Bay Area workers went into the early stages of the coronavirus outbreak with some of the highest wages in the nation — and in the case of the South Bay, the highest wages — a new federal report shows.
Average weekly wages in Santa Clara County during the final three months of 2019 were the highest in the nation, a report from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics shows.
Nationwide, the top three counties with the highest average weekly wages were all located in the Bay Area. The top five in the nation are all tech hubs, this news organization’s assessment of the federal statistics shows.
The three counties with the top average wages in the United States: Santa Clara County, San Mateo County, and San Francisco County.
Rounding out the top five are No. 4, New York City; and No. 5, Suffolk County in Massachusetts, whose primary city is Boston. Also in the top 10 is King County, a Washington State community that contains Seattle.
The statistics were contained in the Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages, or QCEW report, that the Bureau of Labor Statistics compiles.
Santa Clara County’s average weekly wage in the fourth quarter of 2019 was $2,825, the QCEW report determined.
The average wage of $2,825 in Santa Clara County was 138 percent higher than the national average weekly wage, or more than twice as great. South Bay wages also were 94 percent higher, or nearly double, the average for the United States.
San Mateo County posted an average weekly wage of $2,622, while San Francisco County came in at an average of $2,523 during the October-through-December quarter of 2019.
