economy_wages_county_year
QCEW county-total wages: average_annual_pay, average_weekly_wage (D1). Tier A.
tier —admin_record
overview
overview
All 3,221 counties x 35 years. QCEW total wages with derived average pay.
current vintage — 2024
history — 1990-present
provenance
source & licensing
authority
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
dataset
Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW)
methodology
license
—
citation
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. QCEW - county totals, 1990-2024.
schema
fields
| name | type | definition |
|---|---|---|
| average_annual_pay | int64 · dollars (nominal) | Average annual pay per covered worker in the county for the given year, sourced from BLS Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW). Higher values indicate greater average worker compensation. |
| average_weekly_wage | int64 · dollars (nominal) | Average weekly wage per covered worker in the county for the given year, derived from BLS QCEW data. Higher values indicate greater average worker compensation. |
| country_id | string | ISO alpha-2 country code (always 'US' for domestic tables). |
| county_idkey | string | 5-character FIPS code identifying the county.Joins dim.counties on county_id. |
| state_id | string | 2-character FIPS code identifying the state.Joins dim.states on state_id. |
| total_annual_wages_thousands | int64 · thousands of dollars | Total annual wages paid to all covered workers in the county for the given year, sourced from BLS QCEW (original dollar values divided by 1,000). Higher values indicate a larger aggregate wage base in the county. |
| wage_growth_real_5yr_pct | float64 · percent (0–100) | Inflation-adjusted growth in average annual pay over the prior 5-year period, expressed in percentage points. Positive values indicate real wage gains; negative values indicate real wage erosion. |
| yearkey | int64 | Reference year of the observation. |
relationships
joins
primary key
county_id, year
common joins
dim.geographies on county_id
economy_employment_levels_county_year on (county_id, year)
economy_industry_wages_county_year_naics on (county_id, year)
usage
how to use this table
method
County-total wages summed from QCEW employer reports. average_annual_pay = total_wages / annual_average_employment.
do not use for
Hourly wages or compensation; benefits or non-wage income; self-employed earnings.
known issues
Small-county suppression. Average pay can shift when establishment mix changes.
last updated · May 5, 2026