SOUTHWEST INFORMATION OFFICE Dallas, Texas For release: Thursday, April 11, 2013 13-474-DAL Contact information: (972) 850-4800 BLSInfoDallas@bls.gov www.bls.gov/ro6 COUNTY EMPLOYMENT AND WAGES IN TEXAS THIRD QUARTER rose in 22 of the 24 largest counties in Texas from 2011 to, 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 2011 annual average employment.) Regional Commissioner Stanley W. Suchman noted that job growth rates in four Texas counties ranked in the top ten nationwide. Montgomery County s 5.5-percent gain led the state with the 4 th fastest growth in the nation. Also sharing top-ten national rankings were the Texas counties of Fort Bend (4.3 percent, 6 th ), Travis (3.9 percent, 9 th ), and Harris (3.8 percent, 10 th ). (See table 1.) nationwide advanced 1.6 percent from 2011 as 276 of the 328 largest U.S. counties registered increases. Elkhart, Ind., recorded the fastest rate of employment growth in the country, up 6.9 percent, while Benton, Wash., registered the largest decline, down 5.2 percent. Among the largest counties in Texas, employment was highest in Harris County (2,128,200) in, followed by Dallas County (1,478,500). Three other counties, Tarrant, Bexar, and Travis, had employment levels exceeding 600,000. Together, the 24 largest Texas counties accounted for 78.4 percent of total employment within the state. Nationwide, the 328 largest counties made up 71.0 percent of total U.S. employment. From the third quarter of 2011 to the third quarter of, average weekly wages nationwide fell 1.1 percent to $906. Among large counties in Texas, Galveston County registered the largest decrease in average weekly wages, falling 4.4 percent, while Lubbock recorded the fastest increase, up 1.8 percent. (See table 1.) In the third quarter of, Harris had the highest average weekly wage among the state s largest counties at $1,154 per week and Cameron had the lowest at $580. and wage levels (but not over-the-year changes) are also available for the 230 counties in Texas with employment levels below 75,000 in 2011. Among these smaller counties, 90 percent (207) had average weekly wages below the national average in. (See table 2.) Large county wage changes A majority of Texas s large counties experienced wage declines from the third quarter of 2011 to the third quarter of. During the period, average weekly wages fell in 19 of the 24 largest counties in the state, led by Galveston County s 4.4-percent decrease. (See table 1.) In contrast, five counties recorded wage increases from the third quarter of 2011. Lubbock County s leading 1.8-percent increase was followed by Webb County s gain of 1.4 percent, placing 7 th and 14 th, respectively, in the national ranking of percent change in average weekly wages.
Among the 328 largest U.S. counties, 274 had over-the-year decreases in average weekly wages. Yolo, Calif., had the largest decline with a loss of 7.0 percent. Within Yolo, wage declines in government had the greatest impact on the county s over-the-year decrease. Three counties tied for the second largest loss, as wages fell 6.9 percent in Rockingham, N.H.; Lake, Ohio; and Benton, Wash. Increases were recorded in 46 large counties nationwide; San Mateo, Calif., led this group with an over-the-year wage gain of 7.3 percent. Large county average weekly wages weekly wages in 4 of the 24 large Texas counties were at least 10 percent above the national average of $906 per week in the third quarter of. Harris County led at $1,154 per week and ranked 22 nd among the 328 large counties nationwide. Harris was followed by Dallas ($1,085, 33 rd ), Collin ($1,057, 42 nd ), and Travis ($1,003, 56 th ). Four additional Texas counties Fort Bend, Williamson, Jefferson, and Tarrant reported average weekly wages ranging from $928 to $909. Texas had 4 of the 11 lowest-paying large counties in the United States, all located along the border with Mexico. These included Cameron ($580, 327 th ), Hidalgo ($584, 326 th ), Webb ($637, 320 th ) and El Paso ($654, 318 th ). Other Texas counties with low national rankings included two that are home to large public universities, Lubbock ($716, 297 th ) and Brazos ($721, 294 th ). ly, weekly wages were higher than the U.S. average in 102 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 $1,800. New York, N.Y., was second at $1,626, followed by San Mateo, Calif. ($1,537), Washington, D.C. ($1,514), and Arlington, Va. ($1,488). Of the largest counties in the United States, 225, or more than two-thirds, reported average weekly wages below the national average in the third quarter of. The lowest wage was reported in Horry, S.C., at $554 per week. Joining the Texas counties of Cameron and Hidalgo among the bottom five were Yakima, Wash. ($620) and Marion, Fla. ($621). 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. weekly wages in smaller Texas counties Twenty-three of the 230 smaller Texas counties those with employment below 75,000 reported average weekly wages equal to or above the national average of $906. Three of these smaller counties had wages that not only exceeded $1,000 per week, but were also the highest in the state: Carson ($1,312), Kenedy ($1,196), and Crane ($1,190). Delta County registered the lowest weekly wage, averaging $384 in the third quarter of. (See table 2.) When all 254 counties in Texas were considered, all but 31 had wages below the national average. Forty-eight reported average weekly wages under $600, 89 registered wages from $600 to $699, 48 had wages from $700 to $799, 36 had wages from $800 to $899, and 33 had wages of $900 or more per week. (See chart 1.) The counties with above average wages were concentrated around the metropolitan areas of Austin, Amarillo, Dallas, Fort Worth, Houston, Midland, and Odessa. Lower paying counties were generally located in the agricultural areas of central Texas and the Texas Panhandle, as well as along the Texas-Mexico border. 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. - 2 -
and Wages Annual s Online features comprehensive information by detailed industry on establishments, employment, and wages for the nation and all states. The 2011 edition of this publication contains selected data produced by Business Dynamics (BED) on job gains and losses, as well as selected data from the first quarter version of the news release. Tables and additional content from and Wages Annual s 2011 are now available online at www.bls.gov/cew/cewbultn11.htm. The edition of and Wages Annual s Online will be available later in 2013. 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 weekly wage data by county are compiled under the Quarterly Census of 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 9.2 million employer reports cover 132.6 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 s (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. - 3 -
Table 1. Covered (1) employment and wages in the United States and the 24 largest counties in Texas, third quarter (2) (thousands) Percent change, 2011-12 (4) ranking by percent change (5) weekly wage ranking by level (5) Percent change, third quarter 2011-12 (4) ranking by percent change (5) United States (6) 132,624.7 1.6 -- $906 -- -1.1 -- Texas 10,773.4 2.7 -- 930 13-0.2 7 Bell, Texas 108.9 1.7 123 749 263-0.9 108 Bexar, Texas 752.6 2.2 79 818 191-0.6 86 Brazoria, Texas 92.8 1.9 110 876 133-1.9 194 Brazos, Texas 88.7 3.6 17 721 294-0.1 55 Cameron, Texas 128.2 1.3 161 580 327-1.4 147 Collin, Texas 309.7 3.7 14 1,057 42 0.3 38 Dallas, Texas 1,478.5 2.7 45 1,085 33-1.3 140 Denton, Texas 185.2 3.0 32 824 188 0.6 30 El Paso, Texas 277.2 0.7 221 654 318-2.5 250 Fort Bend, Texas 144.2 4.3 6 928 90-0.3 68 Galveston, Texas 95.7 0.5 241 804 202-4.4 317 Gregg, Texas 78.3 2.1 89 834 177-0.4 76 Harris, Texas 2,128.2 3.8 10 1,154 22-0.3 68 Hidalgo, Texas 225.6 0.8 209 584 326-2.3 228 Jefferson, Texas 120.2-2.9 327 913 96-0.7 96 Lubbock, Texas 126.1 1.6 134 716 297 1.8 7 McLennan, Texas 102.0 0.8 209 735 282-2.8 265 Montgomery, Texas 143.2 5.5 4 868 141-0.3 68 Nueces, Texas 156.0 2.8 40 801 208 0.3 38 Smith, Texas 92.2-0.4 294 780 236-1.5 155 Tarrant, Texas 786.1 2.3 67 909 101-1.0 113 Travis, Texas 607.3 3.9 9 1,003 56-0.8 102 Webb, Texas 91.0 2.1 89 637 320 1.4 14 Williamson, Texas 132.7 1.6 134 914 94-1.8 186 (1) Includes workers covered by Unemployment Insurance (UI) and Unemployment Compensation for Federal Employees (UCFE) programs. (2) Data are preliminary. (3) 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 the county of San Juan, Puerto Rico. (6) Totals for the United States do not include data for Puerto Rico or the Virgin Islands. - 4 -
Table 2. Covered (1) employment and wages in the United States and all counties in Texas, third quarter (2) United States (4) 132,624,657 $906 Concho 881 $644 Texas 10,773,414 930 Cooke 16,411 843 Anderson 19,088 794 Coryell 14,719 650 Andrews 6,640 1,061 Cottle 493 609 Angelina 35,858 690 Crane 1,751 1,190 Aransas 5,979 642 Crockett 1,598 641 Archer 1,950 621 Crosby 1,417 570 Armstrong 368 642 Culberson 1,046 588 Atascosa 10,953 728 Dallam 4,004 728 Austin 10,351 825 Dallas 1,478,521 1,085 Bailey 2,630 609 Dawson 4,290 671 Bandera 2,932 557 De Witt 7,404 681 Bastrop 14,117 644 Deaf Smith 7,424 677 Baylor 1,490 522 Delta 1,461 384 Bee 9,298 699 Denton 185,208 824 Bell 108,885 749 Dickens 438 589 Bexar 752,552 818 Dimmit 4,920 861 Blanco 2,651 729 Donley 985 497 Borden 225 578 Duval 3,609 800 Bosque 3,678 606 Eastland 7,200 761 Bowie 42,118 706 Ector 71,808 975 Brazoria 92,774 876 Edwards 357 633 Brazos 88,703 721 El Paso 277,212 654 Brewster 4,320 652 Ellis 40,498 711 Briscoe 296 471 Erath 15,208 580 Brooks 2,682 757 Falls 3,243 583 Brown 15,086 600 Fannin 6,594 680 Burleson 4,285 853 Fayette 8,920 694 Burnet 12,235 693 Fisher 860 648 Caldwell 7,790 639 Floyd 1,676 647 Calhoun 10,012 1,045 Foard 340 453 Callahan 2,053 629 Fort Bend 144,177 928 Cameron 128,243 580 Franklin 2,858 632 Camp 4,047 631 Freestone 6,054 756 Carson 4,623 1,312 Frio 5,807 836 Cass 7,367 627 Gaines 5,839 779 Castro 2,640 595 Galveston 95,665 804 Chambers 11,592 959 Garza 1,810 723 Cherokee 15,112 601 Gillespie 9,307 606 Childress 2,325 559 Glasscock 428 609 Clay 1,413 593 Goliad 1,463 652 Cochran 749 630 Gonzales 6,713 642 Coke 657 509 Gray 8,957 841 Coleman 2,181 530 Grayson 42,045 723 Collin 309,724 1,057 Gregg 78,321 834 Collingsworth 804 645 Grimes 8,259 830 Colorado 6,989 709 Guadalupe 30,586 720 Comal 42,778 673 Hale 14,596 622 Comanche 3,626 564 Hall 850 555 See footnotes at end of table. - 5 -
Table 2. Covered (1) employment and wages in the United States and all counties in Texas, third quarter (2) (continued) Hamilton 2,575 $593 Liberty 17,472 $744 Hansford 2,051 896 Limestone 8,641 665 Hardeman 1,154 560 Lipscomb 1,301 677 Hardin 12,016 691 Live Oak 4,416 841 Harris 2,128,189 1,154 Llano 4,341 595 Harrison 22,974 848 Loving 48 702 Hartley 1,979 630 Lubbock 126,137 716 Haskell 1,693 584 Lynn 1,279 653 Hays 52,984 654 Madison 4,393 610 Hemphill 2,444 898 Marion 1,791 531 Henderson 15,733 599 Martin 1,588 764 Hidalgo 225,597 584 Mason 1,071 527 Hill 9,268 593 Matagorda 10,286 828 Hockley 10,081 881 Maverick 16,541 564 Hood 14,722 766 McCulloch 3,262 729 Hopkins 12,132 661 McLennan 102,042 735 Houston 6,564 759 McMullen 461 795 Howard 12,562 793 Medina 8,757 619 Hudspeth 1,092 943 Menard 476 509 Hunt 26,861 814 Midland 81,478 1,107 Hutchinson 8,741 950 Milam 5,536 797 Irion 617 976 Mills 1,322 538 Jack 2,937 850 Mitchell 2,321 815 Jackson 5,583 723 Montague 5,313 647 Jasper 10,820 680 Montgomery 143,156 868 Jeff Davis 920 580 Moore 10,410 725 Jefferson 120,199 913 Morris 4,805 911 Jim Hogg 2,175 681 Motley 298 483 Jim Wells 20,606 904 Nacogdoches 21,789 628 Johnson 43,092 744 Navarro 16,723 645 Jones 3,909 646 Newton 1,761 549 Karnes 4,255 694 Nolan 6,003 693 Kaufman 26,248 686 Nueces 155,952 801 Kendall 11,611 789 Ochiltree 5,176 873 Kenedy 539 1,196 Oldham 1,114 889 Kent 307 571 Orange 22,717 855 Kerr 17,113 677 Palo Pinto 8,480 714 Kimble 1,339 619 Panola 9,961 861 King 108 944 Parker 28,911 760 Kinney 861 755 Parmer 5,203 651 Kleberg 12,949 675 Pecos 6,006 848 Knox 1,197 754 Polk 10,835 640 La Salle 2,903 904 Potter 75,054 786 Lamar 18,897 711 Presidio 2,465 698 Lamb 4,282 602 Rains 1,678 529 Lampasas 4,422 576 Randall 28,968 631 Lavaca 5,941 633 Reagan 2,155 961 Lee 6,980 882 Real 630 420 Leon 5,209 821 Red River 2,476 570 See footnotes at end of table. - 6 -
Table 2. Covered (1) employment and wages in the United States and all counties in Texas, third quarter (2) (continued) Reeves 3,831 $673 Titus 15,453 $642 Refugio 2,504 841 Tom Green 45,593 690 Roberts 210 609 Travis 607,255 1,003 Robertson 3,752 731 Trinity 2,251 550 Rockwall 22,366 696 Tyler 3,822 579 Runnels 2,896 603 Upshur 6,740 653 Rusk 13,523 842 Upton 1,560 947 Sabine 1,922 785 Uvalde 9,586 560 San Augustine 1,536 674 Val Verde 16,751 651 San Jacinto 2,114 636 Van Zandt 9,533 603 San Patricio 18,957 825 Victoria 39,460 778 San Saba 1,475 546 Walker 23,637 648 Schleicher 972 742 Waller 14,812 806 Scurry 7,859 923 Ward 4,439 978 Shackelford 1,508 1,069 Washington 14,996 662 Shelby 8,400 612 Webb 90,988 637 Sherman 882 632 Wharton 15,380 655 Smith 92,174 780 Wheeler 2,344 713 Somervell 3,766 1,007 Wichita 52,853 675 Starr 14,369 505 Wilbarger 6,823 622 Stephens 3,387 706 Willacy 3,920 628 Sterling 601 779 Williamson 132,724 914 Stonewall 575 626 Wilson 6,649 602 Sutton 2,534 1,120 Winkler 2,632 1,010 Swisher 1,927 565 Wise 21,044 876 Tarrant 786,144 909 Wood 9,059 612 Taylor 58,160 690 Yoakum 4,254 1,057 Terrell 419 781 Young 6,803 705 Terry 3,780 727 Zapata 4,782 997 Throckmorton 454 548 Zavala 2,739 492 (1) Includes workers covered by Unemployment Insurance [UI] and Unemployment Compensation for Federal Employees [UCFE] programs. (2) Data are preliminary. (3) 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 and Wages. - 7 -
Table 3. Covered (1) employment and wages by state, third quarter (2) weekly wage (3) State (thousands) Percent change, 2011-12 weekly wage ranking by level Percent change, third quarter 2011-12 ranking by percent change United States (4) 132,624.7 1.6 $906 -- -1.1 -- Alabama 1,833.5 0.6 784 33-2.4 45 Alaska 343.6 0.6 961 9-0.2 7 Arizona 2,437.5 2.2 846 22-2.0 43 Arkansas 1,156.7 0.3 708 47-1.0 17 California 15,109.1 2.8 1,036 6-1.2 21 Colorado 2,284.6 2.2 936 12-1.3 25 Connecticut 1,638.9 0.8 1,087 4-2.8 49 Delaware 407.3 0.1 925 14-2.5 47 District of Columbia 714.9 0.6 1,514 1-0.7 15 Florida 7,307.9 1.9 800 31-1.4 27 Georgia 3,841.2 1.1 854 21-1.5 31 Hawaii 605.5 1.7 827 26-1.0 17 Idaho 630.4 1.1 687 49-1.4 27 Illinois 5,688.6 1.1 945 11-1.4 27 Indiana 2,849.9 1.8 772 35-1.7 36 Iowa 1,486.7 1.1 756 41-0.5 10 Kansas 1,325.5 1.0 761 39-1.4 27 Kentucky 1,779.5 1.2 751 42-1.7 36 Louisiana 1,864.3 0.3 805 30-1.8 38 Maine 597.0 0.2 722 46-1.6 34 Maryland 2,533.3 1.4 1,007 8-1.6 34 Massachusetts 3,271.6 1.2 1,102 2-1.2 21 Michigan 3,984.2 1.5 862 19-1.5 31 Minnesota 2,675.4 1.1 915 15 0.0 4 Mississippi 1,089.4 0.6 672 51-1.2 21 Missouri 2,628.8 0.7 793 32-1.2 21 Montana 441.6 1.8 689 48 0.3 3 Nebraska 924.4 2.0 742 43-0.5 10 Nevada 1,140.1 1.5 820 27-3.0 50 New Hampshire 620.6 1.1 874 17-3.1 51 New Jersey 3,811.2 1.1 1,053 5-1.8 38 New Mexico 788.7 0.0 761 39-2.3 44 New York 8,616.8 1.2 1,088 3-1.1 19 North Carolina 3,934.1 1.6 806 29-0.2 7 North Dakota 422.2 7.8 872 18 6.3 1 Ohio 5,073.0 1.1 828 24-0.7 15 Oklahoma 1,545.6 1.3 779 34-0.5 10 Oregon 1,667.3 1.2 834 23 0.0 4 Pennsylvania 5,598.4 0.6 899 16-1.3 25 Rhode Island 460.5 0.8 855 20-1.9 42 South Carolina 1,814.7 1.3 738 44-1.1 19 South Dakota 405.3 1.6 683 50-0.1 6 Tennessee 2,674.3 1.7 814 28-0.6 14 Texas 10,773.4 2.7 930 13-0.2 7 Utah 1,231.0 3.3 766 37-1.8 38 Vermont 302.0 1.2 763 38-1.8 38 Virginia 3,631.1 0.9 960 10-1.5 31 Washington 2,944.6 1.5 1,024 7 1.3 2 West Virginia 715.4 0.5 724 45-2.4 45 Wisconsin 2,718.7 0.7 770 36-2.7 48 Wyoming 284.7 0.0 828 24-0.5 10 Puerto Rico 933.4 2.1 506 (5) 0.0 (5) Virgin Islands 38.6-9.8 711 (5) -1.1 (5) (1) Includes w orkers covered by Unemployment Insurance (UI) and Unemployment Compensation for Federal Employees (UCFE) programs. (2) Data are preliminary. (3) w eekly w ages w ere 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. - 8 -
Chart 1. weekly wages by county in Texas, third quarter Dallam Hartley ShermanHansfordOchiltreeLipscomb Hutchinson Moore Roberts Hemphill El Paso Wage (U.S. average = $906) Hudspeth $599 or less $600 - $699 $700 - $799 $800 - $899 $900 or more Oldham Deaf Smith Potter Carson Gray RandallArmstrong DonleyCollingsworth Parmer Castro Swisher Briscoe Wheeler Hall Childress Hardeman Bailey Lamb Hale Floyd Motley Cottle Wilbarger Foard Wichita Clay Hockley Lubbock Crosby Dickens King Knox Baylor Archer Montague Cochran Lamar Cooke Grayson Fannin Red River Bowie Throckmorton Delta Yoakum Terry Lynn Garza Kent Stonewall Haskell Young Jack Wise Denton Collin Hunt Hopkins Titus Morris Cass Rockwall Franklin Camp Rains Gaines Dawson Borden Scurry Fisher Jones Stephens Parker Tarrant Dallas Wood Upshur Marion Shackelford Palo Pinto KaufmanVan Zandt Harrison Hood Gregg Andrews Martin Howard Mitchell Ellis Smith Nolan Taylor Eastland Johnson Callahan ErathSomervell Henderson Rusk Panola Glasscock Hill Navarro Ector Coke Comanche Loving Winkler Midland Runnels Bosque Sterling ColemanBrown Anderson Shelby Hamilton Freestone Cherokee Mills Culberson Ward McLennanLimestone Nacogdoches Crane Upton Reagan Tom Green Coryell Houston San Augustine Reeves Irion Concho Falls Leon Sabine McCulloch Lampasas Angelina San Saba Bell Robertson Trinity Schleicher Menard Burnet Madison Polk Jeff Davis Pecos Crockett Mason Milam Tyler Llano Walker JasperNewton Williamson Brazos Sutton Kimble Grimes San Jacinto Burleson Gillespie Travis Lee Hardin Terrell Blanco Montgomery Washington Liberty Presidio Edwards Kerr Hays Bastrop Orange Val Verde Kendall Waller Real Fayette Austin Harris Jefferson Brewster Bandera Comal Caldwell Chambers Guadalupe Colorado Fort Bend Bexar Gonzales Kinney Uvalde Medina Lavaca Galveston Wharton Wilson Brazoria DeWitt Jackson Zavala Frio Atascosa Karnes Matagorda Maverick Victoria Goliad McMullen Dimmit Bee Calhoun La Salle Live Oak Refugio Webb San PatricioAransas DuvalJim Wells Nueces Kleberg ZapataJim Hogg Brooks Kenedy Starr Hidalgo Willacy Cameron Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. - 9 -