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L.A. is not in the top 10. Actually, it's fairly far down the list, with an average weekly wage in the fourth quarter of $1,075, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. NY had the highest wage, at $1,856. That's twice the national average of $918 a week. Parts of L.A. may lands of affluence, but the county overall has a lot of low-paying jobs - and that helps explain the relatively low average. Also, NY has a much higher cost of living. Here's the BLS release. Here are the top areas for wages:
New York, N.Y. $1,856
Fairfield, Conn. 1,596
Washington, D.C. 1,570
Suffolk, Mass. 1,568
Santa Clara, Calif. 1,566
Arlington, Va. 1,509
St. Louis City, Mo. 1,508
Somerset, N.J. 1,498
San Francisco, Calif. 1,491
San Mateo, Calif. 1,439
St. Louis led the nation in growth in average weekly wages with an increase of 56.8 percent from the fourth quarter of 2007. Who knew?
Mark Lacter created the LA Biz Observed blog in 2006. He posted
until the day before his death on Nov. 13, 2013.