US counties by covered employment (QCEW)
Los Angeles County had the highest covered employment (QCEW) of 3134 counties in 2020, at 4,109,300 jobs. McPherson County had the lowest, at 68 jobs. The median was 7,847 jobs and the figure for the United States was 139,103,773 jobs. Source: the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Map of counties, 2020
Top 40 counties, 2020
Full ranking
| Rank | Counties | 2020 | Change on 2019 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Los Angeles County | 4,109,300 | -8.9% |
| 2 | Cook County | 2,388,964 | -8.4% |
| 3 | Harris County | 2,221,453 | -5.5% |
| 4 | New York County | 2,199,251 | -13% |
| 5 | Maricopa County | 2,005,867 | -2.7% |
| 6 | Dallas County | 1,667,356 | -4.4% |
| 7 | Orange County | 1,503,403 | -8.9% |
| 8 | San Diego County | 1,369,521 | -8% |
| 9 | King County | 1,350,791 | -5.8% |
| 10 | Miami-Dade County | 1,076,579 | -7.5% |
| 11 | Santa Clara County | 1,051,175 | -6.1% |
| 12 | Clark County | 896,555 | -12.6% |
| 13 | Tarrant County | 887,573 | -3.7% |
| 14 | Middlesex County | 868,635 | -7.6% |
| 15 | Hennepin County | 861,877 | -8% |
| 16 | Fulton County | 844,497 | -6.5% |
| 17 | Bexar County | 832,876 | -5.2% |
| 18 | Orange County | 767,199 | -11.7% |
| 19 | Broward County | 766,904 | -7% |
| 20 | San Bernardino County | 754,484 | -2.5% |
| 21 | Travis County | 752,438 | -3.5% |
| 22 | Kings County | 737,474 | -7.2% |
| 23 | Alameda County | 731,316 | -7.8% |
| 24 | Franklin County | 727,016 | -5% |
| 25 | District of Columbia | 726,035 | -6.4% |
| 26 | Riverside County | 721,926 | -5.2% |
| 27 | Salt Lake County | 706,782 | -1.9% |
| 28 | Mecklenburg County | 694,680 | -2.9% |
| 29 | San Francisco County | 684,969 | -10% |
| 30 | Hillsborough County | 683,615 | -3.4% |
| 31 | Cuyahoga County | 681,602 | -7% |
| 32 | Oakland County | 673,379 | -9.8% |
| 33 | Wayne County | 665,889 | -9.3% |
| 34 | Sacramento County | 649,536 | -4.4% |
| 35 | Suffolk County | 645,431 | -8.2% |
| 36 | Allegheny County | 644,385 | -8.4% |
| 37 | Philadelphia County | 641,208 | -8.4% |
| 38 | Queens County | 637,548 | -11.2% |
| 39 | Suffolk County | 603,116 | -9.4% |
| 40 | Fairfax County | 591,639 | -4.9% |
| 41 | Palm Beach County | 579,563 | -5.9% |
| 42 | DuPage County | 571,538 | -7.5% |
| 43 | St. Louis County | 570,129 | -6.6% |
| 44 | Marion County | 569,514 | -6.3% |
| 45 | Nassau County | 563,068 | -10.9% |
| 46 | Wake County | 550,820 | -4.3% |
| 47 | Duval County | 509,348 | -3% |
| 48 | Denver County | 491,687 | -7.1% |
| 49 | Hamilton County | 487,691 | -6.4% |
| 50 | Davidson County | 479,643 | -6.5% |
| 51 | Multnomah County | 477,432 | -8.2% |
| 52 | Shelby County | 477,083 | -5.2% |
| 53 | Montgomery County | 471,365 | -6.7% |
| 54 | Milwaukee County | 451,079 | -7.3% |
| 55 | Oklahoma County | 445,014 | -4.2% |
| 56 | Jefferson County | 442,149 | -6.1% |
| 57 | Montgomery County | 439,259 | -7% |
| 58 | Collin County | 426,713 | -1% |
| 59 | Erie County | 426,142 | -9.6% |
| 60 | Pinellas County | 421,208 | -4.3% |
| 61 | Honolulu County | 406,489 | -13.5% |
| 62 | Middlesex County | 398,339 | -7.3% |
| 63 | Bergen County | 397,549 | -10.5% |
| 64 | Westchester County | 386,750 | -10.6% |
| 65 | San Mateo County | 385,599 | -7.3% |
| 66 | Fresno County | 379,595 | -5.1% |
| 67 | Kent County | 369,759 | -9.1% |
| 68 | Pima County | 361,323 | -3.9% |
| 69 | Monroe County | 355,150 | -9% |
| 70 | Jackson County | 354,255 | -5.5% |
| 71 | Cobb County | 353,799 | -5.4% |
| 72 | Baltimore County | 350,800 | -7.9% |
| 73 | Gwinnett County | 344,862 | -4.7% |
| 74 | Tulsa County | 343,829 | -5% |
| 75 | Contra Costa County | 340,559 | -7.8% |
| 76 | Johnson County | 337,896 | -4.4% |
| 77 | Jefferson County | 337,153 | -4.8% |
| 78 | Baltimore city | 328,182 | -4.7% |
| 79 | Dane County | 328,023 | -4.7% |
| 80 | Douglas County | 326,831 | -4.4% |
| 81 | Worcester County | 326,180 | -7.6% |
| 82 | Arapahoe County | 319,739 | -4.5% |
| 83 | Lake County | 317,448 | -6.8% |
| 84 | Norfolk County | 316,785 | -10.5% |
| 85 | Kern County | 315,656 | -4.8% |
| 86 | Bernalillo County | 313,802 | -6.2% |
| 87 | Essex County | 310,190 | -10.2% |
| 88 | Ventura County | 309,248 | -6.6% |
| 89 | Ramsey County | 309,036 | -7.8% |
| 90 | Pierce County | 302,252 | -4.6% |
| 91 | Bronx County | 301,191 | -7.2% |
| 92 | El Paso County | 298,737 | -4.2% |
| 93 | Macomb County | 298,101 | -9.9% |
| 94 | Essex County | 296,754 | -9.3% |
| 95 | Prince George's County | 295,521 | -8.3% |
| 96 | Polk County | 288,496 | -4.8% |
| 97 | DeKalb County | 286,820 | -5.4% |
| 98 | Washington County | 285,947 | -5.7% |
| 99 | New Castle County | 276,059 | -6.1% |
| 100 | El Paso County | 275,978 | -2.6% |
| 101 | Snohomish County | 274,152 | -6% |
| 102 | Morris County | 271,112 | -7.8% |
| 103 | Guilford County | 270,442 | -5.4% |
| 104 | Providence County | 264,945 | -8.4% |
| 105 | Greenville County | 264,396 | -5.4% |
| 106 | Lee County | 258,107 | -4% |
| 107 | Denton County | 257,745 | -1.1% |
| 108 | Hidalgo County | 257,279 | -3.3% |
| 109 | Anne Arundel County | 255,908 | -6.9% |
| 110 | Utah County | 253,406 | +0.7% |
| 111 | San Joaquin County | 252,633 | -2.1% |
| 112 | Summit County | 251,456 | -6% |
| 113 | Ada County | 250,270 | -1.1% |
| 114 | Hudson County | 247,638 | -8.1% |
| 115 | East Baton Rouge Parish | 246,955 | -6.9% |
| 116 | Mercer County | 246,676 | -5.1% |
| 117 | Bucks County | 243,880 | -9.3% |
| 118 | Charleston County | 242,243 | -6.7% |
| 119 | Monmouth County | 240,786 | -9.1% |
| 120 | Sedgwick County | 240,283 | -6.6% |
| 121 | Montgomery County | 240,012 | -6.1% |
| 122 | Will County | 238,592 | -4% |
| 123 | Pulaski County | 238,460 | -5.3% |
| 124 | Chester County | 235,940 | -6.7% |
| 125 | Waukesha County | 232,887 | -5.3% |
| 126 | Knox County | 232,376 | -3.4% |
| 127 | Jefferson County | 232,079 | -4.5% |
| 128 | Lancaster County | 229,999 | -6.2% |
| 129 | Polk County | 229,650 | +0.6% |
| 130 | Onondaga County | 227,350 | -8.5% |
| 131 | Adams County | 220,788 | -2.2% |
| 132 | Spokane County | 218,321 | -4.5% |
| 133 | Albany County | 217,213 | -7% |
| 134 | Brevard County | 215,500 | -3.1% |
| 135 | St. Louis city | 212,636 | -7.5% |
| 136 | Washoe County | 212,585 | -6.1% |
| 137 | Richland County | 212,162 | -5% |
| 138 | Durham County | 211,892 | +0.1% |
| 139 | Union County | 210,648 | -7.7% |
| 140 | Bristol County | 209,262 | -8.5% |
| 141 | Delaware County | 207,107 | -8.7% |
| 142 | Madison County | 202,530 | -1.7% |
| 143 | Washtenaw County | 202,114 | -7.5% |
| 144 | Santa Barbara County | 201,236 | -1.6% |
| 145 | Hamilton County | 199,009 | -4.4% |
| 146 | Kane County | 194,306 | -8.7% |
| 147 | Sonoma County | 192,969 | -8.6% |
| 148 | Hampden County | 192,792 | -9.3% |
| 149 | Hillsborough County | 192,718 | -6.4% |
| 150 | Seminole County | 192,221 | -4.4% |
| 151 | Lucas County | 192,062 | -8.4% |
| 152 | Fort Bend County | 190,182 | -3.1% |
| 153 | Burlington County | 189,065 | -6.1% |
| 154 | Montgomery County | 186,567 | -3% |
| 155 | Camden County | 186,540 | -9% |
| 156 | Stanislaus County | 184,402 | -4.6% |
| 157 | Monterey County | 183,716 | -7.3% |
| 158 | Fayette County | 182,385 | -6.6% |
| 159 | Forsyth County | 181,335 | -5.1% |
| 160 | Allen County | 181,300 | -5.2% |
| 161 | Lehigh County | 181,294 | -7.3% |
| 162 | Henrico County | 180,705 | -6.1% |
| 163 | Williamson County | 179,732 | -1% |
| 164 | Boulder County | 179,056 | -5% |
| 165 | Dakota County | 177,825 | -7% |
| 166 | Plymouth County | 177,171 | -10.1% |
| 167 | Jefferson Parish | 176,581 | -7.1% |
| 168 | Lake County | 176,399 | -6.6% |
| 169 | Somerset County | 175,273 | -7.6% |
| 170 | Cumberland County | 174,995 | -6.7% |
| 171 | Arlington County | 174,422 | -4.3% |
| 172 | Dauphin County | 174,392 | -6.6% |
| 173 | Orleans Parish | 171,517 | -14.6% |
| 174 | York County | 167,862 | -7% |
| 175 | Virginia Beach city | 167,802 | -6.5% |
| 176 | Volusia County | 166,974 | -5.1% |
| 177 | Lancaster County | 165,194 | -4.5% |
| 178 | Loudoun County | 165,166 | -5.9% |
| 179 | Mobile County | 164,350 | -4.4% |
| 180 | Greene County | 163,704 | -3.7% |
| 181 | Sarasota County | 163,653 | -5% |
| 182 | Placer County | 162,217 | -5.9% |
| 183 | Howard County | 161,299 | -7.6% |
| 184 | Berks County | 161,230 | -8.4% |
| 185 | Clackamas County | 158,952 | -6.2% |
| 186 | Larimer County | 158,006 | -4.7% |
| 187 | Ocean County | 157,700 | -8.3% |
| 188 | Tulare County | 157,273 | -4.9% |
| 189 | Clark County | 156,211 | -5% |
| 190 | Nueces County | 152,252 | -7.4% |
| 191 | Marion County | 152,108 | -4.2% |
| 192 | Chatham County | 151,678 | -4.5% |
| 193 | Brown County | 150,164 | -5.3% |
| 194 | Passaic County | 149,946 | -9.5% |
| 195 | Stark County | 149,687 | -6% |
| 196 | Butler County | 148,967 | -5.7% |
| 197 | Richmond city | 147,619 | -7% |
| 198 | Lane County | 147,539 | -6.7% |
| 199 | St. Charles County | 147,130 | -3.2% |
| 200 | Leon County | 145,862 | -4.7% |
| 201 | Spartanburg County | 144,453 | -2.2% |
| 202 | Collier County | 143,989 | -5% |
| 203 | Rockingham County | 141,859 | -6.5% |
| 204 | Ingham County | 140,841 | -8% |
| 205 | Hamilton County | 140,001 | -3.1% |
| 206 | Lubbock County | 137,688 | -2.9% |
| 207 | Cameron County | 137,637 | -2.7% |
| 208 | Anchorage Municipality | 135,969 | -8.1% |
| 209 | Orange County | 135,579 | -8.6% |
| 210 | Luzerne County | 135,557 | -6.9% |
| 211 | Williamson County | 135,131 | -3.5% |
| 212 | Escambia County | 134,981 | -2.6% |
| 213 | Davis County | 133,033 | -0% |
| 214 | Norfolk city | 132,792 | -5.8% |
| 215 | Solano County | 132,279 | -7.5% |
| 216 | Chesterfield County | 131,601 | -4% |
| 217 | Rutherford County | 128,934 | -3.8% |
| 218 | Cumberland County | 128,811 | -5.6% |
| 219 | Alachua County | 128,655 | -4.1% |
| 220 | Douglas County | 127,016 | -2.9% |
| 221 | Prince William County | 125,254 | -6% |
| 222 | Minnehaha County | 124,900 | -2.9% |
| 223 | Manatee County | 124,880 | -4.3% |
| 224 | Elkhart County | 124,783 | -6.2% |
| 225 | Montgomery County | 124,286 | -5% |
| 226 | Lafayette Parish | 123,502 | -6.1% |
| 227 | Westmoreland County | 123,310 | -8% |
| 228 | Linn County | 123,175 | -6.2% |
| 229 | Benton County | 123,031 | +0.5% |
| 230 | Buncombe County | 122,558 | -9.2% |
| 231 | Horry County | 122,231 | -8.7% |
| 232 | Sangamon County | 122,152 | -6.5% |
| 233 | Genesee County | 121,390 | -10.7% |
| 234 | Anoka County | 120,604 | -5.6% |
| 235 | Ottawa County | 119,714 | -6.7% |
| 236 | Richmond County | 119,667 | -6.5% |
| 237 | Pasco County | 119,576 | -1.8% |
| 238 | Lexington County | 119,027 | -2.6% |
| 239 | Bell County | 118,586 | -1.8% |
| 240 | Rockland County | 118,574 | -8.7% |
| 241 | Cass County | 115,408 | -3.9% |
| 242 | Winnebago County | 115,393 | -8.5% |
| 243 | Cumberland County | 114,833 | -4.7% |
| 244 | St. Joseph County | 114,805 | -8% |
| 245 | Jefferson County | 113,598 | -7.7% |
| 246 | Hinds County | 113,577 | -5.2% |
| 247 | Thurston County | 113,082 | -4.5% |
| 248 | New Hanover County | 112,788 | -4.3% |
| 249 | Kalamazoo County | 112,765 | -6.8% |
| 250 | Erie County | 112,408 | -7.7% |
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. 9 counties with data in other periods have no value for 2020 and are left out rather than filled from another source. 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/2020/a/industry/10.csv. Retrieved 2026-10-12.Citation styles
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 (US counties by covered employment (QCEW), 2020) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://data.bls.gov/cew/data/api/2020/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, US counties by covered employment (QCEW), 2020. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 21 Aug. 2026, https://data.bls.gov/cew/data/api/2020/a/industry/10.csv. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/covered-employment/us-counties?period=2020. 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. US counties by covered employment (QCEW), 2020. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://data.bls.gov/cew/data/api/2020/a/industry/10.csv. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/covered-employment/us-counties?period=2020.
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, US counties by covered employment (QCEW), 2020 [Dataset]. Available at: https://data.bls.gov/cew/data/api/2020/a/industry/10.csv, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/covered-employment/us-counties?period=2020 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).
BibTeX
@misc{bureau_us_counties_by_covered_2020,
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: US counties by covered employment (QCEW), 2020}},
year = {2026},
howpublished = {Data set},
url = {https://data.bls.gov/cew/data/api/2020/a/industry/10.csv},
urldate = {2026-10-12},
note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/covered-employment/us-counties?period=2020. 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/2020/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: US counties by covered employment (QCEW), 2020
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/08/21
PB - U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
DB - Invokely
UR - https://data.bls.gov/cew/data/api/2020/a/industry/10.csv
L2 - https://invokely.ai/rankings/covered-employment/us-counties?period=2020
Y2 - 2026/10/12
N1 - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/covered-employment/us-counties?period=2020.
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/2020/a/industry/10.csv. Retrieved 2026-10-12.
ER -
Use this data in your AI agent
Invokely serves this figure to AI assistants through MCP and to code through a REST API, with the source and citation attached. Ask your assistant:
Rank US counties by covered employment (QCEW) using official data, and cite the source.
rank_places {"indicator":"covered_employment","level":"province","within":"United States","limit":10}
GET https://invokely.ai/api/v1/rank?indicator=covered_employment&level=province&within=United%20States&limit=10Questions
Which county has the highest covered employment (QCEW)?
Los Angeles County, with 4,109,300 jobs in 2020, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Which county has the lowest covered employment (QCEW)?
McPherson County, with 68 jobs in 2020.
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. 9 counties have no value for 2020 and are not ranked.