Counties in Alaska by covered employment (QCEW)

Anchorage Municipality had the highest covered employment (QCEW) of 30 counties in 2021, at 138,754 jobs. Yakutat City and Borough had the lowest, at 331 jobs. The median was 2,472 jobs and the figure for Alaska was 305,145 jobs. Source: the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

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Median2,47230 counties
Alaska305,145History

Map of counties, 2021

Aleutians East Borough: 2,228 jobsAleutians West Census Area: 3,071 jobsAnchorage Municipality: 138,754 jobsBethel Census Area: 6,303 jobsBristol Bay Borough: 1,240 jobsChugach Census Area: 3,480 jobsCopper River Census Area: 972 jobsDenali Borough: 1,388 jobsDillingham Census Area: 2,005 jobsFairbanks North Star Borough: 34,983 jobsHaines Borough: 802 jobsHoonah-Angoon Census Area: 786 jobsJuneau City and Borough: 16,083 jobsKenai Peninsula Borough: 19,766 jobsKetchikan Gateway Borough: 6,391 jobsKodiak Island Borough: 5,463 jobsKusilvak Census Area: 1,941 jobsLake and Peninsula Borough: 821 jobsMatanuska-Susitna Borough: 26,234 jobsNome Census Area: 3,700 jobsNorth Slope Borough: 9,705 jobsNorthwest Arctic Borough: 2,764 jobsPetersburg Borough: 1,383 jobsPrince of Wales-Hyder Census Area: 2,091 jobsSitka City and Borough: 4,060 jobsSkagway Municipality: 500 jobsSoutheast Fairbanks Census Area: 2,716 jobsWrangell City and Borough: 712 jobsYakutat City and Borough: 331 jobsYukon-Koyukuk Census Area: 2,166 jobs
  • Under 1,000
  • 1,000 to 2,000
  • 2,000 to 4,000
  • 4,000 to 11K
  • 11K and over
jobs, 2021. Source: BLS, Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW): annual average employment, total covered, all industries (NAICS 10), nation, states and counties. Boundaries: U.S. Census Bureau cartographic boundary files.

All counties, 2021

Anchorage Municipality: 138,754 jobsAnchorage Municipality138,754Fairbanks North Star Borough: 34,983 jobsFairbanks North Star Borough34,983Matanuska-Susitna Borough: 26,234 jobsMatanuska-Susitna Borough26,234Kenai Peninsula Borough: 19,766 jobsKenai Peninsula Borough19,766Juneau City and Borough: 16,083 jobsJuneau City and Borough16,083North Slope Borough: 9,705 jobsNorth Slope Borough9,705Ketchikan Gateway Borough: 6,391 jobsKetchikan Gateway Borough6,391Bethel Census Area: 6,303 jobsBethel Census Area6,303Kodiak Island Borough: 5,463 jobsKodiak Island Borough5,463Sitka City and Borough: 4,060 jobsSitka City and Borough4,060Nome Census Area: 3,700 jobsNome Census Area3,700Chugach Census Area: 3,480 jobsChugach Census Area3,480Aleutians West Census Area: 3,071 jobsAleutians West Census Area3,071Northwest Arctic Borough: 2,764 jobsNorthwest Arctic Borough2,764Southeast Fairbanks Census Area: 2,716 jobsSoutheast Fairbanks Census Area2,716Aleutians East Borough: 2,228 jobsAleutians East Borough2,228Yukon-Koyukuk Census Area: 2,166 jobsYukon-Koyukuk Census Area2,166Prince of Wales-Hyder Census Area: 2,091 jobsPrince of Wales-Hyder Census Area2,091Dillingham Census Area: 2,005 jobsDillingham Census Area2,005Kusilvak Census Area: 1,941 jobsKusilvak Census Area1,941Denali Borough: 1,388 jobsDenali Borough1,388Petersburg Borough: 1,383 jobsPetersburg Borough1,383Bristol Bay Borough: 1,240 jobsBristol Bay Borough1,240Copper River Census Area: 972 jobsCopper River Census Area972Lake and Peninsula Borough: 821 jobsLake and Peninsula Borough821Haines Borough: 802 jobsHaines Borough802Hoonah-Angoon Census Area: 786 jobsHoonah-Angoon Census Area786Wrangell City and Borough: 712 jobsWrangell City and Borough712Skagway Municipality: 500 jobsSkagway Municipality500Yakutat City and Borough: 331 jobsYakutat City and Borough331Anchorage Municipality: 138,754 jobsAnchorage Municipality138,754Fairbanks North Star Borough: 34,983 jobsFairbanks North Star Borough34,983Matanuska-Susitna Borough: 26,234 jobsMatanuska-Susitna Borough26,234Kenai Peninsula Borough: 19,766 jobsKenai Peninsula Borough19,766Juneau City and Borough: 16,083 jobsJuneau City and Borough16,083North Slope Borough: 9,705 jobsNorth Slope Borough9,705Ketchikan Gateway Borough: 6,391 jobsKetchikan Gateway Borough6,391Bethel Census Area: 6,303 jobsBethel Census Area6,303Kodiak Island Borough: 5,463 jobsKodiak Island Borough5,463Sitka City and Borough: 4,060 jobsSitka City and Borough4,060Nome Census Area: 3,700 jobsNome Census Area3,700Chugach Census Area: 3,480 jobsChugach Census Area3,480Aleutians West Census Area: 3,071 jobsAleutians West Census Area3,071Northwest Arctic Borough: 2,764 jobsNorthwest Arctic Borough2,764Southeast Fairbanks Census Area: 2,716 jobsSoutheast Fairbanks Census Area2,716Aleutians East Borough: 2,228 jobsAleutians East Borough2,228Yukon-Koyukuk Census Area: 2,166 jobsYukon-Koyukuk Census Area2,166Prince of Wales-Hyder Census Area: 2,091 jobsPrince of Wales-Hyder Census Area2,091Dillingham Census Area: 2,005 jobsDillingham Census Area2,005Kusilvak Census Area: 1,941 jobsKusilvak Census Area1,941Denali Borough: 1,388 jobsDenali Borough1,388Petersburg Borough: 1,383 jobsPetersburg Borough1,383Bristol Bay Borough: 1,240 jobsBristol Bay Borough1,240Copper River Census Area: 972 jobsCopper River Census Area972Lake and Peninsula Borough: 821 jobsLake and Peninsula Borough821Haines Borough: 802 jobsHaines Borough802Hoonah-Angoon Census Area: 786 jobsHoonah-Angoon Census Area786Wrangell City and Borough: 712 jobsWrangell City and Borough712Skagway Municipality: 500 jobsSkagway Municipality500Yakutat City and Borough: 331 jobsYakutat City and Borough331
jobs. Source: BLS, Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW): annual average employment, total covered, all industries (NAICS 10), nation, states and counties. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Full ranking

Other periods

About this ranking

Average number of jobs covered by unemployment insurance during the year, all industries, private and government, from the Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW) of the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Counted where the job is located, from the reports employers file each quarter; monthly employment counts the jobs in the pay period that includes the 12th.

Counts jobs, not people: someone with two jobs counts twice. Covers about 95 percent of US wage and salary jobs. Excludes the self-employed, most agricultural workers on small farms, the armed forces, elected officials in most states, most railroad employees, some domestic workers and most student workers at schools. A count of employer reports, not a survey estimate like oews_employment.

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

How to cite

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW): annual average employment, total covered, all industries (NAICS 10), nation, states and counties. https://data.bls.gov/cew/data/api/2021/a/industry/10.csv. 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). Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW): annual average employment, total covered, all industries (NAICS 10), nation, states and counties (Counties in Alaska by covered employment (QCEW), 2021) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://data.bls.gov/cew/data/api/2021/a/industry/10.csv

MLA 9

Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW): annual average employment, total covered, all industries (NAICS 10), nation, states and counties, Counties in Alaska by covered employment (QCEW), 2021. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 21 Aug. 2026, https://data.bls.gov/cew/data/api/2021/a/industry/10.csv. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/covered-employment/alaska-counties?period=2021. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. 2026. Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW): annual average employment, total covered, all industries (NAICS 10), nation, states and counties. Counties in Alaska by covered employment (QCEW), 2021. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://data.bls.gov/cew/data/api/2021/a/industry/10.csv. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/covered-employment/alaska-counties?period=2021.

Harvard

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (2026) Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW): annual average employment, total covered, all industries (NAICS 10), nation, states and counties, Counties in Alaska by covered employment (QCEW), 2021 [Dataset]. Available at: https://data.bls.gov/cew/data/api/2021/a/industry/10.csv, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/covered-employment/alaska-counties?period=2021 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{bureau_counties_in_alaska_by_2021,
  author = {{U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics}},
  title = {{Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW): annual average employment, total covered, all industries (NAICS 10), nation, states and counties: Counties in Alaska by covered employment (QCEW), 2021}},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://data.bls.gov/cew/data/api/2021/a/industry/10.csv},
  urldate = {2026-10-12},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/covered-employment/alaska-counties?period=2021. Publisher attribution: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW): annual average employment, total covered, all industries (NAICS 10), nation, states and counties. https://data.bls.gov/cew/data/api/2021/a/industry/10.csv. Retrieved 2026-10-12.},
}
RIS
TY  - DATA
AU  - U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
TI  - Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW): annual average employment, total covered, all industries (NAICS 10), nation, states and counties: Counties in Alaska by covered employment (QCEW), 2021
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/08/21
PB  - U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
DB  - Invokely
UR  - https://data.bls.gov/cew/data/api/2021/a/industry/10.csv
L2  - https://invokely.ai/rankings/covered-employment/alaska-counties?period=2021
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/covered-employment/alaska-counties?period=2021.
N1  - Publisher attribution: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW): annual average employment, total covered, all industries (NAICS 10), nation, states and counties. https://data.bls.gov/cew/data/api/2021/a/industry/10.csv. Retrieved 2026-10-12.
ER  - 
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Questions

Which county has the highest covered employment (QCEW)?

Anchorage Municipality, with 138,754 jobs in 2021, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Which county has the lowest covered employment (QCEW)?

Yakutat City and Borough, with 331 jobs in 2021.

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, Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW): annual average employment, total covered, all industries (NAICS 10), nation, states and counties. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Covered employment (QCEW): other rankings

Counties in Alaska: more rankings