Employment declined in 8 of the 9 largest counties in Colorado from March 2025 to March 2026, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Colorado employment decreased 0.7 percent over the year to 2,848,500 in March 2026, as measured by the Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW) program. (See table 1.) Regional Commissioner James B. Howard, Jr., noted that Jefferson County (-1.5 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 Colorado, March 2026

County	Percent change, March 2026
Jefferson	-1.5
Denver	-1.3
El Paso	-1.2
Boulder	-1.0
Adams	-0.8
Arapahoe	-0.5
Larimer	-0.4
Weld	-0.3
Douglas	1.0

Denver County (551,000) had the highest employment level in Colorado in March 2026. Together, the nine largest counties accounted for 80.7 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 8 of the 9 large counties in Colorado were above the national average of 3.9 percent. (See chart 2.) Larimer had the largest gain (+11.5 percent). Over-the-year wage gains among the other eight large Colorado counties ranged from 7.6 percent to 3.8 percent.

  

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

County	Percent change, first quarter 2026
Larimer	11.5
Jefferson	7.6
Boulder	6.6
Weld	5.3
Douglas	5.0
El Paso	5.0
Arapahoe	4.7
Denver	4.4
Adams	3.8

Weekly wages in 5 of the 9 largest counties in Colorado were above the national average of $1,654. Average weekly wages ranged from $2,354 in Denver to $1,437 in El Paso.

Statewide, average weekly wages increased 5.4 percent over the year to $1,774. Colorado ranked 8th in average weekly wages among the 50 states and the District of Columbia and 4th in wage growth.

Employment and wage levels (but not over-the-year changes) are also available for the 55 smaller counties in Colorado, defined as having employment below 75,000 in 2025. (See table 2.)  Wage levels in 54 of the 55 smaller counties were below the national average. Broomfield reported the highest average weekly wage ($2,538) in the state. Dolores reported the lowest average weekly wage ($753).

Among all 64 Colorado counties, 12 reported average weekly wages of $924 and lower, 20 had wages from $925 to $1,074, 11 had wages from $1,075 to $1,224, 7 had wages from $1,225 to $1,374, and 14 had average weekly wages of $1,375 and 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.