Did you know there are over 150 different community indicators on Grant County Trends - each updated throughout the year? But which ones, and when?
This issue of the Grant County Trends blog lists the most recently updated indicators on the Grant County Trends website.
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Recent Updates
In ECONOMIC VITALITY:
2.1.4 Average Annual Wage in Top-5 Employing Sectors
As in all years, government workers rank highest by annual earnings among the five largest sectors. Government includes federal, state and local agencies. Their earnings are followed by, ranked, manufacturing, healthcare & social assistance, retail and agriculture. For 2022, the sector gaining the most was manufacturing, at nearly $5,000. (Click on the legend to simplify the graph.)
2.4.5 Share of Employment in Top-5 Largest Employing Sectors
As in prior years, agriculture and government dominate the county’s labor market, with shares of about 22% and 20%, respectively. Agriculture’s share has declined precipitously over the past decade. Following these two sectors are, in order, manufacturing, retail trade and healthcare & social assistance. The last sector has increased the fastest in percentage terms over the decade.
2.4.2 Total Civilian Labor Force & Labor Force Participation Rate of Population Ages 16+
In 2022, the labor force showed a strong recovery from the prior year, adding 2,500 workers. It is defined as those employed and those unemployed but looking for work. The count is now a bit shy of 50,000. The participation rate also climbed, reaching a share of 64% last year.
2.4.6 Net Jobs Created & Annual Growth Rate
2022 was a strong year for job creation, adding over 2,100 jobs. It was the strongest year for this key measure of economic health since 2018. The rate of job creation outpaced the state for the second time in three years.
In HEALTH:
5.2.1 Total Live Births by Females Ages 15-19 and the Birth Rate per 1,000 Females of the Same Age
At a total of 84, births to Grant County teens continued to decline in 2021. Births by young teens (15-17 years) has stabilized at a very low rate recently; nearly all the decline has been due to falling rates among 18 and 19 year-old mothers.
In HOUSING:
6.1.4 Housing Affordability Index for First-Time Homebuyers
The housing affordability measure is essentially a ratio of income to housing costs. In this case, the population are lower-income buyers considering homes at less than the County’s median price. A value of 100 implies a balance between income and housing purchase costs; any value higher connotes an increasing ability to pay for the home. Unfortunately, the trend in Grant County as run the opposite direction recently. Values are now considerably less than 100.
In PUBLIC SAFETY:
7.1.3 Traffic Fatalities
The county’s fatalities on its highways and road reveals a downward trend since the start of the century, but unfortunately little change in the past decade. The low was hit in 2019 but since then totals and rate have risen.
7.1.4 Alcohol Related Traffic Fatalities
Alcohol use is a major cause of traffic fatalities, with over one third of recent totals attributable to it. The trend over the past decade has actually been upward.
list updated 07.18.23