Counties in Arkansas by covered employment (QCEW), 2025

Pulaski County had the highest covered employment (QCEW) of 75 counties in 2025, at 262,676 jobs. Newton County had the lowest, at 1,032 jobs. The median was 5,732 jobs and the figure for Arkansas was 1,305,532 jobs. Source: the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Highest262,676Pulaski County
Lowest1,032Newton County
Median5,73275 counties
Arkansas1,305,532History

Top 40 counties, 2025

Pulaski County: 262,676 jobsPulaski County262,676Benton County: 150,665 jobsBenton County150,665Washington County: 122,001 jobsWashington County122,001Sebastian County: 67,700 jobsSebastian County67,700Craighead County: 55,451 jobsCraighead County55,451Faulkner County: 45,993 jobsFaulkner County45,993Garland County: 38,517 jobsGarland County38,517Saline County: 28,549 jobsSaline County28,549Pope County: 26,837 jobsPope County26,837White County: 26,591 jobsWhite County26,591Jefferson County: 24,907 jobsJefferson County24,907Mississippi County: 19,773 jobsMississippi County19,773Crittenden County: 17,907 jobsCrittenden County17,907Crawford County: 17,862 jobsCrawford County17,862Independence County: 17,752 jobsIndependence County17,752Baxter County: 16,448 jobsBaxter County16,448Union County: 16,056 jobsUnion County16,056Lonoke County: 15,977 jobsLonoke County15,977Greene County: 15,401 jobsGreene County15,401Boone County: 14,123 jobsBoone County14,123Miller County: 12,088 jobsMiller County12,088Carroll County: 10,708 jobsCarroll County10,708Arkansas County: 9,093 jobsArkansas County9,093Clark County: 8,716 jobsClark County8,716Columbia County: 7,979 jobsColumbia County7,979Johnson County: 7,860 jobsJohnson County7,860Hempstead County: 7,764 jobsHempstead County7,764Hot Spring County: 7,627 jobsHot Spring County7,627Ouachita County: 6,807 jobsOuachita County6,807St. Francis County: 6,705 jobsSt. Francis County6,705Cleburne County: 6,575 jobsCleburne County6,575Randolph County: 6,419 jobsRandolph County6,419Yell County: 6,405 jobsYell County6,405Conway County: 6,346 jobsConway County6,346Drew County: 6,325 jobsDrew County6,325Ashley County: 6,040 jobsAshley County6,040Polk County: 5,758 jobsPolk County5,758Howard County: 5,732 jobsHoward County5,732Poinsett County: 5,347 jobsPoinsett County5,347Jackson County: 5,084 jobsJackson County5,084
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

RankCounties2025
jobs
Change on 2024
1Pulaski County262,676+0.4%
2Benton County150,665+4.2%
3Washington County122,001+1.1%
4Sebastian County67,700+0.1%
5Craighead County55,451+0.7%
6Faulkner County45,993+1.1%
7Garland County38,517+1.3%
8Saline County28,549+3.8%
9Pope County26,837-0.1%
10White County26,591+1.6%
11Jefferson County24,907-1.3%
12Mississippi County19,773-1.8%
13Crittenden County17,907+10.6%
14Crawford County17,862-7.4%
15Independence County17,752+0.8%
16Baxter County16,448+1.7%
17Union County16,056-2.4%
18Lonoke County15,977+2.4%
19Greene County15,401-1.7%
20Boone County14,123-1.4%
21Miller County12,088-1.7%
22Carroll County10,708-0.5%
23Arkansas County9,093-4.4%
24Clark County8,716+1.1%
25Columbia County7,979-1.6%
26Johnson County7,860-2.6%
27Hempstead County7,764+1.8%
28Hot Spring County7,627-4.3%
29Ouachita County6,807-3.5%
30St. Francis County6,705-0.3%
31Cleburne County6,575+0.8%
32Randolph County6,419+3.5%
33Yell County6,405-2.2%
34Conway County6,346-2.4%
35Drew County6,325-0.2%
36Ashley County6,040+4.9%
37Polk County5,758-1.4%
38Howard County5,732-6.6%
39Poinsett County5,347+3.5%
40Jackson County5,084-0.9%
41Logan County5,055-0.7%
42Sevier County4,936-0.2%
43Franklin County4,924-1%
44Cross County4,711-1.1%
45Grant County4,6010%
46Phillips County4,333-4.4%
47Lawrence County4,131+3.7%
48Desha County3,967-4%
49Sharp County3,950-0.1%
50Van Buren County3,705-2.6%
51Madison County3,619-1.7%
52Calhoun County3,439+5.2%
53Bradley County3,401-5.5%
54Marion County3,078-5%
55Little River County3,041-1.4%
56Clay County3,023-3.1%
57Scott County2,980-4.2%
58Izard County2,9490%
59Chicot County2,670+0.3%
60Dallas County2,657+2.4%
61Stone County2,632-1%
62Lincoln County2,510-5.9%
63Pike County2,453-5.8%
64Woodruff County2,039+2.9%
65Nevada County1,970+5%
66Fulton County1,796+1.2%
67Monroe County1,737-1.4%
68Lee County1,558-4%
69Searcy County1,490+5.9%
70Prairie County1,437-8%
71Montgomery County1,283+0.5%
72Perry County1,077+3.8%
73Cleveland County1,051+0.6%
74Lafayette County1,047-2.5%
75Newton County1,032+2.8%

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/2025/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 Arkansas by covered employment (QCEW), 2025) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://data.bls.gov/cew/data/api/2025/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 Arkansas by covered employment (QCEW), 2025. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 21 Aug. 2026, https://data.bls.gov/cew/data/api/2025/a/industry/10.csv. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/covered-employment/arkansas-counties. 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 Arkansas by covered employment (QCEW), 2025. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://data.bls.gov/cew/data/api/2025/a/industry/10.csv. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/covered-employment/arkansas-counties.

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 Arkansas by covered employment (QCEW), 2025 [Dataset]. Available at: https://data.bls.gov/cew/data/api/2025/a/industry/10.csv, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/covered-employment/arkansas-counties (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{bureau_counties_in_arkansas_by_2025,
  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 Arkansas by covered employment (QCEW), 2025}},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://data.bls.gov/cew/data/api/2025/a/industry/10.csv},
  urldate = {2026-10-12},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/covered-employment/arkansas-counties. 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/2025/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 Arkansas by covered employment (QCEW), 2025
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/08/21
PB  - U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
DB  - Invokely
UR  - https://data.bls.gov/cew/data/api/2025/a/industry/10.csv
L2  - https://invokely.ai/rankings/covered-employment/arkansas-counties
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/covered-employment/arkansas-counties.
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/2025/a/industry/10.csv. Retrieved 2026-10-12.
ER  - 
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Questions

Which county has the highest covered employment (QCEW)?

Pulaski County, with 262,676 jobs in 2025, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Which county has the lowest covered employment (QCEW)?

Newton County, with 1,032 jobs in 2025.

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 Arkansas: more rankings