NOTES AND DATA SOURCES FOR CBI FOCUS NEWSLETTERS
NOTE: CBI makes every reasonable effort to report accurate data. However, no guarantee for the accuracy of information is made. CBI Focus newsletters present information “as is” and without any warranty. Nor does CBI imply an endorsement by any public agency or other organization that creates the official data used by CBI. Readers are encouraged to investigate the original data sources used by CBI to determine on their own the timeliness, relevancy and factual nature of data.
Explanatory notes and references for CBI Focus newsletters are as follows:
Abbreviations
CBI generally uses three letter abbreviations for each major economic sector. One exception is for QCEW data, discussed below. These abbreviations are used for all charts whenever detailed data is available by industry. While CBI uses NAICS code classifications as they are presented by the official data sources, the abbreviations are not standardized. Industry abbreviations and NAICS Industry Descriptions used by CBI include:
AGR, Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing and Hunting
MIN, Mining, Quarrying, and Oil and Gas Extraction
UTL, Utilities
CON, Construction
MFR, Manufacturing
WHO, Wholesale Trade
RET, Retail Trade
TRA, Transportation and Warehousing
INF, Information
FIN, Finance and Insurance
REL, Real Estate and Rental and Leasing
PRO, Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services
MGT, Management of Companies and Enterprises
ADM, Administrative and Support and Waste Management and Remediation Services
EDU, Educational Services
HEA, Health Care and Social Assistance
ART, Arts, Entertainment, and Recreation
ACC, Accommodation and Food Services
OTH, Other Services (except Public Administration)
PUB, Public Administration
Agriculture
The US Department of Agriculture – National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) publishes National, State, County, and other geographic level agricultural statistics for many commodities and data series.
NASS Quick Stats is a web-based application that gives the ability to query the agricultural census and survey statistics, found online at:
http://quickstats.nass.usda.gov/
The USDA/NASS Wyoming Field Office complies an annual bulletin (most recently the “Wyoming Agricultural Statistics 2012”) using data from the NASS annual survey, census, and other sources.
The annual bulletin is issued cooperatively by the Wyoming Business Council, the University of Wyoming, and NASS, and can be found online at: http://www.nass.usda.gov/Statistics_by_State/Wyoming/Publications/Annual_Statistical_Bulletin/index.asp
According to the 2012 annual bulletin for Wyoming, estimates of the county value of livestock inventories are based on State average inventory values multiplied by county livestock inventory estimates. The reference date for cattle and sheep is January 1 and for hogs is December 1 of the previous year. The value of livestock also includes previous year wool and milk production apportioned to counties based on the number of sheep and milk cows. For crops, the previous year’s county production estimates are multiplied by preliminary marketing year average prices for the State. The previous year price is used for sugar beets. Crops include alfalfa and other hay, winter wheat, barley, oats, corn grain and silage, dry beans, and sugar beets.
Occasionally, data for some agricultural products is suppressed by the USDA (such as sheep and lamb inventories in Albany County for 2007 and 2008). Data may be suppressed in those instances because there are, for example, a small number of producers. In those limited instances, CBI creates an estimate by extrapolation of historic county data and statewide trends. Such estimates are clearly indicated in CBI’s newsletters.
CBI uses Wyoming Department of Revenue property tax data for identifying acreage and valuation of land that is classified as Irrigated Land, Dry Farm, or Range Land within the broader classification of Agricultural Land. See discussion of Property Taxes below for more information.
Building Permits
The U.S. Census Bureau provides construction statistics by county on new privately owned residential housing units authorized by building permits. Data items include total number of units (combines single family and multi-family structures), and the total value of construction costs from new privately owned residential building permits issued. In Wyoming, most of the permit-issuing jurisdictions are municipalities; the remainder are county offices.
The Census Bureau requests monthly reports from a statistical sample of about half of all permit-issuing jurisdictions in the country. This monthly sample is re-selected every 10 years, most recently in 2004. The Census Bureau requests annual reports from the permit-issuing jurisdictions that are not in the monthly sample. Because of its small relative size, Wyoming’s county-level data is collected annually.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, online at: http://censtats.census.gov/bldg/bldgprmt.shtml.
Cigarette Taxes
The Wyoming Department of Revenue collects and distributes the taxes collected from sales of cigarettes in Wyoming. A portion of the taxes collected is distributed back to the county where the sale originated.
Source: Wyoming Department of Revenue, distribution reports online at: http://revenue.wyo.gov/tax-distribution-reports/cigarette-tax-distribution-by-uear
Cost of Living
The Wyoming Department of Administration & Information, Economic Analysis Division prepares the Wyoming Cost of Living Index (WCLI) twice each year. The WCLI is a summarization of price data collected in twenty-eight cities and towns throughout Wyoming. The price data collected are used to build a comparative index and to estimate inflation rates for Wyoming and the five regions of the State.
Twenty-eight communities across the State are included in the WCLI based on the following criteria. First, the largest city or town in each county is priced. In addition, prices are collected in any city or town with a population of more than 5,000 persons or where a city or town had at least 85% of that county’s largest community’s population. In counties where only one community is priced, those prices are used to represent the entire county. In counties where two communities are priced, a population based weighted average of the prices for the two communities is used for the entire county.
The 140 items surveyed are aggregated into six categories, which are then weighted according to their overall importance in the average consumer's budget. These categories and their respective weight components include Housing (48.0%), Transportation (16.7%), Food (13.7%), Recreation & Personal Care (10.0%), Medical (6.8%), and Apparel (4.8%)1. The Housing category, due to its relative importance in the average consumer's budget, carries the largest weight factor and is the most influential category in both the comparative index and the inflation rates.
Because of their size and the process for creating the comparative index, county-level data cannot be compared to previous survey data. Instead, the State aggregates the data and creates regional and statewide inflation rates, during the second and fourth quarters of each year (comparing current costs to costs from the previous year for that quarter). The regions are defined to include specific counties, as follows:
Southeast: Albany, Carbon, Goshen, Laramie, Niobrara, & Platte Counties.
Southwest: Lincoln, Sublette, Sweetwater & Uinta Counties
Central: Converse, Fremont & Natrona Counties.
Northeast: Campbell, Crook, Johnson, Sheridan & Weston Counties.
Northwest: Big Horn, Hot Springs, Park, Teton & Washakie Counties.
The U.S. Consumer Price Index is often used to compare to these state and regional inflation rates.
Source: Wyoming Department of Administration & Information, Economic Analysis Division, found online at: http://eadiv.state.wy.us/wcli/wcli.html.
Employment – QCEW Data
The Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW), formerly known as the ES-202 program and/or Covered Employment and Wages program, compiles data from employer quarterly payroll tax reports subject to Wyoming Unemployment Insurance (UI) laws and from federal agencies subject to the Unemployment Compensation for Federal Employees (UCFE) program. These private employer quarterly payroll tax reports provide data on the number of people employed by month, quarterly total and taxable wages and contributions paid to employees each quarter, and are the start of the QCEW process. Similar tax reports of monthly employment and quarterly wages are submitted by the Federal Government, by State governments, and by local governments. Covered employment reported by these tax reports provides a virtual census of approximately 97% of jobs on nonfarm payrolls.
QCEW data focuses on employment at the place of work. LAUS data (see below) focuses on place of residence of workers. Therefore, the two measures of employment can be different, especially where a county has significant numbers of inter-county commuting. Such workers travel to/from another county for their job.
Additionally, LAUS data considers the entire the population of a county, whereas QCEW data includes only those workers who are covered by UI (which includes the vast majority of jobs, but not all). Jobs not covered by UI or jobs that are exempt are not included in QCEW tabulations. Exemptions include some agricultural employees, self-employed farmers, self-employed workers, some domestic workers, unpaid family workers, workers covered by the railroad unemployment insurance system, elected officials, students or inmate workers, church employees, and certain types of nonprofit employers. QCEW data are published six to nine months after the end of the reference quarter. Quarterly QCEW processing comprises scanning, editing, cleaning-up, correcting, and estimating of the submitted data. Even though the time lag exists, QCEW provides employment and wage data at the county and industry level that are not available elsewhere.
Employing Units (Employers)
The QCEW maintains information on the location or place of work and industrial activity of each reported establishment. An employer can have one or more establishments. An establishment is an economic unit, such as a mine, store, or farm that produces goods or provides services. It is typically a single physical location and engaged in predominantly one type of economic activity. Sometimes, a single physical location includes two or more distinct and significant economic activities. QCEW collects data at the establishment level, which is the predominant reporting unit or statistical entity for reporting employment and wage data. Each establishment of a multi-establishment firm is tabulated separately into the appropriate location and industry category if it meets the criteria of being a multi-establishment and if the business will complete the multiple worksite report each quarter. Thus, covered data are by establishment or place of work, not necessarily by UI account. Each establishment, employer, and place of work is assigned a six-digit industrial classification code according to their production processes. This categorization is the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS). These establishments are then further grouped into categories known as sectors.
For the first quarter of each year, QCEW data are tabulated by establishment size class at the national level. The size of each establishment is categorized by the March employment level. Data by establishment are tabulated into size categories ranging from worksites with a few employees to those with a thousand or more employees. Since this size determination is only done nationally by the Bureau of Labor Statistics for the first quarter of each year, Wyoming determined that the third month in each quarter would be the basis for quarterly size tabulations: June for second quarter, September for third quarter, and December for fourth quarter. One could foresee some movement within the size classes quarterly due to seasonality, business cycles, economic events, administrative events, etc.
Employment – Number of Employees
QCEW monthly employment data correspond to the number of covered workers who worked during or received pay for the pay period that included the 12th of the month. Employment data represent counts of jobs, not persons. When individuals work more than one job, each is counted separately.
Employment – Total Wages
QCEW total wages reported by covered employers is total compensation paid during the calendar quarter, regardless of when the services were performed including bonuses, stock options, profit distributions, cash value of meals and lodgings, and some gratuities. UI covered payroll represents approximately 92% of all wage and salary disbursements and 45% of personal income in Wyoming (US Bureau of Economic Analysis, 2007).
Employment – Average Weekly Wages
Average weekly wage is calculated by dividing quarterly covered total wages by the average of the three monthly employment levels. The result is then divided by 13, the number of weeks in a quarter.
Confidentiality of QCEW data distribution is strictly adhered to following the Confidential Information Protection and Statistical Efficiency Act (CIPSEA) to insure information protection from disclosure and non-statistical uses.
Source: Wyoming Department of Employment, Research & Planning Section, Labor Market Information found online at: http://doe.state.wy.us/lmi/toc_202.htm
For consistent comparisons of major industry sectors in each county, the State of Wyoming, and the nation, CBI uses QCEW data provided by the U.S. Labor Department, Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Source: U.S. Labor Department, Bureau of Labor Statistics found online at: http://data.bls.gov/cgi-bin/dsrv?en
Excise Taxes
The Wyoming Department of Revenue (DOR) collects sales and use taxes from vendors. When vendors obtain a retail tax license, the DOR classifies that vendor according to an industry code, using the North American Industrial Classification System (NAICS). Taxes are collected based on each county’s excise tax rate. After collection, the DOR distributes all taxes to each County Treasurer (after withholding an administrative fee). Monthly distribution reports are then made available to the public, by county and by industry.
Source: Wyoming Department of Revenue, publications found online at:
http://revenue.wyo.gov/tax-distribution-reports
Exports
Several federal agencies track exports of goods and services, based on the goods’ and services’ origin of movement. Origin of movement attributes exports to the place from which they depart the United States, and so major shipping hubs like Los Angeles, Seattle, and New York dominate federal trade data.
CBI uses a different measure of exports that is tied to origin of production. In particular, CBI relies on work completed by the Brookings Institute, most recently called “Export Nation 2013.” Analysis of where goods and services are being produced – prior to export – is more helpful for local planners trying to help their community become more globally competitive.
There are two primary features of Brookings’ Export Nation that distinguish it from federal trade data. First, Export Nation’s goods export estimates are based on the origin of production, rather than the origin of movement. Federal goods trade data produced by the Census Bureau and the International Trade Administration is based on origin of movement measurements, meaning that exports are tracked by the location from which they ultimately leave the country. Often the point of departure is not the same as the point of production. Brookings data instead allocates national export values by industry based on county output in that industry.
The second major distinguishing feature of Export Nation is the inclusion of detailed services data. Federal services export data is produced by the Bureau of Economic Analysis, and is only available at the national level. Federal services data, furthermore, offers little industry detail and is rarely integrated with goods export data. In Export Nation, goods and services are estimated using the same detailed, county-level allocation method and presented at similar levels of industrial detail.
Source: Brookings Institute, Export Nation 2013, found online at: http://www.brookings.edu/research/interactives/export-nation
FDIC Deposits
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) collects information from all FDIC-insured institutions, including insured U.S. branches of foreign banks. The FDIC’s Summary of Deposits (SOD) is the annual survey of all FDIC branch office deposits as of June 30th of each year. CBI collates SOD data for each county in Wyoming.
Source: Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, data found online at:
http://www2.fdic.gov/sod/
Health Insurance Coverage
The U.S. Census Bureau’s Small Area Health Insurance Estimates (SAHIE) program produces timely estimates for all counties and states by detailed demographic and income groups. The SAHIE program produces single-year estimates of health insurance coverage for every county in the U.S. The estimates are model-based and consistent with the American Community Survey (ACS). They are based on an "area-level" model that uses survey estimates for domains of interest, rather than individual responses. The estimates are "enhanced" with administrative data, within a Hierarchical Bayesian framework.
SAHIE data can be used to analyze geographic variation in health insurance coverage, as well as disparities in coverage by race/ethnicity, sex, age and income levels that reflect thresholds for state and federal assistance programs. Because consistent estimates are available from 2008 to 2011, SAHIE reflects annual changes over time.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Small Area Health Insurance Estimates, found online at:
http://www.census.gov/did/www/sahie/
Housing
The Wyoming Housing Data Base Partnership publishes a semi-annual report containing demographic, economic, and housing statistics for the State of Wyoming to help communities plan for their unique housing needs. The report, which is financially sponsored by the Wyoming Community Development Authority (WCDA), includes statistical information from the U.S. Bureau of the Census, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, as well as the Wyoming Department of Administration and Information, Wyoming County Assessors, and the Wyoming Department of Transportation. The data is organized with an overview of Wyoming with each county's data presented and analyzed separately. Forecasting of housing needs, rental vacancy surveys, the average cost of new and existing housing and a survey of housing inventory are included.
The WCDA report includes results from the Wyoming Rental Vacancy Survey, which is completed semiannually. This telephone survey includes residential property managers throughout the state.
Similarly, the U.S. Census Bureau collects rental vacancy information for the nation, on a quarterly basis. The Housing Vacancies and Homeownership Unit provides current information on the rental and homeowner vacancy rates, and characteristics of units available for occupancy. These data are used extensively by public and private sector organizations to evaluate the need for new housing programs and initiatives. In addition, the rental vacancy rate is a component of the index of leading economic indicators and is thereby used by the Federal Government and economic forecasters to gauge the current economic climate.
The Census Bureau survey is not the same as the WCDA survey in Wyoming. There are differences in timing, approach, and interview questions. Therefore, comparisons of data for the two surveys may be slightly inconsistent. However, because of the size of the Census Bureau sample (national) and its quarterly frequency, it is considered to be a highly accurate measure of rental vacancies.
Source: Wyoming Profile of Demographics, Economics and Housing, sponsored by the Wyoming Community Development Authority, found online at: http://www.wyomingcda.com/
Housing Rental Prices
The Wyoming Cost of Living Index (WCLI) is prepared by the Wyoming Division of Economic Analysis (part of the Wyoming Department of Administration and Information). The WCLI is a summarization of price data collected in several cities and towns throughout Wyoming. The price data collected are used to build a Comparative Cost of Living Index by county and to estimate inflation rates for Wyoming and the five regions of the State. The WCLI provides a snapshot in time, comparing the second and fourth quarters of each year to the same time period, one-year prior. The WCLI is a complement to the U.S. Consumer Price Index (CPI).
For example, in the 2Q12, twenty-eight communities across the State were included in the WCLI based on the following criteria. First, the largest city or town in each county was priced. In addition, prices were collected in any city or town with a population of more than 5,000 persons or where a city or town had at least 85% of that county’s largest community’s population. In counties where only one community was priced, those prices were used to represent the entire county. In counties where two communities were priced, a population-weighted average of the prices for the two communities was used for the entire county.
The 140 items surveyed were aggregated into six categories, which were then weighted according to their overall importance in the average consumer's budget. These categories, and their respective weight components, include Housing (47.5%), Transportation (16.9%), Food (14.3%), Recreation & Personal Care (9.4%), Medical (7.4%), and Apparel (4.7%). The Housing category, due to its relative importance in the average consumer's budget, carries the largest weight factor and is the most influential category in both the comparative index and the inflation rates. The data were weighted by population to more accurately represent the price changes experienced by the majority of consumers in Wyoming.
The residential rental prices included in CBI reports are the prices reported in the semi-annual WCLI (historical data from the WCLI are republished in the WCDA’s semi-annual Profiles; see Housing discussion above). For Lincoln County, CBI reports the WCLI data for “Lincoln (Afton)”. The price categories include:
Apartment: Two-bedroom, unfurnished, excluding gas and electric
Mobile Home Lot: Sing-wide, including water
House: Two or three-bedroom, single family, excluding gas and electric
Mobile Home: This price reflects total monthly rental expense, including lot rent.
Sometimes, there are too few observations to report data in the WCLI. In those instances, CBI reports the data as “NA”.
Source: Wyoming Department of Administration & Information, Economic Analysis Division, found online at: http://eadiv.state.wy.us/wcli/wcli.html
Income and Poverty
The U.S. Census Bureau's Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates (SAIPE) program provides annual estimates of income and poverty statistics for all states, counties, and school districts. The estimates are not direct counts from enumerations or administrative records, nor direct estimates from sample surveys. Instead, for states and counties, the Census Bureau models income and poverty estimates by combining survey data with population estimates and administrative records. For school districts, Census uses the model-based county estimates and inputs from the decennial census and federal tax information to produce estimates of poverty. Data from the American Community Survey(ACS) are also used in the estimation procedure.
With the full implementation of the ACS in January 2005, single-year direct survey estimates for counties and other areas with a population of 65,000 or more became available. Starting in December 2010, the ACS began providing direct survey estimates for all counties and school districts, as well as for other small geographic areas (e.g., census tracts). For areas with populations less than 65,000, these direct survey estimates are based on 3-year or 5-year accumulations of ACS data, depending on population size of the area. Since modeling produces estimates with reduced sampling error, the SAIPE program continues to produce single-year model-based estimates for all states, counties, and school districts.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates, found online at: http://www.census.gov/did/www/saipe/data/interactive/#
Income Taxes
The Internal Revenue Service collects data from individual tax returns. The data are based on administrative records (individual income tax returns) from the Internal Revenue Service's Individual Master File (IMF) system, which includes a record for every Form 1040, 1040A, and 1040EZ filed with the IRS.
County Data are developed by sorting the returns by the ZIP code provided on the return by the taxpayer. The IRS does not attempt to correct the ZIP Codes provided by the taxpayers. In many cases, ZIP codes that are currently invalid were valid at some time in the past. Returns with foreign or APO or FPO addresses, or which did not contain a ZIP code are not included in these statistics. The state in which a return belonged is determined by the ZIP code.
CBI uses the following categories of income from the IRS data:
Wages
Wage income includes income from wages, salaries, tips, etc.
Interest
Interest income includes taxable interest income and the non-taxable interest income.
Dividends
Dividend income includes taxable distributions of money, stock, or other property received from domestic or foreign corporation, either directly or passed through estates, trusts, partnerships, or regulated investment companies.
Adjusted Gross Income (AGI) and Other income
Adjusted gross income includes the taxable income from all sources, less the adjustments to income, such as IRA deduction, self-employment tax and health insurance, alimony paid, etc. The “Other” category of income used by CBI includes all taxable income (except for Wages, Interest, and Dividends as defined above), minus the IRS adjustments used to calculate AGI.
Source: Internal Revenue Service, Statistics of Income, found online at: http://www.irs.gov/taxstats/article/0,,id=217541,00.html
LAUS Data
The Local Area Unemployment Statistics (LAUS) program produces monthly and annual employment, unemployment, and labor force data for Census regions and divisions, States, counties, metropolitan areas, and many cities, by place of residence. These estimates are key indicators of local economic conditions. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) of the U.S. Department of Labor is responsible for the concepts, definitions, technical procedures, validation, and publication of the estimates that State employment security agencies prepare under agreement with BLS.
The concepts and definitions underlying LAUS data come from the Current Population Survey (CPS), the household survey that is the official measure of the labor force for the nation. These models combine current and historical data from the CPS, the Current Employment Statistics (CES) program, and State unemployment insurance (UI) systems. Estimates for the sub-state labor market areas are produced through a building-block approach known as the "Handbook method." This procedure also uses data from several sources, including the CPS, the CES program, State UI systems, and the decennial census, to create estimates that are adjusted to the statewide measures of employment and unemployment. Below the labor market area level, estimates are prepared using disaggregation techniques based on inputs from the decennial census, annual population estimates, and current UI data.
LAUS data is provided on a preliminary basis for the previous month, a revised basis for the month prior to that, and is benchmarked annually. CBI Focus newsletters always use the most current data available, including updating charts with revised and benchmarked data.
Source: Wyoming Department of Workforce Services, Research & Planning Section, Labor Market Information found online at: http://doe.state.wy.us/lmi/LAUS/TOC.HTM
Location Quotients
One way to study an economy is to compare its economic base (jobs, taxes, etc.) in each industry to a larger economy. For example, CBI often compares a county’s economy to the state’s economy. Location Quotients (LQ) are determined by dividing the local percentage of industry by the state’s percentage of that same industry. For example, the Transportation and Warehousing Industry (TRA) generated about 1% of all Excise Taxes in Wyoming in 2011. By comparison, the TRA Industry generated 5.3% of Excise Taxes in 2011 in Niobrara County. To calculate a LQ, we divide the local percentage (5.3%) by the state percentage (1.0%) and arrive at a score of 5.3. Any score higher than 1.0 means that the industry is more significant (or relatively stronger) locally than it is in the state. In contrast, the TRA Industry generated just 0.49% of the Excise Taxes in Teton County in 2011, so it has an LQ of 0.5. A score less than 1.0 means that the industry is less significant (or relatively weaker) locally than it is in the state.
Median Age
The Census Bureau creates annual estimates of Median Ages for many geographies, including counties. Median Age divides the population into two numerically equal groups; that is, half the people are younger than this age and half are older.
For more information about the Census Bureau’s population estimates, see: https://www.census.gov/popest/index.html
Median Wages
Research & Planning (R&P), a section of the Department of Workforce Services, in cooperation with the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), has conducted an Occupational Employment Statistics (OES) Wage Survey since 1996. The OES program produces occupational employment and wage estimates that have many uses. For example, wage information helps employers determine if they are offering competitive wages. Employment and training organizations (such as community colleges), vocational counselors, and individuals use wage data to assist students in making career decisions. OES data are used to determine staffing patterns, develop employment projections, and for Foreign Labor Certification.
In Wyoming, the OES Wage Survey samples and contacts approximately 1,000 establishments by mail and phone in May and November of each year. Data obtained are used to estimate occupational employment and wage rates for Unemployment Insurance (UI) covered wage and salary jobs in non-farm establishments.
Wages for the OES survey are straight-time, gross pay, exclusive of premium pay. Items included in the survey are base pay rates, cost-of-living allowances, guaranteed pay, hazard pay, incentive pay, commissions, piece rates and production bonuses, length-of-service allowances, on-call pay, and portal-to-portal pay. Items excluded are back pay, jury-duty pay, overtime pay, severance pay, shift differentials, vacation pay, Christmas bonuses, holiday or weekend pay, attendance bonuses, meal and lodging allowances, merchandise discounts, non-production bonuses, profit-sharing distributions, relocation allowances, stock bonuses, tool allowances, tuition reimbursements, and uniform allowances. Data from tips were not collected prior to 1999. Tip data are incorporated into the hourly estimates. The OES Wage Survey does not include benefit data.
Hourly wage estimates are calculated using a year-round, full-time figure of 2,080 hours per year (52 weeks times 40 hours). Occupations that typically have a work year of less than 2,080 hours (such as musical and entertainment occupations, flight attendants, pilots, and teachers) are reported only as an annual wage.
Every state conducts an identical OES wage survey using standard techniques. This facilitates comparison of data among states, as well as comparisons with national figures. National and state wage estimates are located on the BLS website at http://www.bls.gov/oes.
For more information, see the BLS Technical Notes at: http://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_tec.htm
Migration
The Wyoming Housing Data Base Partnership publishes a semi-annual report containing demographic, economic and housing statistics for the State of Wyoming to help communities plan for their unique housing needs. The report includes statistical information from the U.S. Bureau of the Census, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, as well as the Wyoming Department of Administration and Information, Wyoming County Assessors, and the Wyoming Department of Transportation. The data is organized with an overview of Wyoming with each county's data presented and analyzed separately. Forecasting of housing needs, rental vacancy surveys, the average cost of new and existing housing and a survey of housing inventory are included.
Also included is migration data, based on drivers’ license exchanges. The Wyoming Department of Transportation (DOT) tracks drivers who move to Wyoming and exchange licenses from other states, as well as those surrendering Wyoming driver’s licenses when moving to a new out-of-state location. (Note: New Wyoming residents are asked to surrender their old out-of-state driver’s license within one year.) This is not a precise count of migration, as the data represent only the net change in the number of driver’s licenses. People may wait until their license has expired prior to getting a new one; hence, they are not represented in the net count of exchanged or surrendered licenses. Furthermore, not all persons have driver’s licenses as some persons may not drive or may be too young to qualify for a license. The data nevertheless indicate the general direction of population movement, as well as the strength of any population migration, thereby providing insight into Wyoming’s net migration and population trends.
Source: Wyoming Profile of Demographics, Economics and Housing, sponsored by the Wyoming Community Development Authority, found online at: http://www.wyomingcda.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=145&Itemid=11
Mineral Taxes
The Wyoming Department of Revenue (DOR), Mineral Tax Division collects mineral severance taxes, and determines the mineral production value in each Wyoming county for the assessment of ad valorem taxes. The DOR determines the value of minerals and other natural resources. After collection, the DOR distributes the local share of taxes to each County Treasurer. The DOR’s Annual Reports provide information on mineral taxes for each county and major resource type.
CBI combines the state assessed mineral tax valuation data into four categories: Oil (includes Crude Oil and Stripper Oil), Gas (Natural Gas), Coal (includes Surface Coal and Underground Coal), and Other (includes, Trona, Uranium, Bentonite, Clay, Decorative Stone, Feldspar, Granite Ballast, Gypsum, Sand & Gravel, Silver, Sodium Sulphate, Shale, Limestone, Gold, Zeolite, Leonardite, Jade, Diamond, Titaniferrous Magnetite, Miscellaneous Construction Material, and Moss Rock.
Source: Wyoming Department of Revenue, Annual Reports found online at: http://revenue.state.wy.us/PortalVBVS/DesktopDefault.aspx?tabindex=2&tabid=10
Non-Mineral Taxes
The Wyoming Department of Revenue (DOR), Property Tax Division assesses and allocates (by county) the value of public utility properties. The DOR’s Annual Reports provide summary property tax information for each county and major property type.
CBI combines the state assessed utility data into five categories: Airlines, Electric (includes Major Electrics, Municipal Electrics, and REA Electrics), Pipelines (includes Gas Distribution, Gas Pipelines, and Liquid Pipelines), Railroads, and Telecom (includes Cellular Telephones, Major Telephones, Reseller Telephones, Rural Telephones, and, starting with 2008 data, Cable & Satellite).
Source: Wyoming Department of Revenue, Annual Reports found online at: http://revenue.state.wy.us/PortalVBVS/DesktopDefault.aspx?tabindex=2&tabid=10
Per Capita Income and Personal Incomes
The U.S. Department of Commerce Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) provides a wealth of statistics that detail the geographic distribution economic activity and growth. BEA data creates a consistent framework for analyzing and comparing individual state and local area economies. CBI uses BEA data primarily to analyze personal income, using county data that has been adjusted according to individuals’ place of residence.
Personal Income is the income that is received by all persons from all sources. It is calculated as the sum of wage and salary disbursements, supplements to wages and salaries, proprietors' income with inventory valuation and capital consumption adjustments, rental income of persons with capital consumption adjustment, personal dividend income, personal interest income, and personal current transfer receipts, less contributions for government social insurance. The personal income of an area is the income that is received by, or on behalf of, all the individuals who live in the area; therefore, the estimates of personal income are presented by the place of residence of the income recipients. Personal income does not include realized or unrealized capital gains (or losses). This is because personal income was designed primarily as a measure of income arising from current production. It therefore excludes income that arises from price changes of existing assets (i.e. capital gains or losses). In addition, personal income was designed to analyze long-term macroeconomic trends and business cycles. Capital gains are exceedingly erratic and can overwhelm those trends and cycles.
Per capita personal income is calculated as the personal income of the residents of a given area divided by the resident population of that area. In computing per capita personal income for states and counties, BEA uses the Census Bureau’s annual midyear population estimates (Note: Except for college student and other seasonal populations, which are measured as of April 1, the population for all years is estimated as of July 1.)
Local area per capita personal income estimates should be used with caution for several reasons. In some instances, an unusually high or low per capita personal income is the temporary result of unusual conditions, such as a bumper crop or severe storms. In other instances, the income levels of certain groups atypical of the resident population may cause a longer term high or low per capita personal income that is not indicative of the economic well-being of the area. For instance, a major construction project—such as a new power plant—may substantially raise the per capita personal income of an area for several years because it attracts highly paid workers whose incomes are measured at the construction site. This high per capita income may not be indicative of the economic well-being of the permanent residents of the area (or, in many cases, of the construction workers themselves, because they frequently send a substantial portion of their wages to their dependents living in other areas).
Conversely, the presence of a large institutional population—such as that of a college or a prison—will tend to keep the per capita personal income of an area at a lower level because the residents of these institutions have little income attributable to them at these institutions. This lower per capita personal income is not indicative of the economic well-being of the other residents of the area (or, in some cases, of the institutional populations, because some of these populations, such as college students, typically receive support from their families living in other areas).
The per capita personal income estimates can also be misleading in areas where population changes rapidly. Population is measured at midyear, whereas income is measured as a flow over the year; therefore, a significant change in the population of an area during the year, particularly if it occurs around midyear, can cause a distortion in the per capita personal income estimates.
In counties where farm income predominates, additional considerations should be taken into account. Farm proprietors’ income as measured for personal income reflects returns from current production; it does not measure current cash flows. Sales out of inventories are included in current gross farm income, but they are excluded from net farm income because they represent income from a previous year’s production. Additions to inventories are included in net farm income at current market prices; therefore, farmers’ attempts to regulate their cash flows by adjusting inventories are not reflected in BEA’s farm proprietors’ income estimates. However, this regulation of cash flows by farmers extends their earnings cycles, so it helps them to survive losses or lowered income for 2 or 3 years. In addition, the per capita personal income of sparsely populated counties that are dependent on farming will react more sharply to the vagaries of weather, world market demand, and changing government policies related to agriculture than that of counties where the sources of income are more diversified.
CBI uses the following definitions for the components of personal income:
Earnings
Net earnings by place of residence is earnings by place of work less contributions for government social insurance, plus an adjustment to convert earnings by place of work to a place of residence basis. Earnings by place of work is the sum of wage and salary disbursements, supplements to wages and salaries, and proprietors' income.
Investments
Investments include personal dividend income, personal interest income, and rental income. Dividends consists of the payments in cash or other assets, excluding the corporation's own stock, made by corporations located in the United States or abroad to persons who are U.S. residents. It excludes that portion of dividends paid by regulated investment companies (mutual funds) related to capital gains distributions. The interest component of personal income is the interest income (monetary and imputed) of persons from all sources. Rental income is the net income of persons from the rental of real property, except for the income of persons primarily engaged in the real estate business; the imputed net rental income of the owner-occupants of nonfarm dwellings; and the royalties received from patents, copyrights, and the right to natural resources.
Transfer Receipts
This component of personal income is payments to persons for which no current services are performed. It consists of payments to individuals and to nonprofit institutions by Federal, state, and local governments and by businesses. Government payments to individuals includes retirement and disability insurance benefits, medical benefits (mainly Medicare and Medicaid), income maintenance benefits, unemployment insurance compensation, veterans benefits, and Federal education and training assistance. Government payments to nonprofit institutions excludes payments by the Federal Government for work under research and development contracts. Business payments to persons consists primarily of liability payments for personal injury and of corporate gifts to nonprofit institutions.
Transfer Receipts can be broken down into three main components, defined by CBI as follows:
Retirement
Retirement and other consists of retirement and disability insurance benefit payments, medical benefits, veterans benefit payments, federal education and training benefits, other government payments to individuals, government payments to nonprofit institutions, and business payments.
Assistance
Assistance is defined as Income Maintenance Payments, consisting largely of supplemental security income payments, family assistance, food stamp payments, and other assistance payments, including general assistance.
Unemployment
Unemployment insurance compensation is made up of state unemployment compensation; Federal unemployment compensation; unemployment compensation for railroad employees and military veterans; and unemployment compensation for workers who are unemployed because of the adverse economic effects of international trade arrangements.
Source: U.S. Department of Commerce Bureau of Economic Analysis, found online at: http://www.bea.gov/iTable/index_regional.cfm
Population
The Wyoming Department of Administration & Information, Economic Analysis Division serves as the lead agency for the Wyoming State Data Center (SDC) program. The SDC is a partnership with the U.S. Census Bureau to provide a vehicle for the dissemination of data provided by the Bureau to state and local governments. It is the official source of demographic, economic, and social statistics produced by the Census Bureau. The extensive data library includes federal, state, and county information on income, employment, demographics, population, and more.
The U.S. Census Bureau develops county population estimates with a component of population change method in which administrative records and other data is used to estimate the household and group quarters population. For the household population, the components of population change are births, deaths, net domestic migration, and net international migration. The Census Bureau measures change in the non-household, or group quarters, population by the net change in the population living in group quarters facilities.
A major assumption underlying this approach is that changes in selected administrative and other data sources closely approximate the components of population change. Therefore, Census Bureau demographers separately estimate each component of population change based on administrative records, including registered births and deaths, Federal income tax returns, Medicare enrollees, and military movement. They also separately estimate net international migration using information from the American Community Survey (ACS), Census 2000, and other data sources.
Most administrative record data sources lag the current estimate year (by as much as two years). Therefore, the Census Bureau projects the data for the current year based on past years’ data. As updated data become available, projected input data is revised so that each vintage’s estimates are always based on the most recent data available.
The Census Bureau produces the estimate of each county’s population, starting with the base population from the previous decennial census, or the revised population estimate for the prior year (for the July 1, 2001 and later estimates). Census then adds or subtracts the demographic components of population change calculated for that time period. Basically, Census adds the estimated number of births and subtracts the estimated number of deaths for the time period. Next, Census adds the estimates of net domestic migration, net international migration, and the net change in the group quarters population. The Census Bureau’s estimate of total population change includes a residual. This residual represents the change in population that cannot be attributed to any specific demographic component.
The Census Bureau produces separate population estimates for the populations under age 65 and age 65 and over, mainly because different data are used to measure the domestic migration of these two populations. For the population under age 65, person-level data from individual Federal tax returns is used to estimate net domestic migration. Medicare enrollment data is used to calculate measures of migration for the population age 65 and over, because this population is not always well represented on tax returns. County total population estimates are the sum of the estimates of the population under age 65 and age 65 years and over.
State and county estimates may also incorporate other changes due to corrections made since Census 2000. The corrections occur outside the component estimation framework and are the result of successful local challenges or special censuses.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau and Wyoming Department of Administration & Information, Economic Analysis Division, found online at:
http://eadiv.state.wy.us/pop/pop.html
Property Taxes
The Wyoming Department of Revenue (DOR), Property Tax Division collects and reports data on the assessment, valuation, and taxation of locally assessed property. The DOR also assesses and allocates public utility property. The DOR’s Annual Reports provide summary property tax information for each county and major property type.
CBI uses the same summary categories as the DOR: Agricultural (Total Agricultural Land Valuation), Residential (Total Residential Land, Improvements & Personal Property), Commercial (Total Commercial Land, Improvements & Personal Property), and Industrial (Total Industrial Property).
Source: Wyoming Department of Revenue, Annual Reports found online at:
http://revenue.state.wy.us/PortalVBVS/DesktopDefault.aspx?tabindex=2&tabid=10
For the most current property tax data, CBI uses the CAMA (Computer Assisted Mass Appraisal) database, available from the Wyoming Department of Revenue in Microsoft Access database format online at:
http://cama.state.wy.us/CAMADATA/TBLDATADOWNLOAD/AddTBLDATADOWNLOAD.aspx
School Enrollment
The Wyoming Department of Education provides information on students related to enrollment by grade, gender, and ethnicity. The information was compiled from local school district reports submitted each October to the Wyoming Department of Education.
Data on fall enrollment give a demographic snapshot of pupils enrolled on October 1. Special education students are included in the regular enrollment numbers. Pre-Kindergarten enrollment is not included in the regular enrollment numbers.
Source: Wyoming Department of Education, found online at: http://edu.wyoming.gov/DataInformationAndReporting/StatisticalReportSeries2.aspx
NOTE: CBI makes every reasonable effort to report accurate data. However, no guarantee for the accuracy of information is made. CBI Focus newsletters present information “as is” and without any warranty. Nor does CBI imply an endorsement by any public agency or other organization that creates the official data used by CBI. Readers are encouraged to investigate the original data sources used by CBI to determine on their own the timeliness, relevancy and factual nature of data.
Explanatory notes and references for CBI Focus newsletters are as follows:
Abbreviations
CBI generally uses three letter abbreviations for each major economic sector. One exception is for QCEW data, discussed below. These abbreviations are used for all charts whenever detailed data is available by industry. While CBI uses NAICS code classifications as they are presented by the official data sources, the abbreviations are not standardized. Industry abbreviations and NAICS Industry Descriptions used by CBI include:
AGR, Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing and Hunting
MIN, Mining, Quarrying, and Oil and Gas Extraction
UTL, Utilities
CON, Construction
MFR, Manufacturing
WHO, Wholesale Trade
RET, Retail Trade
TRA, Transportation and Warehousing
INF, Information
FIN, Finance and Insurance
REL, Real Estate and Rental and Leasing
PRO, Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services
MGT, Management of Companies and Enterprises
ADM, Administrative and Support and Waste Management and Remediation Services
EDU, Educational Services
HEA, Health Care and Social Assistance
ART, Arts, Entertainment, and Recreation
ACC, Accommodation and Food Services
OTH, Other Services (except Public Administration)
PUB, Public Administration
Agriculture
The US Department of Agriculture – National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) publishes National, State, County, and other geographic level agricultural statistics for many commodities and data series.
NASS Quick Stats is a web-based application that gives the ability to query the agricultural census and survey statistics, found online at:
http://quickstats.nass.usda.gov/
The USDA/NASS Wyoming Field Office complies an annual bulletin (most recently the “Wyoming Agricultural Statistics 2012”) using data from the NASS annual survey, census, and other sources.
The annual bulletin is issued cooperatively by the Wyoming Business Council, the University of Wyoming, and NASS, and can be found online at: http://www.nass.usda.gov/Statistics_by_State/Wyoming/Publications/Annual_Statistical_Bulletin/index.asp
According to the 2012 annual bulletin for Wyoming, estimates of the county value of livestock inventories are based on State average inventory values multiplied by county livestock inventory estimates. The reference date for cattle and sheep is January 1 and for hogs is December 1 of the previous year. The value of livestock also includes previous year wool and milk production apportioned to counties based on the number of sheep and milk cows. For crops, the previous year’s county production estimates are multiplied by preliminary marketing year average prices for the State. The previous year price is used for sugar beets. Crops include alfalfa and other hay, winter wheat, barley, oats, corn grain and silage, dry beans, and sugar beets.
Occasionally, data for some agricultural products is suppressed by the USDA (such as sheep and lamb inventories in Albany County for 2007 and 2008). Data may be suppressed in those instances because there are, for example, a small number of producers. In those limited instances, CBI creates an estimate by extrapolation of historic county data and statewide trends. Such estimates are clearly indicated in CBI’s newsletters.
CBI uses Wyoming Department of Revenue property tax data for identifying acreage and valuation of land that is classified as Irrigated Land, Dry Farm, or Range Land within the broader classification of Agricultural Land. See discussion of Property Taxes below for more information.
Building Permits
The U.S. Census Bureau provides construction statistics by county on new privately owned residential housing units authorized by building permits. Data items include total number of units (combines single family and multi-family structures), and the total value of construction costs from new privately owned residential building permits issued. In Wyoming, most of the permit-issuing jurisdictions are municipalities; the remainder are county offices.
The Census Bureau requests monthly reports from a statistical sample of about half of all permit-issuing jurisdictions in the country. This monthly sample is re-selected every 10 years, most recently in 2004. The Census Bureau requests annual reports from the permit-issuing jurisdictions that are not in the monthly sample. Because of its small relative size, Wyoming’s county-level data is collected annually.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, online at: http://censtats.census.gov/bldg/bldgprmt.shtml.
Cigarette Taxes
The Wyoming Department of Revenue collects and distributes the taxes collected from sales of cigarettes in Wyoming. A portion of the taxes collected is distributed back to the county where the sale originated.
Source: Wyoming Department of Revenue, distribution reports online at: http://revenue.wyo.gov/tax-distribution-reports/cigarette-tax-distribution-by-uear
Cost of Living
The Wyoming Department of Administration & Information, Economic Analysis Division prepares the Wyoming Cost of Living Index (WCLI) twice each year. The WCLI is a summarization of price data collected in twenty-eight cities and towns throughout Wyoming. The price data collected are used to build a comparative index and to estimate inflation rates for Wyoming and the five regions of the State.
Twenty-eight communities across the State are included in the WCLI based on the following criteria. First, the largest city or town in each county is priced. In addition, prices are collected in any city or town with a population of more than 5,000 persons or where a city or town had at least 85% of that county’s largest community’s population. In counties where only one community is priced, those prices are used to represent the entire county. In counties where two communities are priced, a population based weighted average of the prices for the two communities is used for the entire county.
The 140 items surveyed are aggregated into six categories, which are then weighted according to their overall importance in the average consumer's budget. These categories and their respective weight components include Housing (48.0%), Transportation (16.7%), Food (13.7%), Recreation & Personal Care (10.0%), Medical (6.8%), and Apparel (4.8%)1. The Housing category, due to its relative importance in the average consumer's budget, carries the largest weight factor and is the most influential category in both the comparative index and the inflation rates.
Because of their size and the process for creating the comparative index, county-level data cannot be compared to previous survey data. Instead, the State aggregates the data and creates regional and statewide inflation rates, during the second and fourth quarters of each year (comparing current costs to costs from the previous year for that quarter). The regions are defined to include specific counties, as follows:
Southeast: Albany, Carbon, Goshen, Laramie, Niobrara, & Platte Counties.
Southwest: Lincoln, Sublette, Sweetwater & Uinta Counties
Central: Converse, Fremont & Natrona Counties.
Northeast: Campbell, Crook, Johnson, Sheridan & Weston Counties.
Northwest: Big Horn, Hot Springs, Park, Teton & Washakie Counties.
The U.S. Consumer Price Index is often used to compare to these state and regional inflation rates.
Source: Wyoming Department of Administration & Information, Economic Analysis Division, found online at: http://eadiv.state.wy.us/wcli/wcli.html.
Employment – QCEW Data
The Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW), formerly known as the ES-202 program and/or Covered Employment and Wages program, compiles data from employer quarterly payroll tax reports subject to Wyoming Unemployment Insurance (UI) laws and from federal agencies subject to the Unemployment Compensation for Federal Employees (UCFE) program. These private employer quarterly payroll tax reports provide data on the number of people employed by month, quarterly total and taxable wages and contributions paid to employees each quarter, and are the start of the QCEW process. Similar tax reports of monthly employment and quarterly wages are submitted by the Federal Government, by State governments, and by local governments. Covered employment reported by these tax reports provides a virtual census of approximately 97% of jobs on nonfarm payrolls.
QCEW data focuses on employment at the place of work. LAUS data (see below) focuses on place of residence of workers. Therefore, the two measures of employment can be different, especially where a county has significant numbers of inter-county commuting. Such workers travel to/from another county for their job.
Additionally, LAUS data considers the entire the population of a county, whereas QCEW data includes only those workers who are covered by UI (which includes the vast majority of jobs, but not all). Jobs not covered by UI or jobs that are exempt are not included in QCEW tabulations. Exemptions include some agricultural employees, self-employed farmers, self-employed workers, some domestic workers, unpaid family workers, workers covered by the railroad unemployment insurance system, elected officials, students or inmate workers, church employees, and certain types of nonprofit employers. QCEW data are published six to nine months after the end of the reference quarter. Quarterly QCEW processing comprises scanning, editing, cleaning-up, correcting, and estimating of the submitted data. Even though the time lag exists, QCEW provides employment and wage data at the county and industry level that are not available elsewhere.
Employing Units (Employers)
The QCEW maintains information on the location or place of work and industrial activity of each reported establishment. An employer can have one or more establishments. An establishment is an economic unit, such as a mine, store, or farm that produces goods or provides services. It is typically a single physical location and engaged in predominantly one type of economic activity. Sometimes, a single physical location includes two or more distinct and significant economic activities. QCEW collects data at the establishment level, which is the predominant reporting unit or statistical entity for reporting employment and wage data. Each establishment of a multi-establishment firm is tabulated separately into the appropriate location and industry category if it meets the criteria of being a multi-establishment and if the business will complete the multiple worksite report each quarter. Thus, covered data are by establishment or place of work, not necessarily by UI account. Each establishment, employer, and place of work is assigned a six-digit industrial classification code according to their production processes. This categorization is the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS). These establishments are then further grouped into categories known as sectors.
For the first quarter of each year, QCEW data are tabulated by establishment size class at the national level. The size of each establishment is categorized by the March employment level. Data by establishment are tabulated into size categories ranging from worksites with a few employees to those with a thousand or more employees. Since this size determination is only done nationally by the Bureau of Labor Statistics for the first quarter of each year, Wyoming determined that the third month in each quarter would be the basis for quarterly size tabulations: June for second quarter, September for third quarter, and December for fourth quarter. One could foresee some movement within the size classes quarterly due to seasonality, business cycles, economic events, administrative events, etc.
Employment – Number of Employees
QCEW monthly employment data correspond to the number of covered workers who worked during or received pay for the pay period that included the 12th of the month. Employment data represent counts of jobs, not persons. When individuals work more than one job, each is counted separately.
Employment – Total Wages
QCEW total wages reported by covered employers is total compensation paid during the calendar quarter, regardless of when the services were performed including bonuses, stock options, profit distributions, cash value of meals and lodgings, and some gratuities. UI covered payroll represents approximately 92% of all wage and salary disbursements and 45% of personal income in Wyoming (US Bureau of Economic Analysis, 2007).
Employment – Average Weekly Wages
Average weekly wage is calculated by dividing quarterly covered total wages by the average of the three monthly employment levels. The result is then divided by 13, the number of weeks in a quarter.
Confidentiality of QCEW data distribution is strictly adhered to following the Confidential Information Protection and Statistical Efficiency Act (CIPSEA) to insure information protection from disclosure and non-statistical uses.
Source: Wyoming Department of Employment, Research & Planning Section, Labor Market Information found online at: http://doe.state.wy.us/lmi/toc_202.htm
For consistent comparisons of major industry sectors in each county, the State of Wyoming, and the nation, CBI uses QCEW data provided by the U.S. Labor Department, Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Source: U.S. Labor Department, Bureau of Labor Statistics found online at: http://data.bls.gov/cgi-bin/dsrv?en
Excise Taxes
The Wyoming Department of Revenue (DOR) collects sales and use taxes from vendors. When vendors obtain a retail tax license, the DOR classifies that vendor according to an industry code, using the North American Industrial Classification System (NAICS). Taxes are collected based on each county’s excise tax rate. After collection, the DOR distributes all taxes to each County Treasurer (after withholding an administrative fee). Monthly distribution reports are then made available to the public, by county and by industry.
Source: Wyoming Department of Revenue, publications found online at:
http://revenue.wyo.gov/tax-distribution-reports
Exports
Several federal agencies track exports of goods and services, based on the goods’ and services’ origin of movement. Origin of movement attributes exports to the place from which they depart the United States, and so major shipping hubs like Los Angeles, Seattle, and New York dominate federal trade data.
CBI uses a different measure of exports that is tied to origin of production. In particular, CBI relies on work completed by the Brookings Institute, most recently called “Export Nation 2013.” Analysis of where goods and services are being produced – prior to export – is more helpful for local planners trying to help their community become more globally competitive.
There are two primary features of Brookings’ Export Nation that distinguish it from federal trade data. First, Export Nation’s goods export estimates are based on the origin of production, rather than the origin of movement. Federal goods trade data produced by the Census Bureau and the International Trade Administration is based on origin of movement measurements, meaning that exports are tracked by the location from which they ultimately leave the country. Often the point of departure is not the same as the point of production. Brookings data instead allocates national export values by industry based on county output in that industry.
The second major distinguishing feature of Export Nation is the inclusion of detailed services data. Federal services export data is produced by the Bureau of Economic Analysis, and is only available at the national level. Federal services data, furthermore, offers little industry detail and is rarely integrated with goods export data. In Export Nation, goods and services are estimated using the same detailed, county-level allocation method and presented at similar levels of industrial detail.
Source: Brookings Institute, Export Nation 2013, found online at: http://www.brookings.edu/research/interactives/export-nation
FDIC Deposits
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) collects information from all FDIC-insured institutions, including insured U.S. branches of foreign banks. The FDIC’s Summary of Deposits (SOD) is the annual survey of all FDIC branch office deposits as of June 30th of each year. CBI collates SOD data for each county in Wyoming.
Source: Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, data found online at:
http://www2.fdic.gov/sod/
Health Insurance Coverage
The U.S. Census Bureau’s Small Area Health Insurance Estimates (SAHIE) program produces timely estimates for all counties and states by detailed demographic and income groups. The SAHIE program produces single-year estimates of health insurance coverage for every county in the U.S. The estimates are model-based and consistent with the American Community Survey (ACS). They are based on an "area-level" model that uses survey estimates for domains of interest, rather than individual responses. The estimates are "enhanced" with administrative data, within a Hierarchical Bayesian framework.
SAHIE data can be used to analyze geographic variation in health insurance coverage, as well as disparities in coverage by race/ethnicity, sex, age and income levels that reflect thresholds for state and federal assistance programs. Because consistent estimates are available from 2008 to 2011, SAHIE reflects annual changes over time.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Small Area Health Insurance Estimates, found online at:
http://www.census.gov/did/www/sahie/
Housing
The Wyoming Housing Data Base Partnership publishes a semi-annual report containing demographic, economic, and housing statistics for the State of Wyoming to help communities plan for their unique housing needs. The report, which is financially sponsored by the Wyoming Community Development Authority (WCDA), includes statistical information from the U.S. Bureau of the Census, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, as well as the Wyoming Department of Administration and Information, Wyoming County Assessors, and the Wyoming Department of Transportation. The data is organized with an overview of Wyoming with each county's data presented and analyzed separately. Forecasting of housing needs, rental vacancy surveys, the average cost of new and existing housing and a survey of housing inventory are included.
The WCDA report includes results from the Wyoming Rental Vacancy Survey, which is completed semiannually. This telephone survey includes residential property managers throughout the state.
Similarly, the U.S. Census Bureau collects rental vacancy information for the nation, on a quarterly basis. The Housing Vacancies and Homeownership Unit provides current information on the rental and homeowner vacancy rates, and characteristics of units available for occupancy. These data are used extensively by public and private sector organizations to evaluate the need for new housing programs and initiatives. In addition, the rental vacancy rate is a component of the index of leading economic indicators and is thereby used by the Federal Government and economic forecasters to gauge the current economic climate.
The Census Bureau survey is not the same as the WCDA survey in Wyoming. There are differences in timing, approach, and interview questions. Therefore, comparisons of data for the two surveys may be slightly inconsistent. However, because of the size of the Census Bureau sample (national) and its quarterly frequency, it is considered to be a highly accurate measure of rental vacancies.
Source: Wyoming Profile of Demographics, Economics and Housing, sponsored by the Wyoming Community Development Authority, found online at: http://www.wyomingcda.com/
Housing Rental Prices
The Wyoming Cost of Living Index (WCLI) is prepared by the Wyoming Division of Economic Analysis (part of the Wyoming Department of Administration and Information). The WCLI is a summarization of price data collected in several cities and towns throughout Wyoming. The price data collected are used to build a Comparative Cost of Living Index by county and to estimate inflation rates for Wyoming and the five regions of the State. The WCLI provides a snapshot in time, comparing the second and fourth quarters of each year to the same time period, one-year prior. The WCLI is a complement to the U.S. Consumer Price Index (CPI).
For example, in the 2Q12, twenty-eight communities across the State were included in the WCLI based on the following criteria. First, the largest city or town in each county was priced. In addition, prices were collected in any city or town with a population of more than 5,000 persons or where a city or town had at least 85% of that county’s largest community’s population. In counties where only one community was priced, those prices were used to represent the entire county. In counties where two communities were priced, a population-weighted average of the prices for the two communities was used for the entire county.
The 140 items surveyed were aggregated into six categories, which were then weighted according to their overall importance in the average consumer's budget. These categories, and their respective weight components, include Housing (47.5%), Transportation (16.9%), Food (14.3%), Recreation & Personal Care (9.4%), Medical (7.4%), and Apparel (4.7%). The Housing category, due to its relative importance in the average consumer's budget, carries the largest weight factor and is the most influential category in both the comparative index and the inflation rates. The data were weighted by population to more accurately represent the price changes experienced by the majority of consumers in Wyoming.
The residential rental prices included in CBI reports are the prices reported in the semi-annual WCLI (historical data from the WCLI are republished in the WCDA’s semi-annual Profiles; see Housing discussion above). For Lincoln County, CBI reports the WCLI data for “Lincoln (Afton)”. The price categories include:
Apartment: Two-bedroom, unfurnished, excluding gas and electric
Mobile Home Lot: Sing-wide, including water
House: Two or three-bedroom, single family, excluding gas and electric
Mobile Home: This price reflects total monthly rental expense, including lot rent.
Sometimes, there are too few observations to report data in the WCLI. In those instances, CBI reports the data as “NA”.
Source: Wyoming Department of Administration & Information, Economic Analysis Division, found online at: http://eadiv.state.wy.us/wcli/wcli.html
Income and Poverty
The U.S. Census Bureau's Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates (SAIPE) program provides annual estimates of income and poverty statistics for all states, counties, and school districts. The estimates are not direct counts from enumerations or administrative records, nor direct estimates from sample surveys. Instead, for states and counties, the Census Bureau models income and poverty estimates by combining survey data with population estimates and administrative records. For school districts, Census uses the model-based county estimates and inputs from the decennial census and federal tax information to produce estimates of poverty. Data from the American Community Survey(ACS) are also used in the estimation procedure.
With the full implementation of the ACS in January 2005, single-year direct survey estimates for counties and other areas with a population of 65,000 or more became available. Starting in December 2010, the ACS began providing direct survey estimates for all counties and school districts, as well as for other small geographic areas (e.g., census tracts). For areas with populations less than 65,000, these direct survey estimates are based on 3-year or 5-year accumulations of ACS data, depending on population size of the area. Since modeling produces estimates with reduced sampling error, the SAIPE program continues to produce single-year model-based estimates for all states, counties, and school districts.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates, found online at: http://www.census.gov/did/www/saipe/data/interactive/#
Income Taxes
The Internal Revenue Service collects data from individual tax returns. The data are based on administrative records (individual income tax returns) from the Internal Revenue Service's Individual Master File (IMF) system, which includes a record for every Form 1040, 1040A, and 1040EZ filed with the IRS.
County Data are developed by sorting the returns by the ZIP code provided on the return by the taxpayer. The IRS does not attempt to correct the ZIP Codes provided by the taxpayers. In many cases, ZIP codes that are currently invalid were valid at some time in the past. Returns with foreign or APO or FPO addresses, or which did not contain a ZIP code are not included in these statistics. The state in which a return belonged is determined by the ZIP code.
CBI uses the following categories of income from the IRS data:
Wages
Wage income includes income from wages, salaries, tips, etc.
Interest
Interest income includes taxable interest income and the non-taxable interest income.
Dividends
Dividend income includes taxable distributions of money, stock, or other property received from domestic or foreign corporation, either directly or passed through estates, trusts, partnerships, or regulated investment companies.
Adjusted Gross Income (AGI) and Other income
Adjusted gross income includes the taxable income from all sources, less the adjustments to income, such as IRA deduction, self-employment tax and health insurance, alimony paid, etc. The “Other” category of income used by CBI includes all taxable income (except for Wages, Interest, and Dividends as defined above), minus the IRS adjustments used to calculate AGI.
Source: Internal Revenue Service, Statistics of Income, found online at: http://www.irs.gov/taxstats/article/0,,id=217541,00.html
LAUS Data
The Local Area Unemployment Statistics (LAUS) program produces monthly and annual employment, unemployment, and labor force data for Census regions and divisions, States, counties, metropolitan areas, and many cities, by place of residence. These estimates are key indicators of local economic conditions. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) of the U.S. Department of Labor is responsible for the concepts, definitions, technical procedures, validation, and publication of the estimates that State employment security agencies prepare under agreement with BLS.
The concepts and definitions underlying LAUS data come from the Current Population Survey (CPS), the household survey that is the official measure of the labor force for the nation. These models combine current and historical data from the CPS, the Current Employment Statistics (CES) program, and State unemployment insurance (UI) systems. Estimates for the sub-state labor market areas are produced through a building-block approach known as the "Handbook method." This procedure also uses data from several sources, including the CPS, the CES program, State UI systems, and the decennial census, to create estimates that are adjusted to the statewide measures of employment and unemployment. Below the labor market area level, estimates are prepared using disaggregation techniques based on inputs from the decennial census, annual population estimates, and current UI data.
LAUS data is provided on a preliminary basis for the previous month, a revised basis for the month prior to that, and is benchmarked annually. CBI Focus newsletters always use the most current data available, including updating charts with revised and benchmarked data.
Source: Wyoming Department of Workforce Services, Research & Planning Section, Labor Market Information found online at: http://doe.state.wy.us/lmi/LAUS/TOC.HTM
Location Quotients
One way to study an economy is to compare its economic base (jobs, taxes, etc.) in each industry to a larger economy. For example, CBI often compares a county’s economy to the state’s economy. Location Quotients (LQ) are determined by dividing the local percentage of industry by the state’s percentage of that same industry. For example, the Transportation and Warehousing Industry (TRA) generated about 1% of all Excise Taxes in Wyoming in 2011. By comparison, the TRA Industry generated 5.3% of Excise Taxes in 2011 in Niobrara County. To calculate a LQ, we divide the local percentage (5.3%) by the state percentage (1.0%) and arrive at a score of 5.3. Any score higher than 1.0 means that the industry is more significant (or relatively stronger) locally than it is in the state. In contrast, the TRA Industry generated just 0.49% of the Excise Taxes in Teton County in 2011, so it has an LQ of 0.5. A score less than 1.0 means that the industry is less significant (or relatively weaker) locally than it is in the state.
Median Age
The Census Bureau creates annual estimates of Median Ages for many geographies, including counties. Median Age divides the population into two numerically equal groups; that is, half the people are younger than this age and half are older.
For more information about the Census Bureau’s population estimates, see: https://www.census.gov/popest/index.html
Median Wages
Research & Planning (R&P), a section of the Department of Workforce Services, in cooperation with the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), has conducted an Occupational Employment Statistics (OES) Wage Survey since 1996. The OES program produces occupational employment and wage estimates that have many uses. For example, wage information helps employers determine if they are offering competitive wages. Employment and training organizations (such as community colleges), vocational counselors, and individuals use wage data to assist students in making career decisions. OES data are used to determine staffing patterns, develop employment projections, and for Foreign Labor Certification.
In Wyoming, the OES Wage Survey samples and contacts approximately 1,000 establishments by mail and phone in May and November of each year. Data obtained are used to estimate occupational employment and wage rates for Unemployment Insurance (UI) covered wage and salary jobs in non-farm establishments.
Wages for the OES survey are straight-time, gross pay, exclusive of premium pay. Items included in the survey are base pay rates, cost-of-living allowances, guaranteed pay, hazard pay, incentive pay, commissions, piece rates and production bonuses, length-of-service allowances, on-call pay, and portal-to-portal pay. Items excluded are back pay, jury-duty pay, overtime pay, severance pay, shift differentials, vacation pay, Christmas bonuses, holiday or weekend pay, attendance bonuses, meal and lodging allowances, merchandise discounts, non-production bonuses, profit-sharing distributions, relocation allowances, stock bonuses, tool allowances, tuition reimbursements, and uniform allowances. Data from tips were not collected prior to 1999. Tip data are incorporated into the hourly estimates. The OES Wage Survey does not include benefit data.
Hourly wage estimates are calculated using a year-round, full-time figure of 2,080 hours per year (52 weeks times 40 hours). Occupations that typically have a work year of less than 2,080 hours (such as musical and entertainment occupations, flight attendants, pilots, and teachers) are reported only as an annual wage.
Every state conducts an identical OES wage survey using standard techniques. This facilitates comparison of data among states, as well as comparisons with national figures. National and state wage estimates are located on the BLS website at http://www.bls.gov/oes.
For more information, see the BLS Technical Notes at: http://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_tec.htm
Migration
The Wyoming Housing Data Base Partnership publishes a semi-annual report containing demographic, economic and housing statistics for the State of Wyoming to help communities plan for their unique housing needs. The report includes statistical information from the U.S. Bureau of the Census, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, as well as the Wyoming Department of Administration and Information, Wyoming County Assessors, and the Wyoming Department of Transportation. The data is organized with an overview of Wyoming with each county's data presented and analyzed separately. Forecasting of housing needs, rental vacancy surveys, the average cost of new and existing housing and a survey of housing inventory are included.
Also included is migration data, based on drivers’ license exchanges. The Wyoming Department of Transportation (DOT) tracks drivers who move to Wyoming and exchange licenses from other states, as well as those surrendering Wyoming driver’s licenses when moving to a new out-of-state location. (Note: New Wyoming residents are asked to surrender their old out-of-state driver’s license within one year.) This is not a precise count of migration, as the data represent only the net change in the number of driver’s licenses. People may wait until their license has expired prior to getting a new one; hence, they are not represented in the net count of exchanged or surrendered licenses. Furthermore, not all persons have driver’s licenses as some persons may not drive or may be too young to qualify for a license. The data nevertheless indicate the general direction of population movement, as well as the strength of any population migration, thereby providing insight into Wyoming’s net migration and population trends.
Source: Wyoming Profile of Demographics, Economics and Housing, sponsored by the Wyoming Community Development Authority, found online at: http://www.wyomingcda.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=145&Itemid=11
Mineral Taxes
The Wyoming Department of Revenue (DOR), Mineral Tax Division collects mineral severance taxes, and determines the mineral production value in each Wyoming county for the assessment of ad valorem taxes. The DOR determines the value of minerals and other natural resources. After collection, the DOR distributes the local share of taxes to each County Treasurer. The DOR’s Annual Reports provide information on mineral taxes for each county and major resource type.
CBI combines the state assessed mineral tax valuation data into four categories: Oil (includes Crude Oil and Stripper Oil), Gas (Natural Gas), Coal (includes Surface Coal and Underground Coal), and Other (includes, Trona, Uranium, Bentonite, Clay, Decorative Stone, Feldspar, Granite Ballast, Gypsum, Sand & Gravel, Silver, Sodium Sulphate, Shale, Limestone, Gold, Zeolite, Leonardite, Jade, Diamond, Titaniferrous Magnetite, Miscellaneous Construction Material, and Moss Rock.
Source: Wyoming Department of Revenue, Annual Reports found online at: http://revenue.state.wy.us/PortalVBVS/DesktopDefault.aspx?tabindex=2&tabid=10
Non-Mineral Taxes
The Wyoming Department of Revenue (DOR), Property Tax Division assesses and allocates (by county) the value of public utility properties. The DOR’s Annual Reports provide summary property tax information for each county and major property type.
CBI combines the state assessed utility data into five categories: Airlines, Electric (includes Major Electrics, Municipal Electrics, and REA Electrics), Pipelines (includes Gas Distribution, Gas Pipelines, and Liquid Pipelines), Railroads, and Telecom (includes Cellular Telephones, Major Telephones, Reseller Telephones, Rural Telephones, and, starting with 2008 data, Cable & Satellite).
Source: Wyoming Department of Revenue, Annual Reports found online at: http://revenue.state.wy.us/PortalVBVS/DesktopDefault.aspx?tabindex=2&tabid=10
Per Capita Income and Personal Incomes
The U.S. Department of Commerce Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) provides a wealth of statistics that detail the geographic distribution economic activity and growth. BEA data creates a consistent framework for analyzing and comparing individual state and local area economies. CBI uses BEA data primarily to analyze personal income, using county data that has been adjusted according to individuals’ place of residence.
Personal Income is the income that is received by all persons from all sources. It is calculated as the sum of wage and salary disbursements, supplements to wages and salaries, proprietors' income with inventory valuation and capital consumption adjustments, rental income of persons with capital consumption adjustment, personal dividend income, personal interest income, and personal current transfer receipts, less contributions for government social insurance. The personal income of an area is the income that is received by, or on behalf of, all the individuals who live in the area; therefore, the estimates of personal income are presented by the place of residence of the income recipients. Personal income does not include realized or unrealized capital gains (or losses). This is because personal income was designed primarily as a measure of income arising from current production. It therefore excludes income that arises from price changes of existing assets (i.e. capital gains or losses). In addition, personal income was designed to analyze long-term macroeconomic trends and business cycles. Capital gains are exceedingly erratic and can overwhelm those trends and cycles.
Per capita personal income is calculated as the personal income of the residents of a given area divided by the resident population of that area. In computing per capita personal income for states and counties, BEA uses the Census Bureau’s annual midyear population estimates (Note: Except for college student and other seasonal populations, which are measured as of April 1, the population for all years is estimated as of July 1.)
Local area per capita personal income estimates should be used with caution for several reasons. In some instances, an unusually high or low per capita personal income is the temporary result of unusual conditions, such as a bumper crop or severe storms. In other instances, the income levels of certain groups atypical of the resident population may cause a longer term high or low per capita personal income that is not indicative of the economic well-being of the area. For instance, a major construction project—such as a new power plant—may substantially raise the per capita personal income of an area for several years because it attracts highly paid workers whose incomes are measured at the construction site. This high per capita income may not be indicative of the economic well-being of the permanent residents of the area (or, in many cases, of the construction workers themselves, because they frequently send a substantial portion of their wages to their dependents living in other areas).
Conversely, the presence of a large institutional population—such as that of a college or a prison—will tend to keep the per capita personal income of an area at a lower level because the residents of these institutions have little income attributable to them at these institutions. This lower per capita personal income is not indicative of the economic well-being of the other residents of the area (or, in some cases, of the institutional populations, because some of these populations, such as college students, typically receive support from their families living in other areas).
The per capita personal income estimates can also be misleading in areas where population changes rapidly. Population is measured at midyear, whereas income is measured as a flow over the year; therefore, a significant change in the population of an area during the year, particularly if it occurs around midyear, can cause a distortion in the per capita personal income estimates.
In counties where farm income predominates, additional considerations should be taken into account. Farm proprietors’ income as measured for personal income reflects returns from current production; it does not measure current cash flows. Sales out of inventories are included in current gross farm income, but they are excluded from net farm income because they represent income from a previous year’s production. Additions to inventories are included in net farm income at current market prices; therefore, farmers’ attempts to regulate their cash flows by adjusting inventories are not reflected in BEA’s farm proprietors’ income estimates. However, this regulation of cash flows by farmers extends their earnings cycles, so it helps them to survive losses or lowered income for 2 or 3 years. In addition, the per capita personal income of sparsely populated counties that are dependent on farming will react more sharply to the vagaries of weather, world market demand, and changing government policies related to agriculture than that of counties where the sources of income are more diversified.
CBI uses the following definitions for the components of personal income:
Earnings
Net earnings by place of residence is earnings by place of work less contributions for government social insurance, plus an adjustment to convert earnings by place of work to a place of residence basis. Earnings by place of work is the sum of wage and salary disbursements, supplements to wages and salaries, and proprietors' income.
Investments
Investments include personal dividend income, personal interest income, and rental income. Dividends consists of the payments in cash or other assets, excluding the corporation's own stock, made by corporations located in the United States or abroad to persons who are U.S. residents. It excludes that portion of dividends paid by regulated investment companies (mutual funds) related to capital gains distributions. The interest component of personal income is the interest income (monetary and imputed) of persons from all sources. Rental income is the net income of persons from the rental of real property, except for the income of persons primarily engaged in the real estate business; the imputed net rental income of the owner-occupants of nonfarm dwellings; and the royalties received from patents, copyrights, and the right to natural resources.
Transfer Receipts
This component of personal income is payments to persons for which no current services are performed. It consists of payments to individuals and to nonprofit institutions by Federal, state, and local governments and by businesses. Government payments to individuals includes retirement and disability insurance benefits, medical benefits (mainly Medicare and Medicaid), income maintenance benefits, unemployment insurance compensation, veterans benefits, and Federal education and training assistance. Government payments to nonprofit institutions excludes payments by the Federal Government for work under research and development contracts. Business payments to persons consists primarily of liability payments for personal injury and of corporate gifts to nonprofit institutions.
Transfer Receipts can be broken down into three main components, defined by CBI as follows:
Retirement
Retirement and other consists of retirement and disability insurance benefit payments, medical benefits, veterans benefit payments, federal education and training benefits, other government payments to individuals, government payments to nonprofit institutions, and business payments.
Assistance
Assistance is defined as Income Maintenance Payments, consisting largely of supplemental security income payments, family assistance, food stamp payments, and other assistance payments, including general assistance.
Unemployment
Unemployment insurance compensation is made up of state unemployment compensation; Federal unemployment compensation; unemployment compensation for railroad employees and military veterans; and unemployment compensation for workers who are unemployed because of the adverse economic effects of international trade arrangements.
Source: U.S. Department of Commerce Bureau of Economic Analysis, found online at: http://www.bea.gov/iTable/index_regional.cfm
Population
The Wyoming Department of Administration & Information, Economic Analysis Division serves as the lead agency for the Wyoming State Data Center (SDC) program. The SDC is a partnership with the U.S. Census Bureau to provide a vehicle for the dissemination of data provided by the Bureau to state and local governments. It is the official source of demographic, economic, and social statistics produced by the Census Bureau. The extensive data library includes federal, state, and county information on income, employment, demographics, population, and more.
The U.S. Census Bureau develops county population estimates with a component of population change method in which administrative records and other data is used to estimate the household and group quarters population. For the household population, the components of population change are births, deaths, net domestic migration, and net international migration. The Census Bureau measures change in the non-household, or group quarters, population by the net change in the population living in group quarters facilities.
A major assumption underlying this approach is that changes in selected administrative and other data sources closely approximate the components of population change. Therefore, Census Bureau demographers separately estimate each component of population change based on administrative records, including registered births and deaths, Federal income tax returns, Medicare enrollees, and military movement. They also separately estimate net international migration using information from the American Community Survey (ACS), Census 2000, and other data sources.
Most administrative record data sources lag the current estimate year (by as much as two years). Therefore, the Census Bureau projects the data for the current year based on past years’ data. As updated data become available, projected input data is revised so that each vintage’s estimates are always based on the most recent data available.
The Census Bureau produces the estimate of each county’s population, starting with the base population from the previous decennial census, or the revised population estimate for the prior year (for the July 1, 2001 and later estimates). Census then adds or subtracts the demographic components of population change calculated for that time period. Basically, Census adds the estimated number of births and subtracts the estimated number of deaths for the time period. Next, Census adds the estimates of net domestic migration, net international migration, and the net change in the group quarters population. The Census Bureau’s estimate of total population change includes a residual. This residual represents the change in population that cannot be attributed to any specific demographic component.
The Census Bureau produces separate population estimates for the populations under age 65 and age 65 and over, mainly because different data are used to measure the domestic migration of these two populations. For the population under age 65, person-level data from individual Federal tax returns is used to estimate net domestic migration. Medicare enrollment data is used to calculate measures of migration for the population age 65 and over, because this population is not always well represented on tax returns. County total population estimates are the sum of the estimates of the population under age 65 and age 65 years and over.
State and county estimates may also incorporate other changes due to corrections made since Census 2000. The corrections occur outside the component estimation framework and are the result of successful local challenges or special censuses.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau and Wyoming Department of Administration & Information, Economic Analysis Division, found online at:
http://eadiv.state.wy.us/pop/pop.html
Property Taxes
The Wyoming Department of Revenue (DOR), Property Tax Division collects and reports data on the assessment, valuation, and taxation of locally assessed property. The DOR also assesses and allocates public utility property. The DOR’s Annual Reports provide summary property tax information for each county and major property type.
CBI uses the same summary categories as the DOR: Agricultural (Total Agricultural Land Valuation), Residential (Total Residential Land, Improvements & Personal Property), Commercial (Total Commercial Land, Improvements & Personal Property), and Industrial (Total Industrial Property).
Source: Wyoming Department of Revenue, Annual Reports found online at:
http://revenue.state.wy.us/PortalVBVS/DesktopDefault.aspx?tabindex=2&tabid=10
For the most current property tax data, CBI uses the CAMA (Computer Assisted Mass Appraisal) database, available from the Wyoming Department of Revenue in Microsoft Access database format online at:
http://cama.state.wy.us/CAMADATA/TBLDATADOWNLOAD/AddTBLDATADOWNLOAD.aspx
School Enrollment
The Wyoming Department of Education provides information on students related to enrollment by grade, gender, and ethnicity. The information was compiled from local school district reports submitted each October to the Wyoming Department of Education.
Data on fall enrollment give a demographic snapshot of pupils enrolled on October 1. Special education students are included in the regular enrollment numbers. Pre-Kindergarten enrollment is not included in the regular enrollment numbers.
Source: Wyoming Department of Education, found online at: http://edu.wyoming.gov/DataInformationAndReporting/StatisticalReportSeries2.aspx