County Employment and Wages Summary

For release 10:00 a.m. (ET) Friday, August 28, 2026		USDL-26-1424

Technical information:	(202) 691-6567  *  QCEWInfo@bls.gov  *  www.bls.gov/cew
Media contact:		(202) 691-5902  *  PressOffice@bls.gov

COUNTY EMPLOYMENT AND WAGES - FIRST QUARTER 2026

From March 2025 to March 2026, employment increased in 151 of the 376 largest U.S. counties, the
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. In March 2026, national employment increased to
154.8 million, a 0.1-percent increase over the year, as measured by the Quarterly Census of
Employment and Wages (QCEW) program. Licking, OH, had the largest over-the-year increase in
employment, with a gain of 3.6 percent. Employment data in this release are presented for March
2026, and average weekly wage data are presented for first quarter 2026.

Among the 376 largest counties, 358 had over-the-year increases in average weekly wages. In the
first quarter of 2026, average weekly wages for the nation increased to $1,654, a 3.9-percent
increase over the year. St. Tammany, LA, had the largest first quarter over-the-year wage gain at
23.4 percent. (See table 1.)

Large County Employment in March 2026

Licking, OH, had the largest over-the-year percentage increase in employment (+3.6 percent). Within
Licking, the largest employment increase occurred in trade, transportation, and utilities, with a
gain of 677 (+3.7 percent).

Washington, DC, and Arlington, VA, had the largest over-the-year percentage decrease in employment
(-4.5 percent each). Within Washington, the largest employment decrease occurred in combined government,
with a loss of 25,704 (-11.0 percent). Within Arlington, the largest employment decrease occurred in
professional and business services, with a loss of 3,563 (-5.6 percent).

Large County Average Weekly Wage in First Quarter 2026

St. Tammany, LA, had the largest over-the-year percentage increase in average weekly wages (+23.4
percent). Within St. Tammany, an average weekly wage gain of $29,561 (+771.8 percent) in natural
resources and mining made the largest contribution to the county's increase in average weekly wages.

San Francisco, CA, had the largest over-the-year percentage decrease in average weekly wages (-9.6
percent). Within San Francisco, an average weekly wage loss of $2,092 (-27.9 percent) in
professional and business services made the largest contribution to the county's decrease in average
weekly wages.

Ten Largest Counties

Three of the 10 largest counties had over-the-year percentage increases in employment. In March
2026, Orange, CA, had the largest over-the-year employment percentage gain (+0.7 percent). Within
Orange, education and health services had the largest employment increase, with a gain of 10,753
(+4.0 percent). (See table 2.)

All of the 10 largest counties had over-the-year percentage increases in average weekly wages. In
the first quarter of 2026, New York, NY, experienced the largest over-the-year percentage gain in
average weekly wages (+7.9 percent). Within New York, financial activities had the largest impact,
with an average weekly wage increase of $1,477 (+11.1 percent).

For More Information

The tables included in this release contain data for the nation and for the 376 U.S. counties with
annual average employment levels of 75,000 or more in 2025. March 2026 employment and first quarter
2026 average weekly wages for all states are provided in table 3 of this release.

Over-the-year changes of employment and wages presented in this news release are adjusted and may
differ from unadjusted data used in BLS data tools and interactive charts. More information is
available in the QCEW Technical Note at www.bls.gov/cew/news-release-technical-note.htm.

QCEW reporting rates tables are available at www.bls.gov/cew/reporting-rates/.

The most current news release on quarterly measures of gross job flows is available from QCEW
Business Employment Dynamics at www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/cewbd.pdf.

BLS regional offices issue QCEW news releases targeted to local data users. Links to these releases
are available at www.bls.gov/cew/regional-resources.htm.

QCEW data are available in the Census Business Builder suite of web tools assisting business owners
and regional analysts in data-driven decision making at www.census.gov/data/data-tools/cbb.html.

The QCEW news release schedule is available at www.bls.gov/cew/release-calendar.htm.

If you are deaf, hard of hearing, or have a speech disability, please dial 7-1-1 to access
telecommunications relay services.

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The County Employment and Wages news release for second quarter 2026 is scheduled to be published on
Wednesday, December 2, 2026, at 10:00 a.m. (ET).


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		County Changes for the 2026 County Employment and Wages News Releases

	Counties with annual average employment of 75,000 or more in 2025 are included in this release
	and will be included in future 2026 releases. Five counties have been added to the publication
	tables: Kenton, KY; Union, NC; Licking, OH; Gregg, TX; and Kenosha, WI. One county has been
	dropped from the publication tables: Wood, OH.
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