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Gera Local Wage Premium US (GLWP-US) — 2023
Which US counties pay the most — and which have booming industry clusters? The Gera Local Wage Premium US answers that with one number per county, computed transparently from real BLS QCEW 2023 establishment wage and employment data.
Which US county has the highest average wages in 2023?
The Gera Local Wage Premium US (GLWP-US) ranks 3,141 US counties on average weekly wages vs the national average ($1392/wk, US = 100), using BLS QCEW 2023 establishment data. Santa Clara County, CA leads at GLWP-US 241.3 ($3359/wk); Worth County, MO is lowest at 41.0.
Gera Local Wage Premium US
County-level US wage premium vs national average (US = 100). Top: Santa Clara County, CA (241.3). Lowest: Worth County, MO (41.0).
How this is calculated$1,392
US avg weekly wage (2023)
$72,384
US avg annual pay (2023)
3,141
Counties ranked
Santa Clara County, CA
Top county (2023)
$3,359
Top county weekly wage
241.3
Top county GLWP-US
Top 30 US counties by Gera Local Wage Premium
| # | County | State | GLWP-US | Avg Wk Wage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| #1 | Santa Clara County | CA | 241.3 | $3,359 |
| #2 | San Mateo County | CA | 240.8 | $3,352 |
| #3 | San Francisco County | CA | 230.8 | $3,213 |
| #4 | New York County | NY | 217.1 | $3,022 |
| #5 | North Slope Borough | AK | 175.3 | $2,440 |
| #6 | Suffolk County | MA | 171.9 | $2,393 |
| #7 | King County | WA | 166.5 | $2,317 |
| #8 | Arlington County | VA | 163.0 | $2,269 |
| #9 | District of Columbia | DC | 162.9 | $2,267 |
| #10 | Goochland County | VA | 158.3 | $2,204 |
| #11 | Butte County | ID | 151.9 | $2,115 |
| #12 | Broomfield County | CO | 151.4 | $2,107 |
| #13 | Los Alamos County | NM | 151.1 | $2,104 |
| #14 | Loving County | TX | 149.9 | $2,086 |
| #15 | Fairfield County | CT | 149.0 | $2,074 |
| #16 | Fairfax County | VA | 148.6 | $2,068 |
| #17 | Middlesex County | MA | 148.0 | $2,060 |
| #18 | Cameron Parish | LA | 146.0 | $2,032 |
| #19 | Somerset County | NJ | 141.2 | $1,966 |
| #20 | Morris County | NJ | 137.4 | $1,913 |
| #21 | Carson County | TX | 132.7 | $1,847 |
| #22 | Fulton County | GA | 132.6 | $1,846 |
| #23 | Denver County | CO | 132.3 | $1,841 |
| #24 | Alameda County | CA | 130.9 | $1,822 |
| #25 | Midland County | TX | 127.9 | $1,780 |
| #26 | St. Charles Parish | LA | 127.6 | $1,776 |
| #27 | Hudson County | NJ | 127.3 | $1,772 |
| #28 | Montgomery County | MD | 127.2 | $1,770 |
| #29 | Durham County | NC | 126.9 | $1,766 |
| #30 | Boulder County | CO | 126.7 | $1,763 |
GLWP-US = (county avg weekly wage / US avg $1392/wk) × 100. US = 100 by construction. Source: BLS QCEW 2023, all industries, all ownership types. US public domain.
Explore US County Wage Premiums — Interactive
US average = $$1,392/wk (GLWP-US 100). Showing top 50 results.
| Rank | County | State | GLWP-US | Avg Wk Wage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| #1 | Santa Clara County | CA | 241.3 | $3,359 |
| #2 | San Mateo County | CA | 240.8 | $3,352 |
| #3 | San Francisco County | CA | 230.8 | $3,213 |
| #4 | New York County | NY | 217.1 | $3,022 |
| #5 | North Slope Borough | AK | 175.3 | $2,440 |
| #6 | Suffolk County | MA | 171.9 | $2,393 |
| #7 | King County | WA | 166.5 | $2,317 |
| #8 | Arlington County | VA | 163.0 | $2,269 |
| #9 | District of Columbia | DC | 162.9 | $2,267 |
| #10 | Goochland County | VA | 158.3 | $2,204 |
| #11 | Butte County | ID | 151.9 | $2,115 |
| #12 | Broomfield County | CO | 151.4 | $2,107 |
| #13 | Los Alamos County | NM | 151.1 | $2,104 |
| #14 | Loving County | TX | 149.9 | $2,086 |
| #15 | Fairfield County | CT | 149.0 | $2,074 |
| #16 | Fairfax County | VA | 148.6 | $2,068 |
| #17 | Middlesex County | MA | 148.0 | $2,060 |
| #18 | Cameron Parish | LA | 146.0 | $2,032 |
| #19 | Somerset County | NJ | 141.2 | $1,966 |
| #20 | Morris County | NJ | 137.4 | $1,913 |
| #21 | Carson County | TX | 132.7 | $1,847 |
| #22 | Fulton County | GA | 132.6 | $1,846 |
| #23 | Denver County | CO | 132.3 | $1,841 |
| #24 | Alameda County | CA | 130.9 | $1,822 |
| #25 | Midland County | TX | 127.9 | $1,780 |
| #26 | St. Charles Parish | LA | 127.6 | $1,776 |
| #27 | Hudson County | NJ | 127.3 | $1,772 |
| #28 | Montgomery County | MD | 127.2 | $1,770 |
| #29 | Durham County | NC | 126.9 | $1,766 |
| #30 | Boulder County | CO | 126.7 | $1,763 |
| #31 | Westchester County | NY | 126.3 | $1,758 |
| #32 | Travis County | TX | 125.7 | $1,750 |
| #33 | Marin County | CA | 125.6 | $1,749 |
| #34 | Lander County | NV | 125.3 | $1,744 |
| #35 | Lake County | IL | 125.1 | $1,742 |
| #36 | Surry County | VA | 125.1 | $1,742 |
| #37 | King George County | VA | 124.9 | $1,739 |
| #38 | McKenzie County | ND | 124.5 | $1,733 |
| #39 | Oliver County | ND | 123.7 | $1,722 |
| #40 | Washington County | AL | 123.3 | $1,716 |
| #41 | Alexandria City | VA | 122.6 | $1,706 |
| #42 | Mercer County | NJ | 122.4 | $1,704 |
| #43 | Burke County | GA | 122.2 | $1,701 |
| #44 | Hennepin County | MN | 120.8 | $1,681 |
| #45 | Washington County | OR | 120.5 | $1,677 |
| #46 | Williams County | ND | 120.3 | $1,675 |
| #47 | Irion County | TX | 120.0 | $1,671 |
| #48 | Culberson County | TX | 119.3 | $1,661 |
| #49 | Dallas County | TX | 119.3 | $1,660 |
| #50 | Southeast Fairbanks Census Area | AK | 118.5 | $1,650 |
Source: BLS QCEW 2023 Annual Single File, US public domain. GLWP-US = (county avg weekly wage ÷ US avg $1,392/wk) × 100. Top sector LQ = employment location quotient (private sector). Computed by GeraJobs.
Gera Local Wage Premium US — FAQ
- What is the Gera Local Wage Premium US (GLWP-US)?
- The GLWP-US is a proprietary index computed by GeraJobs from BLS QCEW 2023 data. For each US county, GLWP-US = (county average weekly wage ÷ US average weekly wage) × 100. A score of 100 means the county pays at the national average ($1392/wk); above 100 means above average; below 100 means below average. Wages cover all industries and all ownership types (private, government). Source: BLS QCEW 2023.
- What does QCEW measure?
- The BLS Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW) counts the number of establishments, employees, and wages covered by state unemployment insurance (UI) programs and federal unemployment taxes. It covers more than 95% of total US wage and salary employment. Unlike the Current Employment Statistics survey, QCEW is a near-census, not a sample. It provides establishment-level county granularity not available in occupation surveys like OEWS.
- Which US county has the highest average weekly wage in 2023?
- Santa Clara County, California has the highest average weekly wage in the QCEW 2023 dataset at $3359/wk (GLWP-US 241.3, vs US average $1392/wk). This translates to approximately $174,668/year. Source: BLS QCEW 2023, computed by GeraJobs.
- How does GLWP-US differ from the GUPPI (Gera US Pay Premium Index)?
- The GUPPI (built from BLS OEWS) measures state-level wage premiums by occupation (e.g. "what do registered nurses earn in California vs the US average?"). The GLWP-US uses QCEW establishment data to measure county-level all-industry wage levels. QCEW is coarser on occupation but finer on geography (3,100+ counties vs 50 states) and covers all industries including government — making it the right tool for "where in the US are wages highest overall?".
- What is the US average weekly wage in 2023?
- The BLS QCEW annual 2023 data shows the national average weekly wage across all industries and ownership types is $1392, equivalent to approximately $72,384/year. This is the GLWP-US = 100 baseline. Source: BLS QCEW 2023 singlefile, agglvl_code=10, US total.
- What is a Location Quotient (LQ) in QCEW data?
- A Location Quotient (LQ) measures how concentrated a given industry is in a county relative to the national average. An LQ of 1.0 means the county has the same share of that industry's employment as the US overall. LQ > 1 means the industry is over-represented locally (a specialisation or cluster). LQ = 2.0 means the county has twice the national share. GeraJobs shows the top 5 sectors by LQ per county, sourced directly from the BLS QCEW singlefile.
How the GLWP-US is calculated
The Gera Local Wage Premium US (GLWP-US) is a simple, transparent ratio:
US average = $1,392/wk in 2023 → GLWP-US = 100 by construction
Input data: BLS QCEW 2023 annual singlefile, agglvl_code=70 (county, all industries, all ownership types), industry_code=10 (total), own_code=0. Employment Location Quotients from agglvl_code=74 (private sector, own_code=5), field lq_annual_avg_emplvl.
Suppressed rows (disclosure_code=N) are excluded; no figure is imputed or fabricated. Full methodology page.
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Related on GeraJobs
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW), 2023 Annual Single File. Published August 2024. URL: data.bls.gov/cew/data/files/2023/csv/2023_annual_singlefile.zip. US public domain (17 U.S.C. § 105). Area titles: data.bls.gov/cew/doc/titles/area/area_titles.csv. The Gera Local Wage Premium US (GLWP-US) is computed by GeraJobs; no figure is modelled or estimated. Suppressed cells (disclosure_code=N) are excluded.