Among Mississippi’s two largest counties, employment increased in Harrison (+0.4 percent) from December 2024 to December 2025, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Regional Commissioner Victoria G. Lee noted that employment in Hinds County declined 1.1 percent over the year. (See chart 1 and table 1.)

  

View Chart Data

Chart 1. Over-the-year percent change in covered employment among the largest counties in Mississippi, December 2025

County	Percent change, December 2025
Harrison	0.4
Hinds	-1.1

Hinds County (109,700) had the highest employment level in Mississippi in December 2025. Together, the two largest counties accounted for 16.9 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.)

The average weekly wage gain in Harrison (+6.9 percent) was above the national average of 4.2 percent. (See chart 2.) In Hinds, the average weekly wage increased 4.1 percent over the year.

  

View Chart Data

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

County	Percent change, fourth quarter 2025
Harrison	6.9
Hinds	4.1

Weekly wages in both large counties in Mississippi were below the national average of $1,569: $1,228 in Hinds and $1,019 in Harrison.

Employment and wage levels (but not over-the-year changes) are also available for the 80 smaller counties in Mississippi, defined as having employment below 75,000 in 2024. (See table 2.) Wage levels in all smaller counties were below the national average. Jones reported the highest average weekly wage ($1,253) in the state. Humphreys reported the lowest average weekly wage ($731).

Among all 82 Mississippi counties, 13 reported average weekly wages less than $850, 25 had wages from $850 to $924, 17 had wages from $925 to $999, 10 had wages from $1,000 to $1,074, and 17 had average weekly wages of $1,075 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.

If you are deaf, hard of hearing, or have a speech disability, please dial 7-1-1 to access telecommunications relay services.

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).