Data / Rankings / Civilian labor force / Cities in New York

Cities in New York by civilian labor force

New York, NY had the highest civilian labor force of 39 cities in 2016, at 4.24 million. Kiryas Joel, NY had the lowest, at 6,444. The median was 15,847. Source: the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

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Highest4,241,256New York, NY
Lowest6,444Kiryas Joel, NY
Median15,84739 cities

All cities, 2016

New York, NY: 4,241,256 personsNew York, NY4,241,256Buffalo, NY: 125,685 personsBuffalo, NY125,685Yonkers, NY: 101,330 personsYonkers, NY101,330Rochester, NY: 100,930 personsRochester, NY100,930Syracuse, NY: 64,112 personsSyracuse, NY64,112Albany, NY: 51,465 personsAlbany, NY51,465New Rochelle, NY: 38,854 personsNew Rochelle, NY38,854Mount Vernon, NY: 37,570 personsMount Vernon, NY37,570Schenectady, NY: 30,556 personsSchenectady, NY30,556White Plains, NY: 29,432 personsWhite Plains, NY29,432Hempstead, NY: 27,996 personsHempstead, NY27,996Utica, NY: 26,582 personsUtica, NY26,582Troy, NY: 24,658 personsTroy, NY24,658Freeport, NY: 23,254 personsFreeport, NY23,254Niagara Falls, NY: 22,292 personsNiagara Falls, NY22,292Valley Stream, NY: 21,560 personsValley Stream, NY21,560Binghamton, NY: 21,242 personsBinghamton, NY21,242Long Beach, NY: 20,030 personsLong Beach, NY20,030Port Chester, NY: 16,799 personsPort Chester, NY16,799North Tonawanda, NY: 15,847 personsNorth Tonawanda, NY15,847Ithaca, NY: 15,209 personsIthaca, NY15,209Poughkeepsie, NY: 15,111 personsPoughkeepsie, NY15,111Saratoga Springs, NY: 14,826 personsSaratoga Springs, NY14,826Lindenhurst, NY: 14,024 personsLindenhurst, NY14,024Glen Cove, NY: 13,854 personsGlen Cove, NY13,854Ossining, NY: 13,722 personsOssining, NY13,722Spring Valley, NY: 13,559 personsSpring Valley, NY13,559Middletown, NY: 13,489 personsMiddletown, NY13,489Peekskill, NY: 13,258 personsPeekskill, NY13,258Newburgh, NY: 13,033 personsNewburgh, NY13,033Rome, NY: 12,957 personsRome, NY12,957Harrison, NY: 12,886 personsHarrison, NY12,886Jamestown, NY: 12,885 personsJamestown, NY12,885Rockville Centre, NY: 12,393 personsRockville Centre, NY12,393Auburn, NY: 12,312 personsAuburn, NY12,312Watertown, NY: 11,277 personsWatertown, NY11,277Lockport, NY: 10,901 personsLockport, NY10,901Elmira, NY: 10,565 personsElmira, NY10,565Kiryas Joel, NY: 6,444 personsKiryas Joel, NY6,444New York, NY: 4,241,256 personsNew York, NY4,241,256Buffalo, NY: 125,685 personsBuffalo, NY125,685Yonkers, NY: 101,330 personsYonkers, NY101,330Rochester, NY: 100,930 personsRochester, NY100,930Syracuse, NY: 64,112 personsSyracuse, NY64,112Albany, NY: 51,465 personsAlbany, NY51,465New Rochelle, NY: 38,854 personsNew Rochelle, NY38,854Mount Vernon, NY: 37,570 personsMount Vernon, NY37,570Schenectady, NY: 30,556 personsSchenectady, NY30,556White Plains, NY: 29,432 personsWhite Plains, NY29,432Hempstead, NY: 27,996 personsHempstead, NY27,996Utica, NY: 26,582 personsUtica, NY26,582Troy, NY: 24,658 personsTroy, NY24,658Freeport, NY: 23,254 personsFreeport, NY23,254Niagara Falls, NY: 22,292 personsNiagara Falls, NY22,292Valley Stream, NY: 21,560 personsValley Stream, NY21,560Binghamton, NY: 21,242 personsBinghamton, NY21,242Long Beach, NY: 20,030 personsLong Beach, NY20,030Port Chester, NY: 16,799 personsPort Chester, NY16,799North Tonawanda, NY: 15,847 personsNorth Tonawanda, NY15,847Ithaca, NY: 15,209 personsIthaca, NY15,209Poughkeepsie, NY: 15,111 personsPoughkeepsie, NY15,111Saratoga Springs, NY: 14,826 personsSaratoga Springs, NY14,826Lindenhurst, NY: 14,024 personsLindenhurst, NY14,024Glen Cove, NY: 13,854 personsGlen Cove, NY13,854Ossining, NY: 13,722 personsOssining, NY13,722Spring Valley, NY: 13,559 personsSpring Valley, NY13,559Middletown, NY: 13,489 personsMiddletown, NY13,489Peekskill, NY: 13,258 personsPeekskill, NY13,258Newburgh, NY: 13,033 personsNewburgh, NY13,033Rome, NY: 12,957 personsRome, NY12,957Harrison, NY: 12,886 personsHarrison, NY12,886Jamestown, NY: 12,885 personsJamestown, NY12,885Rockville Centre, NY: 12,393 personsRockville Centre, NY12,393Auburn, NY: 12,312 personsAuburn, NY12,312Watertown, NY: 11,277 personsWatertown, NY11,277Lockport, NY: 10,901 personsLockport, NY10,901Elmira, NY: 10,565 personsElmira, NY10,565Kiryas Joel, NY: 6,444 personsKiryas Joel, NY6,444
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

RankCities2016
persons		Change on 2015
1New York, NY4,241,256+0.5%
2Buffalo, NY125,685+12%
3Yonkers, NY101,330+5.7%
4Rochester, NY100,930+9.4%
5Syracuse, NY64,112+8.2%
6Albany, NY51,465+8.1%
7New Rochelle, NY38,854-1.3%
8Mount Vernon, NY37,570+12.1%
9Schenectady, NY30,556+0.7%
10White Plains, NY29,432-8.2%
11Hempstead, NY27,996+0.8%
12Utica, NY26,582+11.2%
13Troy, NY24,658+5%
14Freeport, NY23,254+1.5%
15Niagara Falls, NY22,292+2.5%
16Valley Stream, NY21,560+8.6%
17Binghamton, NY21,242+13.2%
18Long Beach, NY20,030+1.4%
19Port Chester, NY16,799+0.2%
20North Tonawanda, NY15,847-0.5%
21Ithaca, NY15,209+14.5%
22Poughkeepsie, NY15,111+12.4%
23Saratoga Springs, NY14,826+6.1%
24Lindenhurst, NY14,024-9.2%
25Glen Cove, NY13,854-2.5%
26Ossining, NY13,722+3.3%
27Spring Valley, NY13,559-9.2%
28Middletown, NY13,489-1.6%
29Peekskill, NY13,258+1.6%
30Newburgh, NY13,033+6.1%
31Rome, NY12,957-4.6%
32Harrison, NY12,886-4.2%
33Jamestown, NY12,885+4.1%
34Rockville Centre, NY12,393+1.9%
35Auburn, NY12,312+1.6%
36Watertown, NY11,277+1.2%
37Lockport, NY10,901+14.1%
38Elmira, NY10,565+2.2%
39Kiryas Joel, NY6,444+43.5%

Other periods

About this ranking

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.

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.

Every value in the ranking comes from the same publisher and the same period, so the cities are compared on one definition. Equal values share a rank.

How to cite

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: labor force (measure 06), annual average. https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU15-19. 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). Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: labor force (measure 06), annual average (Cities in New York by civilian labor force, 2016) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU15-19

MLA 9

Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: labor force (measure 06), annual average, Cities in New York by civilian labor force, 2016. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 30 Sept. 2026, https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU15-19. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/civilian-labor-force/new-york-cities?period=2016. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. 2026. Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: labor force (measure 06), annual average. Cities in New York by civilian labor force, 2016. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU15-19. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/civilian-labor-force/new-york-cities?period=2016.

Harvard

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (2026) Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: labor force (measure 06), annual average, Cities in New York by civilian labor force, 2016 [Dataset]. Available at: https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU15-19, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/civilian-labor-force/new-york-cities?period=2016 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{bureau_cities_in_new_york_2016,
  author = {{U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics}},
  title = {{Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: labor force (measure 06), annual average: Cities in New York by civilian labor force, 2016}},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU15-19},
  urldate = {2026-10-12},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/civilian-labor-force/new-york-cities?period=2016. Publisher attribution: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: labor force (measure 06), annual average. https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU15-19. Retrieved 2026-10-12.},
}
RIS
TY  - DATA
AU  - U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
TI  - Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: labor force (measure 06), annual average: Cities in New York by civilian labor force, 2016
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/09/30
PB  - U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
DB  - Invokely
UR  - https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU15-19
L2  - https://invokely.ai/rankings/civilian-labor-force/new-york-cities?period=2016
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/civilian-labor-force/new-york-cities?period=2016.
N1  - Publisher attribution: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: labor force (measure 06), annual average. https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU15-19. Retrieved 2026-10-12.
ER  -
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Questions

Which city has the highest civilian labor force?

New York, NY, with 4.24 million in 2016, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Which city has the lowest civilian labor force?

Kiryas Joel, NY, with 6,444 in 2016.

Where does this ranking come from?

Every value comes from one source and one period, so the places are comparable: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: labor force (measure 06), annual average. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Civilian labor force: other rankings

Cities in New York: more rankings