Employment declined in 1 of the 3 largest counties in Nebraska from March 2025 to March 2026, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Nebraska employment decreased 0.1 percent over the year to 1,008,200 in March 2026, as measured by the Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW) program. (See table 1.) Assistant Commissioner for Regional Operations Michael Hirniak noted that employment decreased 0.3 percent in Lancaster County. (See chart 1.)

  

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

County	Percent change, March 2026
Lancaster	-0.3
Douglas	0.4
Sarpy	1.0

Douglas County (337,700) had the highest employment level in Nebraska in March 2026. Together, the three largest counties accounted for 59.0 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 the two large counties in Nebraska with published data were below the national average of 3.9 percent. (See chart 2.) Douglas had the largest gain (+3.6 percent). In Lancaster, the average weekly wage increased 2.2 percent over the year.

  

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

County	Percent change, first quarter 2026
Douglas	3.6
Lancaster	2.2

Weekly wages in all three large counties in Nebraska were below the national average of $1,654: $1,441 in Douglas, $1,199 in Lancaster, and $1,196 in Sarpy. 

Statewide, average weekly wages increased 3.7 percent over the year to $1,274. Nebraska ranked 42nd in average weekly wages among the 50 states and the District of Columbia and 26th in wage growth.

Employment and wage levels (but not over-the-year changes) are also available for the 90 smaller counties in Nebraska, defined as having employment below 75,000 in 2025. (See table 2.)  Wage levels in 89 of the 90 smaller counties were below the national average. Stanton reported the highest average weekly wage ($1,770) in the state. Keya Paha reported the lowest average weekly wage ($653).

Among all 93 Nebraska counties, 24 reported average weekly wages less than $875, 20 had wages from $875 to $949, 16 had wages from $950 to $1,024, 15 had wages from $1,025 to $1,099, and 18 had average weekly wages of $1,100 or higher. (See map 1 and table 2.)

QCEW data for all 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 second quarter 2026 is scheduled to be released on Wednesday, December 2, 2026.