Employment rose in 18 of the 28 largest counties in California with published data from December 2024 to December 2025, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Regional Commissioner Chris Rosenlund noted that Merced County (+1.8 percent) had the largest over-the-year increase in employment. (See chart 1 and table 1.)

  

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

County	Percent change, December 2025
Merced	1.8
Placer	1.2
San Mateo	1.1
Santa Clara	1.1
Contra Costa	0.9
San Francisco	0.9
Kern	0.8
Marin	0.8
San Joaquin	0.6
San Luis Obispo	0.6
Stanislaus	0.0
Ventura	0.0
San Diego	-0.1
Solano	-0.1
Santa Barbara	-0.5
Sonoma	-0.6
Yolo	-0.7
Tulare	-0.8
Monterey	-0.9
Napa	-1.2

Los Angeles County (4,598,200) had the highest employment level in California in December 2025. Together, the 29 largest counties accounted for 93.0 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 gains in 19 of 26 large counties in California with published data were below the national average of 4.2 percent. (See chart 2.) San Mateo had the largest gain (+11.1 percent). Over-the-year wage gains among the other 25 large California counties ranged from 8.9 percent to 0.6 percent.

  

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

County	Percent change, fourth quarter 2025
San Mateo	11.1
San Francisco	8.9
Santa Clara	8.0
Santa Cruz	5.5
San Luis Obispo	5.0
Santa Barbara	5.0
Tulare	4.8
Fresno	4.1
Placer	4.0
Sonoma	4.0
Monterey	3.1
Napa	3.1
Contra Costa	2.6
San Bernardino	2.2
San Diego	2.2
Sacramento	2.0
Stanislaus	2.0
Alameda	1.4
San Joaquin	1.4
Ventura	0.6

Weekly wages in 11 of the 29 largest counties in California were above the national average of $1,569. Average weekly wages ranged from $4,542 in Santa Clara to $1,095 in Tulare.

Employment and wage levels (but not over-the-year changes) are also available for the 29 smaller counties in California, defined as having employment below 75,000 in 2024. (See table 2.) Wage levels in all smaller counties were below the national average. El Dorado reported the highest average weekly wage ($1,399). Alpine reported the lowest average weekly wage ($891) in the state.

Among all 58 California counties, 13 reported average weekly wages less than $1,150, 20 had wages from $1,150 to $1,274, 7 had wages from $1,275 to $1,399, 7 had wages from $1,400 to $1,524, and 11 had average weekly wages of $1,525 or higher. (See map1 and table 2.)