PolicyMap Does Black Friday

Here at PolicyMap, we’re all looking forward to a nice Thanksgiving with our friends and families. How we spend the day after Thanksgiving, however, varies a bit. I’ll probably look for a nice autumnal walk over the fallen leaves of the woods near my house. Elizabeth will be with her family in Ohio, making her first pecan pie with sorghum. And Phil will be executing a tactical assault on Philadelphia’s retail establishments with the precision of the Allied invasion of Normandy.

Phil assures us that there will be no casualties, but still, we wondered where the brave men and women of America’s retail sector would be situated on midnight Friday. Fortunately, we have a map of that.

And where in the country are retailers best paid?

Probably to no one’s surprise, New York, the San Francisco Bay area, and northern Virginia lead the way, with average annual wages between $40,000 and $46,000 in 2011. But perhaps more surprising are the relatively high wages in Crosby County, Texas ($78,446), and the Aleutians West Census Area, Alaska ($39,432). It’s the best of all worlds if you’re a retailer on an icy volcanic rock off the coast of Alaska: You’re getting paid, and the Black Friday crowds are minimal.