Maine employment decreased 0.5 percent over the year to 629,100 in March 2026, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. (See table 1.) Among the state’s two largest counties, employment declined 0.8 percent in York County and rose 0.2 percent in Cumberland County from March 2025 to March 2026, as measured by the Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW) program. Regional Commissioner Mark J. Maggi noted that the rate of employment growth in Cumberland ranked 127^th and in York ranked 268^th among the 371 largest U.S. counties with published data.

Employment was 190,000 in Cumberland and 74,100 in York in March 2026. Together these two large counties accounted for 42.0 percent of total employment in Maine. 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.)

The average weekly wage in Cumberland increased 3.2 percent over the year (ranked 201^st nationally) to $1,504 (131^st). The average wage in York was $1,369 (195^th). (Over-the-year wage data for York is unavailable.) The national average was $1,654, up 3.9 percent over the year.

Statewide, average weekly wages increased 3.5 percent over the year to $1,327. Maine ranked 34^th in average weekly wages among the 50 states and the District of Columbia and 30^th in wage growth.

Employment and wage levels (but not over-the-year changes) are also available for the 14 smaller counties in Maine, 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. Sagadahoc reported the highest average weekly wage ($1,322) among small counties. Piscataquis reported the lowest average weekly wage ($921) in the state.

Among all 16 Maine counties, 5 reported average weekly wages less than $1,050, 4 had wages from $1,050 to $1,124, 3 had wages from $1,125 to $1,199, and 4 had average weekly wages of $1,200 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.