Clark Co. Workers Among State’s Lowest Paid

Clark Co. Workers Among State’s Lowest Paid

Clark County workers are among the lowest paid in the state, according to a Bureau of Labor Statistics report released April 16.
According to the report, which based its numbers on the third quarter of 2008, Clark County had 1521 employees, earning an average of  $425 per week.  That puts Clark County in a three-way tie for 104th among Missouri’s 114 counties.
Missouri ranked 29th in the nation in wages, with an average wage of $739 per week.  According to the report, Missouri has 2,736,074 worker covered by unemployment insurance.  The national average weekly wage was $841 per week, up 2.8 percent from 2007.
Among the seven largest counties in Missouri, employment was highest in St. Louis County (605,600) in September 2008. Two other counties, Jackson and St. Louis City, had employment levels exceeding 200,000. Together, Missouri’s large counties accounted for 60.9 percent of total employment within the State. Nationwide, the 334 largest counties made up 71.2 percent of total U.S. employment.
All of the 108 counties in Missouri with employment below 75,000 had average weekly wages lower than the national average of $841. Iron ($755) and Platte ($715) Counties had the highest average weekly wages among the smaller counties. Worth County reported the lowest weekly wage among the smaller counties, as well as the State, averaging $361 in the third quarter of 2008.
 When all 115 counties in Missouri were considered, all but 3 had wages below the national average of $841. Fifty-three reported average weekly wages under $500, 44 reported wages from $500 to $599, 12 had wages from $600 to $699, and 6 had wages above $700.  The three counties with above-average wages were located in the major metropolitan areas of Kansas City and St. Louis. Five of the six lowest-paid counties, those with wages under $400, were concentrated in the southern half of the State.