Data / Unemployment rate / Polk County

Unemployment rate in Polk County

Unemployment rate in Polk County was 3.1% in August 2026, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. That is down 0.8 pts from August 2025. That is the 86th highest of 100 counties in August 2026.

August 20263.1% Provisional
Change on August 2025-0.8 pts
Rank86th of 100Counties in North Carolina ranked
Series high12.1April 2020
Series low2.7December 2023

Unemployment rate in Polk County, January 2020 to August 2026

CSVChart (SVG)

24681012142020-012021-012022-012023-012024-012025-012026-022026-082020-01: 3.6 %2020-02: 3.4 %2020-03: 4.1 %2020-04: 12.1 %2020-05: 10.2 %2020-06: 8.2 %2020-07: 7.4 %2020-08: 5.5 %2020-09: 5 %2020-10: 4.6 %2020-11: 4.8 %2020-12: 5.1 %2021-01: 5.6 %2021-02: 5.3 %2021-03: 5 %2021-04: 4.5 %2021-05: 4.5 %2021-06: 5 %2021-07: 4.9 %2021-08: 4.7 %2021-09: 3.9 %2021-10: 4.2 %2021-11: 4.1 %2021-12: 3.4 %2022-01: 4.3 %2022-02: 4.1 %2022-03: 3.9 %2022-04: 3.4 %2022-05: 3.5 %2022-06: 3.9 %2022-07: 3.7 %2022-08: 3.8 %2022-09: 3.2 %2022-10: 3.7 %2022-11: 3.4 %2022-12: 2.9 %2023-01: 3.4 %2023-02: 3.5 %2023-03: 3.2 %2023-04: 2.8 %2023-05: 3.2 %2023-06: 3.3 %2023-07: 3.2 %2023-08: 3.3 %2023-09: 2.9 %2023-10: 3 %2023-11: 3 %2023-12: 2.7 %2024-01: 3.1 %2024-02: 3.3 %2024-03: 3 %2024-04: 2.7 %2024-05: 2.9 %2024-06: 3.3 %2024-07: 3.5 %2024-08: 3.5 %2024-09: 2.7 %2024-10: 4.4 %2024-11: 4.2 %2024-12: 3.7 %2025-01: 4 %2025-02: 4.1 %2025-03: 3.7 %2025-04: 3.4 %2025-05: 3.6 %2025-06: 3.7 %2025-07: 3.7 %2025-08: 3.9 %2025-09: 3.5 %2025-11: 3.7 %2025-12: 3.2 %2026-01: 3.6 %2026-02: 3.4 %2026-03: 3.1 %2026-04: 3 %2026-05: 3.2 %2026-06: 3.1 %2026-07: 3.4 %2026-08: 3.1 %
%. Source: BLS. Retrieved 2026-10-08, published 2026-09-30.
All 79 values
Period%
2026-083.1 Provisional
2026-073.4
2026-063.1
2026-053.2
2026-043
2026-033.1
2026-023.4
2026-013.6
2025-123.2
2025-113.7
2025-093.5
2025-083.9
2025-073.7
2025-063.7
2025-053.6
2025-043.4
2025-033.7
2025-024.1
2025-014
2024-123.7
2024-114.2
2024-104.4
2024-092.7
2024-083.5
2024-073.5
2024-063.3
2024-052.9
2024-042.7
2024-033
2024-023.3
2024-013.1
2023-122.7
2023-113
2023-103
2023-092.9
2023-083.3
2023-073.2
2023-063.3
2023-053.2
2023-042.8
2023-033.2
2023-023.5
2023-013.4
2022-122.9
2022-113.4
2022-103.7
2022-093.2
2022-083.8
2022-073.7
2022-063.9
2022-053.5
2022-043.4
2022-033.9
2022-024.1
2022-014.3
2021-123.4
2021-114.1
2021-104.2
2021-093.9
2021-084.7
2021-074.9
2021-065
2021-054.5
2021-044.5
2021-035
2021-025.3
2021-015.6
2020-125.1
2020-114.8
2020-104.6
2020-095
2020-085.5
2020-077.4
2020-068.2
2020-0510.2
2020-0412.1
2020-034.1
2020-023.4
2020-013.6

Compared with North Carolina and United States

PlaceAugust 2026
Polk County3.1
North Carolina3.5
United States4.1

Rankings

Definition

Unemployed people as a percentage of the labour force, using the survey definition of unemployment: without work, available and looking for work. Spain: EPA, aged 16 and over. EU: Labour Force Survey, aged 15 to 74. United States: civilian labour force aged 16 and over, from the Current Population Survey for the nation and from BLS Local Area Unemployment Statistics models, consistent with that survey, for states and counties. Other countries and the World: ILO modelled estimates published by the World Bank, aged 15 and over.

Survey-based. Available for Spain, regions, provinces, EU countries, US states and US counties, not Spanish municipalities. For municipalities use registered_unemployment_rate. US national and state rates are seasonally adjusted; county rates are not. Countries without a national or Eurostat series get the annual ILO modelled estimate, a model output rather than a survey result.

How to cite

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Local Area Unemployment Statistics: unemployment rate by county, not seasonally adjusted. https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU25-29. Retrieved 2026-10-08.

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Questions

What is the unemployment rate in Polk County?

Unemployment rate in Polk County was 3.1% in August 2026, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. That is down 0.8 pts from August 2025. That is the 86th highest of 100 counties in August 2026.

Where does this figure come from?

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Local Area Unemployment Statistics: unemployment rate by county, not seasonally adjusted. Retrieved by Invokely on 2026-10-08.

What was the highest unemployment rate in Polk County?

12.1% in April 2020, the highest value since January 2020 in this series.

More statistics for Polk County

All statistics for Polk County