Among Kentucky’s three largest counties, employment declined in Jefferson (-0.6 percent) from December 2024 to December 2025, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Regional Commissioner Victoria G. Lee noted that employment increased over the year in Boone (+3.4 percent) and Fayette (+1.6 percent). (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 Kentucky, December 2025

County	Percent change, December 2025
Jefferson	-0.6
Fayette	1.6
Boone	3.4

Jefferson County (481,400) had the highest employment level in Kentucky in December 2025. Together, the three largest counties accounted for 39.9 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.)

All three large Kentucky counties reported average weekly wage gains over the year. (See chart 2.) Jefferson had the largest gain (+4.7 percent). Wages also increased for Fayette (+2.4 percent) and Boone (+1.1 percent).

  

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

County	Percent change, fourth quarter 2025
Jefferson	4.7
Fayette	2.4
Boone	1.1

Weekly wages in all three large counties in Kentucky were below the national average of $1,569: $1,458 in Jefferson, $1,298 in Fayette, and $1,191 in Boone.

Employment and wage levels (but not over-the-year changes) are also available for the 117 smaller counties in Kentucky, defined as having employment below 75,000 in 2024. (See table 2.) Wage levels in 115 of the 117 smaller counties were below the national average. Hancock reported the highest average weekly wage ($1,948) in the state. Nicholas reported the lowest average weekly wage ($744).

Among all 120 Kentucky counties, 36 reported average weekly wages less than $925, 25 had wages from $925 to $999, 17 had wages from $1,000 to $1,074, 17 had wages from $1,075 to $1,149, and 25 had average weekly wages of $1,150 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, at 10:00 a.m. (ET).