Office of Economic Advisors - Labor Supply Areas

Disclaimer: The wage data in the following nine reports are estimates based on the Electronic Delivery System (EDS) developed by the State of North Carolina and used in a number of other states. The EDS uses occupational employment data to generate wage and employment estimates at the county level. These estimates are not intended to be quoted in any official or certifying capacity. The reports are intended to show occupational wages at a smaller geographic detail than what is normally offered via Occupational Employment Statistics (OES) survey. Data for these reports comes from the May 2007 OES survey.

Northland (1) | Western Valley (2) | Headwaters (3) | East Central (4) | Peninsula (5) | Portage-Wood (6) | Central (7) | Tri-State (8) | Southeast Corridor (9) |

For the data crunchers, here is a spreadsheet containing  all labor supply areas.

The counties were grouped into nine labor supply areas based on:

• County-to-state industry employment and wage ratios using 2005 Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages.
• the relationship a county may have to surrounding counties in such areas as:
  • commuting
  • transportation infrastructure
  • proximity to counties

Four industries were the main sectors analyzed for industrial emphasis in determining the aggregates. These industries were:

• manufacturing
• trade, transportation & utilities
• education & health services
• public administration

The labor supply areas have a minimum of

• 42,000 total jobs in 11 major NAICS industries.

Labor supply areas are composed of

• all non-Metropolitan Statistical Area (non-MSA) counties
• except Kenosha, St. Croix and Pierce Counties

Though Kenosha, St. Croix and Pierce counties are technically MSA counties (via Illinois and Minnesota designations), they are particularly small compared to their Illinois and Minnesota counterparts. Also, the wage disparities between the Wisconsin and Illinois/Minnesota counties were skewed greatly to higher wages in the Illinois/Minnesota counties.