Employment declined in all nine of the largest counties in Massachusetts from March 2025 to March 2026, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Massachusetts employment decreased 0.9 percent over the year to 3,552,900 in March 2026, as measured by the Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW) program. (See table 1.) Regional Commissioner Mark J. Maggi noted that Plymouth County (-2.0 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 Massachusetts, March 2026

County	Percent change, March 2026
Plymouth	-2.0
Barnstable	-1.9
Middlesex	-1.9
Suffolk	-1.0
Hampden	-0.9
Bristol	-0.8
Essex	-0.7
Worcester	-0.6
Norfolk	-0.4

Middlesex County (880,700) had the highest employment level in Massachusetts in March 2026. Together, the nine largest counties accounted for 92.6 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.)

All nine large Massachusetts counties reported average weekly wage gains over the year. (See chart 2.) Suffolk had the largest gain (+7.5 percent). Over-the-year wage gains among the other eight large Massachusetts counties ranged from 4.1 percent to 0.6 percent.

  

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

County	Percent change, first quarter 2026
Suffolk	7.5
Essex	4.1
Hampden	4.0
Middlesex	4.0
Barnstable	2.4
Bristol	1.9
Norfolk	1.8
Worcester	1.8
Plymouth	0.6

Weekly wages in 3 of the 9 largest counties in Massachusetts were above the national average of $1,654: Suffolk ($3,340), Middlesex ($2,568), and Norfolk ($1,819). Average weekly wages among the other six large counties ranged from $1,613 in Essex to $1,302 in Hampden.

Statewide, average weekly wages increased 4.8 percent over the year to $2,201. Massachusetts ranked 3rd in average weekly wages among the 50 states and the District of Columbia and 6th in wage growth.

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 2025. (See table 2.) Wage levels in all of the smaller counties were below the national average. Nantucket reported the highest average weekly wage ($1,626) among small counties. Franklin reported the lowest average weekly wage ($1,085) in the state.

Among all 14 Massachusetts counties, 4 reported average weekly wages less than $1,325, 3 had wages from $1,325 to $1,474, 3 had wages from $1,475 to $1,624, and 4 had average weekly wages of $1,625 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.