LAKE COUNTY LABOR MARKET PROFILELake County is located in Northwest Indiana. The county is bordered on the south by Newton and Jasper Counties. The County is adjacent to Porter County on the east, Lake Michigan is to the north, and The State of Illinois to the west. Lake County is one of the seven counties located in the area designated by the Indiana Department of Workforce Development as Indiana Economic Growth Region 1.
Lake County’s population estimate for 2008 was 493,800, up 1.9 percent from the 2000 Census total. During this same time period, Indiana’s total 2008 population estimate of 6,376,792 was up by 4.6 percent.
Population pageAccording to the 2000 Census, 250,349 people twenty-five years of age and over were high school high school graduates and/or had post-high school education. This amount represented 80.7 percent of Lake County’s twenty-five and over population. For the twenty-five years of age and over population, 50,307 or 16.2 percent were four-year college graduates or higher, ranking Lake County 21st highest among Indiana counties for percentage of this population who were college graduates or higher. In 2007, 4,895 persons graduated high school and 4,241 or 86.6 percent intended to go on to higher education.
Education pageLake County’s estimated average unemployment rate for 2008 was 6.2 percent, above Indiana’s annual average of 5.9 percent. The county’s unemployment rate was based on an estimated average residential labor force of 228,056. Of that labor force, 213,890 were employed and 14,166 were unemployed. Lake County’s unemployment rate reached a decade low of 3.6 percent in 2000. The rate rose to 6.4 percent by 2002.
Labor force pageIn 2007 persons living in but commuting to work out of Lake County was 63,338 or 20.6 percent of the labor force. Approximately 79.4 percent of Lake County’s working residents work in the county. The area outside Lake County where the largest number of residents went to work was State of Illinois. In 2007 person commuting to work into the county from outside areas was 45,961 or 16.0 percent of the work force. The area sending the most number of persons into the county to work was Porter County.
Commutting pageIn 2008, Lake County businesses had an average of 194,191 jobs. Three major industry sectors: Health Care & Social Assistance, Government (all levels), and Manufacturing dominated the county in terms of employment. These three industry sectors accounted for 42.7 percent of the county’s 2008 industry employment. The largest employing industry in the county was Health Care & Social Assistance with 29,232 jobs, accounting for 15.1 percent of total employment. Total covered employment was up 1.7 percent between 2004 and 2008. Health Care & Social Assistance showed the most job growth between 2004 and 2008, increasing 1,964 jobs or 7.2 percent. Transportation & Warehousing was second, adding 1,931 jobs or 30.2 percent. Transportation & Warehousing had the largest percentage gain at 30.2 percent.
Industry employment pageThe average 2008 earnings for Lake County was $40,243 per year versus Indiana’s $38,405. The average industry wage rose by $4,868 or 13.8 percent from 2004 to 2008. The Management of Companies and Enterprises industry had the highest average earnings at $76,103 per year, with the Manufacturing industry second at $74,063, while the industry with the lowest annual earnings number was Accommodation & Food Services at $12,026. Per capita income for 2007 was $31,833 in Lake County, up 19.7 percent since 2002.
Industry earnings pageLake County has 10,201 firms, with 280 firms or about 2.7 percent employing 100 or more workers, while firms employing fewer than 10 workers account for 69.3 percent. Also, the number firms employing fewer than 10 workers fell 0.7 percent or 53 firms between 1999 and 2008 to total 7,071 firms in 2008.
Firms page