Benton County Among the Best in the Country for Employment Growth

Who would have guessed that among thousands of counties in the United States, Benton County, Arkansas, would be in second place for employment? It’s true according to CreditDonkey, a credit card comparison website that publishes various data-driven analyses.

The CreditDonkey study primarily looked at employment growth, wage growth, and improving unemployment rates during the twelve months March 2012 to 2013.

San Mateo County, California was the only county ahead of Benton County. Falling behind Benton County were counties in the Denver, Atlanta, and Seattle metropolitan areas among others. That’s enough to make some of us long-time residents overjoyed. It is always exhilarating to learn that outsiders concur with what we’ve known all along.

During the study period, employment growth in the U.S. grew slightly more than 1.6%. Wage growth in Benton County increased 2.7%.

Wage growth in Benton County increased a whopping 14.3% to an average weekly pay of $1,339. San Mateo County was only one-half of one-percent ahead at 14.8%. The next best rate after Benton County was Loudoun County, Virginia, in the Washington, D. C. area at 2.4% and that’s not even close.

During the same time, average U.S. weekly wages grew by 0.6%, or $6, resulting in an average U.S. paycheck of $989.

Benton County’s unemployment rate also moves in the right direction. In January 2013, the U.S. rate unemployment rate was 7.9% and Benton County’s rate was 6%.  As of August 2013, Benton County’s rate had fallen to 5.4% and the U.S. rate was still above 7%.

Good things are happening all the time in beautiful Northwest Arkansas.