Among Nebraska’s three largest counties, employment declined in Douglas (-0.1 percent) from September 2024 to September 2025, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Assistant Commissioner for Regional Operations Michael Hirniak noted employment increased in Sarpy (+2.3 percent) and Lancaster (+0.4 percent). (See chart 1 and table 1.)

  

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Chart 1. Over-the-year percent change in covered employment among the largest counties in Nebraska, September 2025

County	Percent change, September 2025
Douglas	-0.1
Lancaster	0.4
Sarpy	2.3

Among the three largest counties in Nebraska, employment was highest in Douglas (341,400) in September 2025. Together, the three largest counties accounted for 59.1 percent of total covered employment within the state. Nationwide, the 372 largest counties comprise 73.2 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.)

All three large Nebraska counties reported average weekly wage increases over the year. (See chart 2.) Lancaster had the largest increase (+3.5 percent), followed by Douglas (+2.6 percent) and Sarpy (+2.2 percent).

  

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Chart 2. Over-the-year percent change in covered average weekly wages among the largest counties in Nebraska, third quarter 2025

County	Percent change, third quarter 2025
Lancaster	3.5
Douglas	2.6
Sarpy	2.2

Weekly wages in all large counties in Nebraska were below the national average of $1,459. Douglas had the highest average weekly wage ($1,315), followed by Lancaster ($1,164) and Sarpy ($1,137).

Employment and wage levels (but not over-the-year changes) are also available for the 90 small counties in Nebraska, defined as having employment below 75,000 in 2024. (See table 2.) Wage levels in 89 of the 90 smaller counties were below the national average. Stanton reported the highest average weekly wage ($1,592). Hooker reported the lowest average weekly wage ($612) in the state.

Among all 93 Nebraska counties, 30 reported average weekly wages of less than $875, 20 had wages from $875 to $949, 20 had wages from $950 to $1,024, and 23 had average weekly wages of $1,025 or higher.  (See map 1 and table 2.)

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.

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The County Employment and Wages release for the fourth quarter 2025 is scheduled to be released on Tuesday, June 2, 2026.