This study analyzes urban and rural values of value added per worker and production worker wages tabulated from unpublished 1992 Census of Manufactures data. A decomposition of regional averages separates out effects of regional industry mix from within-industry differentials over a rural-urban continuum and for metro and nonmetro portions of census regions. Comparison of actual 1991-1993 employment growth with regional wage and productivity differentials shows that low wages are strongly associated with job growth.