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News Release Information

15-1232-ATL
Friday, July 10, 2015

Contacts Technical information: Media contact:
  • (404) 893-4220

County Employment and Wages in Georgia — Fourth Quarter 2014

Eight of the nine large counties in Georgia reported employment gains from December 2013 to December 2014, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported today. (Large counties are those with 2013 annual average employment levels of 75,000 or more.) Regional Commissioner Janet S. Rankin noted that Chatham County had the largest increase, up 4.6 percent, followed by the counties of Cobb and Fulton, at 4.1 percent each. (See table 1.)

Nationally, employment advanced 2.2 percent from December 2013 to December 2014 as 319 of the 339 largest U.S. counties registered increases. Weld, Colo., and Midland, Texas had the largest percentage increases, with gains of 8.0 percent each over the year. Atlantic, N.J., had the largest over-the-year percentage decline in employment among the largest counties in the U.S. with a loss of 5.0 percent.

Among the largest counties in Georgia, employment was highest in Fulton County (790,500) in December 2014. Three other counties—Gwinnett, Cobb, and De Kalb—had employment levels exceeding 275,000. Together, Georgia’s nine large counties accounted for 55.4 percent of total employment within the state. Nationwide, the 339 largest counties made up 72.1 percent of total U.S. employment.

From the fourth quarter of 2013 to the fourth quarter of 2014, Clayton County recorded the fastest rate of increase in average weekly wages among the 9 large counties in Georgia, registering a gain of 7.6 percent. (See table 1.) Fulton County recorded the highest average weekly wage among these large counties at $1,338 followed by Cobb County ($1,081) and DeKalb ($1,013). Nationally, the average weekly wage increased 3.5 percent over the year to $1,035.

Employment and wage levels (but not over-the-year changes) are also available for the 150 counties in Georgia with employment levels below 75,000. With the exception of Burke County ($1,078), wage levels in all of these smaller counties were below the national average in December 2014. (See table 2.)

Large county wage changes

Average weekly wages increased in all of Georgia’s large counties from the fourth quarter of 2013 to the fourth quarter of 2014. Clayton County’s 7.6-percent wage increase ranked 7th among the nation’s 339 large counties and Bibb County’s 4.7 percent gain ranked in the top 100 nationwide. Wage increases in the remaining large counties ranged from 3.7 to 1.8 percent. (See table 1.)

Nationally, 332 of the 339 largest counties registered over-the-year wage increases. Benton, Ark., had the largest wage gain, up 9.9 percent from the fourth quarter of 2013. Washington, Pa., was second with a wage increase of 9.2 percent, followed by the counties of Midland, Texas (9.0 percent), Brazoria, Texas (8.9 percent), and Douglas, Colo. (8.8 percent).

Among the largest U.S. counties, seven experienced over-the-year wage decreases in average weekly wages. San Mateo, Calif., had the largest percentage decrease in average weekly wages, with a loss of 20.4 percent. Olmsted, Minn., had the second largest percentage decrease with a loss of 5.5 percent, followed by Morris, N.J. (-2.9 percent); Rockland, N.Y. (-1.3 percent); and Camden, N.J. and Butler, Pa. (-0.8 percent each).

Large county average weekly wages

Average weekly wages in 5 of Georgia’s 9 largest counties placed in the top half of the national ranking among the 339 largest counties in the fourth quarter of 2014. The highest-paid counties—Fulton and Cobb—were both above the U.S. average of $1,035 and ranked in the top 75 nationwide. De Kalb ($1,013), Gwinnett ($991), and Clayton ($977) ranked 116th, 131st, and 142nd, respectively. Average weekly wages in the remaining four large counties placed in the bottom third of the national ranking.

Nationally, 95 large counties registered average weekly wages above the U.S. average of $1,035 in the fourth quarter of 2014. San Mateo, Calif., held the top position among the highest-paid large counties with an average weekly wage of $2,166. New York, N.Y., was second at $2,138, followed by Santa Clara, Calif. ($2,114), Suffolk Mass. ($1,856), and San Francisco, Calif. ($1,850).

Seventy-two percent of the largest U.S. counties (244) reported weekly wages below the national average. Horry County, S.C., reported the lowest wage ($610), followed by the Texas counties of Cameron ($621) and Hidalgo ($641), and the Florida counties of Osceola ($687) and Lake ($691).

Average weekly wages in Georgia’s smaller counties

With the exception of Burke County ($1,078), all 150 counties in Georgia with employment below 75,000 had average weekly wages below the national average of $1,035. Among these smaller counties, Chattahoochee had the second highest average weekly wage at $1,014, while Echols had the lowest at $482. (See table 2.)

When all 159 counties in Georgia were considered, 32 reported wages below $600, 70 reported wages from $600 to $699, 31 reported wages from $700 to $799, and 26 had wages at or above $800. (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 first quarter 2014 version of the national news release. Tables and additional content from Employment and Wages Online Annual Averages 2013 are now available 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.

The County Employment and Wages release for first quarter 2015 is scheduled to be released on Thursday, September 17, 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 9.5 million employer reports cover 139.2 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.

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

Table 1. Covered employment and wages in the United States and the 9 largest counties in Georgia, fourth quarter 2014
Area Employment Average Weekly Wage (1)
December 2014 (thousands) Percent change, December 2013-14 (2) National ranking by percent change (3) Average weekly wage National ranking by level (3) Percent change, fourth quarter 2013-14 (2) National ranking by percent change (3)

United States (4)

139,204.8 2.2 -- $1,035 -- 3.5 --

Georgia

4,131.9 3.7 -- 958 21 3.8 25

Bibb, Ga.

83.7 2.3 130 802 304 4.7 60

Chatham, Ga.

142.4 4.6 21 871 243 2.7 235

Clayton, Ga.

115.6 3.8 46 977 142 7.6 7

Cobb, Ga.

332.6 4.1 36 1,081 75 3.6 157

De Kalb, Ga.

289.8 2.3 130 1,013 116 2.2 273

Fulton, Ga.

790.5 4.1 36 1,338 21 3.7 143

Gwinnett, Ga.

333.3 3.8 46 991 131 3.1 208

Muscogee, Ga.

95.1 -0.4 328 804 300 2.0 291

Richmond, Ga.

104.1 2.3 130 834 275 1.8 300

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 (1) employment and wages in the United States and all counties in Georgia, 4th quarter 2014 (2)
Area Employment December 2014 Average Weekly Wage (3)

United States (4)

139,204,840 $1,035

Georgia

4,131,921 958

Appling

6,561 792

Atkinson

1,801 692

Bacon

3,803 633

Baker

456 654

Baldwin

15,125 650

Banks

3,852 585

Barrow

17,668 689

Bartow

34,083 828

Ben Hill

5,429 626

Berrien

3,918 555

Bibb

83,683 802

Bleckley

2,636 530

Brantley

2,116 567

Brooks

3,056 654

Bryan

7,058 631

Bulloch

24,827 627

Burke

6,958 1,078

Butts

5,989 679

Calhoun

1,147 595

Camden

16,094 837

Candler

2,892 654

Carroll

39,462 760

Catoosa

13,850 661

Charlton

1,994 688

Chatham

142,429 871

Chattahoochee

2,317 1,014

Chattooga

6,388 609

Cherokee

51,625 769

Clarke

66,724 808

Clay

530 580

Clayton

115,570 977

Clinch

2,298 607

Cobb

332,641 1,081

Coffee

15,985 654

Colquitt

14,084 624

Columbia

31,309 734

Cook

3,904 561

Coweta

36,449 766

Crawford

1,264 632

Crisp

8,078 664

Dade

3,251 630

Dawson

7,928 519

Decatur

8,271 611

De Kalb

289,801 1,013

Dodge

5,029 576

Dooly

3,101 620

Dougherty

47,258 779

Douglas

39,522 703

Early

4,416 848

Echols

640 482

Effingham

9,398 756

Elbert

5,695 636

Emanuel

6,677 605

Evans

4,337 752

Fannin

5,588 564

Fayette

40,426 783

Floyd

38,396 790

Forsyth

68,591 940

Franklin

6,731 659

Fulton

790,500 1,338

Gilmer

7,384 567

Glascock

402 496

Glynn

35,523 768

Gordon

21,096 729

Grady

6,055 622

Greene

5,595 693

Gwinnett

333,277 991

Habersham

14,409 638

Hall

78,153 867

Hancock

1,694 618

Haralson

6,275 760

Harris

4,522 545

Hart

6,007 709

Heard

2,124 846

Henry

53,435 702

Houston

56,964 834

Irwin

1,921 586

Jackson

21,352 743

Jasper

2,111 549

Jeff Davis

4,570 636

Jefferson

4,617 676

Jenkins

1,355 548

Johnson

1,632 608

Jones

4,340 637

Lamar

3,615 647

Lanier

1,345 611

Laurens

17,602 702

Lee

5,760 867

Liberty

18,103 796

Lincoln

1,269 606

Long

942 535

Lowndes

47,967 667

Lumpkin

7,010 625

McDuffie

7,233 671

McIntosh

1,805 527

Macon

2,807 748

Madison

3,032 599

Marion

1,361 591

Meriwether

4,140 637

Miller

1,707 626

Mitchell

7,572 585

Monroe

7,444 675

Montgomery

1,539 578

Morgan

6,460 642

Murray

10,060 655

Muscogee

95,070 804

Newton

22,167 774

Oconee

9,642 757

Oglethorpe

1,727 541

Paulding

21,667 668

Peach

8,735 767

Pickens

7,480 819

Pierce

3,882 640

Pike

2,659 637

Polk

11,169 679

Pulaski

2,755 667

Putnam

5,551 655

Quitman

393 505

Rabun

4,347 584

Randolph

1,847 645

Richmond

104,122 834

Rockdale

31,372 952

Schley

993 671

Screven

3,306 641

Seminole

2,286 663

Spalding

21,287 666

Stephens

9,113 720

Stewart

1,137 721

Sumter

10,968 672

Talbot

714 641

Taliaferro

206 494

Tattnall

5,838 651

Taylor

1,520 692

Telfair

3,414 518

Terrell

2,484 651

Thomas

20,181 792

Tift

18,817 846

Toombs

11,750 634

Towns

3,107 540

Treutlen

1,099 527

Troup

38,513 825

Turner

2,121 599

Twiggs

1,096 647

Union

6,621 605

Upson

6,723 666

Walker

12,433 632

Walton

19,982 733

Ware

14,417 662

Warren

1,438 790

Washington

6,802 706

Wayne

8,097 722

Webster

532 735

Wheeler

1,195 623

White

6,987 632

Whitfield

55,004 828

Wilcox

1,223 534

Wilkes

2,887 601

Wilkinson

3,135 965

Worth

3,398 640

Footnotes
(1) Includes workers covered by Unemployment Insurance (UI) and Unemployment Compensation for Federal Employees (UCFE) programs.
(2) Data are preliminary.
(3) Average weekly wages were calculated using unrounded data.
(4) Totals for the United States do not include data for Puerto Rico or the Virgin Islands.

SOURCE: Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages


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

United States (2)

139,204.8 2.2 $1,035 -- 3.5 --

Alabama

1,891.4 1.3 881 35 3.5 31

Alaska

317.6 0.8 1,063 13 4.0 20

Arizona

2,630.8 2.2 926 25 2.3 47

Arkansas

1,180.5 2.2 807 47 4.5 5

California

16,068.5 2.6 1,209 6 2.9 41

Colorado

2,478.0 3.9 1,066 12 4.1 17

Connecticut

1,681.2 1.2 1,278 4 2.7 45

Delaware

433.0 2.9 1,049 16 1.5 51

District of Columbia

736.9 0.9 1,696 1 3.7 28

Florida

8,009.6 3.5 911 28 3.1 40

Georgia

4,131.9 3.7 958 21 3.8 25

Hawaii

638.3 0.7 908 29 4.2 15

Idaho

650.7 2.5 782 50 4.0 20

Illinois

5,844.1 1.4 1,089 8 2.8 42

Indiana

2,946.5 1.7 846 41 3.9 22

Iowa

1,527.6 1.1 870 38 4.3 11

Kansas

1,377.2 1.3 855 39 2.6 46

Kentucky

1,852.2 1.8 836 43 4.1 17

Louisiana

1,954.0 2.1 923 26 3.8 25

Maine

592.7 0.9 826 44 5.1 4

Maryland

2,590.3 1.3 1,113 7 3.5 31

Massachusetts

3,415.6 2.2 1,315 3 4.5 5

Michigan

4,158.9 2.1 984 20 3.3 37

Minnesota

2,762.9 1.4 1,024 17 3.6 30

Mississippi

1,118.6 1.0 747 51 2.3 47

Missouri

2,709.8 1.5 891 32 3.4 34

Montana

442.2 0.5 794 48 4.5 5

Nebraska

958.1 1.4 837 42 5.2 3

Nevada

1,229.6 4.2 899 30 1.6 50

New Hampshire

638.0 1.4 1,081 10 6.3 2

New Jersey

3,933.6 1.3 1,211 5 2.0 49

New Mexico

808.4 1.3 850 40 4.4 10

New York

9,067.6 2.0 1,321 2 4.3 11

North Carolina

4,141.8 2.4 890 33 3.4 34

North Dakota

454.8 4.5 1,050 15 7.1 1

Ohio

5,264.3 1.6 922 27 3.9 22

Oklahoma

1,614.3 2.1 876 36 2.8 42

Oregon

1,755.4 3.2 928 23 3.8 25

Pennsylvania

5,716.5 1.2 1,013 18 3.7 28

Rhode Island

471.5 1.9 1,003 19 4.5 5

South Carolina

1,931.4 2.9 817 46 3.2 39

South Dakota

412.5 1.3 791 49 4.2 15

Tennessee

2,822.1 2.4 927 24 3.5 31

Texas

11,662.7 3.7 1,070 11 4.3 11

Utah

1,324.2 3.0 872 37 4.3 11

Vermont

311.0 0.7 882 34 4.1 17

Virginia

3,691.4 0.6 1,057 14 2.8 42

Washington

3,069.7 3.2 1,082 9 4.5 5

West Virginia

712.0 0.1 818 45 3.3 37

Wisconsin

2,789.3 1.3 894 31 3.4 34

Wyoming

283.6 1.5 952 22 3.9 22

Puerto Rico

944.2 -1.5 556 (3) 0.7 (3)

Virgin Islands

38.5 -0.3 746 (3) -1.2 (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 in Georgia, fourth quarter 2014

 

Last Modified Date: Friday, July 10, 2015