Laborers in Sandoval County are back at work in record numbers and making more money than ever. At least that is what payroll data from the county’s 3,075 employers shows.
33,458 workers took home paychecks from Sandoval County employers this summer and their average weekly wage is up to $1,059 per week across all industries, according to payroll data reported to the State’s Department of Workforce Solutions in July 2023, the most recent period for publicly available data. That’s up $43 per week, or $172 per month since July of last year.
That equates to a 4.2 % average raise over the previous 12 months which exceeds New Mexico’s 3.3% rate of inflation last year.
Regionally, the average weekly wage in Santa Fe County remained almost flat at $1,094 (-$2 week, on average) while Bernalillo County’s average wage increased $59 per week to $1,128.
DWS collects payroll and wage data each quarter from payroll tax reports submitted by all of the state’s employers. The data is limited to an employer’s location which may be different than an employee’s residence location.
Over the same 12-month period, Sandoval County added 118 new “job creator” companies pushing the county’s number of total payroll establishments to 3,075. The number of companies reporting payroll in the county has fluctuated between 3,000 and 3,100 since early 2022.
More good news
More recent data from DWS shows that unemployment rates in Sandoval County took a significant drop over the past year.
Countywide unemployment was measured at 3.6 % in September, down 0.8 % from last year and slightly less than statewide unemployment of just 3.7%. Nearby Bernalillo and Santa Fe Counties both have unemployment rates of 3.6%. New Mexico’s statewide employment rate is lower than both neighboring Texas and Arizona.
State and local unemployment rates have been falling from a record high in May 2020 during the height of the COVID pandemic. Sandoval County hit a record 13.9% unemployment then. Today that number is down to 3.6%. Overall, New Mexico’s unemployment rate is the lowest level seen in more than 20 years of state data available.
When it comes to wages, however, not every industry is created equal. Manufacturing and trade workers in Sandoval County, which includes Intel, average just over $1,800 per week in recent data while arts, entertainment, and food service workers take home less than $500 per week.
Statewide, Los Alamos County ranks highest in average weekly wage at $2,162 per week while Lincoln County ranks lowest with $792 per week per worker.