Five of the six large counties in Wisconsin recorded employment increases from September 2012 to September 2013, 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 2012 annual average employment.) Outagamie County had the largest increase, up 1.7 percent, followed by Dane and Waukesha Counties, up 1.3 percent each. Regional Commissioner Charlene Peiffer noted that the employment gain in Outagamie County was equal to the national increase of 1.7 percent.

Among the six large counties in Wisconsin, employment was highest in Milwaukee (481,400) in September 2013, followed by Dane (310,300), and Waukesha (230,800). The three other counties—Brown, Outagamie, and Winnebago—had employment levels of less than 150,000. Collectively, Wisconsin's six large counties accounted for 49.6 percent of total employment within the state. Nationwide, the 334 largest counties made up 71.4 percent of total U.S. employment.

The average weekly wage in Dane County rose 9.3 percent from the third quarter of 2012 to the third quarter of 2013, the largest increase among Wisconsin's large counties. Dane County also had the highest average weekly wage in the state at $921, followed by Waukesha at $904. (See table 1.) Nationally, the average weekly wage rose 1.9 percent over the year to $922 in the third quarter of 2013.

Employment and wage levels (but not over-the-year changes) are also available for the 66 counties in Wisconsin with employment below 75,000. All of these smaller counties had average weekly wages below the national average. (See table 2.)

Large county wage changes

Three of Wisconsin’s large counties recorded wage gains greater than the national increase of 1.9 percent from the third quarter of 2012 to the third quarter of 2013. (See table 1.) As noted, Dane County experienced the state’s largest average weekly wage increase, up 9.3 percent, and ranked 2nd among the 334 largest counties across the nation. This was followed by Brown (3.1 percent, 45th) and Outagamie (2.3 percent, 92nd). Milwaukee County recorded the smallest wage increase among Wisconsin’s large counties, up 0.5 percent, ranking 255th nationwide.

Among the 334 largest U.S. counties, 291 had over-the-year increases in average weekly wages. San Mateo, Calif., had the largest increase with a gain of 9.9 percent. Dane, Wis., was second with wage growth of 9.3 percent, followed by Collier, Fla. (8.0 percent). Wage decreases were recorded in 40 large counties nationwide; Pinellas, Fla., experienced the largest over-the-year wage loss at 4.3 percent.

Large county average weekly wages

Average weekly wages in all of Wisconsin’s six large counties were below the national average of $922 in the third quarter of 2013. As noted, Dane County ($921) had the highest average weekly wage in the state, ranking 103rd among the 334 largest counties across the nation, followed by Waukesha ($904) and Milwaukee ($879) which placed 121st and 145th, respectively. Brown ($805) and Outagamie ($788) reported the lowest average weekly wage among the state’s largest counties and ranked among the bottom-third nationwide.

Nationally, weekly wages were higher than the U.S. average in 101 of the largest counties in the country. Santa Clara, Calif., held the top position among the highest-paid large counties with an average weekly wage of $1,868. San Mateo, Calif., was second at $1,698, followed by New York, N.Y. ($1,667), Washington, D.C. ($1,560), and San Francisco, Calif. ($1,549).

Of the largest counties in the United States, 232, or more than two-thirds, reported average weekly wages below the national average in the third quarter of 2013. The lowest wage was reported in Horry, S.C., at $564 per week. Pasco, Fla. ($635), joined the Texas counties of Cameron, Hidalgo, and Webb among the bottom five. Wages in these five lowest-ranked counties were about one-third or less of the average weekly wage in the highest-ranked county, Santa Clara, Calif.

Average weekly wages in Wisconsin's smaller counties

Of the 66 counties in Wisconsin with employment below 75,000, Wood County had the highest average weekly wage at $841. Florence County had the lowest weekly wage at $475. (See table 2.)

When all 72 counties in Wisconsin were considered, 2 reported average weekly wages less than $500, 17 had wages from $500 to $599, 28 reported wages from $600 to $699, 17 had wages from $700 to $799, and 8 had wages of $800 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 2012 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 2013 version of the national news release. Tables and additional content from Employment and Wages Annual Averages 2012 are now available online at www.bls.gov/cew/publications/employment-and-wages-annual-averages/2012/home.htm. The 2013 edition of Employment and Wages Annual Averages Online will be available later in September 2014.

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 9.3 million employer reports cover 135.0 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 (1) employment and wages in the United States and the 6 largest counties in Wisconsin, third quarter 2013 (2)

Area	Employment			Average weekly wage (3)
	September 2013 (thousands)	Percent change, September 2012-13 (4)	National ranking by percent change (5)	Average weekly wage	National ranking by level (5)	Percent change, third quarter 2012-13 (4)	National ranking by percent change (5)
United States (6)	134,957.5	1.7	--	$922	--	1.9	--
Wisconsin	2,752.7	1.1	--	793	35	3.0	7
Brown, Wis.	149.7	1.0	214	805	220	3.1	45
Dane, Wis.	310.3	1.3	187	921	103	9.3	2
Milwaukee, Wis.	481.4	1.0	214	879	145	0.5	255
Outagamie, Wis.	102.3	1.7	148	788	244	2.3	92
Waukesha, Wis.	230.8	1.3	187	904	121	1.7	161
Winnebago, Wis.	89.9	-0.9	320	839	182	1.8	146
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) Percent changes were computed from quarterly employment and pay data adjusted for noneconomic county reclassifications. (5) Ranking does not include data for Puerto Rico or the Virgin Islands. (6) Totals for the United States do not include data for Puerto Rico or the Virgin Islands.

Table 3. Covered (1) employment and wages by state, third quarter 2013 (2)

State	Employment		Average weekly wage (3)
	September 2013 (thousands)	Percent change, September 2012-13	Average weekly wage	National ranking by level	Percent change, third quarter 2012-13	National ranking by percent change
United States (4)	134,957.5	1.7	$922	--	1.9	--
Alabama	1,847.6	0.8	794	34	1.3	43
Alaska	345.0	0.4	990	9	3.0	7
Arizona	2,490.9	2.2	859	22	1.5	36
Arkansas	1,156.5	0.1	723	47	2.1	21
California	15,526.4	2.7	1,057	6	2.1	21
Colorado	2,355.7	3.1	952	12	1.7	31
Connecticut	1,650.3	0.7	1,109	3	1.9	28
Delaware	416.8	2.1	941	14	2.1	21
District of Columbia	726.2	1.5	1,560	1	3.0	7
Florida	7,501.8	2.6	808	31	1.1	46
Georgia	3,928.2	2.3	867	21	1.5	36
Hawaii	617.7	1.7	839	25	1.6	33
Idaho	644.7	2.3	703	50	2.3	19
Illinois	5,731.7	0.7	959	11	1.5	36
Indiana	2,883.6	1.2	784	38	1.6	33
Iowa	1,512.0	1.5	772	40	2.1	21
Kansas	1,347.6	1.8	776	39	2.0	26
Kentucky	1,794.5	1.0	760	43	1.1	46
Louisiana	1,893.4	1.4	827	28	2.9	10
Maine	601.5	0.7	735	46	1.8	30
Maryland	2,546.4	0.6	1,011	8	0.4	51
Massachusetts	3,318.3	1.2	1,131	2	2.6	11
Michigan	4,069.7	2.1	875	20	1.5	36
Minnesota	2,724.2	1.7	938	15	2.6	11
Mississippi	1,099.1	0.8	688	51	2.5	15
Missouri	2,661.0	1.3	805	32	1.4	40
Montana	446.7	1.2	705	49	2.3	19
Nebraska	937.5	1.3	766	41	3.4	3
Nevada	1,169.4	2.5	836	27	2.0	26
New Hampshire	624.5	0.6	895	18	2.4	17
New Jersey	3,851.9	1.2	1,068	5	1.3	43
New Mexico	793.7	0.5	766	41	0.7	49
New York	8,724.8	1.3	1,108	4	1.7	31
North Carolina	4,006.4	1.7	817	30	1.4	40
North Dakota	436.7	3.4	921	16	5.5	1
Ohio	5,147.5	1.4	837	26	1.2	45
Oklahoma	1,572.6	1.4	797	33	2.4	17
Oregon	1,709.8	2.4	856	23	2.6	11
Pennsylvania	5,622.4	0.3	913	17	1.6	33
Rhode Island	465.2	1.3	878	19	2.6	11
South Carolina	1,859.3	2.3	751	44	1.9	28
South Dakota	408.9	0.9	706	48	3.4	3
Tennessee	2,712.8	1.5	819	29	0.6	50
Texas	11,091.9	2.8	952	12	2.5	15
Utah	1,265.5	2.9	791	36	3.1	6
Vermont	302.5	0.0	788	37	3.4	3
Virginia	3,650.1	0.6	971	10	1.1	46
Washington	3,017.9	2.4	1,044	7	2.1	21
West Virginia	710.3	-0.7	751	44	3.7	2
Wisconsin	2,752.7	1.1	793	35	3.0	7
Wyoming	286.1	0.2	840	24	1.4	40
Puerto Rico	910.9	-2.5	501	(5)	-0.6	(5)
Virgin Islands	37.9	-1.9	706	(5)	-0.6	(5)
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. (5) Data not included in the national ranking.