Data / Civilian labor force

Civilian labor force

Employed plus unemployed residents, annual average.

More on how it is measured
  • People aged 16 and over by place of residence, from the Local Area Unemployment Statistics (LAUS) program of the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
  • Active-duty military personnel and people living in institutions are excluded.
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United States cities only for now. Counts people where they live, not jobs: for wage and salary jobs by state use oews_employment. BLS estimates cities by splitting county estimates with Census Bureau employment and population data and unemployment insurance claims, so city figures are less precise than state ones. BLS publishes cities of 25,000 or more, and smaller cities in New England.

Key facts

Figures last updated on 2026-10-12.

Rankings

US cities by civilian labor force, 2025

Top 15. Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

New York, NY: 4,399,248 personsNew York, NY4,399,248Los Angeles, CA: 2,093,433 personsLos Angeles, CA2,093,433Chicago, IL: 1,496,072 personsChicago, IL1,496,072Houston, TX: 1,232,972 personsHouston, TX1,232,972Phoenix, AZ: 927,815 personsPhoenix, AZ927,815Philadelphia, PA: 788,528 personsPhiladelphia, PA788,528San Antonio, TX: 758,322 personsSan Antonio, TX758,322San Diego, CA: 753,078 personsSan Diego, CA753,078Dallas, TX: 724,653 personsDallas, TX724,653Austin, TX: 661,792 personsAustin, TX661,792San Jose, CA: 540,249 personsSan Jose, CA540,249Fort Worth, TX: 535,209 personsFort Worth, TX535,209Charlotte, NC: 522,013 personsCharlotte, NC522,013Columbus, OH: 518,130 personsColumbus, OH518,130Seattle, WA: 510,313 personsSeattle, WA510,313New York, NY: 4,399,248 personsNew York, NY4,399,248Los Angeles, CA: 2,093,433 personsLos Angeles, CA2,093,433Chicago, IL: 1,496,072 personsChicago, IL1,496,072Houston, TX: 1,232,972 personsHouston, TX1,232,972Phoenix, AZ: 927,815 personsPhoenix, AZ927,815Philadelphia, PA: 788,528 personsPhiladelphia, PA788,528San Antonio, TX: 758,322 personsSan Antonio, TX758,322San Diego, CA: 753,078 personsSan Diego, CA753,078Dallas, TX: 724,653 personsDallas, TX724,653Austin, TX: 661,792 personsAustin, TX661,792San Jose, CA: 540,249 personsSan Jose, CA540,249Fort Worth, TX: 535,209 personsFort Worth, TX535,209Charlotte, NC: 522,013 personsCharlotte, NC522,013Columbus, OH: 518,130 personsColumbus, OH518,130Seattle, WA: 510,313 personsSeattle, WA510,313
persons. Source: BLS, Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: labor force (measure 06), annual average. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Full ranking of cities

Places with data

Published for municipalities and cities.

Municipalities and cities

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