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 2017, at 4.3 million. Kiryas Joel, NY had the lowest, at 6,621. The median was 15,774. Source: the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

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Highest4,295,879New York, NY
Lowest6,621Kiryas Joel, NY
Median15,77439 cities

All cities, 2017

New York, NY: 4,295,879 personsNew York, NY4,295,879Buffalo, NY: 125,650 personsBuffalo, NY125,650Yonkers, NY: 102,195 personsYonkers, NY102,195Rochester, NY: 100,271 personsRochester, NY100,271Syracuse, NY: 63,780 personsSyracuse, NY63,780Albany, NY: 51,452 personsAlbany, NY51,452New Rochelle, NY: 39,066 personsNew Rochelle, NY39,066Mount Vernon, NY: 37,867 personsMount Vernon, NY37,867Schenectady, NY: 30,623 personsSchenectady, NY30,623White Plains, NY: 29,974 personsWhite Plains, NY29,974Hempstead, NY: 28,179 personsHempstead, NY28,179Utica, NY: 26,606 personsUtica, NY26,606Troy, NY: 24,536 personsTroy, NY24,536Freeport, NY: 23,397 personsFreeport, NY23,397Niagara Falls, NY: 22,240 personsNiagara Falls, NY22,240Valley Stream, NY: 21,703 personsValley Stream, NY21,703Binghamton, NY: 21,073 personsBinghamton, NY21,073Long Beach, NY: 20,144 personsLong Beach, NY20,144Port Chester, NY: 16,932 personsPort Chester, NY16,932North Tonawanda, NY: 15,774 personsNorth Tonawanda, NY15,774Poughkeepsie, NY: 15,298 personsPoughkeepsie, NY15,298Ithaca, NY: 15,246 personsIthaca, NY15,246Saratoga Springs, NY: 14,930 personsSaratoga Springs, NY14,930Lindenhurst, NY: 14,097 personsLindenhurst, NY14,097Glen Cove, NY: 13,947 personsGlen Cove, NY13,947Ossining, NY: 13,816 personsOssining, NY13,816Spring Valley, NY: 13,736 personsSpring Valley, NY13,736Middletown, NY: 13,650 personsMiddletown, NY13,650Peekskill, NY: 13,411 personsPeekskill, NY13,411Newburgh, NY: 13,112 personsNewburgh, NY13,112Harrison, NY: 12,995 personsHarrison, NY12,995Rome, NY: 12,980 personsRome, NY12,980Jamestown, NY: 12,721 personsJamestown, NY12,721Rockville Centre, NY: 12,499 personsRockville Centre, NY12,499Auburn, NY: 12,030 personsAuburn, NY12,030Watertown, NY: 11,154 personsWatertown, NY11,154Lockport, NY: 10,936 personsLockport, NY10,936Elmira, NY: 10,361 personsElmira, NY10,361Kiryas Joel, NY: 6,621 personsKiryas Joel, NY6,621New York, NY: 4,295,879 personsNew York, NY4,295,879Buffalo, NY: 125,650 personsBuffalo, NY125,650Yonkers, NY: 102,195 personsYonkers, NY102,195Rochester, NY: 100,271 personsRochester, NY100,271Syracuse, NY: 63,780 personsSyracuse, NY63,780Albany, NY: 51,452 personsAlbany, NY51,452New Rochelle, NY: 39,066 personsNew Rochelle, NY39,066Mount Vernon, NY: 37,867 personsMount Vernon, NY37,867Schenectady, NY: 30,623 personsSchenectady, NY30,623White Plains, NY: 29,974 personsWhite Plains, NY29,974Hempstead, NY: 28,179 personsHempstead, NY28,179Utica, NY: 26,606 personsUtica, NY26,606Troy, NY: 24,536 personsTroy, NY24,536Freeport, NY: 23,397 personsFreeport, NY23,397Niagara Falls, NY: 22,240 personsNiagara Falls, NY22,240Valley Stream, NY: 21,703 personsValley Stream, NY21,703Binghamton, NY: 21,073 personsBinghamton, NY21,073Long Beach, NY: 20,144 personsLong Beach, NY20,144Port Chester, NY: 16,932 personsPort Chester, NY16,932North Tonawanda, NY: 15,774 personsNorth Tonawanda, NY15,774Poughkeepsie, NY: 15,298 personsPoughkeepsie, NY15,298Ithaca, NY: 15,246 personsIthaca, NY15,246Saratoga Springs, NY: 14,930 personsSaratoga Springs, NY14,930Lindenhurst, NY: 14,097 personsLindenhurst, NY14,097Glen Cove, NY: 13,947 personsGlen Cove, NY13,947Ossining, NY: 13,816 personsOssining, NY13,816Spring Valley, NY: 13,736 personsSpring Valley, NY13,736Middletown, NY: 13,650 personsMiddletown, NY13,650Peekskill, NY: 13,411 personsPeekskill, NY13,411Newburgh, NY: 13,112 personsNewburgh, NY13,112Harrison, NY: 12,995 personsHarrison, NY12,995Rome, NY: 12,980 personsRome, NY12,980Jamestown, NY: 12,721 personsJamestown, NY12,721Rockville Centre, NY: 12,499 personsRockville Centre, NY12,499Auburn, NY: 12,030 personsAuburn, NY12,030Watertown, NY: 11,154 personsWatertown, NY11,154Lockport, NY: 10,936 personsLockport, NY10,936Elmira, NY: 10,361 personsElmira, NY10,361Kiryas Joel, NY: 6,621 personsKiryas Joel, NY6,621
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

RankCities2017
persons		Change on 2016
1New York, NY4,295,879+1.3%
2Buffalo, NY125,650-0%
3Yonkers, NY102,195+0.9%
4Rochester, NY100,271-0.7%
5Syracuse, NY63,780-0.5%
6Albany, NY51,452-0%
7New Rochelle, NY39,066+0.5%
8Mount Vernon, NY37,867+0.8%
9Schenectady, NY30,623+0.2%
10White Plains, NY29,974+1.8%
11Hempstead, NY28,179+0.7%
12Utica, NY26,606+0.1%
13Troy, NY24,536-0.5%
14Freeport, NY23,397+0.6%
15Niagara Falls, NY22,240-0.2%
16Valley Stream, NY21,703+0.7%
17Binghamton, NY21,073-0.8%
18Long Beach, NY20,144+0.6%
19Port Chester, NY16,932+0.8%
20North Tonawanda, NY15,774-0.5%
21Poughkeepsie, NY15,298+1.2%
22Ithaca, NY15,246+0.2%
23Saratoga Springs, NY14,930+0.7%
24Lindenhurst, NY14,097+0.5%
25Glen Cove, NY13,947+0.7%
26Ossining, NY13,816+0.7%
27Spring Valley, NY13,736+1.3%
28Middletown, NY13,650+1.2%
29Peekskill, NY13,411+1.2%
30Newburgh, NY13,112+0.6%
31Harrison, NY12,995+0.8%
32Rome, NY12,980+0.2%
33Jamestown, NY12,721-1.3%
34Rockville Centre, NY12,499+0.9%
35Auburn, NY12,030-2.3%
36Watertown, NY11,154-1.1%
37Lockport, NY10,936+0.3%
38Elmira, NY10,361-1.9%
39Kiryas Joel, NY6,621+2.7%

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, 2017) [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, 2017. 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=2017. 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, 2017. 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=2017.

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, 2017 [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=2017 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{bureau_cities_in_new_york_2017,
  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, 2017}},
  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=2017. 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, 2017
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=2017
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/civilian-labor-force/new-york-cities?period=2017.
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 4.3 million in 2017, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Which city has the lowest civilian labor force?

Kiryas Joel, NY, with 6,621 in 2017.

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