Among Mississippi’s two largest counties, employment increased in Harrison (+0.8 percent) from September 2024 to September 2025, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Regional Commissioner Victoria G. Lee noted that employment in Hinds County declined 1.2 percent over the year. (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 Mississippi, September 2025

County	Percent change, September 2025
Harrison	0.8
Hinds	-1.2

Among the two largest counties in Mississippi, employment was highest in Hinds (109,000) in September 2025. Together, the two largest counties accounted for 17.0 percent of total covered employment within the state. Nationwide, the 372 largest counties comprise 73.2 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.)

Both large Mississippi counties reported average weekly wage increases over the year. (See chart 2.) Harrison had the larger increase (+5.1 percent), followed by Hinds (+4.3 percent).

  

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

County	Percent change, third quarter 2025
Harrison	5.1
Hinds	4.3

Weekly wages in both large counties in Mississippi were below the national average of $1,459. Average weekly wages were $1,155 in Hinds and $965 in Harrison.

Employment and wage levels (but not over-the-year changes) are also available for the 80 small counties in Mississippi, defined as having employment below 75,000 in 2024. (See table 2.) Wage levels in all 80 smaller counties were below the national average. Claiborne reported the highest average weekly wage ($1,296). Quitman reported the lowest average weekly wage ($671) in the state.

Among all 82 Mississippi counties, 15 reported average weekly wages of less than $800, 34 registered wages from $800 to $899, 18 had wages from $900 to $999, and 15 had average weekly wages of $1,000 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 fourth quarter 2025 is scheduled to be released on Tuesday, June 2, 2026, at 10:00 a.m. (ET).