County Employment and Wages Summary

For release 10:00 a.m. (ET) Tuesday, September 9, 2025		USDL-25-1351

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 2025

From March 2024 to March 2025, employment increased in 221 of the 372 largest U.S. counties, the
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. In March 2025, national employment increased to
154.5 million, a 0.4-percent increase over the year, as measured by the Quarterly Census of
Employment and Wages (QCEW) program. Loudoun, VA, had the largest over-the-year increase in
employment, with a gain of 3.4 percent. Employment data in this release are presented for March
2025, and average weekly wage data are presented for first quarter 2025.

Among the 372 largest counties, 340 had over-the-year increases in average weekly wages. In the
first quarter of 2025, average weekly wages for the nation increased to $1,589, a 4.1-percent
increase over the year. Benton, AR, had the largest first quarter over-the-year wage gain at 14.6
percent. (See table 1.)

Large County Employment in March 2025

Loudoun, VA, had the largest over-the-year percentage increase in employment (+3.4 percent). Within
Loudoun, the largest employment increase occurred in construction, with a gain of 3,239 (+16.4
percent).

McLean, IL, had the largest over-the-year percentage decrease in employment (-4.2 percent). Within
McLean, the largest employment decrease occurred in manufacturing, with a loss of 2,842 (-25.9
percent).

Large County Average Weekly Wage in First Quarter 2025

Benton, AR, had the largest over-the-year percentage increase in average weekly wages (+14.6
percent). Within Benton, an average weekly wage gain of $860 (+19.1 percent) in professional and
business services made the largest contribution to the county's increase in average weekly wages.

Westchester, NY, had the largest over-the-year percentage decrease in average weekly wages (-2.1
percent). Within Westchester, an average weekly wage loss of $621 (-17.0 percent) in professional
and business services made the largest contribution to the county's decrease in average weekly
wages.

Ten Largest Counties

Six of the 10 largest counties had over-the-year percentage increases in employment. In March 2025,
Miami-Dade, FL, had the largest over-the-year employment percentage gain (+1.5 percent). Within
Miami-Dade, education and health services had the largest employment increase, with a gain of 5,028
(+2.4 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 2025, New York, NY, experienced the largest over-the-year percentage gain in
average weekly wages (+10.6 percent). Within New York, financial activities had the largest impact,
with an average weekly wage increase of $1,720 (+14.9 percent).

For More Information

The tables included in this release contain data for the nation and for the 372 U.S. counties with
annual average employment levels of 75,000 or more in 2024. March 2025 employment and first quarter
2025 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 2025 is scheduled to be released on
Wednesday, December 3, 2025, at 10:00 a.m. (ET).


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		County Changes for the 2025 County Employment and Wages News Releases

	Counties with annual average employment of 75,000 or more in 2024 are included in this release 
	and will be included in future 2025 releases. Four counties have been added to the publication 
	tables: Pinal, AZ; Henry, GA; Wood, OH; and Comal, TX. One county has been dropped from the 
	publication tables: Gregg, TX.
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