Data / Rankings / Covered employment (QCEW) / US states

US states by covered employment (QCEW), 2025

California had the highest covered employment (QCEW) of 51 states in 2025, at 18,210,243 jobs. Wyoming had the lowest, at 282,252 jobs. The median was 1,987,730 jobs and the figure for the United States was 155,732,363 jobs. Source: the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Keep it in a collection in your library.
Highest18,210,243California
Lowest282,252Wyoming
Median1,987,73051 states
United States155,732,363History

Map of states, 2025

Alabama: 2,118,878 jobsAlaska: 332,544 jobsArizona: 3,234,783 jobsArkansas: 1,305,532 jobsCalifornia: 18,210,243 jobsColorado: 2,891,626 jobsConnecticut: 1,691,734 jobsDelaware: 481,552 jobsDistrict of Columbia: 741,646 jobsFlorida: 9,914,411 jobsGeorgia: 4,890,150 jobsHawaii: 644,391 jobsIdaho: 874,283 jobsIllinois: 6,067,518 jobsIndiana: 3,190,325 jobsIowa: 1,558,465 jobsKansas: 1,432,626 jobsKentucky: 1,990,460 jobsLouisiana: 1,928,041 jobsMaine: 651,181 jobsMaryland: 2,754,961 jobsMassachusetts: 3,634,042 jobsMichigan: 4,408,446 jobsMinnesota: 2,944,260 jobsMississippi: 1,173,251 jobsMissouri: 2,898,452 jobsMontana: 512,424 jobsNebraska: 1,021,306 jobsNevada: 1,569,260 jobsNew Hampshire: 689,026 jobsNew Jersey: 4,282,851 jobsNew Mexico: 875,212 jobsNew York: 9,791,529 jobsNorth Carolina: 4,941,383 jobsNorth Dakota: 429,567 jobsOhio: 5,534,587 jobsOklahoma: 1,700,650 jobsOregon: 1,987,730 jobsPennsylvania: 6,053,191 jobsRhode Island: 499,321 jobsSouth Carolina: 2,320,850 jobsSouth Dakota: 460,392 jobsTennessee: 3,265,460 jobsTexas: 14,109,957 jobsUtah: 1,741,066 jobsVermont: 308,225 jobsVirginia: 4,149,424 jobsWashington: 3,601,662 jobsWest Virginia: 695,422 jobsWisconsin: 2,945,816 jobsWyoming: 282,252 jobs
  • Under 600K
  • 600K to 1.3M
  • 1.3M to 2M
  • 2M to 3M
  • 3M to 4.7M
  • 4.7M and over
jobs, 2025. 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 states, 2025

California: 18,210,243 jobsCalifornia18,210,243Texas: 14,109,957 jobsTexas14,109,957Florida: 9,914,411 jobsFlorida9,914,411New York: 9,791,529 jobsNew York9,791,529Illinois: 6,067,518 jobsIllinois6,067,518Pennsylvania: 6,053,191 jobsPennsylvania6,053,191Ohio: 5,534,587 jobsOhio5,534,587North Carolina: 4,941,383 jobsNorth Carolina4,941,383Georgia: 4,890,150 jobsGeorgia4,890,150Michigan: 4,408,446 jobsMichigan4,408,446New Jersey: 4,282,851 jobsNew Jersey4,282,851Virginia: 4,149,424 jobsVirginia4,149,424Massachusetts: 3,634,042 jobsMassachusetts3,634,042Washington: 3,601,662 jobsWashington3,601,662Tennessee: 3,265,460 jobsTennessee3,265,460Arizona: 3,234,783 jobsArizona3,234,783Indiana: 3,190,325 jobsIndiana3,190,325Wisconsin: 2,945,816 jobsWisconsin2,945,816Minnesota: 2,944,260 jobsMinnesota2,944,260Missouri: 2,898,452 jobsMissouri2,898,452Colorado: 2,891,626 jobsColorado2,891,626Maryland: 2,754,961 jobsMaryland2,754,961South Carolina: 2,320,850 jobsSouth Carolina2,320,850Alabama: 2,118,878 jobsAlabama2,118,878Kentucky: 1,990,460 jobsKentucky1,990,460Oregon: 1,987,730 jobsOregon1,987,730Louisiana: 1,928,041 jobsLouisiana1,928,041Utah: 1,741,066 jobsUtah1,741,066Oklahoma: 1,700,650 jobsOklahoma1,700,650Connecticut: 1,691,734 jobsConnecticut1,691,734Nevada: 1,569,260 jobsNevada1,569,260Iowa: 1,558,465 jobsIowa1,558,465Kansas: 1,432,626 jobsKansas1,432,626Arkansas: 1,305,532 jobsArkansas1,305,532Mississippi: 1,173,251 jobsMississippi1,173,251Nebraska: 1,021,306 jobsNebraska1,021,306New Mexico: 875,212 jobsNew Mexico875,212Idaho: 874,283 jobsIdaho874,283District of Columbia: 741,646 jobsDistrict of Columbia741,646West Virginia: 695,422 jobsWest Virginia695,422New Hampshire: 689,026 jobsNew Hampshire689,026Maine: 651,181 jobsMaine651,181Hawaii: 644,391 jobsHawaii644,391Montana: 512,424 jobsMontana512,424Rhode Island: 499,321 jobsRhode Island499,321Delaware: 481,552 jobsDelaware481,552South Dakota: 460,392 jobsSouth Dakota460,392North Dakota: 429,567 jobsNorth Dakota429,567Alaska: 332,544 jobsAlaska332,544Vermont: 308,225 jobsVermont308,225Wyoming: 282,252 jobsWyoming282,252California: 18,210,243 jobsCalifornia18,210,243Texas: 14,109,957 jobsTexas14,109,957Florida: 9,914,411 jobsFlorida9,914,411New York: 9,791,529 jobsNew York9,791,529Illinois: 6,067,518 jobsIllinois6,067,518Pennsylvania: 6,053,191 jobsPennsylvania6,053,191Ohio: 5,534,587 jobsOhio5,534,587North Carolina: 4,941,383 jobsNorth Carolina4,941,383Georgia: 4,890,150 jobsGeorgia4,890,150Michigan: 4,408,446 jobsMichigan4,408,446New Jersey: 4,282,851 jobsNew Jersey4,282,851Virginia: 4,149,424 jobsVirginia4,149,424Massachusetts: 3,634,042 jobsMassachusetts3,634,042Washington: 3,601,662 jobsWashington3,601,662Tennessee: 3,265,460 jobsTennessee3,265,460Arizona: 3,234,783 jobsArizona3,234,783Indiana: 3,190,325 jobsIndiana3,190,325Wisconsin: 2,945,816 jobsWisconsin2,945,816Minnesota: 2,944,260 jobsMinnesota2,944,260Missouri: 2,898,452 jobsMissouri2,898,452Colorado: 2,891,626 jobsColorado2,891,626Maryland: 2,754,961 jobsMaryland2,754,961South Carolina: 2,320,850 jobsSouth Carolina2,320,850Alabama: 2,118,878 jobsAlabama2,118,878Kentucky: 1,990,460 jobsKentucky1,990,460Oregon: 1,987,730 jobsOregon1,987,730Louisiana: 1,928,041 jobsLouisiana1,928,041Utah: 1,741,066 jobsUtah1,741,066Oklahoma: 1,700,650 jobsOklahoma1,700,650Connecticut: 1,691,734 jobsConnecticut1,691,734Nevada: 1,569,260 jobsNevada1,569,260Iowa: 1,558,465 jobsIowa1,558,465Kansas: 1,432,626 jobsKansas1,432,626Arkansas: 1,305,532 jobsArkansas1,305,532Mississippi: 1,173,251 jobsMississippi1,173,251Nebraska: 1,021,306 jobsNebraska1,021,306New Mexico: 875,212 jobsNew Mexico875,212Idaho: 874,283 jobsIdaho874,283District of Columbia: 741,646 jobsDistrict of Columbia741,646West Virginia: 695,422 jobsWest Virginia695,422New Hampshire: 689,026 jobsNew Hampshire689,026Maine: 651,181 jobsMaine651,181Hawaii: 644,391 jobsHawaii644,391Montana: 512,424 jobsMontana512,424Rhode Island: 499,321 jobsRhode Island499,321Delaware: 481,552 jobsDelaware481,552South Dakota: 460,392 jobsSouth Dakota460,392North Dakota: 429,567 jobsNorth Dakota429,567Alaska: 332,544 jobsAlaska332,544Vermont: 308,225 jobsVermont308,225Wyoming: 282,252 jobsWyoming282,252
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

RankStates2025
jobs		Change on 2024
1California18,210,243+0.1%
2Texas14,109,957+1.2%
3Florida9,914,411+0.8%
4New York9,791,529+0.9%
5Illinois6,067,518+0.4%
6Pennsylvania6,053,191+0.6%
7Ohio5,534,587+0.3%
8North Carolina4,941,383+0.8%
9Georgia4,890,150+0.6%
10Michigan4,408,4460%
11New Jersey4,282,851+0.7%
12Virginia4,149,424+1.1%
13Massachusetts3,634,042-0.3%
14Washington3,601,662+0.2%
15Tennessee3,265,460-0.2%
16Arizona3,234,783+0.4%
17Indiana3,190,325+0.3%
18Wisconsin2,945,8160%
19Minnesota2,944,260+0.4%
20Missouri2,898,4520%
21Colorado2,891,626-0.2%
22Maryland2,754,961-0.5%
23South Carolina2,320,850+1.6%
24Alabama2,118,878+0.6%
25Kentucky1,990,460+0.1%
26Oregon1,987,730-0.3%
27Louisiana1,928,041+0.4%
28Utah1,741,066+1.6%
29Oklahoma1,700,650+0.5%
30Connecticut1,691,734+0.5%
31Nevada1,569,260+1.1%
32Iowa1,558,465-0.3%
33Kansas1,432,626+0.2%
34Arkansas1,305,532+0.8%
35Mississippi1,173,251+0.5%
36Nebraska1,021,306+0.3%
37New Mexico875,212+0.6%
38Idaho874,283+1.8%
39District of Columbia741,646-2.4%
40West Virginia695,422-0%
41New Hampshire689,026+0.2%
42Maine651,181+0.4%
43Hawaii644,391+0.7%
44Montana512,424-0.1%
45Rhode Island499,321+0.8%
46Delaware481,552+0.9%
47South Dakota460,392+0.4%
48North Dakota429,567+0.2%
49Alaska332,544+1%
50Vermont308,225-0.3%
51Wyoming282,2520%

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 states 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 (US states 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, US states 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/us-states. 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 states 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/us-states.

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 states 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/us-states (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{bureau_us_states_by_covered_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: US states 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/us-states. 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: US states 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/us-states
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/covered-employment/us-states.
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  -
Embed this chart

Paste this code into a web page or a blog post. The chart shows the latest figures as they are published, with the source and a link back to this page.

Sites that read oEmbed links, such as WordPress, can show the chart when you paste the link to this page.

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 states by covered employment (QCEW) using official data, and cite the source.
rank_places {"indicator":"covered_employment","level":"region","within":"United States","limit":10}
GET https://invokely.ai/api/v1/rank?indicator=covered_employment&level=region&within=United%20States&limit=10

Connect Claude, ChatGPT or Cursor in one step. The trial answers 25 calls a day without an account.

Questions

Which state has the highest covered employment (QCEW)?

California, with 18,210,243 jobs in 2025, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Which state has the lowest covered employment (QCEW)?

Wyoming, with 282,252 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

US states: more rankings