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 2018, at 1.16 million. San Benito, TX had the lowest, at 8,997. The median was 28,789. Source: the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

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Highest1,156,896Houston, TX
Lowest8,997San Benito, TX
Median28,789122 cities

Top 40 cities, 2018

Houston, TX: 1,156,896 personsHouston, TX1,156,896San Antonio, TX: 676,311 personsSan Antonio, TX676,311Dallas, TX: 672,705 personsDallas, TX672,705Austin, TX: 552,812 personsAustin, TX552,812Fort Worth, TX: 441,226 personsFort Worth, TX441,226El Paso, TX: 298,112 personsEl Paso, TX298,112Arlington, TX: 203,326 personsArlington, TX203,326Plano, TX: 153,798 personsPlano, TX153,798Corpus Christi, TX: 149,747 personsCorpus Christi, TX149,747Irving, TX: 136,399 personsIrving, TX136,399Garland, TX: 126,578 personsGarland, TX126,578Lubbock, TX: 126,561 personsLubbock, TX126,561Laredo, TX: 104,529 personsLaredo, TX104,529Grand Prairie, TX: 97,659 personsGrand Prairie, TX97,659Amarillo, TX: 96,975 personsAmarillo, TX96,975Frisco, TX: 95,346 personsFrisco, TX95,346McKinney, TX: 94,943 personsMcKinney, TX94,943Mesquite, TX: 77,982 personsMesquite, TX77,982Carrollton, TX: 76,964 personsCarrollton, TX76,964Brownsville, TX: 75,854 personsBrownsville, TX75,854Denton, TX: 70,365 personsDenton, TX70,365Lewisville, TX: 70,073 personsLewisville, TX70,073Pasadena, TX: 69,651 personsPasadena, TX69,651Midland, TX: 67,234 personsMidland, TX67,234Richardson, TX: 64,916 personsRichardson, TX64,916McAllen, TX: 63,624 personsMcAllen, TX63,624Pearland, TX: 63,241 personsPearland, TX63,241Waco, TX: 63,054 personsWaco, TX63,054Round Rock, TX: 61,368 personsRound Rock, TX61,368Killeen, TX: 59,249 personsKilleen, TX59,249College Station, TX: 58,569 personsCollege Station, TX58,569Odessa, TX: 57,926 personsOdessa, TX57,926League City, TX: 57,675 personsLeague City, TX57,675Sugar Land, TX: 55,691 personsSugar Land, TX55,691Abilene, TX: 54,372 personsAbilene, TX54,372Beaumont, TX: 54,125 personsBeaumont, TX54,125Allen, TX: 51,769 personsAllen, TX51,769Tyler, TX: 49,960 personsTyler, TX49,960San Angelo, TX: 47,927 personsSan Angelo, TX47,927Wichita Falls, TX: 44,953 personsWichita Falls, TX44,953Houston, TX: 1,156,896 personsHouston, TX1,156,896San Antonio, TX: 676,311 personsSan Antonio, TX676,311Dallas, TX: 672,705 personsDallas, TX672,705Austin, TX: 552,812 personsAustin, TX552,812Fort Worth, TX: 441,226 personsFort Worth, TX441,226El Paso, TX: 298,112 personsEl Paso, TX298,112Arlington, TX: 203,326 personsArlington, TX203,326Plano, TX: 153,798 personsPlano, TX153,798Corpus Christi, TX: 149,747 personsCorpus Christi, TX149,747Irving, TX: 136,399 personsIrving, TX136,399Garland, TX: 126,578 personsGarland, TX126,578Lubbock, TX: 126,561 personsLubbock, TX126,561Laredo, TX: 104,529 personsLaredo, TX104,529Grand Prairie, TX: 97,659 personsGrand Prairie, TX97,659Amarillo, TX: 96,975 personsAmarillo, TX96,975Frisco, TX: 95,346 personsFrisco, TX95,346McKinney, TX: 94,943 personsMcKinney, TX94,943Mesquite, TX: 77,982 personsMesquite, TX77,982Carrollton, TX: 76,964 personsCarrollton, TX76,964Brownsville, TX: 75,854 personsBrownsville, TX75,854Denton, TX: 70,365 personsDenton, TX70,365Lewisville, TX: 70,073 personsLewisville, TX70,073Pasadena, TX: 69,651 personsPasadena, TX69,651Midland, TX: 67,234 personsMidland, TX67,234Richardson, TX: 64,916 personsRichardson, TX64,916McAllen, TX: 63,624 personsMcAllen, TX63,624Pearland, TX: 63,241 personsPearland, TX63,241Waco, TX: 63,054 personsWaco, TX63,054Round Rock, TX: 61,368 personsRound Rock, TX61,368Killeen, TX: 59,249 personsKilleen, TX59,249College Station, TX: 58,569 personsCollege Station, TX58,569Odessa, TX: 57,926 personsOdessa, TX57,926League City, TX: 57,675 personsLeague City, TX57,675Sugar Land, TX: 55,691 personsSugar Land, TX55,691Abilene, TX: 54,372 personsAbilene, TX54,372Beaumont, TX: 54,125 personsBeaumont, TX54,125Allen, TX: 51,769 personsAllen, TX51,769Tyler, TX: 49,960 personsTyler, TX49,960San Angelo, TX: 47,927 personsSan Angelo, TX47,927Wichita Falls, TX: 44,953 personsWichita Falls, TX44,953
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

RankCities2018
persons		Change on 2017
1Houston, TX1,156,896+0.5%
2San Antonio, TX676,311+1.4%
3Dallas, TX672,705+0.2%
4Austin, TX552,812+2.4%
5Fort Worth, TX441,226+3%
6El Paso, TX298,112+1.2%
7Arlington, TX203,326+1.1%
8Plano, TX153,798+0.7%
9Corpus Christi, TX149,7470%
10Irving, TX136,399+0.6%
11Garland, TX126,578+1.7%
12Lubbock, TX126,561+0.8%
13Laredo, TX104,529+1%
14Grand Prairie, TX97,659+0.6%
15Amarillo, TX96,975-0%
16Frisco, TX95,346+6.7%
17McKinney, TX94,943+6.1%
18Mesquite, TX77,982-0.9%
19Carrollton, TX76,964+1%
20Brownsville, TX75,854-0.3%
21Denton, TX70,365+2.4%
22Lewisville, TX70,073+0.6%
23Pasadena, TX69,651-0.8%
24Midland, TX67,234+13.5%
25Richardson, TX64,916+3.5%
26McAllen, TX63,624+1.3%
27Pearland, TX63,241+2.3%
28Waco, TX63,054+0.1%
29Round Rock, TX61,368+6%
30Killeen, TX59,249+0.5%
31College Station, TX58,569+3.4%
32Odessa, TX57,926+9.3%
33League City, TX57,675+2.2%
34Sugar Land, TX55,691+0.1%
35Abilene, TX54,372+1.7%
36Beaumont, TX54,125-0%
37Allen, TX51,769+2.9%
38Tyler, TX49,960+0.9%
39San Angelo, TX47,927+1%
40Wichita Falls, TX44,953+0.6%
41Edinburg, TX41,936+3.6%
42New Braunfels, TX41,919+7.6%
43Conroe, TX41,307+4%
44Baytown, TX39,801-0.3%
45Flower Mound, TX39,254+1.4%
46Cedar Park, TX38,772+3.1%
47Bryan, TX38,495+2.7%
48Longview, TX37,823+0.6%
49Missouri City, TX37,606+0.5%
50North Richland Hills, TX36,586+1.1%
51Mansfield, TX36,433+3.9%
52San Marcos, TX36,319+1.8%
53Pflugerville, TX35,491+2.6%
54Euless, TX34,956+4.4%
55Mission, TX34,643+1.1%
56Temple, TX34,196+0.3%
57Pharr, TX33,159+1%
58Rowlett, TX33,143+5.8%
59Victoria, TX30,869-0%
60DeSoto, TX30,125-0.1%
61Harlingen, TX28,902-0.1%
62Grapevine, TX28,675+0.6%
63Wylie, TX28,512+3.4%
64Bedford, TX27,801+0.6%
65The Colony, TX26,531+1.8%
66Leander, TX25,449+16.5%
67Cedar Hill, TX25,432-0.3%
68Galveston, TX25,303+0.4%
69Georgetown, TX24,723+8%
70Rockwall, TX24,162+2.2%
71Coppell, TX23,894-0.3%
72Texas City, TX23,382+1.6%
73Keller, TX23,012+1.2%
74Haltom City, TX22,839+0.3%
75Burleson, TX22,393+3.6%
76Kyle, TX22,166+10.8%
77Port Arthur, TX22,025-1.1%
78Hurst, TX21,361+0.2%
79Little Elm, TX21,060+10.1%
80Sherman, TX20,325+1.6%
81Waxahachie, TX19,655+4.3%
82Lancaster, TX19,545+0.2%
83Friendswood, TX19,394+1.2%
84Duncanville, TX18,647-0.5%
85Schertz, TX18,598+2.7%
86Rosenberg, TX18,269+2%
87Huntsville, TX17,415+1.5%
88Deer Park, TX17,133-0.7%
89La Porte, TX17,096-0.6%
90Midlothian, TX16,337+6.7%
91Weslaco, TX15,592+3.4%
92Del Rio, TX15,446+10.5%
93Farmers Branch, TX15,313+12.9%
94Nacogdoches, TX15,241-0.3%
95Texarkana, TX15,165-0.8%
96San Juan, TX14,871+1.1%
97Sachse, TX14,761+0.5%
98Copperas Cove, TX14,537-1.4%
99Socorro, TX14,517+2.1%
100Lufkin, TX14,387-1.8%
101Lake Jackson, TX14,193-0.4%
102Weatherford, TX13,951+4.9%
103Cleburne, TX13,901+2.6%
104Seguin, TX13,807+2.3%
105Harker Heights, TX13,806+0.2%
106Hutto, TX13,798+5.7%
107Southlake, TX13,443+2.1%
108Cibolo, TX13,381+4.4%
109Balch Springs, TX13,321-0.2%
110Alvin, TX12,870+1%
111Converse, TX12,812+2.8%
112Colleyville, TX12,388+1.8%
113Greenville, TX12,383+3.5%
114Eagle Pass, TX12,359-1.7%
115Corsicana, TX11,446+2.4%
116Kingsville, TX11,199-0.6%
117University Park, TX10,905-0.3%
118Paris, TX10,769-0.3%
119Big Spring, TX10,336+3.4%
120Denison, TX10,295+2.9%
121Forney, TX9,746+24%
122San Benito, TX8,997-0.7%

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. 12 cities with data in other periods have no value for 2018 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, 2018) [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, 2018. 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=2018. 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, 2018. 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=2018.

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, 2018 [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=2018 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{bureau_cities_in_texas_by_2018,
  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, 2018}},
  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=2018. 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, 2018
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=2018
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/civilian-labor-force/texas-cities?period=2018.
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 1.16 million in 2018, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Which city has the lowest civilian labor force?

San Benito, TX, with 8,997 in 2018.

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 2018 and are not ranked.

Civilian labor force: other rankings

Cities in Texas: more rankings