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News Release Information

14-2330-KAN
Wednesday, December 31, 2014

Contacts Technical information: Media contact:
  • (816) 285-7000

County Employment and Wages in Kansas – Second Quarter 2014

Employment rose in the four largest counties in Kansas from June 2013 to June 2014, 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 2013 annual average employment.) Regional Commissioner Stanley W. Suchman noted that Wyandotte County experienced the fastest growth, up 4.4 percent over the year, and exceeded the national average of 2.0 percent.

Nationally, employment increased in 305 of the 339 largest U.S. counties from June 2013 to June 2014. Weld, Colo., posted the largest increase with a gain of 8.9 percent over the year. Atlantic, N.J., had the largest over-the-year decrease in employment with a loss of 1.6 percent.

Among the four largest counties in Kansas, employment was highest in Johnson County (331,400) and lowest in Wyandotte (88,000). Together, the four largest counties accounted for 55.5 percent of total employment within the state. Nationwide, the 339 large counties made up 71.8 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. Wyandotte and Johnson Counties recorded wage growth of 4.3 and 3.0 percent, respectively. Johnson County had the highest average weekly wage among the largest counties in the state at $976 and was above the national average of $940. (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 ($1,254) had an average weekly wage above the national average. (See table 2.)

Large county wage changes

As mentioned, Wyandotte County had the largest wage gain at 4.3 percent, placing it 19th in the national ranking, followed by Johnson at 3.0 percent and ranking 58th. (See table 1.) Average wages in Shawnee County rose 0.6 percent and placed 281st. Sedgwick had a decline in average weekly wages with a loss of 0.8 percent, ranking 331st.

Among the 339 largest counties in the U.S., 312 had over-the-year increases in average weekly wages in the second quarter of 2014. Midland, Texas, ranked first in average weekly wage growth with an increase of 9.0 percent. Williamson, Texas, had the largest percentage decrease in average weekly wages, with a loss of 2.7 percent.

Large county average weekly wages

Only one of Kansas’s four large counties had average weekly wages above the national average of $940 and placed in the top 100 nationwide in the second quarter of 2014. Johnson County had an average weekly wage of $976 and ranked 82nd among the 339 largest counties. Wyandotte recorded an average weekly wage of $872 and placed 166th in the national ranking. The state’s remaining large counties, Sedgwick ($836,195th) and Shawnee ($791, 253rd), had average weekly wages that placed them in the bottom half of the national ranking.

Nationally, weekly wages were higher than the average of $940 in 109 of the 339 largest U.S. counties. Santa Clara, Calif., held the top position among the highest-paid large counties with an average weekly wage of $1,886, followed by San Mateo, Calif. ($1,740) and New York, N.Y. ($1,732). Among the 230 large counties with an average weekly wage below the U.S. average in the second quarter of 2014, Horry, S.C. ($548) 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 ($1,254)—had an average weekly wage above the national average of $940. Elk County reported the lowest weekly wage in the state with an average of $468 in the second quarter of 2014. (See table 2.)

When all 105 counties in Kansas were considered, all but 2 had wages below the national average. Thirty-five reported average weekly wages under $600, 33 reported wages from $600 to $649, 22 had wages from $650 to $699, 6 had wages from $700 to $749, and 9 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 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 first quarter 2014 version of the national 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. The 2014 edition of Employment and Wages Annual Averages Online will be available in September 2015.

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.

The County Employment and Wages release for third quarter 2014 is scheduled to be released on Thursday, March 19, 2015.


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 137.8 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.

Table 1. Covered employment and wages in the United States and the 4 largest counties in Kansas, second quarter 2014
Area Employment Average Weekly Wage (1)
June 2014 (thousands) Percent change, June 2013-14 (2) National ranking by percent change (3) Average weekly wage National ranking by level (3) Percent change, second quarter 2013-14 (2) National ranking by percent change (3)

United States (4)

137,776.4 2.0 -- $940 -- 2.1 --

Kansas

1,372.8 1.7 -- 797 38 2.3 20

Johnson, Kan.

331.4 2.8 78 976 82 3.0 58

Sedgwick, Kan.

245.5 1.2 222 836 195 -0.8 331

Shawnee, Kan.

97.3 2.5 102 791 253 0.6 281

Wyandotte, Kan.

88.0 4.4 22 872 166 4.3 19

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: 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 employment and wages in the United States and all counties in Kansas, 2nd quarter 2014
Area Employment June 2014 Average Weekly Wage (1)

United States (2)

137,776,364 $940

Kansas

1,372,757 797

Allen

6,083 595

Anderson

2,127 570

Atchison

6,014 665

Barber

1,871 590

Barton

13,768 715

Bourbon

6,336 612

Brown

5,140 639

Butler

18,831 636

Chase

739 483

Chautauqua

808 525

Cherokee

5,861 665

Cheyenne

893 576

Clark

768 615

Clay

3,267 543

Cloud

3,695 522

Coffey

4,430 1,254

Comanche

709 479

Cowley

14,484 651

Crawford

16,953 585

Decatur

985 484

Dickinson

6,965 567

Doniphan

2,243 624

Douglas

46,816 672

Edwards

1,038 644

Elk

666 468

Ellis

16,099 680

Ellsworth

3,001 697

Finney

18,918 682

Ford

17,776 647

Franklin

9,361 652

Geary

13,552 731

Gove

1,263 535

Graham

982 667

Grant

3,466 763

Gray

3,280 608

Greeley

679 567

Greenwood

1,808 561

Hamilton

1,291 638

Harper

2,516 624

Harvey

13,935 677

Haskell

1,970 657

Hodgeman

557 564

Jackson

4,348 609

Jefferson

3,984 666

Jewell

798 530

Johnson

331,359 976

Kearny

1,396 602

Kingman

2,741 645

Kiowa

1,148 566

Labette

9,401 616

Lane

711 640

Leavenworth

20,880 809

Lincoln

962 524

Linn

2,232 742

Logan

1,379 558

Lyon

14,432 596

Mcpherson

15,066 765

Marion

3,652 551

Marshall

4,895 671

Meade

1,679 688

Miami

8,195 624

Mitchell

3,499 626

Montgomery

16,525 660

Morris

1,526 550

Morton

1,065 671

Nemaha

5,486 741

Neosho

6,399 642

Ness

1,391 738

Norton

2,726 641

Osage

3,031 480

Osborne

1,418 535

Ottawa

1,404 534

Pawnee

3,370 630

Phillips

2,630 614

Pottawatomie

9,498 718

Pratt

5,026 681

Rawlins

916 595

Reno

27,797 636

Republic

2,037 498

Rice

3,999 628

Riley

29,524 674

Rooks

2,109 625

Rush

1,185 619

Russell

2,986 642

Saline

30,165 659

Scott

2,243 663

Sedgwick

245,537 836

Seward

12,294 686

Shawnee

97,253 791

Sheridan

1,017 625

Sherman

2,598 542

Smith

1,387 512

Stafford

1,404 515

Stanton

752 663

Stevens

2,458 844

Sumner

7,260 618

Thomas

4,100 610

Trego

1,338 630

Wabaunsee

1,390 526

Wallace

539 643

Washington

2,074 474

Wichita

819 630

Wilson

3,700 642

Woodson

693 499

Wyandotte

87,998 872

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, second quarter 2014
State Employment Average weekly wage (1)
June 2014 (thousands) Percent change, June 2013-14 Average weekly wage National ranking by level Percent change, second quarter 2013-14 National ranking by percent change

United States (2)

137,776.4 2.0 $940 -- 2.1 --

Alabama

1,872.9 0.7 806 36 1.6 38

Alaska

344.9 0.5 1,014 8 4.6 2

Arizona

2,486.0 1.9 888 21 1.3 43

Arkansas

1,168.1 1.5 745 47 1.5 41

California

15,905.6 2.8 1,072 6 2.4 15

Colorado

2,439.3 3.4 960 14 2.9 8

Connecticut

1,676.6 0.6 1,155 3 2.5 13

Delaware

429.0 2.5 976 11 1.2 44

District of Columbia

732.6 1.0 1,569 1 -0.5 51

Florida

7,628.6 3.1 839 28 2.1 23

Georgia

4,036.3 3.1 882 22 1.7 35

Hawaii

624.6 1.1 845 26 2.7 10

Idaho

659.2 2.5 697 51 2.2 22

Illinois

5,836.9 1.5 988 10 1.9 32

Indiana

2,916.9 1.8 784 42 1.2 44

Iowa

1,547.8 1.6 780 43 3.0 7

Kansas

1,372.8 1.7 797 38 2.3 20

Kentucky

1,820.8 1.7 798 37 2.0 27

Louisiana

1,921.6 1.4 843 27 2.4 15

Maine

610.4 0.8 746 46 2.1 23

Maryland

2,594.4 0.9 1,020 7 1.6 38

Massachusetts

3,407.0 1.4 1,158 2 2.4 15

Michigan

4,164.7 2.3 897 20 2.3 20

Minnesota

2,782.0 1.3 947 16 1.9 32

Mississippi

1,101.1 0.5 705 50 2.0 27

Missouri

2,703.2 1.3 818 31 1.9 32

Montana

453.4 1.1 734 48 2.4 15

Nebraska

956.2 1.4 756 45 2.7 10

Nevada

1,210.1 3.4 833 30 0.6 50

New Hampshire

637.2 1.2 955 15 4.3 3

New Jersey

3,944.8 0.8 1,097 5 1.2 44

New Mexico

801.0 0.6 794 40 1.7 35

New York

8,965.2 1.8 1,146 4 2.4 15

North Carolina

4,080.7 2.4 818 31 1.2 44

North Dakota

453.0 4.4 936 17 5.5 1

Ohio

5,233.8 1.4 846 25 2.1 23

Oklahoma

1,578.0 1.0 816 33 2.6 12

Oregon

1,748.4 2.4 874 23 2.9 8

Pennsylvania

5,719.8 1.0 933 18 1.6 38

Rhode Island

472.9 1.6 898 19 2.0 27

South Carolina

1,916.4 2.7 765 44 2.5 13

South Dakota

422.9 1.4 712 49 3.3 4

Tennessee

2,755.7 1.8 836 29 2.0 27

Texas

11,402.8 3.0 973 13 3.1 5

Utah

1,297.5 2.9 796 39 1.7 35

Vermont

307.0 1.0 813 35 0.7 49

Virginia

3,710.8 0.7 976 11 0.8 48

Washington

3,109.6 3.2 990 9 2.1 23

West Virginia

711.3 -0.3 792 41 1.4 42

Wisconsin

2,809.1 1.3 816 33 2.0 27

Wyoming

295.3 1.6 871 24 3.1 5

Puerto Rico

897.0 -2.0 504 (3) 0.6 (3)

Virgin Islands

37.8 -2.2 728 (3) 2.8 (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.
 

 Chart 1. Average weekly wages for counties in Kansas, second quarter 2014

 

Last Modified Date: Wednesday, December 31, 2014