Employment rose in 17 of the 28 largest counties with published data in California from December 2023 to December 2024, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Regional Commissioner Chris Rosenlund noted that Riverside and Sacramento Counties each had the largest over-the-year increase in employment at 1.9 percent. (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 2024

County	Percent change, December 2024
Riverside	1.9
Sacramento	1.9
Santa Barbara	1.2
Stanislaus	1.0
Monterey	0.9
San Bernardino	0.9
San Joaquin	0.9
Placer	0.8
Merced	0.7
Ventura	0.5
Contra Costa	0.0
San Diego	0.0
San Luis Obispo	0.0
San Mateo	-0.1
Sonoma	-0.2
Yolo	-0.5
Alameda	-0.8
Tulare	-1.0
Solano	-1.1
San Francisco	-1.2

Among the 29 largest counties in California, employment was highest in Los Angeles (4,556,500) in December 2024. Together, the 29 largest counties accounted for 93.2 percent of total covered employment within the state. Nationwide, the 369 largest counties comprise 73.3 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 2023.)

Twenty-eight of the twenty-nine large California counties reported average weekly wage gains over the year. (See chart 2.) Santa Clara had the largest gain (+15.0 percent). Over-the-year wage gains among California’s other 28 large counties ranged from 12.0 percent to -1.0 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 2024

County	Percent change, fourth quarter 2024
Santa Clara	15.0
Yolo	12.0
San Francisco	10.4
San Mateo	7.7
Santa Barbara	7.0
San Joaquin	6.5
Alameda	6.4
Santa Cruz	6.3
Merced	5.9
Stanislaus	5.9
Los Angeles	4.3
Solano	4.1
Fresno	3.7
Napa	3.5
Riverside	3.0
Placer	2.9
Sonoma	2.3
Marin	2.1
Contra Costa	1.9
San Luis Obispo	-1.0

Weekly wages in 11 of the 29 largest counties in California were above the national average of $1,507. Average weekly wages ranged from $4,236 in Santa Clara to $1,068 in Tulare.

Employment and wage levels (but not over-the-year changes) are also available for the 29 small counties in California, defined as having employment below 75,000 in 2023. (See table 2.) Wage levels in all 29 smaller counties were below the national average. Yuba reported the highest average weekly wage ($1,345). Alpine reported the lowest average weekly wage ($891) in the state.

Among all 58 California counties, 9 reported average weekly wages of less than $1,100, 17 registered wages from $1,100 to $1,199, 12 had wages from $1,200 to $1,299, 3 had wages from $1,300 to $1,399, and 17 had average weekly wages of $1,400 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.

Information in this release will be made available to individuals with sensory impairments upon request. Voice phone: (202) 691-5200; Telecommunications Relay Service: 7-1-1.

The County Employment and Wages release for the first quarter 2025 is scheduled to be released on Tuesday, September 9, 2025.