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Over the year ended May 2021, nonfarm employment increased in all 51 large metropolitan areas (those with a 2010 Census population of 1 million or more). The largest over-the-year percentage increase in employment in these large metropolitan areas occurred in Las Vegas-Henderson-Paradise, Nevada, where employment increased 21.4 percent. The number of people employed in the Las Vegas area increased from 774,900 in May 2020 to 940,700 in May 2021, an increase of 165,800.
Metropolitan area | Percent change in employment |
Employment, May 2020 |
Employment, May 2021 |
Change in employment |
---|---|---|---|---|
Las Vegas-Henderson-Paradise, NV |
21.4% | 774,900 | 940,700 | 165,800 |
Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI |
20.1 | 1,587,400 | 1,905,900 | 318,500 |
Buffalo-Cheektowaga-Niagara Falls, NY |
17.4 | 456,900 | 536,200 | 79,300 |
Providence-Warwick, RI-MA |
13.4 | 498,400 | 565,000 | 66,600 |
Rochester, NY |
12.2 | 456,300 | 512,100 | 55,800 |
Louisville/Jefferson County, KY-IN |
11.0 | 588,800 | 653,700 | 64,900 |
New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA |
10.7 | 8,216,600 | 9,095,300 | 878,700 |
Boston-Cambridge-Nashua, MA-NH |
10.6 | 2,377,400 | 2,630,300 | 252,900 |
Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin, TN |
10.4 | 934,500 | 1,031,400 | 96,900 |
Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD |
10.4 | 2,557,000 | 2,822,900 | 265,900 |
Pittsburgh, PA |
10.4 | 1,016,100 | 1,121,800 | 105,700 |
Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, FL |
10.1 | 1,091,200 | 1,200,900 | 109,700 |
Raleigh, NC |
9.8 | 586,700 | 644,300 | 57,600 |
Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA |
9.7 | 1,389,100 | 1,523,600 | 134,500 |
Austin-Round Rock, TX |
9.6 | 1,030,900 | 1,129,800 | 98,900 |
Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN |
9.3 | 987,400 | 1,079,200 | 91,800 |
San Diego-Carlsbad, CA |
9.3 | 1,281,100 | 1,400,600 | 119,500 |
Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD |
9.1 | 1,255,100 | 1,368,900 | 113,800 |
Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA |
8.6 | 5,300,400 | 5,755,900 | 455,500 |
Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA |
8.6 | 1,071,100 | 1,162,700 | 91,600 |
San Antonio-New Braunfels, TX |
8.5 | 979,000 | 1,062,400 | 83,400 |
Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI |
8.4 | 1,774,700 | 1,924,300 | 149,600 |
Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC |
8.1 | 1,127,000 | 1,218,600 | 91,600 |
Kansas City, MO-KS |
8.1 | 1,000,300 | 1,081,000 | 80,700 |
Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL |
8.1 | 2,389,900 | 2,583,300 | 193,400 |
Denver-Aurora-Lakewood, CO |
8.0 | 1,388,500 | 1,499,300 | 110,800 |
Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT |
8.0 | 510,600 | 551,500 | 40,900 |
Indianapolis-Carmel-Anderson, IN |
7.8 | 988,000 | 1,064,900 | 76,900 |
St. Louis, MO-IL |
7.6 | 1,258,600 | 1,354,700 | 96,100 |
Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL |
7.6 | 1,282,300 | 1,379,900 | 97,600 |
Sacramento--Roseville--Arden-Arcade, CA |
7.5 | 914,300 | 983,200 | 68,900 |
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX |
7.4 | 3,499,100 | 3,759,300 | 260,200 |
Jacksonville, FL |
7.4 | 674,500 | 724,400 | 49,900 |
Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA |
7.3 | 2,561,200 | 2,748,700 | 187,500 |
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN-WI |
7.3 | 4,136,100 | 4,439,800 | 303,700 |
Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA |
7.3 | 1,867,600 | 2,003,200 | 135,600 |
Milwaukee-Waukesha-West Allis, WI |
7.2 | 770,200 | 825,900 | 55,700 |
Salt Lake City, UT |
7.1 | 710,700 | 761,000 | 50,300 |
Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News, VA-NC |
7.1 | 711,100 | 761,400 | 50,300 |
Columbus, OH |
7.0 | 1,006,500 | 1,076,600 | 70,100 |
Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV |
6.9 | 2,979,900 | 3,187,000 | 207,100 |
Memphis, TN-MS-AR |
6.8 | 602,600 | 643,600 | 41,000 |
Birmingham-Hoover, AL |
6.6 | 497,700 | 530,700 | 33,000 |
New Orleans-Metairie, LA |
6.5 | 492,400 | 524,400 | 32,000 |
Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, AZ |
6.5 | 2,039,300 | 2,172,200 | 132,900 |
Cleveland-Elyria, OH |
6.2 | 951,800 | 1,010,900 | 59,100 |
San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward, CA |
6.1 | 2,148,000 | 2,279,900 | 131,900 |
Oklahoma City, OK |
5.8 | 604,900 | 640,200 | 35,300 |
San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA |
5.4 | 1,031,000 | 1,086,300 | 55,300 |
Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX |
4.8 | 2,898,000 | 3,037,700 | 139,700 |
Richmond, VA |
4.2 | 617,200 | 643,400 | 26,200 |
Note: Data for the most recent month are preliminary. Large metropolitan areas had a population of 1 million or more in the 2010 Census. |
Employment was up 20.1 percent in Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, Michigan, 17.4 percent in Buffalo-Cheektowaga-Niagara Falls, New York, 13.4 percent in Providence-Warwick, Rhode Island-Massachusetts, and 12.2 percent in Rochester, New York, over the year ended May 2021. Employment increased by 10.0 percent or more in 7 more large metropolitan areas.
The smallest over-the-year changes in employment among these large metro areas were in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma (5.8 percent), San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, California (5.4 percent), Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, Texas (4.8 percent) and Richmond, Virginia (4.2 percent).
These data are from the Current Employment Statistics (State and Metro Area) program and are not seasonally adjusted. Data for the most recent month are preliminary. To learn more, see "Metropolitan Area Employment and Unemployment — May 2021." Also see charts of the latest metropolitan area employment and unemployment data and the sortable table of metropolitan area employment data.
Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, The Economics Daily, Las Vegas metro area employment up 21.4 percent over the year ended May 2021 at https://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2021/las-vegas-metro-area-employment-up-21-4-percent-over-the-year-ended-may-2021.htm (visited March 23, 2025).