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closeWhen it comes to salaries in Whatcom County, there’s good news, and there’s bad news.
The U.S. Department of Labor recently released a report about average weekly wages, ranking 328 of the largest counties. The latest information is from the third quarter of 2007. It takes time to gather the data, which includes 9 million employer reports, which is why they are releasing information from about nine months ago.
First the good news: Whatcom’s wage growth was 3.9 percent compared to the third quarter of 2006, ranking us in the top half (134th) of the 328 counties.
Now the bad news: The average weekly wage was $659 (equating to $34,268 a year), ranking us 288th out of the 328 counties.
In Washington state, only Yakima, which ranked 324th overall, was lower among the nine largest counties. Bellingham was also eighth out of the nine counties in terms of income growth; Kitsap County saw an 8.3 percent jump, ranking it eighth among the U.S. counties surveyed.
It’s not something that comes as a surprise; Whatcom County’s average wage has been low compared to these counties for some time.
One possible factor is our population base — among the nine largest counties, Whatcom has the smallest workforce. Hart Hodges, director for Western Washington University’s Center for Economics and Business Research, has noted previously that the larger economies tend to have larger finance and information sectors (including corporate headquarters), which pay higherthan- average wages.
Other reports paint a slightly better picture of our county’s wealth.
The Washington state Office of Financial Management estimates the county’s median household annual income in 2007 was $53,573, up 4.7 percent from 2006 (the state average increase was 4.2 percent), ranking us seventh among the nine largest counties. Household income counts a variety of revenue streams in addition to salaries, including rental income, retirement and disability income.
Overall, though, wages still need some attention. The 3.9 percent wage growth put us in the upper half across the nation, but wages are climbing faster in neighboring communities, such as Snohomish, King, Thurston, Kitsap and Pierce counties. Those counties already offer higher average wages than Whatcom, and if wages in those counties continue growing at a faster rate, increasing the disparity, we’ll see more talented Whatcom County residents commuting south or leaving the area altogether.
It’s something to keep in mind as this area’s population continues to increase.
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