Counties in Idaho by covered employment (QCEW)

Ada County had the highest covered employment (QCEW) of 44 counties in 2021, at 262,628 jobs. Clark County had the lowest, at 284 jobs. The median was 4,745 jobs and the figure for Idaho was 790,424 jobs. Source: the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Keep it in a collection in your library.
Highest262,628Ada County
Lowest284Clark County
Median4,74544 counties
Idaho790,424History

Map of counties, 2021

Ada County: 262,628 jobsAdams County: 1,049 jobsBannock County: 34,823 jobsBear Lake County: 1,791 jobsBenewah County: 3,437 jobsBingham County: 15,254 jobsBlaine County: 13,017 jobsBoise County: 1,670 jobsBonner County: 15,302 jobsBonneville County: 57,133 jobsBoundary County: 3,885 jobsButte County: 8,949 jobsCamas County: 338 jobsCanyon County: 79,695 jobsCaribou County: 3,482 jobsCassia County: 12,168 jobsClark County: 284 jobsClearwater County: 2,710 jobsCuster County: 1,540 jobsElmore County: 7,288 jobsFranklin County: 3,824 jobsFremont County: 3,286 jobsGem County: 4,240 jobsGooding County: 6,256 jobsIdaho County: 4,627 jobsJefferson County: 7,644 jobsJerome County: 10,977 jobsKootenai County: 66,651 jobsLatah County: 13,498 jobsLemhi County: 2,595 jobsLewis County: 1,612 jobsLincoln County: 1,631 jobsMadison County: 16,904 jobsMinidoka County: 8,381 jobsNez Perce County: 20,786 jobsOneida County: 1,438 jobsOwyhee County: 3,289 jobsPayette County: 6,687 jobsPower County: 3,486 jobsShoshone County: 4,863 jobsTeton County: 3,960 jobsTwin Falls County: 40,520 jobsValley County: 4,993 jobsWashington County: 2,885 jobs
  • Under 2,000
  • 2,000 to 3,000
  • 3,000 to 5,000
  • 5,000 to 9,000
  • 9,000 to 17K
  • 17K 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

Ada County: 262,628 jobsAda County262,628Canyon County: 79,695 jobsCanyon County79,695Kootenai County: 66,651 jobsKootenai County66,651Bonneville County: 57,133 jobsBonneville County57,133Twin Falls County: 40,520 jobsTwin Falls County40,520Bannock County: 34,823 jobsBannock County34,823Nez Perce County: 20,786 jobsNez Perce County20,786Madison County: 16,904 jobsMadison County16,904Bonner County: 15,302 jobsBonner County15,302Bingham County: 15,254 jobsBingham County15,254Latah County: 13,498 jobsLatah County13,498Blaine County: 13,017 jobsBlaine County13,017Cassia County: 12,168 jobsCassia County12,168Jerome County: 10,977 jobsJerome County10,977Butte County: 8,949 jobsButte County8,949Minidoka County: 8,381 jobsMinidoka County8,381Jefferson County: 7,644 jobsJefferson County7,644Elmore County: 7,288 jobsElmore County7,288Payette County: 6,687 jobsPayette County6,687Gooding County: 6,256 jobsGooding County6,256Valley County: 4,993 jobsValley County4,993Shoshone County: 4,863 jobsShoshone County4,863Idaho County: 4,627 jobsIdaho County4,627Gem County: 4,240 jobsGem County4,240Teton County: 3,960 jobsTeton County3,960Boundary County: 3,885 jobsBoundary County3,885Franklin County: 3,824 jobsFranklin County3,824Power County: 3,486 jobsPower County3,486Caribou County: 3,482 jobsCaribou County3,482Benewah County: 3,437 jobsBenewah County3,437Owyhee County: 3,289 jobsOwyhee County3,289Fremont County: 3,286 jobsFremont County3,286Washington County: 2,885 jobsWashington County2,885Clearwater County: 2,710 jobsClearwater County2,710Lemhi County: 2,595 jobsLemhi County2,595Bear Lake County: 1,791 jobsBear Lake County1,791Boise County: 1,670 jobsBoise County1,670Lincoln County: 1,631 jobsLincoln County1,631Lewis County: 1,612 jobsLewis County1,612Custer County: 1,540 jobsCuster County1,540Oneida County: 1,438 jobsOneida County1,438Adams County: 1,049 jobsAdams County1,049Camas County: 338 jobsCamas County338Clark County: 284 jobsClark County284Ada County: 262,628 jobsAda County262,628Canyon County: 79,695 jobsCanyon County79,695Kootenai County: 66,651 jobsKootenai County66,651Bonneville County: 57,133 jobsBonneville County57,133Twin Falls County: 40,520 jobsTwin Falls County40,520Bannock County: 34,823 jobsBannock County34,823Nez Perce County: 20,786 jobsNez Perce County20,786Madison County: 16,904 jobsMadison County16,904Bonner County: 15,302 jobsBonner County15,302Bingham County: 15,254 jobsBingham County15,254Latah County: 13,498 jobsLatah County13,498Blaine County: 13,017 jobsBlaine County13,017Cassia County: 12,168 jobsCassia County12,168Jerome County: 10,977 jobsJerome County10,977Butte County: 8,949 jobsButte County8,949Minidoka County: 8,381 jobsMinidoka County8,381Jefferson County: 7,644 jobsJefferson County7,644Elmore County: 7,288 jobsElmore County7,288Payette County: 6,687 jobsPayette County6,687Gooding County: 6,256 jobsGooding County6,256Valley County: 4,993 jobsValley County4,993Shoshone County: 4,863 jobsShoshone County4,863Idaho County: 4,627 jobsIdaho County4,627Gem County: 4,240 jobsGem County4,240Teton County: 3,960 jobsTeton County3,960Boundary County: 3,885 jobsBoundary County3,885Franklin County: 3,824 jobsFranklin County3,824Power County: 3,486 jobsPower County3,486Caribou County: 3,482 jobsCaribou County3,482Benewah County: 3,437 jobsBenewah County3,437Owyhee County: 3,289 jobsOwyhee County3,289Fremont County: 3,286 jobsFremont County3,286Washington County: 2,885 jobsWashington County2,885Clearwater County: 2,710 jobsClearwater County2,710Lemhi County: 2,595 jobsLemhi County2,595Bear Lake County: 1,791 jobsBear Lake County1,791Boise County: 1,670 jobsBoise County1,670Lincoln County: 1,631 jobsLincoln County1,631Lewis County: 1,612 jobsLewis County1,612Custer County: 1,540 jobsCuster County1,540Oneida County: 1,438 jobsOneida County1,438Adams County: 1,049 jobsAdams County1,049Camas County: 338 jobsCamas County338Clark County: 284 jobsClark County284
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

RankCounties2021
jobs
Change on 2020
1Ada County262,628+4.9%
2Canyon County79,695+10.1%
3Kootenai County66,651+5.2%
4Bonneville County57,133+5.9%
5Twin Falls County40,520+4.1%
6Bannock County34,823+3.4%
7Nez Perce County20,786+2%
8Madison County16,904+6.8%
9Bonner County15,302+6.7%
10Bingham County15,254+1.9%
11Latah County13,498+2.8%
12Blaine County13,017+6.9%
13Cassia County12,168+4.5%
14Jerome County10,977+3.4%
15Butte County8,949+1.4%
16Minidoka County8,381+2%
17Jefferson County7,644+5.9%
18Elmore County7,288+2.2%
19Payette County6,687+2.9%
20Gooding County6,256+1.5%
21Valley County4,993+6.3%
22Shoshone County4,863+4.4%
23Idaho County4,627+5.5%
24Gem County4,240+8.3%
25Teton County3,960+12.2%
26Boundary County3,885+4.7%
27Franklin County3,824+4.5%
28Power County3,486+1%
29Caribou County3,482+0.1%
30Benewah County3,437+0.9%
31Owyhee County3,289+2.4%
32Fremont County3,286+3.5%
33Washington County2,885+4.4%
34Clearwater County2,710+3.1%
35Lemhi County2,595+3%
36Bear Lake County1,791+3.8%
37Boise County1,670+7.9%
38Lincoln County1,631-2%
39Lewis County1,612+2.2%
40Custer County1,540+3.3%
41Oneida County1,438+21.7%
42Adams County1,049+7.4%
43Camas County338+7%
44Clark County284-5%

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 Idaho 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 Idaho 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/idaho-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 Idaho 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/idaho-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 Idaho 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/idaho-counties?period=2021 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{bureau_counties_in_idaho_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 Idaho 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/idaho-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 Idaho 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/idaho-counties?period=2021
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/covered-employment/idaho-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)?

Ada County, with 262,628 jobs in 2021, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Which county has the lowest covered employment (QCEW)?

Clark County, with 284 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 Idaho: more rankings