Illinois Real Average Earnings Per Job Growth by Decade

Real* Average Earnings Per Job Growth by County

Average Annual Percent Change, 1970-2022

Illinois:

1970-2022 = 0.87%

U.S.:

1970-2022 = 0.94%

Real* Average Earnings Per Job Growth of Illinois' 102 Counties:

Average Growth Distributions by Decade over 1970-2022

	1970-2022	1970-1979	1980-1989	1990-1999	2000-2009	2010-2019	2020-2022	2022
More than 3.0%	4	9	7	3	17	7	47	9
3.0% to 2.5%	2	4	0	1	8	0	8	2
2.5% to 2.0%	11	11	0	4	14	6	4	1
2.0% to 1.5%	12	21	6	12	22	13	3	3
1.5% to 1.0%	36	22	11	18	22	27	10	2
1.0% to 0.5%	32	24	15	30	7	28	6	2
0.5% to 0.0%	4	8	19	10	3	13	5	3
0.0% or Below	1	3	44	24	9	8	19	80
Total	102	102	102	102	102	102	102	102

*Real average earnings per job determined using the Implicit Price Deflator for
Personal Consumption (2017=1.00).

Illinois Real* Average Earnings Per Job Growth by County:
Average Annual Percent Change, 1970-2022

	1970-2022		1970-1979		1980-1989		1990-1999		2000-2009		2010-2019		2020-2022		2022
County	%	Rank	%	Rank	%	Rank	%	Rank	%	Rank	%	Rank	%	Rank	%	Rank

Henderson	5.96	1	4.08	2	9.36	1	3.07	3	6.04	2	3.06	6	19.86	1	7.71	6
Stark	3.89	2	0.74	81	7.62	2	0.77	54	4.26	6	2.42	9	15.98	2	1.54	14
Cumberland	3.58	3	0.63	86	0.92	26	-0.18	84	2.48	28	13.60	1	5.09	30	-0.92	28
Mercer	2.89	4	0.57	90	3.76	4	1.49	21	3.65	8	1.83	15	13.39	5	-4.05	66
Moultrie	2.79	5	1.10	61	-0.23	69	1.54	18	5.99	3	5.46	2	3.07	47	21.95	2
Hamilton	2.49	6	2.68	12	4.01	3	-0.15	82	3.33	14	2.46	8	2.99	48	-4.13	67
Brown	2.28	7	3.69	6	1.04	23	2.71	4	2.42	31	1.47	27	2.55	55	1.01	17
Greene	2.21	8	0.88	76	0.96	25	0.12	76	3.49	11	2.12	12	13.86	4	2.59	10
Washington	2.20	9	3.36	7	0.40	43	3.15	1	3.73	7	0.74	70	0.88	74	-4.13	68
Scott	2.20	10	3.14	9	3.02	7	0.77	53	0.59	90	0.97	55	10.55	6	-3.20	46
Calhoun	2.15	11	2.46	14	3.49	5	1.54	19	-0.30	96	1.71	19	8.32	14	0.90	19
Gallatin	2.15	12	3.90	4	-0.23	68	-0.19	85	1.27	71	3.77	4	9.58	10	1.38	16
Hancock	2.10	13	2.78	11	-0.44	80	1.29	27	3.00	17	1.35	32	10.52	7	-3.24	47
Pike	2.09	14	2.46	15	1.61	12	-0.62	91	2.02	39	3.15	5	8.14	17	-10.90	101
Ford	2.08	15	1.92	29	-0.06	63	-0.14	81	5.06	4	1.80	16	8.08	18	9.69	4
Schuyler	1.93	16	2.28	20	0.20	52	2.00	8	4.44	5	0.43	84	2.97	49	-2.82	40
Mason	1.90	17	2.06	22	-0.99	93	2.16	5	3.29	15	0.95	57	8.70	13	-2.89	42
De Witt	1.88	18	4.03	3	0.33	48	1.44	23	1.34	68	1.60	23	4.04	37	-1.94	36
Pulaski	1.77	19	1.40	49	3.09	6	0.83	48	3.64	9	2.02	13	-5.28	101	-7.70	99
Jasper	1.75	20	4.26	1	0.04	56	-0.28	87	2.50	26	0.26	90	8.30	16	-5.40	83
Hardin	1.75	21	0.97	69	0.92	27	-1.00	97	1.66	56	2.14	11	15.24	3	32.42	1
Iroquois	1.65	22	1.91	30	0.46	41	-0.38	89	3.08	16	0.91	58	9.14	12	0.06	22
Edgar	1.55	23	2.03	23	0.31	49	1.52	20	1.47	64	1.40	30	4.94	32	-3.83	58
Piatt	1.53	24	1.79	32	1.01	24	0.50	68	1.20	76	1.13	43	8.32	15	-2.18	37
Warren	1.51	25	1.24	53	-1.84	101	1.36	24	2.56	24	1.54	26	10.46	9	4.43	9
White	1.50	26	1.12	59	0.60	35	1.26	29	1.23	73	1.73	18	6.66	22	2.39	12
Putnam	1.50	27	1.55	45	1.29	17	-1.58	101	1.60	59	4.61	3	1.48	63	-0.88	26
Lawrence	1.49	28	1.02	66	-1.22	96	0.68	61	6.61	1	-1.43	101	7.41	19	5.87	8
Livingston	1.44	29	2.00	25	0.33	47	0.86	46	1.92	44	1.30	34	4.13	35	-3.40	50
Grundy	1.43	30	1.93	26	1.30	15	0.78	52	3.48	12	1.57	24	-4.86	100	-4.71	73
Crawford	1.35	31	1.93	27	0.03	57	-0.04	79	3.63	10	0.63	77	3.27	45	8.28	5
Bond	1.34	32	1.13	58	0.56	37	2.13	6	1.75	50	1.21	38	1.11	70	-1.87	32
Logan	1.34	33	1.36	50	0.01	58	1.07	38	1.93	42	1.07	49	5.49	28	-1.87	33
Marshall	1.33	34	0.94	73	-0.61	84	0.83	49	2.61	22	1.18	41	7.06	21	-0.97	29
Menard	1.33	35	0.72	82	-0.30	73	0.87	44	2.61	21	0.33	86	9.41	11	-5.28	81
McDonough	1.28	36	1.77	34	-0.44	81	1.93	11	2.29	32	0.45	83	2.67	52	-3.50	52
Carroll	1.28	37	-0.05	101	0.38	45	1.80	15	-0.54	97	3.04	7	7.10	20	-0.10	24
Lake	1.27	38	0.62	87	1.26	18	2.09	7	1.11	79	1.75	17	-0.37	91	-4.98	76
Douglas	1.27	39	1.16	57	-1.28	98	-0.45	90	2.25	34	1.89	14	10.46	8	20.00	3
DuPage	1.25	40	1.18	56	1.90	8	3.10	2	-0.80	101	1.25	35	-0.06	85	-3.87	60
Woodford	1.24	41	1.76	35	-0.34	76	0.76	56	1.97	40	0.70	72	5.71	26	-1.89	34
Fayette	1.23	42	1.06	64	0.30	50	0.92	42	1.47	65	0.99	54	6.00	25	0.45	20
Shelby	1.23	43	0.05	99	0.57	36	1.13	35	1.69	55	1.41	29	5.60	27	-1.83	31
Clark	1.20	44	0.95	71	0.17	54	0.52	66	2.23	36	1.17	42	4.46	33	-2.85	41
Perry	1.19	45	3.28	8	-1.39	99	-1.47	99	2.62	20	2.34	10	3.10	46	2.58	11
Clinton	1.16	46	1.46	48	1.75	10	-1.04	98	1.78	48	1.33	33	2.86	51	1.53	15
Clay	1.15	47	0.88	75	1.20	20	0.51	67	1.80	46	0.15	91	5.18	29	-3.28	48
Cass	1.14	48	2.44	17	-1.22	97	0.95	41	1.23	72	0.78	66	6.20	24	-0.07	23
Edwards	1.14	49	1.59	44	1.10	22	-1.97	102	2.95	19	1.38	31	3.29	44	0.93	18
Richland	1.12	50	1.68	39	-0.28	71	1.12	36	1.52	61	0.68	74	4.12	36	-1.81	30
Lee	1.11	51	0.85	78	0.39	44	1.18	34	1.11	78	1.63	22	2.46	57	-3.76	57
Jackson	1.09	52	1.32	52	0.19	53	1.08	37	1.74	52	1.06	50	1.38	64	-2.39	38
Wayne	1.09	53	1.06	63	-0.15	65	0.40	70	2.43	30	0.15	93	6.31	23	1.65	13
Monroe	1.08	54	1.93	28	1.67	11	-0.31	88	1.32	69	1.12	45	-0.06	84	-13.89	102
McLean	1.06	55	0.94	72	0.62	34	1.81	14	1.63	58	0.31	87	1.06	71	-6.91	95
Macoupin	1.05	56	2.50	13	-0.85	90	0.68	60	1.04	80	1.22	36	3.30	43	-4.81	75
Alexander	1.04	57	1.63	42	1.23	19	1.56	17	1.35	67	0.77	67	-3.36	99	-7.74	100
Peoria	1.04	58	1.80	31	-0.78	89	1.29	28	1.87	45	1.63	21	-0.98	95	-2.91	43
Montgomery	1.03	59	2.44	16	-0.90	91	0.60	64	2.27	33	0.30	88	2.58	53	-3.94	62
Henry	1.03	60	0.97	68	-0.69	87	0.41	69	2.54	25	1.01	51	4.02	38	-5.91	89
Christian	1.00	61	0.86	77	-0.35	77	-0.84	96	3.46	13	0.65	75	5.02	31	-2.81	39
Jersey	0.99	62	-0.10	102	0.85	29	0.61	63	2.47	29	0.29	89	3.73	41	-6.90	94
Jo Daviess	0.99	63	0.32	97	1.41	14	1.87	12	-0.08	95	0.41	85	4.30	34	-6.01	90
Effingham	0.99	64	2.29	19	-0.66	86	0.37	71	1.54	60	1.20	39	1.59	62	-3.75	56
Champaign	0.96	65	0.40	93	0.17	55	1.35	25	2.20	37	0.70	73	0.80	75	-4.55	71
Bureau	0.95	66	1.00	67	-0.72	88	0.63	62	2.96	18	-0.01	95	3.94	39	-5.61	86
Macon	0.94	67	1.11	60	0.27	51	0.97	39	1.22	74	0.81	62	1.97	60	-0.71	25
Fulton	0.93	68	1.78	33	-3.40	102	1.67	16	2.60	23	1.19	40	3.64	42	-1.94	35
Adams	0.91	69	1.35	51	-0.64	85	0.95	40	1.73	53	1.07	48	1.29	66	-5.39	82
Jefferson	0.91	70	1.49	46	0.38	46	0.32	73	1.48	62	0.88	59	1.00	72	-3.86	59
Ogle	0.90	71	0.00	100	0.84	30	1.19	32	1.20	75	0.82	61	2.44	58	-3.46	51
Coles	0.88	72	1.02	65	0.54	39	0.36	72	1.70	54	0.75	69	0.95	73	-5.27	80
Cook	0.87	73	1.07	62	0.74	31	1.96	9	0.13	93	1.09	46	-1.27	97	-6.71	91
Rock Island	0.86	74	1.60	43	-0.32	74	0.77	55	2.49	27	-0.09	98	0.33	80	-4.23	69
Sangamon	0.85	75	0.70	84	0.55	38	1.81	13	0.75	88	0.76	68	-0.16	87	-6.97	97
Pope	0.84	76	3.77	5	1.80	9	-0.78	93	-0.73	100	-0.72	100	3.76	40	7.44	7
Massac	0.84	77	1.65	41	0.70	33	-0.16	83	2.17	38	-0.32	99	1.35	65	-3.99	64
Morgan	0.82	78	0.92	74	-0.16	66	0.75	58	2.24	35	-0.06	97	2.27	59	-3.58	54
Marion	0.82	79	2.14	21	-0.50	82	0.55	65	0.94	85	1.00	53	0.74	76	-3.54	53
DeKalb	0.80	80	0.66	85	-0.03	62	1.18	33	0.95	84	1.41	28	0.31	81	-5.65	87
Randolph	0.78	81	1.46	47	-0.20	67	0.74	59	0.72	89	1.22	37	0.62	78	-4.55	72
Vermilion	0.78	82	1.68	38	-0.33	75	-0.05	80	1.48	63	0.81	63	1.78	61	-3.36	49
LaSalle	0.77	83	0.71	83	-0.53	83	1.46	22	1.02	83	1.07	47	1.19	69	-3.17	45
Stephenson	0.76	84	0.18	98	1.30	16	0.89	43	0.27	92	0.50	82	2.90	50	-0.89	27
Knox	0.73	85	1.20	54	-0.91	92	1.24	30	1.03	81	0.57	80	2.56	54	-4.71	74
Kane	0.73	86	0.54	91	0.47	40	1.30	26	1.03	82	0.57	79	-0.07	86	-4.43	70
Saline	0.71	87	0.96	70	0.87	28	0.06	78	1.79	47	-0.03	96	0.36	79	0.09	21
Wabash	0.69	88	2.02	24	-0.13	64	-0.76	92	1.30	70	0.85	60	1.23	67	-4.00	65
St. Clair	0.69	89	0.60	88	0.00	59	0.75	57	1.93	41	0.15	92	0.71	77	-5.17	79
Johnson	0.68	90	0.34	96	1.11	21	-0.84	95	1.92	43	0.73	71	1.19	68	-5.58	85
Whiteside	0.64	91	1.67	40	-1.65	100	0.87	45	0.75	87	1.01	52	2.47	56	-3.90	61
Williamson	0.62	92	1.20	55	-1.03	94	0.82	50	1.75	51	0.64	76	-0.34	90	-4.99	77
Franklin	0.60	93	2.95	10	-1.21	95	-1.47	100	1.44	66	1.67	20	-0.71	93	-5.47	84
Kankakee	0.58	94	0.38	94	-0.02	61	0.81	51	0.88	86	1.13	44	-0.26	88	-6.95	96
Union	0.54	95	0.58	89	0.40	42	-0.22	86	1.75	49	0.59	78	-0.80	94	-6.74	92
McHenry	0.53	96	0.37	95	0.72	32	1.93	10	-0.63	99	0.79	65	-1.27	96	-5.76	88
Winnebago	0.52	97	0.80	80	-0.01	60	0.84	47	0.30	91	0.96	56	-0.46	92	-3.74	55
Madison	0.46	98	0.84	79	-0.44	79	0.30	74	1.12	77	0.52	81	0.24	82	-3.95	63
Boone	0.39	99	2.29	18	1.52	13	0.10	77	-1.75	102	1.55	25	-5.42	102	-6.81	93
Will	0.38	100	0.43	92	-0.30	72	1.20	31	-0.02	94	0.81	64	-0.28	89	-5.07	78
Tazewell	0.30	101	1.74	36	-0.41	78	0.26	75	1.64	57	-1.64	102	0.07	83	-3.13	44
Kendall	-0.12	102	1.72	37	-0.27	70	-0.84	94	-0.61	98	0.02	94	-2.15	98	-7.48	98

Illinois	0.87		0.99		0.52		1.72		0.42		1.07		-0.44		-5.39
Metropolitan	0.84		0.96		0.59		1.80		0.29		1.05		-0.72		-5.69
Nonmetropolitan	1.01		1.33		-0.33		0.62		1.73		1.03		3.26		-1.85

United States	0.94		0.89		0.71		1.68		0.72		1.01		-0.06		-4.55
Metropolitan U.S.	0.92		0.81		0.76		1.75		0.65		0.97		-0.21		-4.84
Nonmetropolitan U.S.	0.91		1.39		0.04		1.03		1.01		1.00		1.23		-2.04

*Real average earnings per job growth determined using the Implicit Price Deflator for
Personal Consumption (2017=1.00).

Source: Calculations by the Illinois Regional Economic Analysis Project (IL-REAP)
with data provided by the U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of Economic Analysis

November 2024

REAP_PI_CA1400_DECADES_1402A

Illinois Real* Average Earnings Per Job Growth by Region:
Average Annual Percent Change, 1970-2022

	1970-2022	1970-1979	1980-1989	1990-1999	2000-2009	2010-2019	2020-2022	2022
Metropolitan Statistical Areas	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%
Bloomington	1.06	0.94	0.62	1.81	1.63	0.31	1.06	-6.91
Cape Girardeau	0.90	1.75	-0.19	1.43	1.32	0.62	-0.47	-2.45
Champaign-Urbana	0.95	0.47	0.13	1.29	2.16	0.69	1.06	-4.45
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin	0.83	0.98	0.62	1.94	0.01	1.10	-0.90	-5.89
Davenport-Moline-Rock Island	0.69	1.35	-0.81	0.72	1.85	0.30	0.73	-3.71
Decatur	0.94	1.11	0.27	0.97	1.22	0.81	1.97	-0.71
Kankakee	0.58	0.38	-0.02	0.81	0.88	1.13	-0.26	-6.95
Paducah	1.07	2.01	-0.41	1.17	1.28	0.32	4.40	-3.59
Peoria	0.81	1.73	-0.78	0.91	1.85	0.55	0.10	-2.75
Rockford	0.49	0.95	0.13	0.73	0.08	1.00	-1.00	-4.03
St. Louis	0.81	0.72	0.71	1.34	0.85	0.59	0.37	-3.36
Springfield	0.85	0.69	0.49	1.78	0.77	0.75	0.01	-6.93

Illinois	0.87	0.99	0.52	1.72	0.42	1.07	-0.44	-5.39
Metropolitan	0.84	0.96	0.59	1.80	0.29	1.05	-0.72	-5.69
Nonmetropolitan	1.01	1.33	-0.33	0.62	1.73	1.03	3.26	-1.85

United States	0.94	0.89	0.71	1.68	0.72	1.01	-0.06	-4.55
Metropolitan U.S.	0.92	0.81	0.76	1.75	0.65	0.97	-0.21	-4.84
Nonmetropolitan U.S.	0.91	1.39	0.04	1.03	1.01	1.00	1.23	-2.04

*Real average earnings per job growth determined using the Implicit Price Deflator for
Personal Consumption (2017=1.00).

Source: Calculations by the Illinois Regional Economic Analysis Project (IL-REAP)
with data provided by the U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of Economic Analysis

November 2024

REAP_PI_CA1400_DECADES_1402B

A Note on Real* Average Earnings Per Job

The United States economy has generated an impressive number of jobs since the 1970s. The contrast between the nation's vigorous employment growth and the modest performance of other major industrial countries is striking. Despite this rosy track record, the real (inflation adjusted) wages and salaries of many workers have stagnated or slipped in recent years. This development has provoked concerns about the quality of new jobs. Structural shifts in the composition of employment--from high-wage goods-producing to low-wage services-related sectors--is the culprit most often cited for the deteriorating quality of jobs.

Definition: Average Annual Earnings Per Job are computed by dividing BEA total industry earnings estimates by the BEA total full- and part-time jobs estimates. No convenient or adequate means exist at the county or regional level for converting the job estimates to a full-time equivalent measure. So, interpret the average earnings per job estimates with caution in consideration of the following issues:

Average earnings per job within industries involving more part-time work is lower than industries involving more full-time work, although there could be little difference in the underlying wage of full-time workers. Such differences could also prevail between counties and regions. An increase in the proportion of part-time jobs over time may erode average earnings per job estimates, although full-time earnings per worker may have remained unchanged.

As with per capita income, average earnings per job may be subject to extreme short-run variation, especially in smaller counties. Major construction projects relating to building dams, nuclear power plants, and private plant construction projects have caused extreme fluctuations in many smaller counties. Such changes typify both small and large agriculture-dependent counties owing to the extreme annual variations in farm incomes. Also, Since average earnings per job are just a simple average, it does not account for variations in the distribution of earnings among high- vs. low-wage jobs.

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