According to a report recently released by officials in Chesterfield, Goochland County has the state’s highest weekly wage.

The report lists Goochland as having an average weekly wage rate of $1,227. That’s higher than Henrico, Richmond, and Chesterfield.

While Goochland trails those three significantly in terms of population, it’s position is envied from a job-category standpoint, said Goochland’s director of economic development, Greg Reid.

“I think what you find is that while Goochland isn’t as large as those other localities, we still hold our own because of the types of jobs we have here,” he added.
Chesterfield is estimated to have the highest population in the Richmond region with more than 300,000, which is roughly 31 percent of the region’s total.

According to 2007 data, the county accounted for 23 percent of the region’s 532,000 jobs, just behind Henrico County and Richmond.

But the average weekly wage in Chesterfield last year was $731, more than $100 less than the regional average of $843 a week. Overall, Chesterfield is fourth behind Richmond ($930) and Henrico ($876). The lowest wage rate in the region belonged to New Kent at $608.

Richmond Regional,  according to the report, consists of the counties of Charles City, Chesterfield, Goochland, Hanover, Henrico, New Kent, Powhatan and the City of Richmond. The aforementioned localities cover 2,100 square miles and had an estimated population of 953,000 last year.

Goochland’s seat atop the region’s best weekly wage rate wasn’t the only good news in the report. According to the figures, Goochland had the highest weekly wage rate growth in the last four years, growing from $638 in 2003 to more than $1,200 in 2007. That’s an increase of 94 percent.

“We just do not have a lot of corporate headquarter type jobs here,” Chesterfield’s principal planner Steven F. Haasch told an inVision Chesterfield breakfast at CJW Medical Center (Johnston-Willis) last week.

Goochland, Reid said, is very fortunate to have the most coveted types of jobs.

“Here in Goochland, and particularly in the eastern end, we have financial, insurance, and real estate jobs, which are the most sought-after sectors of employment,” he said.

—Wesley P. Hester, a staff writer for the Richmond Times-Dispatch,  contributed to this report.