Employment rose in 5 of the 8 largest counties in Wisconsin from March 2025 to March 2026, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Wisconsin employment was essentially unchanged over the year at 2,902,600 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 Kenosha County (+1.2 percent) had the largest over-the-year increase in employment. (See chart 1.)

  

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

County	Percent change, March 2026
Kenosha	1.2
Dane	0.7
Waukesha	0.4
Milwaukee	0.2
Outagamie	0.1
Racine	-0.7
Winnebago	-0.9
Brown	-1.0

Milwaukee County (463,300) had the highest employment level in Wisconsin in March 2026. Together, the eight largest counties accounted for 54.2 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 7 of the 8 large counties in Wisconsin were below the national average of 3.9 percent. (See chart 2.) Dane had the largest gain (+7.7 percent). Over-the-year wage gains among the other seven large Wisconsin counties ranged from 3.8 percent to 1.4 percent.

  

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

County	Percent change, first quarter 2026
Dane	7.7
Racine	3.8
Brown	2.7
Waukesha	2.7
Kenosha	2.5
Winnebago	1.7
Milwaukee	1.4
Outagamie	1.4

Weekly wages in all eight large counties in Wisconsin were below the national average of $1,654. Average weekly wages ranged from $1,631 in Dane to $1,181 in Kenosha.

Statewide, average weekly wages increased 3.7 percent over the year to $1,353. Wisconsin ranked 32nd 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 64 smaller counties in Wisconsin, defined as having employment below 75,000 in 2025. (See table 2.)  Wage levels in all of the smaller counties were below the national average. Sheboygan reported the highest average weekly wage ($1,394) among small counties. Florence reported the lowest average weekly wage ($711) in the state.

Among all 72 Wisconsin counties, 25 reported average weekly wages less than $975, 20 had wages from $975 to $1,074, 9 had wages from $1,075 to $1,174, 18 had average weekly wages of $1,175 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.