Quarterly Census of RI City & Town Employment & Wage Data Analysis

Quarterly Census of RI Employment and Wages
City & Town 2006-2007 Comparison
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Rhode Island private employment averaged 417,728 in 2007, a mere increase of 22 jobs from 2006. Twenty of the state's 39 cities and towns experienced job growth, while 19 municipalities reported private employment declines.

The 2007 average annual wage in the private sector was $39,827, an increase of $1,095 (+2.8%) from the $38,732 earned in 2006. Thirty-four cities and towns reported an annual wage increase, 2007 Private Sector Employment by Town Graph while five cities and town’s experienced an annual wage decline.

Private Sector Employment Highlights

Lincoln added 513 (+3.8%) private sector jobs between 2006 and 2007, the largest gain among the state’s thirty-nine cities and towns. Lincoln's Arts, Entertainment & Recreation sector added 324 (+29.1%) new jobs, followed by the Manufacturing (+106) and Finance & Insurance (+85) sectors.

Between 2006 and 2007, private sector employment in North Kingstown increased by 463 (+3.6%), the second largest employment gain during this period. Large job gains were noted in the Health Care & Social Assistance (+147), Administrative Support & Waste Management Services (+121) and Retail Trade +90) sectors.

Smithfield (+388), East Providence (+380) and Coventry (+354) also experienced significant job gains during this period. Exeter increased its private sector workforce by 7.0 percent, the largest annual employment gain on a percentage basis, followed by Foster (+5.9%).

West Greenwich lost 737 (-17.2%) private sector jobs between 2006 and 2007, the largest employment decline among all cities and towns. However, it should be noted that roughly 680 of the lost jobs came from the Professional & Technical Services sector and were the result of a noneconomic code change*. Modest job losses were reported in the Manufacturing (-42) and Accommodation & Food Services (-40) sectors.

Johnston (-503), Warwick (-478), Cranston (-313) and West Warwick (-196) also reported significant employment declines during this period. Through the noneconomic code change, West Greenwich (-17.2%) experienced the largest employment decline on a percentage basis, followed by Johnston (-4.5%).

Private sector employment in Providence averaged 97,747 in 2007, the highest total among all Rhode Island municipalities. The Health Care & Social Assistance sector represented the largest employment sector, employing 24,365 thousand workers or nearly 25 percent of the city’s private employment workforce.

Warwick (48,320), Cranston (29,491), Pawtucket (24,155) and East Providence (21,286) also employed over twenty-thousand private sector employees. Together, these five cities employed 52.9 percent of Rhode Island’s private sector employment.

On the opposite end, Foster (377), Little Compton (542), New Shoreham (775), Scituate (966) and Jamestown (972) employed the fewest private sector employees, reflecting the small population and rural nature of these communities.

Rhode Island Department of Labor & Training Quarterly Census of Employment & Wages - Private Sector RI City and Town - Annual 2007
Municipality	Establishments	Average Employment	Total Wages	Average Annual Wage

Rhode Island	35,422	417,728	$16,636,774,694	$39,827

Barrington	472	2,440	75,273,606	$30,850
Bristol	622	6,655	221,204,979	$33,239
Burrillville	287	2,319	70,732,769	$30,501
Central Falls	243	2,170	67,618,147	$31,160
Charlestown	237	1,482	48,626,271	$32,811
Coventry	763	6,984	207,127,583	$29,657
Cranston	2,614	29,491	1,056,206,201	$35,815
Cumberland	887	8,671	327,025,989	$37,715
East Greenwich	756	6,533	251,915,080	$38,560
East Providence	1,543	21,286	806,402,980	$37,884
Exeter	179	1,159	32,189,740	$27,774
Foster	98	377	10,279,038	$27,265
Glocester	198	1,159	35,261,239	$30,424
Hopkinton	193	1,104	34,931,933	$31,641
Jamestown	209	972	31,449,085	$32,355
Johnston	1,123	10,682	417,564,262	$39,090
Lincoln	776	13,891	602,585,516	$43,380
Little Compton	135	542	17,324,244	$31,964
Middletown	769	10,299	397,280,312	$38,575
Narragansett	474	3,210	84,739,091	$26,398
Newport	1,289	13,014	424,722,728	$32,636
New Shoreham	203	775	23,664,733	$30,535
North Kingstown	1,051	13,251	524,560,549	$39,586
North Providence	744	7,457	229,873,973	$30,827
North Smithfield	379	3,661	122,014,306	$33,328
Pawtucket	1,585	24,155	906,614,792	$37,533
Portsmouth	517	5,672	275,519,536	$48,575
Providence	5,589	97,747	4,429,068,408	$45,312
Richmond	147	1,182	32,800,247	$27,750
Scituate	261	966	26,022,331	$26,938
Smithfield	821	12,641	602,297,021	$47,646
South Kingstown	1,038	9,804	395,034,867	$40,293
Tiverton	405	2,200	68,538,436	$31,154
Warren	396	3,920	121,756,271	$31,060
Warwick	3,341	48,320	1,738,371,922	$35,976
Westerly	874	9,337	302,750,784	$32,425
West Greenwich	208	3,546	258,826,309	$72,991
West Warwick	617	8,154	295,055,382	$36,185
Woonsocket	862	13,765	652,783,998	$47,423
Statewide *	2,553	6,738	$410,760,036	$60,962
* Statewide - employment in multiple towns, at unknown locations, or outside RI.

Annual Wage Summary

Private sector employees working in South Kingstown experienced an annual wage gain of $5,911 in 2007 when compared to 2006, a 17.2 percent increase. The Manufacturing sector propelled the town’s annual wage with total wages within the sector growing in excess of $32 million or $50,191 over the year. This significant gain was the result of large bonuses paid to employees by area firms.

The annual wage in Little Compton grew by $4,437, the second largest annual wage increase. Employees in the Construction sector experienced an $11,625 annual wage gain. Smithfield (+$4,391), Woonsocket (+$3,384) and Lincoln (+$2,864) were among the top five cities and towns in annual wage growth.

South Kingstown (+17.2%), Little Compton (+16.1%), and Foster (+11.2%) experienced the largest annual wage increase on a percentage basis.

Five communities reported a private sector wage decline between 2006 and 2007, the largest occurring in West Greenwich, which lost $31,813 (-30.4%) over the year. A noneconomic code change in 2007 and large bonuses paid to employees in 2006 were a contributing factor in the large annual wage decline. Exeter (-$573), Richmond (-$283), Scituate (-$203), and East Providence (-$108) also experienced a wage decline over the period.

Top 5 Municipalities in Average Annual Wage 2007 Graph

Private sector employees working in West Greenwich earned an average of $72,991 in 2007, that largest average annual wage among Rhode Island’s thirty-nine cities and town’s. The Real Estate, Rental & Leasing ($132,800) sector was the town’s highest paying sector, followed by Information ($118,867).

The private sector workforce in Portsmouth ($48,575), Smithfield ($47,646), Woonsocket ($47,423), Providence ($45,312), Lincoln ($43,380) and South Kingstown ($40,293) also earned over the statewide average of $39,827 in 2007.

Private sector employment in Narragansett ($26,398), Scituate ($26,938) and Foster ($27,265) averaged the lowest annual wages in 2007.

Note: Quarterly bonuses and exercised stock options are included in the calculation and therefore impact the average annual wage.
* Noneconomic code changes are mostly identified through the Annual Refiling Survey (ARS). The ARS is a tri-annual survey that allows employers the opportunity to update and provide better information regarding their business. When a location code change to a company is required, one municipality is the beneficiary of an employment increase from that company, while the municipality where that employment was previously coded experiences an employment decline. The same holds true for industry code changes which are also identified through this survey.

Since these changes are not directly attributable to recent economic activities, they are referred to as noneconomic changes. A noneconomic code change to a location or industry change did not necessarily occur during the last year and may have transpired during the tri-annual period of the ARS survey or possibly longer, if recipients did not complete previous surveys.