Employment rose in 15 of the 27 largest counties in Florida from December 2024 to December 2025, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Regional Commissioner Victoria G. Lee noted that Manatee, Pasco, and St. Johns Counties (+1.9 percent each) had the largest over-the-year increases in employment. (See chart 1 and table 1.)

  

View Chart Data

Chart 1. Over-the-year percent change in covered employment among selected large counties in Florida, December 2025

County	Percent change, December 2025
Manatee	1.9
Pasco	1.9
St. Johns	1.9
Orange	1.3
St. Lucie	1.1
Sarasota	0.9
Marion	0.8
Polk	0.7
Hillsborough	0.5
Osceola	0.5
Seminole	-0.4
Collier	-0.5
Broward	-0.6
Lee	-0.6
Martin	-0.6
Volusia	-0.6
Pinellas	-0.8
Duval	-0.9
Okaloosa	-1.0
Bay	-2.5

Miami-Dade County (1,287,500) had the highest employment level in Florida in December 2025. Together, the 27 largest counties accounted for 87.8 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 changes in 16 of 25 large counties in Florida with published data were above the national average of 4.2 percent. (See chart 2.) Brevard and Palm Beach had the largest gains (+6.7 percent each). Over-the-year wage changes among the other 23 large Florida counties ranged from 6.4 percent to -0.6 percent.

  

View Chart Data

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

County	Percent change, fourth quarter 2025
Brevard	6.7
Palm Beach	6.7
Leon	6.4
Martin	6.3
Duval	5.9
St. Johns	5.8
Manatee	5.4
Miami-Dade	5.2
Seminole	5.1
Broward	4.9
Polk	4.3
Volusia	4.2
Orange	4.1
St. Lucie	4.1
Lee	3.9
Sarasota	3.4
Hillsborough	3.0
Pasco	2.5
Collier	2.0
Lake	-0.6

Weekly wages in 2 of the 27 largest counties in Florida were above the national average of $1,569: Palm Beach ($1,710) and Miami-Dade ($1,659). Average weekly wages among the other 25 large counties ranged from $1,559 in Hillsborough to $1,079 in Lake.

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 2024. (See table 2.) Wage levels in all smaller counties were below the national average. Hendry reported the highest average weekly wage ($1,284). Holmes reported the lowest average weekly wage ($891) in the state.

Among all 67 Florida counties, 12 reported average weekly wages less than $1,000, 18 had wages from $1,000 to $1,099, 11 had wages from $1,100 to $1,199, 13 had wages from $1,200 to $1,299, and 13 had average weekly wages of $1,300 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).