1,052), was above the national average of $1,027 in the first quarter of 2014. As noted, this county also had the highest average weekly wage among the state’s large counties and ranked 83rd nationwide. St. Joseph ($777) reported the lowest average weekly wage among Indiana’s large counties and ranked 290th nationwide in March 2014.

In the first quarter of 2014, nearly three-fourths of the largest U.S. counties (244) reported wages below the national weekly average of $1,027. Horry County, S.C., reported the lowest wage ($571), followed by the Texas counties of Cameron ($581) and Hidalgo ($597).

Among the nation’s 339 largest counties, 95 registered weekly wages above the U.S. average. New York, N.Y., held the top position with an average weekly wage of $2,749, more than four times the wage levels in the three lowest-paid counties. Santa Clara, Calif., was second-highest at $2,074 per week, followed by the counties of San Mateo, Calif. ($2,058) and Somerset, N.J. ($2,048).

Average weekly wages in Indiana's smaller counties

Among the 84 counties in Indiana with employment below 75,000, four counties—Martin ($1,320), Posey ($1,050), Bartholomew ($1,047), and Hancock ($1,042)—had average weekly wages above the national average of $1,027. Average weekly wages in Ohio ($460) and Brown ($471) Counties were the lowest in the state. (See table 2.)

When all 92 counties in Indiana were considered, all but 5 had wages below the national average of $1,027. Thirteen reported average weekly wages under $600, 18 had wages from $600 to $649, 20 reported wages from $650 to $699, 14 had wages from $700 to $749, and 27 had wages of $750 or more. (See chart 1.)

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. The 2013 edition of this publication contains selected data produced by Business Employment Dynamics (BED) on job gains and losses, as well as selected data from the fourth quarter 2013 version of the news release. Tables and additional content from Employment and Wages Annual Averages 2013 are now available online at www.bls.gov/cew/publications/employment-and-wages-annual-averages/2013/home.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 9.4 million employer reports cover 134.6 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 (see Technical Note below) 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 employment and wages in the United States and the 8 largest counties in Indiana, first quarter 2014
Area Employment Average weekly wage (1)
March 2014 (thousands) Percent change, March 2013-14 (2) National ranking by percent change (3) Average weekly wage National ranking by level (3) Percent change, first quarter 2013-14 (2) National ranking by percent change (3)

United States (4)

134,555.0 1.7 -- $1,027 -- 3.8 --

Indiana

2,842.5 1.2 -- 845 35 1.7 48

Allen, Ind.

174.3 1.1 184 825 244 2.0 215

Elkhart, Ind.

118.1 4.0 27 809 257 7.2 10

Hamilton, Ind.

121.9 4.2 22 1,022 98 3.7 98

Lake, Ind.

183.1 -1.9 336 863 205 -0.7 331

Marion, Ind.

568.0 1.0 195 1,052 83 0.0 324

St. Joseph, Ind.

115.8 1.0 195 777 290 1.0 288

Tippecanoe, Ind.

79.3 0.7 224 828 239 1.5 252

Vanderburgh, Ind.

104.0 -0.4 303 804 261 3.3 117

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.
 

Table 2. Covered employment and wages in the United States and all counties in Indiana, first quarter 2014
Area Employment March 2014 Average weekly wage (1)

United States (2)

134,554,959 $1,027

Indiana

2,842,482 845

Adams

12,644 645

Allen

174,277 825

Bartholomew

48,044 1,047

Benton

2,168 671

Blackford

3,142 632

Boone

23,712 727

Brown

2,793 471

Carroll

5,219 604

Cass

14,399 621

Clark

49,096 694

Clay

7,421 561

Clinton

10,550 705

Crawford

1,940 512

Daviess

10,864 605

Dearborn

14,696 650

Decatur

13,410 719

De Kalb

20,135 809

Delaware

43,890 705

Dubois

27,247 743

Elkhart

118,075 809

Fayette

6,224 642

Floyd

28,102 711

Fountain

4,929 589

Franklin

4,007 569

Fulton

6,148 641

Gibson

19,157 860

Grant

27,684 719

Greene

6,330 560

Hamilton

121,878 1,022

Hancock

20,854 1,042

Harrison

9,919 617

Hendricks

55,511 664

Henry

12,835 609

Howard

38,064 927

Huntington

13,763 654

Jackson

19,852 774

Jasper

11,616 687

Jay

7,725 631

Jefferson

12,199 719

Jennings

7,104 631

Johnson

46,736 654

Knox

17,427 690

Kosciusko

36,257 987

La Porte

39,964 715

LaGrange

12,281 677

Lake

183,144 863

Lawrence

12,480 655

Madison

37,617 662

Marion

568,007 1,052

Marshall

18,458 673

Martin

6,878 1,320

Miami

9,188 643

Monroe

60,654 787

Montgomery

14,926 758

Morgan

14,486 654

Newton

3,323 641

Noble

18,006 691

Ohio

1,458 460

Orange

7,274 568

Owen

4,439 785

Parke

2,954 546

Perry

6,352 688

Pike

3,233 1,015

Porter

57,194 793

Posey

7,893 1,050

Pulaski

4,391 700

Putnam

12,340 635

Randolph

7,241 630

Ripley

11,729 835

Rush

4,647 686

St. Joseph

115,773 777

Scott

7,111 613

Shelby

17,286 751

Spencer

6,096 742

Starke

4,191 537

Steuben

15,034 593

Sullivan

6,136 725

Switzerland

2,056 601

Tippecanoe

79,290 828

Tipton

3,970 736

Union

1,286 584

Vanderburgh

103,969 804

Vermillion

4,055 889

Vigo

48,713 697

Wabash

12,334 646

Warren

1,826 671

Warrick

15,277 808

Washington

5,765 598

Wayne

29,566 666

Wells

10,762 920

White

8,842 652

Whitley

11,539 727

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: Includes workers covered by Unemployment Insurance (UI) and Unemployment Compensation for Federal Employees (UCFE) programs. Data are preliminary.
 

Table 3. Covered employment and wages by state, first quarter 2014
State Employment Average weekly wage (1)
March 2014 (thousands) Percent change, March 2013-14 Average weekly wage National ranking by level Percent change, first quarter 2013-14 National ranking by percent change

United States (2)

134,555.0 1.7 $1,027 -- 3.8 --

Alabama

1,849.5 0.6 825 38 1.6 50

Alaska

319.1 0.3 1,023 15 3.5 17

Arizona

2,540.8 1.9 918 22 3.1 26

Arkansas

1,152.6 0.3 784 46 2.5 37

California

15,572.9 2.8 1,165 6 4.5 5

Colorado

2,370.1 3.1 1,046 13 4.2 9

Connecticut

1,627.2 0.5 1,362 3 3.3 24

Delaware

412.5 2.0 1,110 7 3.9 13

District of Columbia

727.3 1.2 1,701 1 5.3 3

Florida

7,752.4 2.9 868 28 3.0 28

Georgia

3,974.8 2.6 972 18 3.4 18

Hawaii

624.9 1.2 857 32 1.9 42

Idaho

631.5 3.3 722 50 3.9 13

Illinois

5,651.2 0.9 1,104 8 4.2 9

Indiana

2,842.5 1.2 845 35 1.7 48

Iowa

1,485.4 1.5 824 39 3.0 28

Kansas

1,343.0 1.7 840 36 4.1 11

Kentucky

1,784.1 1.1 811 40 2.7 33

Louisiana

1,909.8 1.2 868 28 2.6 35

Maine

565.9 0.7 786 45 1.9 42

Maryland

2,512.8 0.1 1,086 9 1.8 47

Massachusetts

3,272.2 1.3 1,300 4 5.3 3

Michigan

4,013.5 1.7 950 20 3.1 26

Minnesota

2,652.3 0.8 1,036 14 3.4 18

Mississippi

1,096.8 0.6 707 51 1.7 48

Missouri

2,634.6 1.0 866 31 2.9 30

Montana

429.9 0.7 730 49 3.3 24

Nebraska

930.7 1.7 797 42 2.6 35

Nevada

1,183.5 3.4 867 30 2.7 33

New Hampshire

614.2 1.3 970 19 3.4 18

New Jersey

3,794.3 0.6 1,263 5 2.2 38

New Mexico

787.0 0.2 793 43 1.9 42

New York

8,699.5 1.6 1,460 2 7.3 1

North Carolina

4,003.2 1.7 914 23 3.4 18

North Dakota

428.9 3.3 944 21 6.7 2

Ohio

5,071.5 1.3 909 24 2.8 32

Oklahoma

1,565.2 0.7 854 34 3.9 13

Oregon

1,688.5 2.8 893 25 3.4 18

Pennsylvania

5,560.9 0.3 1,007 16 4.1 11

Rhode Island

449.7 1.1 996 17 4.4 8

South Carolina

1,873.6 2.7 787 44 1.9 42

South Dakota

400.2 1.4 741 48 4.5 5

Tennessee

2,718.2 1.7 874 27 2.2 38

Texas

11,220.6 2.6 1,062 11 4.5 5

Utah

1,270.8 3.1 831 37 3.4 18

Vermont

301.1 0.5 807 41 1.9 42

Virginia

3,613.2 0.0 1,050 12 2.2 38

Washington

2,966.3 2.6 1,068 10 3.8 16

West Virginia

694.6 -0.9 779 47 1.4 51

Wisconsin

2,694.5 1.0 856 33 2.9 30

Wyoming

275.4 1.0 877 26 2.1 41

Puerto Rico

914.9 -1.8 521 (3) 1.4 (3)

Virgin Islands

38.3 -3.6 744 (3) 2.6 (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.
 

 Chart 1. Average weekly wages by county in Indiana, first quarter 2014

 

Last Modified Date: Friday, October 17, 2014