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Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages
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QCEW CEW Program Links

The Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW) program publishes a quarterly count of employment and wages reported by employers covering more than 95 percent of U.S. jobs, available at the county, MSA, state and national levels by industry.

Announcements

Announcements Archive »

On This Page

 

QCEW News Releases

Boulder, CO, has largest county 3rd quarter 2019 over-the-year wage gain at 18.4%

02/20/2020

From third quarter 2018 to third quarter 2019, Boulder, CO, had the largest county percentage increase in average weekly wages at 18.4 percent. New Hanover, NC, had the largest county over-the-year percentage increase in employment in September 2019 at 5.8 percent.
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County Employment and Wages (QCEW) database now fully updated through 3rd quarter 2019

03/04/2020

BLS updated the full Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW) database through the third quarter of 2019. Links to updated databases, files, and tables can be found at www.bls.gov/web/cewdat.supp.toc.htm.
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Quarterly Releases

Discontinued Annual Releases

Archived News Releases

QCEW Databases

Databases

Database Name Special
Notice		 Top
Picks		 One
Screen		 Multi-
Screen		 Tables Text Files
State and County Wages
(Quarterly Census of Employment & Wages - QCEW) 		  Top Picks One Screen Data Search Multi Screen Data Search Tables Text Files

 

More Tools

Create Customized Maps

Create Customized Maps Maps
QCEW State and County Maps
QCEW State and County Maps
Mapping Unemployment Rates (States and Counties)
Mapping Unemployment Rates (States and Counties)

Database Tool Availability

Discontinued Data Series

Downloadable Data Files

More Tools

  • Open Data Access
    • Overview -Learn more about the collection of CSV files designed to allow third party programmers, developers, and organizations to retrieve published QCEW data in CSV format.
    • Data Slices: Structure and Storage -Learn more about the storage and structure of QCEW's collection of CSV data slices.
    • Programming Language Examples -QCEW data slices can be directly accessed from various programming languages. QCEW has made an effort to provide simple examples in several different languages.
  • QCEW State and County Maps - View QCEW maps, charts and data tables
  • Series Report—Already know the series identifier for the statistic you want? Use this shortcut to retrieve your data.
  • Census Business Builder (CBB) - QCEW data are now available in the U.S. Census Bureau's CBB. View maps and reports with selected QCEW data for establishments, employment, wages and location quotients.

 

All CEW Databases

QCEW Reporting Data

QCEW Publications

Publications Archive »

QCEW Questions and Answers

Questions and Answers


QCEW Data Overview

  1. What is QCEW?
  2. Does the QCEW program publish or release the number of employees in a particular company?
  3. How does QCEW employment compare to Current Employment Statistics (CES) and other employment measures?


    4. Data File Accessibility

  4. How do I get data prior to 2001?
  5. How do I use a QCEW .enb or .end file?
  6. Can I get QCEW data below the county-industry level?
  7. When are the most current QCEW data available?
  8. Can I get access to confidential QCEW microdata for research purposes?


    9. Understanding QCEW Data

  9. Why is my hand-calculated total different from the published total?
  10. Can I find data on employment and wages for a specific occupation or job?
  11. Why are there sometimes sudden shifts in levels of employment or wages?
  12. Why did a large portion of Oregon's employment and wages shift from state universities to local universities?
  13. Why are some data unavailable, or marked as ND, NA, or with a dash (-)?
  14. What are the QCEW concepts related to confidentiality and data disclosure?
  15. Why are QCEW establishment counts different from those of other programs?


    16. QCEW Definitions

  16. What is included in employment?
  17. What is included in total wages?
  18. Does the QCEW program publish employment by company size?
  19. Which version of NAICS and SIC does the QCEW program use?
  20. Does the QCEW program have data based on the new Metropolitan Statistical Area definition?
  21. What is a location quotient?
  22. What is the difference between a company, an employer and an establishment in QCEW data?


    23. Other Related Topics

  23. What is the prevailing wage rate for my area according to the Davis-Bacon Act?

All QCEW Questions and Answers »

QCEW Notices

2020

  • Hurricane maps and tables: Employment, wages, and establishment counts in hurricane flood zones have been updated with third quarter 2019 data.
  • QCEW Data Source Counts: Updated information related to QCEW reports and employment counts by type and data source
  • Seeking public comment on possible changes to North American Industry Classification System for 2022 Read More »

2019

 

All CEW Notices

QCEW Related Links

Other BLS Programs

Other Useful Links

Contact QCEW

Contact Us

For BLS QCEW Survey Respondents

For QCEW Data Users

  • Telephone: (202) 691-6567
  • E-mail: Contact QCEW

  • Written inquiries:

    • Bureau of Labor Statistics
    Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages
    Room 4860
    2 Massachusetts Ave., NE
    Washington, D.C. 20212

For related data sources

For state-published data

The cooperating State Workforce Agencies (SWAs) have labor market information offices that publish and disseminate QCEW data for their states.

 

Latest Numbers

RSS

U.S. and Ten Largest Counties Employment Over-the-Year Percent Change (Unadjusted)

U.S. TOTAL
+1.1%(p) since Sep 2018 Historical Data

Los Angeles County, California
+1.1%(p) since Sep 2018 Historical Data

Cook County, Illinois
+0.1%(p) since Sep 2018 Historical Data

New York County, New York
+2.4%(p) since Sep 2018 Historical Data

Harris County, Texas
+1.8%(p) since Sep 2018 Historical Data

Maricopa County, Arizona
+3.2%(p) since Sep 2018 Historical Data

Dallas County, Texas
+2.2%(p) since Sep 2018 Historical Data

Orange County, California
+1.4%(p) since Sep 2018 Historical Data

San Diego County, California
+1.6%(p) since Sep 2018 Historical Data

King County, Washington
+3.1%(p) since Sep 2018 Historical Data

Miami-Dade County, Florida
+1.2%(p) since Sep 2018 Historical Data

U.S. and Ten Largest Counties Average Weekly Wage Over-the-Year Percent Change (Unadjusted)

U.S. TOTAL
+3.6%(p) since 3rd Qtr of 2018 Historical Data

Los Angeles County, California
+3.9%(p) since 3rd Qtr of 2018 Historical Data

Cook County, Illinois
+3.3%(p) since 3rd Qtr of 2018 Historical Data

New York County, New York
+2.9%(p) since 3rd Qtr of 2018 Historical Data

Harris County, Texas
+3.2%(p) since 3rd Qtr of 2018 Historical Data

Maricopa County, Arizona
+4.6%(p) since 3rd Qtr of 2018 Historical Data

Dallas County, Texas
+4.7%(p) since 3rd Qtr of 2018 Historical Data

Orange County, California
+4.5%(p) since 3rd Qtr of 2018 Historical Data

San Diego County, California
+4.1%(p) since 3rd Qtr of 2018 Historical Data

King County, Washington
+3.7%(p) since 3rd Qtr of 2018 Historical Data

Miami-Dade County, Florida
+3.8%(p) since 3rd Qtr of 2018 Historical Data

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