Data / Rankings / Civilian labor force / Cities in Texas

Cities in Texas by civilian labor force

Houston, TX had the highest civilian labor force of 122 cities in 2017, at 1.15 million. Forney, TX had the lowest, at 7,859. The median was 28,720. Source: the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

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Highest1,151,633Houston, TX
Lowest7,859Forney, TX
Median28,720122 cities

Top 40 cities, 2017

Houston, TX: 1,151,633 personsHouston, TX1,151,633Dallas, TX: 671,300 personsDallas, TX671,300San Antonio, TX: 666,816 personsSan Antonio, TX666,816Austin, TX: 540,101 personsAustin, TX540,101Fort Worth, TX: 428,344 personsFort Worth, TX428,344El Paso, TX: 294,634 personsEl Paso, TX294,634Arlington, TX: 201,030 personsArlington, TX201,030Plano, TX: 152,671 personsPlano, TX152,671Corpus Christi, TX: 149,731 personsCorpus Christi, TX149,731Irving, TX: 135,589 personsIrving, TX135,589Lubbock, TX: 125,570 personsLubbock, TX125,570Garland, TX: 124,504 personsGarland, TX124,504Laredo, TX: 103,500 personsLaredo, TX103,500Grand Prairie, TX: 97,049 personsGrand Prairie, TX97,049Amarillo, TX: 97,023 personsAmarillo, TX97,023McKinney, TX: 89,469 personsMcKinney, TX89,469Frisco, TX: 89,396 personsFrisco, TX89,396Mesquite, TX: 78,697 personsMesquite, TX78,697Carrollton, TX: 76,197 personsCarrollton, TX76,197Brownsville, TX: 76,083 personsBrownsville, TX76,083Pasadena, TX: 70,200 personsPasadena, TX70,200Lewisville, TX: 69,645 personsLewisville, TX69,645Denton, TX: 68,709 personsDenton, TX68,709Waco, TX: 63,003 personsWaco, TX63,003McAllen, TX: 62,817 personsMcAllen, TX62,817Richardson, TX: 62,743 personsRichardson, TX62,743Pearland, TX: 61,839 personsPearland, TX61,839Midland, TX: 59,227 personsMidland, TX59,227Killeen, TX: 58,962 personsKilleen, TX58,962Round Rock, TX: 57,910 personsRound Rock, TX57,910College Station, TX: 56,636 personsCollege Station, TX56,636League City, TX: 56,430 personsLeague City, TX56,430Sugar Land, TX: 55,626 personsSugar Land, TX55,626Beaumont, TX: 54,135 personsBeaumont, TX54,135Abilene, TX: 53,475 personsAbilene, TX53,475Odessa, TX: 53,003 personsOdessa, TX53,003Allen, TX: 50,328 personsAllen, TX50,328Tyler, TX: 49,517 personsTyler, TX49,517San Angelo, TX: 47,472 personsSan Angelo, TX47,472Wichita Falls, TX: 44,675 personsWichita Falls, TX44,675Houston, TX: 1,151,633 personsHouston, TX1,151,633Dallas, TX: 671,300 personsDallas, TX671,300San Antonio, TX: 666,816 personsSan Antonio, TX666,816Austin, TX: 540,101 personsAustin, TX540,101Fort Worth, TX: 428,344 personsFort Worth, TX428,344El Paso, TX: 294,634 personsEl Paso, TX294,634Arlington, TX: 201,030 personsArlington, TX201,030Plano, TX: 152,671 personsPlano, TX152,671Corpus Christi, TX: 149,731 personsCorpus Christi, TX149,731Irving, TX: 135,589 personsIrving, TX135,589Lubbock, TX: 125,570 personsLubbock, TX125,570Garland, TX: 124,504 personsGarland, TX124,504Laredo, TX: 103,500 personsLaredo, TX103,500Grand Prairie, TX: 97,049 personsGrand Prairie, TX97,049Amarillo, TX: 97,023 personsAmarillo, TX97,023McKinney, TX: 89,469 personsMcKinney, TX89,469Frisco, TX: 89,396 personsFrisco, TX89,396Mesquite, TX: 78,697 personsMesquite, TX78,697Carrollton, TX: 76,197 personsCarrollton, TX76,197Brownsville, TX: 76,083 personsBrownsville, TX76,083Pasadena, TX: 70,200 personsPasadena, TX70,200Lewisville, TX: 69,645 personsLewisville, TX69,645Denton, TX: 68,709 personsDenton, TX68,709Waco, TX: 63,003 personsWaco, TX63,003McAllen, TX: 62,817 personsMcAllen, TX62,817Richardson, TX: 62,743 personsRichardson, TX62,743Pearland, TX: 61,839 personsPearland, TX61,839Midland, TX: 59,227 personsMidland, TX59,227Killeen, TX: 58,962 personsKilleen, TX58,962Round Rock, TX: 57,910 personsRound Rock, TX57,910College Station, TX: 56,636 personsCollege Station, TX56,636League City, TX: 56,430 personsLeague City, TX56,430Sugar Land, TX: 55,626 personsSugar Land, TX55,626Beaumont, TX: 54,135 personsBeaumont, TX54,135Abilene, TX: 53,475 personsAbilene, TX53,475Odessa, TX: 53,003 personsOdessa, TX53,003Allen, TX: 50,328 personsAllen, TX50,328Tyler, TX: 49,517 personsTyler, TX49,517San Angelo, TX: 47,472 personsSan Angelo, TX47,472Wichita Falls, TX: 44,675 personsWichita Falls, TX44,675
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
1Houston, TX1,151,6330%
2Dallas, TX671,300+2.1%
3San Antonio, TX666,816+2.1%
4Austin, TX540,101+2.2%
5Fort Worth, TX428,344+2.8%
6El Paso, TX294,634+1.2%
7Arlington, TX201,030+1.5%
8Plano, TX152,671+1%
9Corpus Christi, TX149,731-0.2%
10Irving, TX135,589+0.9%
11Lubbock, TX125,570+1.9%
12Garland, TX124,504+1.4%
13Laredo, TX103,500+0.7%
14Grand Prairie, TX97,049+1.6%
15Amarillo, TX97,023-0.3%
16McKinney, TX89,469+6.1%
17Frisco, TX89,396+9.5%
18Mesquite, TX78,697+0.4%
19Carrollton, TX76,197+2.5%
20Brownsville, TX76,083-0.3%
21Pasadena, TX70,200-0.2%
22Lewisville, TX69,645+2%
23Denton, TX68,709+1.6%
24Waco, TX63,003+2.8%
25McAllen, TX62,817+1.1%
26Richardson, TX62,743+2.7%
27Pearland, TX61,839+2.1%
28Midland, TX59,227+6.6%
29Killeen, TX58,962+1.5%
30Round Rock, TX57,910+3.8%
31College Station, TX56,636+2.9%
32League City, TX56,430+2.4%
33Sugar Land, TX55,626-0.5%
34Beaumont, TX54,135-0.3%
35Abilene, TX53,475+1.4%
36Odessa, TX53,003+2.9%
37Allen, TX50,328+2.4%
38Tyler, TX49,517+1%
39San Angelo, TX47,472-0.1%
40Wichita Falls, TX44,675+1%
41Edinburg, TX40,462+3.5%
42Baytown, TX39,914+1.8%
43Conroe, TX39,735+2.8%
44New Braunfels, TX38,957+8.4%
45Flower Mound, TX38,693+5.3%
46Cedar Park, TX37,606+5.4%
47Longview, TX37,586-1.5%
48Bryan, TX37,476+1%
49Missouri City, TX37,407+0.1%
50North Richland Hills, TX36,193+1.6%
51San Marcos, TX35,688+3.8%
52Mansfield, TX35,066+4.8%
53Pflugerville, TX34,586+7.3%
54Mission, TX34,276+0.9%
55Temple, TX34,109+1.7%
56Euless, TX33,473+1.4%
57Pharr, TX32,826+2.6%
58Rowlett, TX31,336+1.9%
59Victoria, TX30,883-1.9%
60DeSoto, TX30,163+1.6%
61Harlingen, TX28,923+0.4%
62Grapevine, TX28,516+4.9%
63Bedford, TX27,625+0.8%
64Wylie, TX27,585+2.6%
65The Colony, TX26,050+2.1%
66Cedar Hill, TX25,497+0.7%
67Galveston, TX25,206+0.6%
68Coppell, TX23,956+1.2%
69Rockwall, TX23,636+2.6%
70Texas City, TX23,003+0.8%
71Georgetown, TX22,896+8.1%
72Haltom City, TX22,772+0.8%
73Keller, TX22,750+1.8%
74Port Arthur, TX22,2770%
75Leander, TX21,845+18.9%
76Burleson, TX21,612+3.8%
77Hurst, TX21,314+0.8%
78Kyle, TX20,009+12.2%
79Sherman, TX20,007+0.5%
80Lancaster, TX19,513+1.3%
81Friendswood, TX19,156+0.7%
82Little Elm, TX19,123+10.9%
83Waxahachie, TX18,844+4%
84Duncanville, TX18,732+0.5%
85Schertz, TX18,117+3%
86Rosenberg, TX17,917+1.3%
87Deer Park, TX17,254+0.5%
88La Porte, TX17,202+0.4%
89Huntsville, TX17,161-0%
90Midlothian, TX15,317+6.1%
91Nacogdoches, TX15,282-0.6%
92Texarkana, TX15,281-0.7%
93Weslaco, TX15,074+1.6%
94Copperas Cove, TX14,743+0.6%
95San Juan, TX14,705+0.7%
96Sachse, TX14,690+3.5%
97Lufkin, TX14,647-1.9%
98Lake Jackson, TX14,246+1.4%
99Socorro, TX14,223+0.7%
100Del Rio, TX13,975-0.6%
101Harker Heights, TX13,782+2.7%
102Farmers Branch, TX13,564+10%
103Cleburne, TX13,551+1.8%
104Seguin, TX13,503+3.6%
105Balch Springs, TX13,345+1.1%
106Weatherford, TX13,300+4.4%
107Southlake, TX13,167+2.9%
108Hutto, TX13,054+7.3%
109Cibolo, TX12,816+5.6%
110Alvin, TX12,748+0.5%
111Eagle Pass, TX12,573-2.4%
112Converse, TX12,460+2.8%
113Colleyville, TX12,168+2.6%
114Greenville, TX11,962+2.9%
115Kingsville, TX11,268-5%
116Corsicana, TX11,173-0.5%
117University Park, TX10,940+1.2%
118Paris, TX10,796+1.7%
119Denison, TX10,001+2.8%
120Big Spring, TX9,993+0.6%
121San Benito, TX9,059+0.5%
122Forney, TX7,859+11.2%

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. 12 cities with data in other periods have no value for 2017 and are left out rather than filled from another source. 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 Texas 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 Texas 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/texas-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 Texas 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/texas-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 Texas 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/texas-cities?period=2017 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{bureau_cities_in_texas_by_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 Texas 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/texas-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 Texas 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/texas-cities?period=2017
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/civilian-labor-force/texas-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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Rank Cities in Texas by civilian labor force using official data, and cite the source.
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Questions

Which city has the highest civilian labor force?

Houston, TX, with 1.15 million in 2017, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Which city has the lowest civilian labor force?

Forney, TX, with 7,859 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. 12 cities have no value for 2017 and are not ranked.

Civilian labor force: other rankings

Cities in Texas: more rankings