Employment declined in 7 of the 12 largest counties in Virginia from March 2025 to March 2026, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Virginia employment decreased 0.2 percent over the year to 4,118,700 in March 2026, as measured by the Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW) program. (See table 1.) Regional Commissioner Lori Keller noted that Arlington County (-4.5 percent) had the largest over-the-year decrease in employment. (See chart 1.)

  

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Chart 1. Over-the-year percent change in covered employment among the largest counties in Virginia, March 2026

County	Percent change, March 2026
Arlington	-4.5
Alexandria City	-2.6
Fairfax	-2.1
Norfolk City	-1.0
Chesapeake City	-0.8
Newport News City	-0.7
Henrico	-0.4
Virginia Beach City	0.6
Chesterfield	0.7
Prince William	1.0
Richmond City	1.4
Loudoun	2.8

Fairfax County (622,800) had the highest employment level in Virginia in March 2026. Together, the 12 largest counties accounted for 55.0 percent of total covered employment within the state. Nationwide, the 376 largest counties comprise 73.5 percent of total covered employment in the United States. (Large counties and county equivalents are those with annual average employment levels of 75,000 or more in 2025.)

Average weekly wage gains in 6 of the 11 large counties in Virginia with published data were above the national average of 3.9 percent. (See chart 2.) Newport News City had the largest gain (+12.3 percent). Over-the-year wage gains among the other 10 large Virginia counties ranged from 8.8 percent to 2.0 percent.

  

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Chart 2. Over-the-year percent change in covered average weekly wages among the largest counties in Virginia, first quarter 2026

County	Percent change, first quarter 2026
Newport News City	12.3
Arlington	8.8
Chesterfield	6.7
Alexandria City	6.1
Henrico	5.9
Richmond City	4.8
Chesapeake City	3.9
Fairfax	3.4
Virginia Beach City	3.1
Prince William	2.5
Loudoun	2.0

Weekly wages in 5 of the 12 largest counties in Virginia were above the national average of $1,654. Average weekly wages ranged from $2,901 in Arlington to $1,201 in Chesapeake City.

Statewide, average weekly wages increased 4.0 percent over the year to $1,665. Virginia ranked 11th in average weekly wages among the 50 states and the District of Columbia and 17th in wage growth.

Employment and wage levels (but not over-the-year changes) are also available for the 121 smaller counties in Virginia, defined as having employment below 75,000 in 2025. (See table 2.) Wage levels in 116 of the 121 smaller counties were below the national average. Goochland reported the highest average weekly wage ($3,152) in the state. Emporia City reported the lowest average weekly wage ($734).

Among all 133 Virginia counties, 43 reported average weekly wages less than $975, 37 had wages from $975 to $1,124, 19 had wages from $1,125 to $1,274, and 34 had average weekly wages of $1,275 or higher. (See map 1 and table 2.)