Employment declined in 17 of the 27 largest counties in Florida from March 2025 to March 2026, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Florida employment was essentially unchanged over the year at 9,962,800 in March 2026, as measured by the Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW) program. (See table 1.) Regional Commissioner Victoria G. Lee noted that Bay County (-2.3 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 selected large counties in Florida, March 2026

County	Percent change, March 2026
Bay	-2.3
Alachua	-1.6
Martin	-1.2
Pinellas	-1.0
Broward	-0.9
Escambia	-0.9
Lee	-0.9
Lake	-0.7
Okaloosa	-0.7
Seminole	-0.7
Sarasota	0.1
Leon	0.2
St. Lucie	0.3
Polk	0.5
Marion	0.6
Pasco	0.7
Osceola	0.9
St. Johns	1.0
Orange	1.2
Manatee	1.4

Miami-Dade County (1,277,500) had the highest employment level in Florida in March 2026. Together, the 27 largest counties accounted for 87.3 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.)

Average weekly wage gains in 13 of the 26 large counties in Florida with published data were above the national average of 3.9 percent. (See chart 2.) Brevard had the largest gain (+7.8 percent). Over-the-year wage gains among the other 25 large Florida counties ranged from 6.6 percent to 0.7 percent.

  

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

County	Percent change, first quarter 2026
Brevard	7.8
Hillsborough	6.6
Palm Beach	6.1
Pinellas	5.8
St. Johns	5.2
Martin	4.7
Sarasota	4.7
Volusia	4.7
Miami-Dade	4.5
Escambia	4.3
Orange	3.2
Osceola	3.2
St. Lucie	2.9
Polk	2.4
Duval	2.3
Lee	2.3
Marion	2.2
Manatee	2.1
Leon	2.0
Lake	0.7

Weekly wages in 3 of the 27 largest counties in Florida were above the national average of $1,654: Miami-Dade ($1,797), Palm Beach ($1,784), and Hillsborough ($1,658). Average weekly wages among the other 24 large counties ranged from $1,583 in Duval to $1,039 in Lake.

Statewide, average weekly wages increased 4.3 percent over the year to $1,518. Florida ranked 19th in average weekly wages among the 50 states and the District of Columbia and 13th in wage growth.

Employment and wage levels (but not over-the-year changes) are also available for the 40 smaller counties in Florida, 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. Indian River reported the highest average weekly wage ($1,294) among small counties. Bradford reported the lowest average weekly wage ($684) in the state.

Among all 67 Florida counties, 20 reported average weekly wages less than $975, 12 had wages from $975 to $1,074, 10 had wages from $1,075 to $1,174, 10 had wages from $1,175 to $1,274, and 15 had average weekly wages of $1,275 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.