The Highest-Paid Counties In America (PHOTOS)

Here's the good news: average weekly wages in the U.S. rose 2.5 percent over the year, according to data released this week by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). As of the fourth quarter of 2009 -- the most recent period for which this kind of data is available -- workers took in an average of $942 per week, compared to $919 per week the year before.

Now the troubling news: the rise in wages is partly due to large employment declines in low-paying industries like trade, transportation and utilities, says the BLS.

Additionally, average weekly wages of roughly 67 percent of the largest U.S. counties were below the national average in the fourth quarter of 2009.

Still, in the 10 largest U.S. counties (based on 2008 annual average employment levels) the average worker made more per week at the end of 2009 than they did at the end of 2008. And, of the 334 largest counties, only 23 experienced over-the-year declines in weekly wages.

Residents of the top county pulled in an average weekly wage of $1,878 and some notoriously expensive East and West Coast cities finished high on the list.

Take a gander at the full list of highest paid U.S. counties HERE:

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Morris County, New Jersey -- Average Weekly Pay: $1,429

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From the fourth quarter 2008 to the fourth quarter 2009 average weekly wages in Morris rose by $64, the ninth biggest increase in average weekly wages in the U.S.

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From the fourth quarter 2008 to the fourth quarter 2009 average weekly wages in Morris rose by $64, the ninth biggest increase in average weekly wages in the U.S.

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Comments

[Spartan112]

12:22 PM on 07/14/2010

FYI, Boston is not a county.

[747eagle]

03:12 PM on 07/12/2010

The problem is that in most of those places you have to be a millionaire to afford a house.

---
http://www.cubecheck.com

[banker67]

06:41 PM on 07/11/2010

Local papers in the Westchester-Putnam county area north of New York City have reported that tiny Putnam County, New York -- adjacent to Westchester County -- has the 9th highest taxes of any county in the nation.
Ever heard of Putnam? I live here, and we have no community college, a mediocre bus system, crumbling highways and no cities. Just a few quasi-big towns and lots and lots of well-paid GOP government officials.
Although we have many reservoirs that feed NY City's water supply, there are several major toxic landfills that have been under federal order to be 'capped' for at least a decade. Local GOP politicians are still debating whether they should bother with this long-ignored expense. And our county court house was under federal mandate for immediate improvement, especially of all our jails, for something like 30 years. The new courthouse was completed about a year ago at cost roughly ten times the original estimate.
Our public schools are pretty good, and that may be due to the six-figure salaries paid to so many upper-level school officials and big allowance for local school board members. Who knows?
But as it turns out, a virtual exodus of ex-middle-class families are checking out of Putnam for one big reason -- crushing local taxes.
Back to feudalism ! Hey, it worked for Louis XIV so why not the GOP for next 100 years?

[henrypapillon]

10:57 AM on 07/13/2010

People lived somewhere else before they moved there.

[StellaFox]

11:03 AM on 07/13/2010

I'm surprised not to see Suffolk or Nassau on the list

[Info08]

06:23 PM on 07/11/2010

All of the wealth is heavily concentrated among the financial institutions so naturally NY would be #1 on that list.

[auto325805]

11:59 AM on 07/28/2010

Cost of living is very high in NY

[Heng Socheata]

02:14 AM on 07/11/2010

it is not strange that employer wage high than before because all people try to develop themselves for support the work. and the second reason is all the product has a high price than before, so employer try to ask their employee to gain their salary.

[henrypapillon]

10:58 AM on 07/13/2010

OK

[ThePeacemakers]

06:39 PM on 07/10/2010

Ok...now let's see the stats with government (local, state, federal) workers excluded and also excludes the salaries of CEOs and other execs.

[StevieRae]

08:15 PM on 07/10/2010

Yes, the CEO salaries are disgusting, but this article also points out how imbalanced our local government public wages and benefits have become, IN LIGHT OF THE ECONOMIC CALAMITY. I've capped this to pre-warn unioners that this not an anti-union statement.

These counties, and 1000's more will soon have to go back and re-negotiate public employee wages and benefits; most local governments will have to do this to survive.

[margarita225]

05:30 PM on 07/14/2010

Very Good Point!!

[mandinka]

06:05 PM on 07/10/2010

I guessed 9 without reading the article. Just look at where there is high taxes and bloated government bureaucracies

[Blue in South Jersey]

11:39 AM on 07/10/2010

Of course, Morris County, home of New Jersey's tyrranical "governor" Chris Christie who wants to decrease taxes on the "earners," the 400K and up and the 1M and up brackets because "they have an inclination to leave the state."
He needs a lot of people to hide behind because he's so large and if they all moved away him and his 33% approval rating (Survey USA 5/12/2010-5/14/2010) would be an easy target, so many people hate him.

[henrypapillon]

10:59 AM on 07/13/2010

Hey, I feel bad for ya, man, but ya know what, it wasn't the people of Michigan that elected him governor of New jersey.

[auto325805]

12:00 PM on 07/28/2010

You're full of sour grapes - he was elected by the voters to clean up the mess left by Democratic governing.

[mcmutter]

11:35 AM on 07/10/2010

hey they forgot the sh!thole of SC ....

[kasha]

11:33 AM on 07/10/2010

And these jobs have not been sent to cheap labor slums yet because...??

[NatieWright]

11:19 AM on 07/10/2010

Greenville South Carolina not in survey...

[Yurdelite51]

10:51 AM on 07/10/2010

AND folks need every penny of it to live in those expensive counties. What good is a high paying job when you pay a high price to live there...

[JonB2057]

01:23 PM on 07/11/2010

@Yurdelite51

"AND folks need every penny of it to live in those expensive counties. What good is a high paying job when you pay a high price to live there..."

That is the cost one pays for being there. That is why the wages are higher. I suspect the same jobs in counties where the cost of living is not so high, do not have the same pay scale.

[margarita225]

05:34 PM on 07/14/2010

For the record, (and I live in Morris County) : The people who live here, don't work here; and the people who work here can't afford to live here.

[pc51]

10:44 AM on 07/10/2010

A lot of these arears are places that are largely supported by taxpayer dollars. The Va/DC areas are all packed to the brim with government parasites.

[johnmorgan]

11:34 AM on 07/10/2010

The ones outside of DC and Virginia are not.

[jcgrim]

12:08 PM on 07/10/2010

Government workers like police, firefighters, teachers, garbage collectors, secretaries are parasites? What about the parasitic corporate lobbyists for Wall Street? Subsidized agribusiness? Billionaire CEO tax cuts?

[chiropter]

02:39 PM on 07/10/2010

prolly means lobbyists, think tank flacks, etc

[biznesschic]

09:33 AM on 07/10/2010

This is just truly sad. Whereas 50 years ago, manufacturing giants, such as Detroit and Pittsburgh would have made the list, however, corporate profits are being invested on Wall Street and higher CEO salaries, instead of being distributed amongst workers in the form of higher wages. Government workers and contractors are now the high wage earners in this country, by design.

[LINY01]

08:55 AM on 07/10/2010

Left unsaid is how expensive all of those places are to live. My commute alone from LI to Manhattan costs me about $300 per month. High pay in these areas is not as high as someone might think once you factor in the cost of living (taxes, commute, etc)

[Yurdelite51]

10:53 AM on 07/10/2010

Exactly. They need those high wages in order to offset the high cost of living...no brainer don't you think? Well, I guess they must think we are too stu.pid to figure it out.

[MNmommy]

12:56 PM on 07/10/2010

$300 a month for commuting is not particularly high.