Employment declined in 6 of the 10 largest counties in Washington from December 2024 to December 2025, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Regional Commissioner Chris Rosenlund noted that Whatcom County (-1.4 percent) had the largest over-the-year decrease in employment. (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 Washington, December 2025

County	Percent change, December 2025
Whatcom	-1.4
King	-0.6
Snohomish	-0.6
Benton	-0.3
Pierce	-0.3
Thurston	-0.1
Clark	0.0
Kitsap	0.0
Spokane	0.2
Yakima	0.2

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

County	Percent change, September 2025
Snohomish	-1.0
Thurston	-0.7
King	-0.4
Yakima	-0.2
Clark	-0.1
Pierce	-0.1
Whatcom	0.1
Benton	0.2
Spokane	0.2
Kitsap	0.9

King County (1,439,100) had the highest employment level in Washington in December 2025. Together, the 10 largest counties accounted for 84.4 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 6 of 9 large counties in Washington with published data were above the national average of 4.2 percent. (See chart 2.) Snohomish had the largest gain (+7.6 percent). Over-the-year wage gains among the other eight large Washington counties ranged from 6.9 percent to 0.3 percent.

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

County	Percent change, fourth quarter 2025
Snohomish	7.6
Spokane	6.9
Pierce	5.8
Thurston	5.7
Whatcom	5.1
Benton	4.4
Clark	3.8
Yakima	2.7
King	0.3

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

County	Percent change, third quarter 2025
King	9.1
Snohomish	6.4
Thurston	6.4
Pierce	5.3
Spokane	5.0
Benton	4.8
Whatcom	4.7
Clark	4.4
Kitsap	2.8
Yakima	2.7

Weekly wages in 2 of the 10 largest counties in Washington were above the national average of $1,569: King ($2,667) and Snohomish ($1,680). Average weekly wages among the other eight large counties ranged from $1,508 in Clark to $1,083 in Yakima.

Employment and wage levels (but not over-the-year changes) are also available for the 29 smaller counties in Washington, defined as having employment below 75,000 in 2024. (See table 2.) Wage levels in all smaller counties were below the national average. Pend Oreille reported the highest average weekly wage ($1,421). Wahkiakum reported the lowest average weekly wage ($973) in the state.

Among all 39 Washington counties, 8 reported average weekly wages less than $1,125, 12 had wages from $1,125 to $1,224, 5 had wages from $1,225 to $1,324, 7 had wages from $1,325 to $1,424, and 7 had average weekly wages of $1,425 or higher. (See map 1 and table 2.)