Sussex facts and figures

A major part of the Today & Tomorrow Conference is sharing key statistics about Sussex County. Ed Simon, director of labor market information with the Delaware Department of Labor, supplied most of the information:

• In an average month in the county, 183 persons are born, 158 persons die, and 313 persons move in from another area.

• Average annual wage: $30,100 ($44,600 state average)

• Unemployment rate: 3.7 percent

• Population growth: 113,200 to 175,800 since 1990 (55 percent)

• Population not in labor force: 55,000

• Populace by largest population groups (2005): 0-14, 30,000; 35-44, 22,000; 45-54, 24,000; 55-64, 22,000; 65-and older 34,000

• Fastest growing jobs (last 10 years): leisure and hospitality, wholesale and retail

• Fastest growing jobs (last three years): construction, leisure and hospitality, professional and business services

• Best paying jobs: transporta-tion and utilities; government and education; finance, insurance, and real estate; health and social assistance

• Lowest paying jobs: leisure and hospitality, wholesale and retail, professional and business services

• The value of new construction, $537 million, in 2005 exceeded that of Rhode Island, South Dakota, Alaska and Washington, D.C.

• The outlet shopping area along Route 1 between Lewes and Rehoboth is the sixth largest square-foot retail shopping facility in the United States

• Tourism is responsible for employing more than 10,500 people in Sussex County with an estimated economic effect of more than $709 million

• There are just under 26,000 seasonal second-homes located in Delaware; 24,906 are in Sussex County

• The average single-family home has county property taxes of $98.26

• The county Recorder of Deeds Office collected an average of $1 million per week in realty transfer taxes during the 2005 and 2006 budget years

• The value of agriculture in the county was estimated at $798 million in 2004; the county remains No. 1 in the country in the production of broiler chickens.