Employment and wages in all the Jefferson counties in 2016

This week we celebrate the 241st anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. Thomas Jefferson was the principal author of the Declaration, and there are 26 counties or parishes in the United States named Jefferson. Jefferson County, Kentucky, home of Louisville, had the largest employment in 2016, about 460,000. Jefferson County, Texas, had the highest average weekly wages, $1,061 in 2016, just above the U.S. average of $1,031.

Along with the Jefferson counties in Kentucky and Texas, others with 2016 employment greater than 100,000 were Jefferson County, Alabama (340,385), Jefferson County, Colorado (233,296), and Jefferson Parish, Louisiana (193,751). Thomas Jefferson’s native Virginia does not have a Jefferson County, but there is one in West Virginia (2016 employment of 15,605), which was part of Virginia during Jefferson’s lifetime. Jefferson County, Oklahoma, had the lowest 2016 employment with 1,142 jobs.

In addition to Jefferson County, Texas, others with average weekly wages greater than $1,000 in 2016 are the Jefferson counties in Colorado ($1,036), Alabama ($1,011), and Kentucky ($1,004).

These data are from the Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages. For industry employment and wage data at the national, state, county, and metropolitan area levels, see the data viewer tool or the QCEW Open Data Access.