Data Source:

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages

EMSI

Analysis:

BW Research

Average wages are from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, QCEW data modified slightly by EMSI to take into account yearly changes in methodology and occupational classifications. Average wage data for San Mateo County exhibited an abnormally large increase between 2011 and 2012, which may be reflective of methodological changes in data collection. Wages have been inflation-adjusted and are reported in 2020 dollars using the Bay Area consumer price index for all urban consumers from the Bureau of Labor Statistics for Bay Area data, 2020 estimate based on January-August, and the California consumer price index for all urban consumers from the California Department of Finance May Revision Forecast (April 2020) for California data.

Rest of Bay Area includes Contra Costa, Marin, Sonoma, Solano, and Napa Counties; 2020 average wages were updated to reflect Q2 reported growth. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics strongly discourages the comparison of wage estimates from year to year due to a variety of reasons including classification and other methodological changes. Caution is advised in using this data to draw conclusions about short-term trends.

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