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Williamson County Records Largest Wage Growth In US

Williamson County is home to a number of major employers, including Dell, which employs about 16,000 people in Central Texas.
Photo by Dell's Official Flickr Page http://www.flickr.com/photos/dellphotos/
Williamson County is home to a number of major employers, including Dell, which employs about 16,000 people in Central Texas.

Not only is it one of the fastest growing areas in the nation, but Williamson County has also just recorded the largest increase in weekly wages of any large county in the United States.

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) announced today that average weekly wages in Williamson County grew by 18 percent in the second quarter of 2011 to $1,042. The increase of $159 compares to national growth of $26 or three percent.

The BLS doesn’t give a clear picture of where the growth occurred, except to say it was in the trade, transportation, and utilities industries. But that’s a huge sector, and includes everything from electronics retailers to furniture wholesalers to water and sewage system operators to warehousing and storage.

But average weekly wages in Williamson County are still lower than other counties. The highest average wages can be found in Santa Clara County, California at ($1,743); New York County, New York ($1,645); and Arlington County, Virginia ($1,553). But those counties have much higher costs of living.

Williamson County’s population grew by 69 percent from 2000 to 2010, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.   

Nathan Bernier is the transportation reporter at KUT. He covers the big projects that are reshaping how we get around Austin, like the I-35 overhaul, the airport's rapid growth and the multibillion dollar transit expansion Project Connect. He also focuses on the daily changes that affect how we walk, bike and drive around the city. Got a tip? Email him at nbernier@kut.org. Follow him on Twitter @KUTnathan.