Data / Covered employment (QCEW) / Columbus County

Covered employment (QCEW) in Columbus County

Covered employment (QCEW) in Columbus County was 14,316 jobs in 2025, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. That is down 1% from 2024. That is the 59th highest of 100 counties in 2025.

2025, jobs14,316
Change on 2024-1%
Rank59th of 100Counties in North Carolina ranked
Series high17,2642001
Series low14,3162025

Next release: Saturday, 21 August 2027, estimated by Invokely from past publication dates (low confidence), not announced by the publisher. Release calendar

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Covered employment (QCEW) in Columbus County, 2001 to 2025

14K15K16K17K18K20012005200920132017202120252001: 17,264 jobs2002: 16,596 jobs2003: 16,578 jobs2004: 16,993 jobs2005: 16,905 jobs2006: 16,815 jobs2007: 16,995 jobs2008: 17,014 jobs2009: 16,247 jobs2010: 16,054 jobs2011: 15,749 jobs2012: 15,318 jobs2013: 16,422 jobs2014: 15,683 jobs2015: 15,457 jobs2016: 15,499 jobs2017: 15,089 jobs2018: 15,058 jobs2019: 15,292 jobs2020: 14,938 jobs2021: 15,318 jobs2022: 16,289 jobs2023: 14,991 jobs2024: 14,466 jobs2025: 14,316 jobs14K15K16K17K18K2001201020252001: 17,264 jobs2002: 16,596 jobs2003: 16,578 jobs2004: 16,993 jobs2005: 16,905 jobs2006: 16,815 jobs2007: 16,995 jobs2008: 17,014 jobs2009: 16,247 jobs2010: 16,054 jobs2011: 15,749 jobs2012: 15,318 jobs2013: 16,422 jobs2014: 15,683 jobs2015: 15,457 jobs2016: 15,499 jobs2017: 15,089 jobs2018: 15,058 jobs2019: 15,292 jobs2020: 14,938 jobs2021: 15,318 jobs2022: 16,289 jobs2023: 14,991 jobs2024: 14,466 jobs2025: 14,316 jobs
jobs. Source: BLS, Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW): annual average employment, total covered, all industries (NAICS 10), nation, states and counties. Retrieved 2026-10-12, published 2026-08-21.
All 25 values
Periodjobs
202514,316
202414,466
202314,991
202216,289
202115,318
202014,938
201915,292
201815,058
201715,089
201615,499
201515,457
201415,683
201316,422
201215,318
201115,749
201016,054
200916,247
200817,014
200716,995
200616,815
200516,905
200416,993
200316,578
200216,596
200117,264

Compared with North Carolina and United States

Place2025
Columbus County14,316
North Carolina4,941,383
United States155,732,363

Columbus County compared with nearby places

Alamance County: 66,529 jobsAlexander County: 8,667 jobsAlleghany County: 3,404 jobsAnson County: 6,666 jobsAshe County: 7,503 jobsAvery County: 7,784 jobsBeaufort County: 16,255 jobsBertie County: 5,322 jobsBladen County: 12,522 jobsBrunswick County: 43,201 jobsBuncombe County: 134,686 jobsBurke County: 29,771 jobsCabarrus County: 91,560 jobsCaldwell County: 25,294 jobsCamden County: 1,198 jobsCarteret County: 25,622 jobsCaswell County: 2,978 jobsCatawba County: 89,369 jobsChatham County: 20,318 jobsCherokee County: 7,869 jobsChowan County: 5,060 jobsClay County: 2,233 jobsCleveland County: 35,958 jobsColumbus County: 14,316 jobsCraven County: 40,422 jobsCumberland County: 122,272 jobsCurrituck County: 7,313 jobsDare County: 20,728 jobsDavidson County: 46,241 jobsDavie County: 14,573 jobsDuplin County: 19,630 jobsDurham County: 233,836 jobsEdgecombe County: 14,827 jobsForsyth County: 190,305 jobsFranklin County: 14,549 jobsGaston County: 81,516 jobsGates County: 1,428 jobsGraham County: 1,952 jobsGranville County: 21,067 jobsGreene County: 4,444 jobsGuilford County: 292,379 jobsHalifax County: 15,111 jobsHarnett County: 29,633 jobsHaywood County: 17,431 jobsHenderson County: 43,873 jobsHertford County: 8,390 jobsHoke County: 9,285 jobsHyde County: 1,705 jobsIredell County: 81,030 jobsJackson County: 19,262 jobsJohnston County: 65,551 jobsJones County: 1,581 jobsLee County: 27,415 jobsLenoir County: 29,635 jobsLincoln County: 28,818 jobsMcDowell County: 15,394 jobsMacon County: 12,592 jobsMadison County: 4,351 jobsMartin County: 6,126 jobsMecklenburg County: 791,613 jobsMitchell County: 4,641 jobsMontgomery County: 8,771 jobsMoore County: 42,751 jobsNash County: 40,231 jobsNew Hanover County: 131,696 jobsNorthampton County: 4,699 jobsOnslow County: 53,881 jobsOrange County: 79,536 jobsPamlico County: 4,072 jobsPasquotank County: 15,885 jobsPender County: 16,071 jobsPerquimans County: 2,262 jobsPerson County: 9,063 jobsPitt County: 81,398 jobsPolk County: 5,598 jobsRandolph County: 45,446 jobsRichmond County: 13,571 jobsRobeson County: 37,260 jobsRockingham County: 23,947 jobsRowan County: 51,121 jobsRutherford County: 18,151 jobsSampson County: 17,386 jobsScotland County: 12,552 jobsStanly County: 23,791 jobsStokes County: 7,553 jobsSurry County: 28,718 jobsSwain County: 6,871 jobsTransylvania County: 9,751 jobsTyrrell County: 972 jobsUnion County: 78,177 jobsVance County: 14,173 jobsWake County: 665,775 jobsWarren County: 2,921 jobsWashington County: 3,065 jobsWatauga County: 24,591 jobsWayne County: 41,053 jobsWilkes County: 18,897 jobsWilson County: 34,906 jobsYadkin County: 9,954 jobsYancey County: 4,927 jobs
  • Under 5,000
  • 5,000 to 9,000
  • 9,000 to 17K
  • 17K to 29K
  • 29K to 60K
  • 60K and over
Covered employment (QCEW), 2025, jobs. Columbus County is outlined. Same source and period for every area shown. Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Boundaries: U.S. Census Bureau cartographic boundary files.

Rankings

Definition

Average number of jobs covered by unemployment insurance during the year, all industries, private and government, from the Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW) of the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Counted where the job is located, from the reports employers file each quarter; monthly employment counts the jobs in the pay period that includes the 12th.

Counts jobs, not people: someone with two jobs counts twice. Covers about 95 percent of US wage and salary jobs. Excludes the self-employed, most agricultural workers on small farms, the armed forces, elected officials in most states, most railroad employees, some domestic workers and most student workers at schools. A count of employer reports, not a survey estimate like oews_employment.

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How to cite

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW): annual average employment, total covered, all industries (NAICS 10), nation, states and counties. https://data.bls.gov/cew/data/api/2025/a/industry/10.csv. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Citation styles

The publisher is the author. Invokely is named only as the place the figures were read, where a style asks for it.

APA 7

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. (2026). Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW): annual average employment, total covered, all industries (NAICS 10), nation, states and counties (Covered employment (QCEW), Columbus County, 2001 to 2025) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://data.bls.gov/cew/data/api/2025/a/industry/10.csv

MLA 9

Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW): annual average employment, total covered, all industries (NAICS 10), nation, states and counties, Covered employment (QCEW), Columbus County, 2001 to 2025. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 21 Aug. 2026, https://data.bls.gov/cew/data/api/2025/a/industry/10.csv. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/en/covered-employment/columbus-county-north-carolina. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. 2026. Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW): annual average employment, total covered, all industries (NAICS 10), nation, states and counties. Covered employment (QCEW), Columbus County, 2001 to 2025. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://data.bls.gov/cew/data/api/2025/a/industry/10.csv. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/en/covered-employment/columbus-county-north-carolina.

Harvard

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (2026) Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW): annual average employment, total covered, all industries (NAICS 10), nation, states and counties, Covered employment (QCEW), Columbus County, 2001 to 2025 [Dataset]. Available at: https://data.bls.gov/cew/data/api/2025/a/industry/10.csv, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/en/covered-employment/columbus-county-north-carolina (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{bureau_covered_employment_qcew_columbus_2025,
  author = {{U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics}},
  title = {{Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW): annual average employment, total covered, all industries (NAICS 10), nation, states and counties: Covered employment (QCEW), Columbus County, 2001 to 2025}},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://data.bls.gov/cew/data/api/2025/a/industry/10.csv},
  urldate = {2026-10-12},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/en/covered-employment/columbus-county-north-carolina. Publisher attribution: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW): annual average employment, total covered, all industries (NAICS 10), nation, states and counties. https://data.bls.gov/cew/data/api/2025/a/industry/10.csv. Retrieved 2026-10-12.},
}
RIS
TY  - DATA
AU  - U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
TI  - Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW): annual average employment, total covered, all industries (NAICS 10), nation, states and counties: Covered employment (QCEW), Columbus County, 2001 to 2025
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/08/21
PB  - U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
DB  - Invokely
UR  - https://data.bls.gov/cew/data/api/2025/a/industry/10.csv
L2  - https://invokely.ai/en/covered-employment/columbus-county-north-carolina
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/en/covered-employment/columbus-county-north-carolina.
N1  - Publisher attribution: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW): annual average employment, total covered, all industries (NAICS 10), nation, states and counties. https://data.bls.gov/cew/data/api/2025/a/industry/10.csv. Retrieved 2026-10-12.
ER  -
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Questions

What is the covered employment (QCEW) in Columbus County?

Covered employment (QCEW) in Columbus County was 14,316 jobs in 2025, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. That is down 1% from 2024. That is the 59th highest of 100 counties in 2025.

Where does this figure come from?

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW): annual average employment, total covered, all industries (NAICS 10), nation, states and counties. Retrieved by Invokely on 2026-10-12.

What was the highest covered employment (QCEW) in Columbus County?

17,264 jobs in 2001, the highest value since 2001 in this series.

Related statistics for Columbus County

All statistics for Columbus County | Columbus County in figures