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January 8, 2019
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Each year, the NC Department of Commerce, Labor and Economic Analysis Division releases its Annual Private Sector Wages report for all 100 counties.
Last week the 2019 report was released.
Of note, Caldwell was one of the highest percentage growth counties for year-over-year wage growth. Caldwell’s wages grew by 3.5% from 2018 to 2019.
Of North Carolina’s 100 counties, only 24 counties have higher average private sector wages than Caldwell.
Caldwell has been very fortunate to have diversified its private sector industries as well as attract new industry and grow existing industry in recent years. This has made Caldwell’s local economy very competitive in terms of workforce and wages. The support of our local workforce development partners has also been key. Providing recruiting and training resources has led to significant as well as incremental growth among employers.
EDC Executive Director Deborah Murray said, “We track employment and wage statistics at the local level to be certain how new companies and jobs affect the overall economy and community. We have seen seven years of steady growth of jobs and wages. It has been the kind of growth that is sustainable over the long term and builds on all levels for improvement of quality of life and opportunity.”
Murray is very pleased to provide the following comparative analysis for wages in our region.
County 2019 Wage 2018 Wage %+/- State Ranking
Caldwell County $38,957 $37,614 +3.5% 25th highest
Burke $35,759 $34,954 +2.3%
Catawba $42,068 $41,531 +1.29%
Wilkes $35,331 $34,599 +2.1%
McDowell $35,905 $35,503 +1.1%
Cleveland $38,751 $37,910 +2.2%
Rutherford $34,115 $33,810 +0.9%
Buncombe $41,229 $40,572 +1.6%
Ashe $34,855 $33,153 +5.1%
Gaston $39,852 $38,780 +2.7%
Alexander $32,263 $32,070 +0.6%
Cabarrus $38,695 $39,244 -1.4%
Guilford $47,955 $46,744 +2.5% 5th highest
Watauga $32,136 $31,788 +1.09%