Counties in Arizona by covered employment (QCEW)

Maricopa County had the highest covered employment (QCEW) of 15 counties in 2016, at 1,871,953 jobs. Greenlee County had the lowest, at 4,370 jobs. The median was 33,906 jobs and the figure for Arizona was 2,680,065 jobs. Source: the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Highest1,871,953Maricopa County

Lowest4,370Greenlee County

Median33,90615 counties

Arizona2,680,065History

Map of counties, 2016

Under 10K
10K to 20K
20K to 50K
50K to 60K
60K and over

jobs, 2016. 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, 2016

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

Rank	Counties	2016 jobs	Change on 2015
1	Maricopa County	1,871,953	+3%
2	Pima County	358,682	+1.3%
3	Yuma County	66,432	+2.5%
4	Yavapai County	61,519	+2.9%
5	Pinal County	61,111	+6.2%
6	Coconino County	61,087	+1.1%
7	Mohave County	47,595	+1.6%
8	Cochise County	33,906	-1.9%
9	Navajo County	27,592	+3.3%
10	Apache County	17,671	-0.5%
11	Gila County	14,624	-1%
12	Santa Cruz County	13,240	-2.7%
13	Graham County	8,894	+3.5%
14	La Paz County	5,675	+2.7%
15	Greenlee County	4,370	-4%

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/2016/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 Arizona by covered employment (QCEW), 2016) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://data.bls.gov/cew/data/api/2016/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 Arizona by covered employment (QCEW), 2016. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 21 Aug. 2026, https://data.bls.gov/cew/data/api/2016/a/industry/10.csv. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/covered-employment/arizona-counties?period=2016. 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 Arizona by covered employment (QCEW), 2016. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://data.bls.gov/cew/data/api/2016/a/industry/10.csv. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/covered-employment/arizona-counties?period=2016.

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 Arizona by covered employment (QCEW), 2016 [Dataset]. Available at: https://data.bls.gov/cew/data/api/2016/a/industry/10.csv, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/covered-employment/arizona-counties?period=2016 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX

@misc{bureau_counties_in_arizona_by_2016,
  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 Arizona by covered employment (QCEW), 2016}},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://data.bls.gov/cew/data/api/2016/a/industry/10.csv},
  urldate = {2026-10-12},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/covered-employment/arizona-counties?period=2016. 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/2016/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 Arizona by covered employment (QCEW), 2016
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/08/21
PB  - U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
DB  - Invokely
UR  - https://data.bls.gov/cew/data/api/2016/a/industry/10.csv
L2  - https://invokely.ai/rankings/covered-employment/arizona-counties?period=2016
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/covered-employment/arizona-counties?period=2016.
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/2016/a/industry/10.csv. Retrieved 2026-10-12.
ER  -

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Rank Counties in Arizona by covered employment (QCEW) using official data, and cite the source.

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Questions

Which county has the highest covered employment (QCEW)?

Maricopa County, with 1,871,953 jobs in 2016, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Which county has the lowest covered employment (QCEW)?

Greenlee County, with 4,370 jobs 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, Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW): annual average employment, total covered, all industries (NAICS 10), nation, states and counties. Retrieved 2026-10-12.