Average Weekly Wage

$966

Rank: 7th of 9 Counties
Larimer County's average wages are somewhat lower than Colorado or the U.S. as whole.
What is this measure? The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics tabulates employment and wages for all jobs covered by the Unemployment Insurance programs of the United States. It covers more than 95% of all wage and salary civilian employment. Average weekly wage is obtained by dividing the total weekly wages for all jobs across all industries by the number of jobs. It gives an idea of relative wages across different areas. However, it doesn't describe the types of jobs in a region or relative cost of living between areas.

Why do we measure this? Wages provide the primary source of income for the vast majority of households. Competitive wages that provide sufficient income are required to attract and retain good workers. Wages ideally should align with cost of living and reflect the skill and diversity of a region's work force.
While wages vary between counties, they have followed the same general trajectory since 2007.
Wages vary across industries and with geography. This chart shows Larimer, Boulder and Weld County by industry for private industry only. Because this shows private industry only, it does not include public educational institutions or public hospitals and any other government entities.
How else can this be measured? Bureau of Labor Statistics has another program, Occupational Employment Statistics (OES) that uses a survey based method to estimate wages for detailed occupations. The OES program's strength is that there are estimates for detailed occupations. However, OES data cannot be compared year-to-year because the survey includes different employers each year. Third party private data sources also have estimates of wages: Emsi is one of these companies, and their estimates are often used in our region.

Why did we use this source? The BLS QCEW program covers more than 95% of jobs in the U.S. The data is free to access, use, and share. QCEW data comes from employer wage data for employers located in the geographic area reported. It does not rely on self reporting.

Data Source

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Additional Information and Other Data Sources