In the year 2000, the average weekly wage for all the employment sectors in the county was $488. This amount was less than the statewide average of $622. In Putnam County, Manufacturing is the largest employment sector providing 34.5% of the jobs. The other predominant employment sectors are Services and Retail trade. Statewide, the service industry is the largest employment sector, contributing 25.6% of the state's jobs. Between 1996 and 2000, Putnam County's annual unemployment rate was less than the state's rate, averaging 3.7% compared with the state's average of 4.2%. Nationally, the unemployment rate for the same period averaged 4.8%. The county per capita personal income in 1999 was $22,108, as compared with $27,324 for Georgia and $28,546 for the United States. Putnam County's median household income in 1997 was $32,956. This amount was less than the state's median household income of $36,372 in that same year. Nationally, the median household income in 1999 was $37,005. During 1997, 16.3% of the county's population lived below the poverty level, compared with Georgia's rate of 14.7% and the national rate of 13.3%. In addition, 26.5% of the children under the age of 18 lived below the poverty level in Putnam County. Nationally, 19.9% of the population under the age of 18 years lived below the level of poverty Residents of Putnam County received total government transfer payments amounting to $3,363 per capita in 1999, compared with $3,302 per capita statewide. Transfer payments include retirement and disability insurance benefit payments, medical benefits, unemployment insurance benefits, and veteran's benefits payments. According to the Georgia Department of Revenue's Net Property and Utility Digest, Putnam County's assessed property value amounted to $589.9 million in 1999, resulting in a per capita assessed property value of $33,597. At the state level, per
capita assessed property value in 1999 equaled $24,462. Putnam County collected $10.9 million in total revenues in 1996. In 2000, the county received $11.9 million, an increase of 8.3%. Total revenue in 2000 equaled $630 per capita. The statewide revenue per capita for this same year was $679. From 1996 to 2000, own source revenues for Putnam County rose from $10.3 million to $11 million, an increase of 6.7%. Own source revenues include revenues from property taxes, sales taxes, excise and special use taxes, and service charges and fees. Per capita own source revenues amounted to $586 in 2000. This compares to a statewide per capita amount of $611. The county collected an average of $324 per capita in property taxes during the past five years. This amount was greater than the average of $191 per capita collected by similarly-sized counties. For the same period, the average per capita amount of county property tax collected in Georgia was $190. On average, property taxes accounted for 52.3% of the county's own source revenue during the period of 1996 to 2000. General operating expenditures for Putnam County in 1996 equaled $7.7 million, or $465 per capita. In 2000, general operating expenditures rose by 14.0% to $8.8 million, which was $467 per capita. General operating expenditures per capita for similarly-sized counties was $399 in 2000. The statewide average was $404 per capita during the same period. Historically, the top three expenditure categories for counties are public safety, administration, and health and human services. In 2000, Putnam County spent $2.8 million or 28.5% of total county spending on public safety which includes spending for law enforcement, fire services and jails. Spending for administration totaled $1.7 million, amounting to 17.2% of total expenditures. The county spent $1.4 million or 14.2% of total spending on health and human services. From 1996 to 2000, Putnam County had no long-term debt outstanding each year. Similarly-sized counties held an average of $129.73 per capita during the period. | 
