County Employment and Wages in Iowa — Fourth Quarter 2025

Employment declined in 2 of the 3 largest counties in Iowa with published data from December 2024 to December 2025, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Assistant Commissioner for Regional Operations Michael Hirniak noted that Polk County (-0.5 percent) had the largest over-the-year decrease in employment. (See chart 1 and table 1.)

Horizontal bar chart displaying over-the-year percent change in covered employment among the largest counties in Iowa in December 2025. An accessible version is available in the View Chart Data link below the chart.

View Chart Data

Chart 1. Over-the-year percent change in covered employment among the largest counties in Iowa, December 2025
County	Percent change, December 2025
Polk	-0.5
Linn	-0.2
Johnson	2.8

Polk County (315,300) had the highest employment level in Iowa in December 2025. Together, the four largest counties accounted for 39.9 percent of total covered employment within the state. Nationwide, the 372 largest counties comprise 73.4 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 2024.)

Large county average weekly wages in the fourth quarter 2025

All three large Iowa counties with published data reported average weekly wage gains over the year. (See chart 2.) Linn had the largest gain (+4.3 percent). Wages also increased for Johnson (+3.4 percent) and Polk (+2.9 percent).

Horizontal bar chart displaying over-the-year percent change in covered average weekly wages among the largest counties in Iowa in the fourth quarter 2025. An accessible version is available in the View Chart Data link below the chart.

View Chart Data

Chart 2. Over-the-year percent change in covered average weekly wages among the largest counties in Iowa, fourth quarter 2025
County	Percent change, fourth quarter 2025
Linn	4.3
Johnson	3.4
Polk	2.9

Weekly wages in all four large counties in Iowa were below the national average of $1,569. Average weekly wages ranged from $1,478 in Polk to $1,309 in Johnson.

Smaller county average weekly wages in the fourth quarter of 2025

Employment and wage levels (but not over-the-year changes) are also available for the 95 smaller counties in Iowa, defined as having employment below 75,000 in 2024. (See table 2.) Wage levels in all smaller counties were below the national average. Dallas reported the highest average weekly wage ($1,531) in the state. Decatur reported the lowest average weekly wage ($837).

Among all 99 Iowa counties, 7 reported average weekly wages less than $1,000, 25 had wages from $1,000 to $1,074, 35 had wages from $1,075 to $1,149, 12 had wages from $1,150 to $1,224, and 20 had average weekly wages of $1,225 or higher. (See map 1 and table 2.)

Map 1. Average weekly wages by county in Iowa, fourth quarter 2025

(U.S. average = $1,569)

Additional statistics and other information

QCEW data for states have been included in this release in table 3.

Nationwide coverage of the largest counties is published in the County Employment and Wages news release. Additional information about quarterly employment and wages data is available in the news release Technical Note and from the Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages website.

If you are deaf, hard of hearing, or have a speech disability, please dial 7-1-1 to access telecommunications relay services.

The County Employment and Wages release for the first quarter 2026 is scheduled to be released on Friday, August 28, 2026.

Table 1. Covered establishments, employment, and wages in the United States and the four largest counties in Iowa, fourth quarter 2025
Area	Establishments, fourth quarter (thousands)	Employment			Average weekly wage (1)
Area	Establishments, fourth quarter (thousands)	December 2025 (thousands)	Percent change, December 2024–25 (2)	National ranking by percent change (3)	Fourth quarter 2025 ($)	National ranking by level (3)	Percent change, fourth quarter 2024–25 (2)	National ranking by percent change (3)
United States (4)	12,428.4	156,700.2	0.2	--	1,569	--	4.2	--
Iowa	110.6	1,560.0	-0.2	--	1,282	39	3.7	37
Johnson	5.1	87.1	2.8	6	1,309	234	3.4	251
Linn	7.8	125.8	-0.2	195	1,390	178	4.3	151
Polk	20.4	315.3	-0.5	236	1,478	130	2.9	292
Scott	6.2	93.8	(5)	-	1,327	220	(5)	-
Footnotes: (1) Average weekly wages were calculated using unrounded data. (2) Percent changes were computed from employment and pay data adjusted for noneconomic county reclassifications. (3) Ranking does not include data for Puerto Rico or the Virgin Islands. (4) Totals for the United States do not include data for Puerto Rico or the Virgin Islands. (5) Data do not meet BLS or state agency disclosure standards.
Note: Data are preliminary. Dashes indicate data not applicable or available. Covered employment and wages include workers covered by Unemployment Insurance (UI) and Unemployment Compensation for Federal Employees (UCFE) programs.

Table 2. Covered establishments, employment, and wages in the United States and all counties in Iowa, fourth quarter 2025
Area	Establishments	Employment December 2025	Average weekly wage ($) (1)
United States (2)	12,428,415	156,700,218	1,569
Iowa	110,565	1,560,023	1,282
Adair	328	3,301	1,279
Adams	150	1,197	1,045
Allamakee	470	4,724	980
Appanoose	385	4,376	977
Audubon	234	1,790	1,133
Benton	709	5,942	1,055
Black Hawk	3,947	71,091	1,264
Boone	737	8,745	1,165
Bremer	755	9,566	1,067
Buchanan	626	6,803	1,082
Buena Vista	596	10,310	1,145
Butler	424	3,702	1,100
Calhoun	318	2,757	1,039
Carroll	929	10,912	1,086
Cass	521	5,602	1,044
Cedar	593	5,155	1,041
Cerro Gordo	1,677	23,350	1,133
Cherokee	439	4,950	1,027
Chickasaw	411	5,079	1,281
Clarke	254	4,804	1,063
Clay	701	8,577	1,134
Clayton	615	6,108	1,077
Clinton	1,470	18,772	1,108
Crawford	494	6,310	1,167
Dallas	3,696	56,915	1,531
Davis	244	1,957	1,077
Decatur	229	2,426	837
Delaware	593	7,000	1,122
Des Moines	1,412	20,047	1,124
Dickinson	946	9,250	1,003
Dubuque	3,685	58,032	1,273
Emmet	333	3,324	1,034
Fayette	665	7,039	1,020
Floyd	464	5,478	1,132
Franklin	356	3,833	1,132
Fremont	282	2,146	1,035
Greene	298	3,191	1,188
Grundy	387	4,035	1,288
Guthrie	377	3,220	1,095
Hamilton	479	5,604	1,077
Hancock	375	5,740	1,258
Hardin	615	6,375	1,177
Harrison	484	4,038	1,104
Henry	619	8,175	1,083
Howard	345	4,436	1,034
Humboldt	357	3,677	1,148
Ida	295	3,669	1,331
Iowa	726	8,016	1,036
Jackson	663	5,627	1,008
Jasper	975	10,876	1,085
Jefferson	761	7,193	1,192
Johnson	5,104	87,129	1,309
Jones	647	6,300	1,105
Keokuk	308	2,232	1,024
Kossuth	634	6,501	1,117
Lee	1,013	13,852	1,221
Linn	7,800	125,827	1,390
Louisa	281	3,544	1,080
Lucas	241	3,111	1,081
Lyon	555	4,984	1,314
Madison	558	4,159	1,079
Mahaska	626	8,256	1,124
Marion	1,071	19,390	1,437
Marshall	987	15,868	1,222
Mills	471	3,017	1,153
Mitchell	361	3,817	1,120
Monona	292	2,575	962
Monroe	247	3,612	1,293
Montgomery	363	3,951	1,027
Muscatine	1,199	20,684	1,282
O'Brien	608	6,608	1,017
Osceola	269	2,652	1,095
Page	460	6,209	1,058
Palo Alto	325	3,618	1,019
Plymouth	860	11,567	1,296
Pocahontas	253	2,481	1,119
Polk	20,411	315,263	1,478
Pottawattamie	2,697	42,470	1,162
Poweshiek	690	8,903	1,213
Ringgold	175	1,380	1,082
Sac	379	2,960	1,075
Scott	6,245	93,789	1,327
Shelby	429	5,507	1,067
Sioux	1,553	23,039	1,264
Story	3,008	47,024	1,300
Tama	431	5,274	1,045
Taylor	188	2,133	1,188
Union	437	5,741	1,058
Van Buren	220	1,955	953
Wapello	864	15,018	1,092
Warren	1,430	13,736	1,093
Washington	850	8,725	1,066
Wayne	172	2,034	1,073
Webster	1,154	17,222	1,192
Winnebago	378	3,707	988
Winneshiek	757	10,295	1,089
Woodbury	3,217	51,026	1,133
Worth	223	2,268	992
Wright	452	6,312	1,248
Footnotes: (1) Average weekly wages were calculated using unrounded data. (2) Totals for the United States do not include data for Puerto Rico or the Virgin Islands.
Note: Data are preliminary. Dashes indicate data not applicable or available. Covered employment and wages include workers covered by Unemployment Insurance (UI) and Unemployment Compensation for Federal Employees (UCFE) programs.

Table 3. Covered establishments, employment, and wages by state, fourth quarter 2025
State	Establishments, fourth quarter (thousands)	Employment		Average weekly wage (1)
State	Establishments, fourth quarter (thousands)	December 2025 (thousands)	Percent change, December 2024–25	Fourth quarter 2025 ($)	National ranking by level	Percent change, fourth quarter 2024–25	National ranking by percent change
United States (2)	12,428.4	156,700.2	0.2	1,569	--	4.2	--
Alabama	167.4	2,135.3	0.5	1,301	36	3.7	37
Alaska	25.3	317.3	-0.3	1,497	16	4.7	14
Arizona	227.4	3,278.3	0.0	1,446	20	3.0	47
Arkansas	113.0	1,318.2	0.4	1,213	49	5.0	8
California	2,013.7	18,351.7	0.6	1,954	4	4.6	16
Colorado	258.5	2,896.4	-0.6	1,683	8	5.6	3
Connecticut	149.8	1,706.5	0.1	1,801	6	5.0	8
Delaware	47.3	481.0	0.1	1,502	15	4.7	14
District of Columbia	51.0	726.1	-4.5	2,587	1	4.1	24
Florida	886.2	10,013.2	0.3	1,471	17	4.8	12
Georgia	398.7	4,925.4	0.1	1,440	21	3.5	40
Hawaii	63.0	650.0	-0.2	1,411	25	5.0	8
Idaho	104.3	875.7	1.8	1,303	35	5.8	2
Illinois	387.7	6,089.5	-0.1	1,588	11	3.3	42
Indiana	195.6	3,211.2	0.1	1,276	40	4.5	17
Iowa	110.6	1,560.0	-0.2	1,282	39	3.7	37
Kansas	101.8	1,443.2	-0.1	1,268	44	4.1	24
Kentucky	161.3	2,008.7	-0.1	1,235	46	3.8	34
Louisiana	159.2	1,927.3	-0.5	1,267	45	3.2	44
Maine	67.6	644.7	-0.1	1,332	33	4.2	21
Maryland	199.5	2,754.6	-1.1	1,616	10	3.0	47
Massachusetts	298.5	3,625.5	-0.9	1,980	2	4.9	11
Michigan	316.9	4,412.7	0.0	1,427	23	4.2	21
Minnesota	215.2	2,948.0	0.0	1,505	14	3.7	37
Mississippi	92.2	1,180.9	0.3	1,075	51	5.1	7
Missouri	259.9	2,920.8	-0.1	1,324	34	4.4	18
Montana	62.3	512.3	-0.1	1,296	38	3.3	42
Nebraska	78.5	1,024.0	-0.2	1,275	42	4.0	31
Nevada	111.0	1,592.1	1.7	1,395	27	3.2	44
New Hampshire	67.9	688.8	-0.6	1,652	9	4.8	12
New Jersey	343.1	4,343.1	0.2	1,691	7	3.9	33
New Mexico	69.7	875.3	-0.3	1,275	42	4.1	24
New York	719.1	9,907.5	0.4	1,975	3	5.4	4
North Carolina	392.1	4,991.1	0.9	1,409	26	3.8	34
North Dakota	37.0	430.4	-0.2	1,350	31	2.7	49
Ohio	348.5	5,554.4	0.0	1,358	30	4.1	24
Oklahoma	129.3	1,717.1	0.1	1,217	48	4.1	24
Oregon	177.9	1,975.8	-1.0	1,468	19	3.2	44
Pennsylvania	398.1	6,094.8	0.2	1,470	18	4.0	31
Rhode Island	49.1	500.3	-0.1	1,429	22	6.0	1
South Carolina	192.4	2,344.7	1.5	1,276	40	4.3	20
South Dakota	41.2	458.9	-0.2	1,230	47	4.1	24
Tennessee	225.2	3,281.6	-0.3	1,424	24	3.8	34
Texas	860.8	14,255.2	0.8	1,549	13	4.2	21
Utah	144.6	1,761.6	1.4	1,389	28	4.1	24
Vermont	34.5	309.3	-0.9	1,378	29	5.3	5
Virginia	324.0	4,166.9	0.5	1,585	12	2.6	50
Washington	242.1	3,590.3	-0.3	1,948	5	2.4	51
West Virginia	62.8	698.3	-0.6	1,203	50	3.5	40
Wisconsin	213.9	2,946.2	-0.1	1,346	32	5.3	5
Wyoming	31.7	278.4	-0.8	1,297	37	4.4	18
Puerto Rico	53.5	974.7	-0.2	735	(3)	2.8	(3)
Virgin Islands	3.0	34.7	0.3	1,068	(3)	2.7	(3)
Footnotes: (1) Average weekly wages were calculated using unrounded data. (2) Totals for the United States do not include data for Puerto Rico or the Virgin Islands. (3) Data not included in the national ranking.
Note: Data are preliminary. Dashes indicate data not applicable or available. Covered employment and wages include workers covered by Unemployment Insurance (UI) and Unemployment Compensation for Federal Employees (UCFE) programs.

Last Modified Date: Thursday, June 11, 2026

Midwest Information Office

County Employment and Wages in Iowa — Fourth Quarter 2025

(U.S. average = $1,569)