Employment declined in 7 of the 9 largest counties in Massachusetts from December 2024 to December 2025, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Regional Commissioner Mark J. Maggi noted that Middlesex County (-2.1 percent) had the largest over-the-year decrease in employment. (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 Massachusetts, December 2025

County	Percent change, December 2025
Middlesex	-2.1
Plymouth	-1.2
Suffolk	-1.1
Barnstable	-0.9
Hampden	-0.9
Essex	-0.8
Bristol	-0.5
Norfolk	0.0
Worcester	0.1

Middlesex County (901,200) had the highest employment level in Massachusetts in December 2025. Together, the nine largest counties accounted for 92.7 percent of total covered employment within the state. Nationwide, the 372 largest counties comprise 73.4 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.)

Average weekly wage gains in 7 of the 9 large counties in Massachusetts were above the national average of 4.2 percent. (See chart 2.) Middlesex had the largest gain (+5.7 percent). Over-the-year wage gains among the other eight large Massachusetts counties ranged from 5.6 percent to 3.6 percent.

  

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

County	Percent change, fourth quarter 2025
Middlesex	5.7
Plymouth	5.6
Barnstable	5.3
Bristol	5.0
Essex	4.7
Hampden	4.6
Norfolk	4.3
Suffolk	3.9
Worcester	3.6

Weekly wages in 3 of the 9 largest counties in Massachusetts were above the national average of $1,569: Suffolk ($2,718), Middlesex ($2,293), and Norfolk ($1,789). Average weekly wages among the other six large counties ranged from $1,566 in Essex to $1,312 in Hampden.

Employment and wage levels (but not over-the-year changes) are also available for the five smaller counties in Massachusetts, defined as having employment below 75,000 in 2024. (See table 2.) Wage levels in 3 of the 5 smaller counties were below the national average. Nantucket reported the highest average weekly wage ($1,883). Franklin reported the lowest average weekly wage ($1,143) in the state.

Among all 14 Massachusetts counties, 3 reported average weekly wages less than $1,325, 5 had wages from $1,325 to $1,524, 2 had wages from $1,525 to $1,724, and 4 had wages of $1,725 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 first quarter 2026 is scheduled to be released on Friday, August 28, 2026.