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Averaize Weekly Wage (Retail Sector) <br />Auto Dealers and Service Station <br />$568 <br />Building <br />$422 <br />Furniture <br />$403 <br />Miscellaneous Retail <br />$284 <br />Apparel <br />$237 <br />Food Stores <br />$227 <br />General Merchandise <br />$210 <br />Eating and Drinking establishments <br />$174 <br />Economic status varies in Orange County by race. The most recent estimates indicate that, <br />overall, 14% of Orange County residents are living in poverty. An estimated 22% of Blacks as <br />compared to 12% of Whites are living in poverty. <br />With more than 7,000 and 9,000 employees respectively, UNC- Chapel Hill and the UNC <br />Hospitals are the largest employers in the County. More than half the employed people who live <br />in Orange County are private wage and salary workers, many of whom commute to the Research <br />Triangle Park to work. About one - fourth are employed by government, either at UNC -CH, UNC <br />Hospitals, county or city government or one of the public school systems. Other significant <br />employers include Armstrong Work Industries, Mebane Packaging Group, General Electric and <br />Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina. <br />3. Social Characteristics <br />Education is a priority in Orange County. The Chapel Hill - Carrboro School System is among <br />the best in the nation and the Orange County School System has many award winning programs. <br />In the 1997 rankings of North Carolina public schools based on the ABC evaluations, both <br />school districts in the County had schools among the top 25 in the state. <br />The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is considered one of the nation's top <br />universities. Top flight professional schools include the School of Public Health, the Kenan- <br />Flagler Business School, and the School of Social Work. The UNC School of Medicine ranked <br />third in the nation in attracting federal grant money for medical research. <br />The University of North Carolina works in close partnership with the Orange County's public <br />and private sectors as agencies and businesses call upon the various schools and programs to <br />provide free or low cost research and technical assistance services. The University, in turn, <br />places many interns within local agencies for students to gain field experience in government, <br />human service, non profit and the private sector. This partnership leads to innovative new <br />approaches that benefit both the community and the University. <br />5 <br />