County Employment and Wages Summary

For release 10:00 a.m. (ET) Wednesday, February 19, 2025		USDL-25-0224

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

COUNTY EMPLOYMENT AND WAGES - THIRD QUARTER 2024

From September 2023 to September 2024, employment increased in 264 of the 369 largest U.S. counties,
the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. In September 2024, national employment increased
to 155.4 million, a 0.8-percent increase over the year, as measured by the Quarterly Census of
Employment and Wages (QCEW) program. Kings, NY, had the largest over-the-year increase in
employment, with a gain of 4.9 percent. Employment data in this release are presented for September
2024, and average weekly wage data are presented for third quarter 2024.

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			Resumption of Publication of Colorado Employment and Wage Data
	
	On November 20, 2024, the Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW) suspended 
	publication of industry and substate data for Colorado due to data quality concerns. These
	quality concerns were due to ongoing issues with the modernization of the state’s unemployment
	insurance (UI) system. The quality concerns with Colorado data have been sufficiently addressed
	to resume publication. Effective with this release, QCEW is resuming publication of substate and
	industry employment and wage data for Colorado. For more information, see www.bls.gov/cew/
	notices/2025/resumption-of-publication-of-colorado-employment-and-wage-data.htm.
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Among the 369 largest counties, 363 had over-the-year increases in average weekly wages. In the
third quarter of 2024, average weekly wages for the nation increased to $1,394, a 4.5-percent
increase over the year. Benton, AR, had the largest third quarter over-the-year wage gain at 15.5
percent. (See table 1.)

Large County Employment in September 2024

Kings, NY, had the largest over-the-year percentage increase in employment (+4.9 percent). Within
Kings, the largest employment increase occurred in education and health services, which rose by
40,483 (+11.1 percent).

Elkhart, IN, had the largest over-the-year percentage decrease in employment (-2.7 percent). Within
Elkhart, the largest employment decrease occurred in manufacturing, which fell by 2,668 (-4.2
percent).

Large County Average Weekly Wage in Third Quarter 2024

Benton, AR, had the largest over-the-year percentage increase in average weekly wages (+15.5
percent). Within Benton, an average weekly wage gain of $615 (+28.9 percent) in professional and
business services made the largest contribution to the county's increase in average weekly wages.

Weld, CO, had the largest over-the-year percentage decrease in average weekly wages (-1.3 percent).
Within Weld, an average weekly wage loss of $722 (-30.2 percent) in natural resources and mining
made the largest contribution to the county's decrease in average weekly wages.

Ten Largest Counties

Eight of the 10 largest counties had over-the-year percentage increases in employment. In September
2024, Miami-Dade, FL, had the largest over-the-year employment percentage gain (+1.7 percent).
Within Miami-Dade, education and health services had the largest employment increase, with a gain of 
5,228 (+2.5 percent). (See table 2.)

All of the 10 largest counties had over-the-year percentage increases in average weekly wages. In
the third quarter of 2024, King, WA, experienced the largest over-the-year percentage gain in
average weekly wages (+6.4 percent). Within King, information had the largest impact, with an
average weekly wage increase of $903 (+14.4 percent).

For More Information

The tables included in this release contain data for the nation and for the 369 U.S. counties with
annual average employment levels of 75,000 or more in 2023. September 2024 employment and third
quarter 2024 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.

Several 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 full data update for third quarter 2024 is scheduled to be released
on Wednesday, March 5, 2025, at 10:00 a.m. (ET).

The County Employment and Wages news release for fourth quarter 2024 is scheduled to be released on
Wednesday, May 21, 2025, at 10:00 a.m. (ET).