Which Louisiana parishes saw workers make more money in 2022?
Workers in Louisiana’s largest parishes saw their wages rise significantly from the beginning of 2022 to the beginning of 2023, new data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, with some parishes seeing wages rise by more than 10% over that span.
The BLS released data on wages for the country’s 361 largest counties, including seven Louisiana parishes: Caddo, Calcasieu, East Baton Rouge, Jefferson, Lafayette, Orleans and St. Tammany. Nationwide, 353 of the 361 included counties saw wages increase from the first quarter of 2022 to the first quarter of 2023, including all seven of the Louisiana parishes.
Six of the seven parishes included in the data ranked in the top 100 for wage growth over the year, the data shows.
Lafayette Parish had one of the largest wage increases in the nation, with average weekly wage rising by 12.3% to $1,089. The 12.3% increase was the 15th-largest gain among the 361 counties nationwide.
Still, Lafayette Parish’s average weekly wage is low compared to the other large counties across the nation, and it is the second-lowest among the seven Louisiana parishes, ahead of only Caddo Parish’s $1,074.
The national average for average weekly wage in the first quarter of 2023 was $1,465.
East Baton Rouge Parish had the second-largest wage increase among the Louisiana parishes and ranked 31st overall. From the first quarter of 2022 to the first quarter of 2023, the average weekly wage rose by 10.7% to $1,243.
While below the national average, East Baton Rouge has the second-highest average weekly wage of the seven parishes, behind only Orleans Parish with $1,311.
Caddo Parish saw its average weekly wage rise 9.8% to $1,074, and its growth ranked 62nd among all the large counties. Calcasieu was close behind, with its 9.7% growth ranking 68th nationwide. Calcasieu Parish had an average weekly wage of $1,214.
Jefferson Parish’s wage rose by 9.6% to $1,195, the data shows, ranking 72nd for growth. St. Tammany Parish saw growth of 9.5% to an average of $1,135 per week. St. Tammany’s growth ranked 79th overall.
Orleans Parish was the only one of Louisiana’s largest parishes to have growth below the national average of 6.6%. Orleans’ wages rose 6.4% to $1,311 in the first quarter of 2023, which ranked 251st overall for growth.
The BLS will release more data with all Louisiana parishes — as well as all counties in the U.S. — in early September.
CONSIDER SUBSCRIBING TODAY: Help support journalists like William Taylor Potter
This article originally appeared on Lafayette Daily Advertiser: Which Louisiana parishes saw wages rise the most in 2022?
