Prince William County Among Nation's Best in Job Growth

Prince William County had the largest employment increase of all 12 of Virginia's most-populated counties, edging out Loudoun County, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics for March 2010 to March 2011.

Most counties in the country saw employment increases for the same 12-month period, but few saw the rise that Prince William County achieved.

Regional Commissioner Sheila Watkins said Prince William's climb is the third-fastest rate of growth among the nation's 322 largest counties. Loudoun County ranked sixth.

Employment growth happened in 10 of the 12 biggest counties in Virginia, according to the stats. Prince William's employment increased 4.3 percent and Loudoun grew 4.2 percent.

The national employment growth rate was 1.3 percent during the same 12-month period. Most counties in the nation—256 of 322—gained jobs, with the largest percentage gain in Elkhart County, Ind., at 6.2 percent.

Employment was highest in Fairfax County during this 12-month period, with 572,900 jobs. No other locality in Virginia has above 200,000 jobs.

Prince William County did not experience the same level of growth in weekly wages, however. The weekly rage is $808, which is a 1.3-percent increase. The weekly wage ranks Prince William 180th in the nation. Loudoun's $1,093 weekly wage ranks 43rd in the nation, climbing 2.1 percent. Fairfax County's $1,479 weekly wage ranks 11th in the nation, climbing 4.4 percent. Nationally, the average weekly wage rose 5.2 percent for the first quarter of 2011.

All but seven of the 122 counties with employment below 75,000 had average weekly wages below the national average. Manassas City is the only nearby locality that is among the seven that had average weekly wages above the national average.

Jobs and Pay

Manassas City had 23,994 jobs and an average weekly wage of $1,042.

Manassas Park has 2,843 jobs and an average weekly wage of $770.