County Employment and Wages Summary - 2025 Q05 Results

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County Employment and Wages Summary

For release 10:00 a.m. (ET) Tuesday, June 2, 2026 USDL-26-0782

Technical information: (202) 691-6567 * QCEWInfo@bls.gov * www.bls.gov/cew<br>Media contact: (202) 691-5902 * PressOffice@bls.gov

COUNTY EMPLOYMENT AND WAGES - FOURTH QUARTER 2025

From December 2024 to December 2025, employment increased in 169 of the 372 largest U.S. counties,<br>the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. In December 2025, national employment increased<br>to 156.7 million, a 0.2-percent increase over the year, as measured by the Quarterly Census of<br>Employment and Wages (QCEW) program. Buncombe, NC, had the largest over-the-year increase in<br>employment, with a gain of 3.7 percent. Employment data in this release are presented for December<br>2025, and average weekly wage data are presented for fourth quarter 2025.

Among the 372 largest counties, 346 had over-the-year increases in average weekly wages. In the<br>fourth quarter of 2025, average weekly wages for the nation increased to $1,569, a 4.2-percent<br>increase over the year. San Mateo, CA, had the largest fourth quarter over-the-year wage gain at<br>11.1 percent. (See table 1.)

Large County Employment in December 2025

Buncombe, NC, had the largest over-the-year percentage increase in employment (+3.7 percent). Within<br>Buncombe, the largest employment increase occurred in leisure and hospitality, with a gain of 2,352<br>(+13.1 percent).

Washington, DC, had the largest over-the-year percentage decrease in employment (-4.5 percent).<br>Within Washington, the largest employment decrease occurred in combined government, with a loss of<br>21,178 (-9.0 percent).

Large County Average Weekly Wage in Fourth Quarter 2025

San Mateo, CA, had the largest over-the-year percentage increase in average weekly wages (+11.1<br>percent). Within San Mateo, an average weekly wage gain of $1,958 (+16.1 percent) in information<br>made the largest contribution to the county's increase in average weekly wages.

Olmsted, MN, had the largest over-the-year percentage decrease in average weekly wages (-3.5<br>percent). Within Olmsted, an average weekly wage loss of $181 (-8.7 percent) in education and health<br>services made the largest contribution to the county's decrease in average weekly wages.

Ten Largest Counties

Four of the 10 largest counties had over-the-year percentage increases in employment. In December<br>2025, New York, NY, and Dallas, TX, had the largest over-the-year employment percentage gain (+0.6<br>percent each). Within New York, financial activities had the largest employment increase, with a gain<br>of 9,572 (+2.3 percent). Within Dallas, financial activities also had the largest employment increase,<br>with a gain of 4,943 (+3.0 percent). (See table 2.)

Nine of the 10 largest counties had over-the-year percentage increases in average weekly wages. In<br>the fourth quarter of 2025, New York, NY, experienced the largest over-the-year percentage gain in<br>average weekly wages (+5.6 percent). Within New York, financial activities had the largest impact,<br>with an average weekly wage increase of $491 (+7.5 percent).

For More Information

The tables included in this release contain data for the nation and for the 372 U.S. counties with<br>annual average employment levels of 75,000 or more in 2024. December 2025 employment and fourth<br>quarter 2025 average weekly wages for all states are provided in table 3 of this release.

Over-the-year changes of employment and wages presented in this news release are adjusted and may<br>differ from unadjusted data used in BLS data tools and interactive charts. More information is<br>available in the QCEW Technical Note at www.bls.gov/cew/news-release-technical-note.htm.

QCEW reporting rates tables are available at www.bls.gov/cew/reporting-rates/.

The most current news release on quarterly measures of gross job flows is available from QCEW<br>Business Employment Dynamics at www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/cewbd.pdf.

BLS regional offices issue QCEW news releases targeted to local data users. Links to these releases<br>are available at www.bls.gov/cew/regional-resources.htm.

QCEW data are available in the Census Business Builder suite of web tools assisting business owners<br>and regional analysts in data-driven decision making at www.census.gov/data/data-tools/cbb.html.

The QCEW news release schedule is available at www.bls.gov/cew/release-calendar.htm.

If you are deaf, hard of hearing, or have a speech disability, please dial 7-1-1 to access<br>telecommunications relay services.

The County Employment and Wages news release for first quarter 2026 is scheduled to be released on<br>Friday, August 28, 2026, at 10:00 a.m. (ET).

Table 1. Covered establishments, employment, and wages in the 373 largest counties, fourth quarter 2025

Table 2. Covered...