Employment rose in 10 of the 12 largest counties in Virginia from December 2020 to December 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 5.2 percent. (See chart 1 and table 1.)

National employment increased 5.2 percent over the year, with 334 of the 343 largest U.S. counties reporting gains. Clark, NV, had the largest over-the-year increase in employment with a gain of 13.3 percent. Hinds, MS, 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 (616,700) in December 2021. Within Fairfax County’s private industry, professional and technical services accounted for the largest employment. Together, the 12 largest Virginia counties accounted for 55.5 percent of total employment within the state. Nationwide, the 343 largest counties made up 72.4 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 115 of the 121 smaller counties were below the national average of $1,418 in the fourth quarter of 2021. (See table 2.)

Large county wage changes

Eleven of the 12 large Virginia counties reported average weekly wage gains from the fourth quarter of 2020 to the fourth quarter of 2021. (See chart 2.)  Henrico County had the largest gain (+5.9 percent), followed by Chesterfield County (+5.7 percent) and Chesapeake City (+5.6 percent). Over-the-year wage gains among Virginia’s other nine large counties ranged from 4.6 percent to 0.0 percent.

Among the 343 largest counties in the United States, 334 had over-the-year wage increases. Palm Beach, FL, had the largest percentage wage increase (+15.6 percent). Kitsap, WA, had the largest over-the-year percentage decrease (-5.5 percent).

Large county average weekly wages

Weekly wages in 5 of the 12 largest counties in Virginia were above the national average of $1,418 in the fourth quarter of 2021. Average weekly wages in three of these counties ranked among the top five percent nationwide: Arlington ($2,224, 8^th), Fairfax ($2,090, 11^th), and Alexandria City ($1,871, 14^th).

Among the largest U.S. counties, 84 reported average weekly wages above the U.S. average in the fourth quarter of 2021. Santa Clara, CA, had the highest average weekly wage at $4,005. Average weekly wages were below the national average in the remaining 259 counties. At $826 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— 6 counties reported an average weekly wage above the national average of $1,418. Goochland County ($2,022) had the highest average weekly wage in the state. Grayson County ($690) reported the lowest average weekly wage in the state.

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 first quarter 2022 is scheduled to be released on Wednesday, August 24, 2022. The County Employment and Wages full data update for first quarter 2022 is scheduled to be released on Wednesday, September 7, 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; Telecommunications Relay Service: 7-1-1.

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

Area	Establishments, fourth quarter (thousands)	Employment			Average weekly wage (1)
		December 2021 (thousands)	Percent change, December 2020–21 (2)	National ranking by percent change (3)	Fourth quarter 2021	National ranking by level (3)	Percent change, fourth quarter 2020–21 (2)	National ranking by percent change (3)
United States (4)	11,194.1	148,293.6	5.2	--	$1,418	--	5.9	--
Virginia	303.4	3,918.0	3.1	--	1,424	12	4.8	37
Arlington	9.6	172.0	0.3	333	2,224	8	0.0	335
Chesterfield	10.0	142.6	2.6	270	1,145	251	5.7	120
Fairfax	38.5	616.7	2.7	263	2,090	11	4.6	185
Henrico	12.3	186.1	1.0	323	1,314	138	5.9	109
Loudoun	13.9	176.0	5.2	112	1,594	49	1.9	302
Prince William	10.1	132.4	3.6	210	1,184	220	2.9	266
Alexandria City	6.4	86.0	2.7	263	1,871	14	2.4	285
Chesapeake City	6.5	101.5	-0.1	336	1,075	302	5.6	127
Newport News City	4.3	101.0	-0.4	337	1,279	154	4.2	208
Norfolk City	6.3	136.9	2.3	284	1,355	111	4.2	208
Richmond City	8.5	151.8	3.3	237	1,483	65	3.3	251
Virginia Beach City	13.1	173.4	2.5	274	1,066	309	4.0	220
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, fourth quarter 2021

Area	Establishments	Employment December 2021	Average weekly wage (1)
United States (2)	11,194,120	148,293,597	$1,418
Virginia	303,402	3,917,973	1,424
Accomack	1,063	11,520	992
Albemarle	3,944	57,414	1,383
Alleghany	376	3,451	821
Amelia	397	2,534	950
Amherst	791	7,682	846
Appomattox	470	3,355	737
Arlington	9,607	171,986	2,224
Augusta	1,986	28,409	1,057
Bath	177	1,926	993
Bedford	2,304	18,560	882
Bland	122	1,795	1,037
Botetourt	924	10,668	1,008
Brunswick	568	3,092	901
Buchanan	518	5,746	1,081
Buckingham	447	2,956	919
Campbell	1,525	17,470	1,039
Caroline	628	5,520	916
Carroll	616	6,051	736
Charles City	225	1,631	1,124
Charlotte	355	3,123	851
Chesterfield	9,966	142,566	1,145
Clarke	464	3,711	982
Craig	127	705	824
Culpeper	1,562	16,073	1,036
Cumberland	234	1,287	995
Dickenson	317	3,371	999
Dinwiddie	498	9,081	1,185
Essex	362	3,476	821
Fairfax	38,491	616,718	2,090
Fauquier	2,516	21,803	1,197
Floyd	480	3,490	723
Fluvanna	644	4,668	1,032
Franklin	1,535	15,511	837
Frederick	2,001	35,151	1,148
Giles	391	5,175	1,140
Gloucester	1,022	9,615	853
Goochland	882	19,391	2,022
Grayson	378	3,315	690
Greene	519	3,724	820
Greensville	232	4,327	1,061
Halifax	1,033	11,619	864
Hanover	3,954	54,217	1,110
Henrico	12,284	186,071	1,314
Henry	1,675	15,707	796
Highland	97	453	696
Isle of Wight	919	10,576	1,027
James City	2,058	28,162	982
King and Queen	172	1,143	950
King George	642	12,796	1,713
King William	453	3,803	1,095
Lancaster	507	4,423	897
Lee	525	4,132	821
Loudoun	13,884	175,966	1,594
Louisa	1,054	10,105	1,048
Lunenburg	324	2,260	913
Madison	370	3,142	923
Mathews	224	1,515	706
Mecklenburg	1,075	11,211	879
Middlesex	373	3,170	830
Montgomery	2,402	42,315	1,090
Nelson	553	3,709	955
New Kent	543	5,313	966
Northampton	584	4,069	892
Northumberland	376	2,486	1,228
Nottoway	446	5,440	945
Orange	984	9,618	947
Page	601	5,312	813
Patrick	526	4,091	714
Pittsylvania	1,419	12,589	855
Powhatan	869	7,510	1,003
Prince Edward	738	8,775	849
Prince George	670	14,311	1,205
Prince William	10,144	132,355	1,184
Pulaski	846	14,821	964
Rappahannock	277	1,581	887
Richmond	262	2,754	917
Roanoke	2,637	37,812	1,050
Rockbridge	535	5,861	787
Rockingham	1,962	34,085	1,042
Russell	580	6,353	908
Scott	416	4,831	833
Shenandoah	1,184	13,206	897
Smyth	897	11,991	848
Southampton	355	3,497	926
Spotsylvania	3,323	36,571	1,022
Stafford	3,118	46,346	1,220
Surry	134	1,848	1,951
Sussex	255	3,088	1,061
Tazewell	1,037	14,052	798
Warren	1,129	13,456	978
Washington	1,513	19,310	870
Westmoreland	438	3,251	782
Wise	842	11,359	886
Wythe	907	11,321	834
York	1,672	19,792	943
Alexandria City	6,438	85,951	1,871
Bristol City	611	9,621	840
Buena Vista City	145	1,936	832
Charlottesville City	2,557	38,820	1,582
Chesapeake City	6,542	101,509	1,075
Colonial Heights City	755	10,251	769
Covington City	274	3,673	1,173
Danville City	1,891	24,513	893
Emporia City	287	3,358	712
Fairfax City	1,761	19,104	1,351
Falls Church City	1,044	11,653	1,708
Franklin City	342	3,924	697
Fredericksburg City	1,718	23,732	1,182
Galax City	411	5,472	760
Hampton City	3,065	50,983	1,116
Harrisonburg City	1,759	30,454	916
Hopewell City	536	7,353	1,268
Lexington City	299	4,825	926
Lynchburg City	2,760	49,431	1,059
Manassas City	1,590	23,435	1,625
Manassas Park City	322	4,167	1,162
Martinsville City	980	9,322	781
Newport News City	4,253	100,969	1,279
Norfolk City	6,286	136,947	1,355
Norton City	232	3,143	882
Petersburg City	989	12,081	960
Poquoson City	261	1,767	815
Portsmouth City	1,888	43,431	1,298
Radford City	353	6,123	921
Richmond City	8,453	151,807	1,483
Roanoke City	3,477	64,244	1,200
Salem City	1,068	18,982	1,143
Staunton City	913	11,038	875
Suffolk City	2,012	34,705	1,143
Virginia Beach City	13,131	173,381	1,066
Waynesboro City	769	9,120	973
Williamsburg City	549	11,667	1,022
Winchester City	1,520	25,029	1,189
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, fourth quarter 2021

State	Establishments, fourth quarter (thousands)	Employment		Average weekly wage (1)
		December 2021 (thousands)	Percent change, December 2020–21	Fourth quarter 2021	National ranking by level	Percent change, fourth quarter 2020–21	National ranking by percent change
United States (2)	11,194.1	148,293.6	5.2	$1,418	--	5.9	--
Alabama	141.2	2,007.0	3.1	1,153	36	4.9	34
Alaska	24.1	299.4	3.1	1,311	19	4.1	43
Arizona	190.2	3,057.8	5.1	1,281	23	5.5	27
Arkansas	97.0	1,236.1	3.4	1,064	49	6.4	14
California	1,701.9	17,622.2	7.4	1,804	4	4.8	37
Colorado	232.9	2,776.4	6.2	1,484	10	7.8	3
Connecticut	134.0	1,639.9	3.9	1,611	6	3.9	45
Delaware	37.0	452.0	4.5	1,337	16	5.9	23
District of Columbia	46.1	749.4	5.1	2,320	1	1.0	50
Florida	834.7	9,241.1	6.7	1,297	20	9.7	2
Georgia	351.2	4,629.8	5.0	1,292	21	7.0	9
Hawaii	50.4	613.8	9.2	1,229	28	0.8	51
Idaho	81.8	802.3	5.1	1,111	42	7.4	6
Illinois	400.5	5,877.3	5.4	1,473	11	6.9	11
Indiana	179.4	3,089.3	3.4	1,153	36	7.0	9
Iowa	107.3	1,527.4	2.2	1,157	35	5.3	30
Kansas	92.5	1,381.0	2.4	1,132	41	5.8	24
Kentucky	136.5	1,919.8	4.5	1,110	43	5.0	33
Louisiana	146.1	1,853.9	2.9	1,142	40	6.0	21
Maine	59.7	613.7	3.3	1,163	34	6.4	14
Maryland	178.1	2,648.4	3.9	1,499	9	3.8	46
Massachusetts	281.8	3,556.9	5.5	1,832	2	3.7	47
Michigan	274.9	4,250.8	6.3	1,291	22	2.7	49
Minnesota	191.0	2,823.7	5.2	1,378	13	4.0	44
Mississippi	78.5	1,147.3	2.4	944	51	4.8	37
Missouri	226.1	2,804.8	2.9	1,179	33	4.5	40
Montana	56.7	489.0	4.6	1,108	44	7.1	8
Nebraska	77.5	978.5	1.5	1,144	38	6.1	19
Nevada	98.3	1,432.6	11.5	1,246	25	5.8	24
New Hampshire	61.2	662.2	3.9	1,580	7	12.3	1
New Jersey	315.6	4,123.7	6.8	1,563	8	3.0	48
New Mexico	66.5	819.1	6.5	1,097	47	4.4	41
New York	674.4	9,195.8	5.8	1,829	3	6.8	13
North Carolina	324.7	4,646.6	4.7	1,241	26	7.8	3
North Dakota	33.3	407.9	3.4	1,192	31	4.9	34
Ohio	318.8	5,352.6	2.9	1,221	29	5.2	31
Oklahoma	117.8	1,604.5	2.1	1,080	48	6.9	11
Oregon	173.4	1,915.0	4.8	1,332	17	6.1	19
Pennsylvania	379.7	5,807.9	4.5	1,352	15	5.1	32
Rhode Island	44.1	475.5	5.7	1,315	18	4.4	41
South Carolina	155.8	2,147.9	3.5	1,101	46	6.4	14
South Dakota	37.6	435.5	2.7	1,108	44	5.7	26
Tennessee	191.7	3,123.3	3.9	1,258	24	7.3	7
Texas	779.4	13,012.7	6.1	1,376	14	6.3	17
Utah	126.9	1,624.1	4.3	1,231	27	6.2	18
Vermont	28.7	298.7	4.3	1,189	32	4.9	34
Virginia	303.4	3,918.0	3.1	1,424	12	4.8	37
Washington	276.1	3,427.0	6.3	1,683	5	6.0	21
West Virginia	54.7	674.4	3.1	1,053	50	5.5	27
Wisconsin	194.0	2,832.6	2.4	1,202	30	5.4	29
Wyoming	28.8	267.2	2.7	1,143	39	7.7	5
Puerto Rico	48.2	935.3	6.8	645	(3)	3.9	(3)
Virgin Islands	3.4	35.0	-0.4	1,090	(3)	3.0	(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.