By 1808Delaware
Delaware County has a striking number in the latest federal wage report: a 10.6 percent increase in average weekly wages. The county’s average reached $1,836 in the first quarter of 2026, leading Ohio’s large counties with published wage-growth data. The national average was $1,654. Delaware’s increase ranked fifth among the nation’s large counties, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics report released September 4.
Pay And Jobs Tell Different Stories
Employment grew more modestly. Delaware County had approximately 99,500 covered jobs in March, up 0.3 percent from a year earlier. Franklin County’s employment increased 0.6 percent, while its average weekly wage rose 4.7 percent to $1,596.
Across Ohio, employment slipped 0.2 percent over the year. The county figures therefore show local job growth against a softer statewide backdrop, alongside a much larger change in Delaware County’s wage average. BLS county tables.
What The Average Measures
These figures describe jobs located in the county. They do not measure the earnings of everyone who lives here, including residents who commute elsewhere. The wage calculation also includes payments such as bonuses and reflects the mix of higher-paying, lower-paying, full-time, and part-time jobs. A rising average consequently does not establish that individual workers received raises of the same size. BLS identifies those factors in its explanation of the data. The figures remain preliminary.
A Wider Regional Picture
A separate September 8 analysis from the Columbus Partnership and One Columbus reported that the Columbus metropolitan area added 11,977 jobs from March 2025 to March 2026. Its 1.10 percent increase placed sixth among 56 metropolitan areas with populations above one million, according to the organizations’ analysis of federal employment data.
The same analysis reported a 6.9 percent increase in the region’s total quarterly wages. That measures the combined wage bill, a different statistic from the county’s average weekly wage. Columbus Partnership and One Columbus announcement.
Taken together, the reports offer a more specific picture of local economic growth: employment is expanding, but the change in Delaware County’s wage average is considerably more pronounced.
