Extra!
Where the jobs -- and the paychecks -- are
Loudoun County, Va., leads the nation in employment growth. Wages grew fastest in Rhode Island, while New York still pays the most per week.
By Kim Khan
The latest employment figures suggest that the stubbornly weak U.S. job market finally might be recovering. But many places across the country have been thriving for a long time now -- oases of opportunity in an otherwise bone-dry job climate.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics just produced a county-by-county look at employment and wage trends in the nation's 315 largest counties, and the lands of greatest job opportunity are likely to surprise you.
Leading the list: Loudoun, Va., a fast-growing area 25 miles from Washington, D.C., with a teeming technology sector.
The interesting thing in these numbers is the local detail, said David Hiles, economist at the BLS and one of the coordinators of the study. The study receives information from every employer in the county, Hiles said.
Employment in Loudoun County in the month of June, the latest data available, rose 5.2% from the same month the year before. This came at a time when employment across the country fell 0.2%. Also at the top of the list are Yakima, Wash.; Lee, Fla., which boasts desirable beaches and a young workforce, and St. Charles, the self-described technology triangle of Missouri.
| Top counties for job growth, June 2002-03 | | County | % Change | | Loudon, Va. | 5.2% | | Yakima, Wash. | 4.8% | | Lee, Fla. | 4.6% | | St. Charles, Mo. | 4.6% | | Placer, Calif. | 4.2% | | Rutherford, Tenn. | 4.1% | | Pasco, Fla. | 3.9% | | Thurston, Wash. | 3.7% | | Hidalgo, Texas | 3.6% | | Clark, Nev. | 3.5% | | U.S. overall | -0.2% |
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Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics
What's driving these job markets higher? Well, it certainly isn't manufacturing, which has been shedding jobs nonstop. Rather, it's the service industries, a catch-all phrase covering everything from lawyers to health-care workers to ski instructors.
In the case of somewhat remote Placer County, for example, the job growth has come from the trifecta of recreation, retirement and technology. Placer benefited from a wide range of opportunities in the jumping services sector, said Ed Graves, Placer County economic development director.
How did counties in your state rank?
Follow the links below for the complete list of growth in jobs and paychecks in the nation's 315 largest counties as compiled by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Ala. thru Ga. | Hawaii thru Miss. | Mo. thru Ore. | Pa. thru Wis.
New ski resorts, hospitals and the building of the fourth-largest casino in the country, Indian gaming casino Thunder Valley, all helped boost employment numbers. But the growing retirement community was the ace in the hole during the recession, Graves said. In addition, a couple of the companies that laid off large numbers of workers in Placer during the technology downturn, Hewlett-Packard (HPQ, news, msgs) and NEC (NIPNY, news, msgs), are starting to hire again, he said.
Employment plunges in Silicon Valley
Where are the worst places in the United States to seek a job? Worst is Sangamon County, Ill., home of the state capital, Springfield. Sangamon saw jobs drop 5.9% year over year, ranking it dead last among 315 counties in job growth. Right behind were Catawba County, N.C., where the main industries are furniture and fiber optics (down 5.3%); Santa Clara, where tough times in Silicon Valley are lingering (down 5.1%); Tulsa, Okla. (down 5.1%) and Wyandotte, Kan. (down 4.4%).
Just because a community boasts of great job growth doesn't mean those jobs pay the best. In addition to hiring trends, the BLS survey also ranked counties by average wage and average wage growth, and Loudoun was nowhere near the top -- 258th, in fact.
On the contrary, the wage leaders are fairly predictable -- all located in large, upscale, metropolitan areas. It should come as no surprise to most, for instance, that New York City leads the list, with an average wage of $1,250.
Big pay in the Big Apple
If you can make it there, you can make more than anywhere. Workers in New York county, which encompasses the borough of Manhattan, are paid more per week than anywhere in the country. Of course, theres Wall Street, but dont forget real estate agents who receive percentages on sales of multimillion-dollar apartments, waiters who are tipped on $500 fixed-price dinners and hair stylists who give $200 haircuts.
| Counties with highest weekly pay, second quarter 2003 | | County | Wage | | New York, N.Y. | $1,250 | | Santa Clara, Calif. | $1,224 | | Washington, D.C. | $1,150 | | San Mateo, Calif. | $1,127 | | Arlington, Va. | $1,092 | | Fairfield, Conn. | $1,074 | | San Francisco, Calif. | $1,051 | | Fairfax, Va. | $1,044 | | Suffolk, Mass. | $1,039 | | Morris, N.J. | $1,023 | | U.S. overall | $729 |
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Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics
California was well represented, with San Francisco, San Mateo and Santa Clara counties on the top-wages list. The nations capital also showed high weekly wages, with D.C. itself and Virginia suburbs Fairfax and Arlington cracking the top 10.
But where are wages growing the fastest? You might be surprised. This Top 10 list is a healthy mix of upscale wage leaders and more obscure communities.
| Counties with fastest-growing paychecks, second quarter 2002-03 | | County | % change | | Kent, R.I. | 7.9% | | Norfolk, Va. | 7.1% | | Pasco, Fla.. | 7.1% | | Williamson, Texas | 6.6% | | San Mateo, Calif. | 6.3% | | Oklahoma, Okla. | 5.5% | | Prince William, Va. | 5.4% | | Ventura, Calif. | 5.4% | | Chester, Pa. | 5.2% | | Dane, Wis. | 5.2% | | Marion, Fla. | 5.2% | | U.S. overall | 2.02% |
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Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics
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