Counties in Washington by covered employment (QCEW)

King County had the highest covered employment (QCEW) of 39 counties in 2015, at 1,274,203 jobs. Wahkiakum County had the lowest, at 712 jobs. The median was 18,404 jobs and the figure for Washington was 3,122,749 jobs. Source: the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

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Highest1,274,203King County
Median18,40439 counties
Washington3,122,749History

Map of counties, 2015

Adams County: 7,842 jobsAsotin County: 5,828 jobsBenton County: 82,253 jobsChelan County: 42,817 jobsClallam County: 22,221 jobsClark County: 144,312 jobsColumbia County: 1,266 jobsCowlitz County: 37,342 jobsDouglas County: 11,511 jobsFerry County: 1,753 jobsFranklin County: 33,158 jobsGarfield County: 728 jobsGrant County: 38,939 jobsGrays Harbor County: 21,806 jobsIsland County: 15,287 jobsJefferson County: 8,130 jobsKing County: 1,274,203 jobsKitsap County: 84,687 jobsKittitas County: 13,988 jobsKlickitat County: 6,959 jobsLewis County: 23,935 jobsLincoln County: 2,771 jobsMason County: 13,729 jobsOkanogan County: 18,404 jobsPacific County: 6,171 jobsPend Oreille County: 2,950 jobsPierce County: 285,399 jobsSan Juan County: 5,555 jobsSkagit County: 48,582 jobsSkamania County: 2,131 jobsSnohomish County: 275,565 jobsSpokane County: 209,396 jobsStevens County: 9,912 jobsThurston County: 106,176 jobsWahkiakum County: 712 jobsWalla Walla County: 26,786 jobsWhatcom County: 85,721 jobsWhitman County: 18,102 jobsYakima County: 108,686 jobs
  • Under 10K
  • 10K to 20K
  • 20K to 40K
  • 40K to 100K
  • 100K and over
jobs, 2015. 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, 2015

King County: 1,274,203 jobsKing County1,274,203Pierce County: 285,399 jobsPierce County285,399Snohomish County: 275,565 jobsSnohomish County275,565Spokane County: 209,396 jobsSpokane County209,396Clark County: 144,312 jobsClark County144,312Yakima County: 108,686 jobsYakima County108,686Thurston County: 106,176 jobsThurston County106,176Whatcom County: 85,721 jobsWhatcom County85,721Kitsap County: 84,687 jobsKitsap County84,687Benton County: 82,253 jobsBenton County82,253Skagit County: 48,582 jobsSkagit County48,582Chelan County: 42,817 jobsChelan County42,817Grant County: 38,939 jobsGrant County38,939Cowlitz County: 37,342 jobsCowlitz County37,342Franklin County: 33,158 jobsFranklin County33,158Walla Walla County: 26,786 jobsWalla Walla County26,786Lewis County: 23,935 jobsLewis County23,935Clallam County: 22,221 jobsClallam County22,221Grays Harbor County: 21,806 jobsGrays Harbor County21,806Okanogan County: 18,404 jobsOkanogan County18,404Whitman County: 18,102 jobsWhitman County18,102Island County: 15,287 jobsIsland County15,287Kittitas County: 13,988 jobsKittitas County13,988Mason County: 13,729 jobsMason County13,729Douglas County: 11,511 jobsDouglas County11,511Stevens County: 9,912 jobsStevens County9,912Jefferson County: 8,130 jobsJefferson County8,130Adams County: 7,842 jobsAdams County7,842Klickitat County: 6,959 jobsKlickitat County6,959Pacific County: 6,171 jobsPacific County6,171Asotin County: 5,828 jobsAsotin County5,828San Juan County: 5,555 jobsSan Juan County5,555Pend Oreille County: 2,950 jobsPend Oreille County2,950Lincoln County: 2,771 jobsLincoln County2,771Skamania County: 2,131 jobsSkamania County2,131Ferry County: 1,753 jobsFerry County1,753Columbia County: 1,266 jobsColumbia County1,266Garfield County: 728 jobsGarfield County728Wahkiakum County: 712 jobsWahkiakum County712King County: 1,274,203 jobsKing County1,274,203Pierce County: 285,399 jobsPierce County285,399Snohomish County: 275,565 jobsSnohomish County275,565Spokane County: 209,396 jobsSpokane County209,396Clark County: 144,312 jobsClark County144,312Yakima County: 108,686 jobsYakima County108,686Thurston County: 106,176 jobsThurston County106,176Whatcom County: 85,721 jobsWhatcom County85,721Kitsap County: 84,687 jobsKitsap County84,687Benton County: 82,253 jobsBenton County82,253Skagit County: 48,582 jobsSkagit County48,582Chelan County: 42,817 jobsChelan County42,817Grant County: 38,939 jobsGrant County38,939Cowlitz County: 37,342 jobsCowlitz County37,342Franklin County: 33,158 jobsFranklin County33,158Walla Walla County: 26,786 jobsWalla Walla County26,786Lewis County: 23,935 jobsLewis County23,935Clallam County: 22,221 jobsClallam County22,221Grays Harbor County: 21,806 jobsGrays Harbor County21,806Okanogan County: 18,404 jobsOkanogan County18,404Whitman County: 18,102 jobsWhitman County18,102Island County: 15,287 jobsIsland County15,287Kittitas County: 13,988 jobsKittitas County13,988Mason County: 13,729 jobsMason County13,729Douglas County: 11,511 jobsDouglas County11,511Stevens County: 9,912 jobsStevens County9,912Jefferson County: 8,130 jobsJefferson County8,130Adams County: 7,842 jobsAdams County7,842Klickitat County: 6,959 jobsKlickitat County6,959Pacific County: 6,171 jobsPacific County6,171Asotin County: 5,828 jobsAsotin County5,828San Juan County: 5,555 jobsSan Juan County5,555Pend Oreille County: 2,950 jobsPend Oreille County2,950Lincoln County: 2,771 jobsLincoln County2,771Skamania County: 2,131 jobsSkamania County2,131Ferry County: 1,753 jobsFerry County1,753Columbia County: 1,266 jobsColumbia County1,266Garfield County: 728 jobsGarfield County728Wahkiakum County: 712 jobsWahkiakum County712
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

RankCounties2015
jobs
Change on 2014
1King County1,274,203+3%
2Pierce County285,399+2.7%
3Snohomish County275,565+2.9%
4Spokane County209,396+1.8%
5Clark County144,312+3.3%
6Yakima County108,686+2%
7Thurston County106,176+3%
8Whatcom County85,721+2.4%
9Kitsap County84,687+2.8%
10Benton County82,253+2.9%
11Skagit County48,582+0.6%
12Chelan County42,817+3.6%
13Grant County38,939+0.1%
14Cowlitz County37,342+1.4%
15Franklin County33,158+4.1%
16Walla Walla County26,786-1%
17Lewis County23,935+1.5%
18Clallam County22,221+0.8%
19Grays Harbor County21,806+0.2%
20Okanogan County18,404+0.2%
21Whitman County18,102+3.2%
22Island County15,287+0.6%
23Kittitas County13,988+0.6%
24Mason County13,729-1.3%
25Douglas County11,511+1.2%
26Stevens County9,912+1.7%
27Jefferson County8,130+2.7%
28Adams County7,842+1.3%
29Klickitat County6,959-0.6%
30Pacific County6,171-0.5%
31Asotin County5,828+1%
32San Juan County5,555+2.1%
33Pend Oreille County2,950+2.6%
34Lincoln County2,771-5.2%
35Skamania County2,131+1.6%
36Ferry County1,753+3.2%
37Columbia County1,266-1.2%
38Garfield County728-2.7%
39Wahkiakum County712-0.6%

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/2015/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 Washington by covered employment (QCEW), 2015) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://data.bls.gov/cew/data/api/2015/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 Washington by covered employment (QCEW), 2015. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 21 Aug. 2026, https://data.bls.gov/cew/data/api/2015/a/industry/10.csv. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/covered-employment/washington-counties?period=2015. 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 Washington by covered employment (QCEW), 2015. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://data.bls.gov/cew/data/api/2015/a/industry/10.csv. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/covered-employment/washington-counties?period=2015.

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 Washington by covered employment (QCEW), 2015 [Dataset]. Available at: https://data.bls.gov/cew/data/api/2015/a/industry/10.csv, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/covered-employment/washington-counties?period=2015 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{bureau_counties_in_washington_by_2015,
  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 Washington by covered employment (QCEW), 2015}},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://data.bls.gov/cew/data/api/2015/a/industry/10.csv},
  urldate = {2026-10-12},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/covered-employment/washington-counties?period=2015. 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/2015/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 Washington by covered employment (QCEW), 2015
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/08/21
PB  - U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
DB  - Invokely
UR  - https://data.bls.gov/cew/data/api/2015/a/industry/10.csv
L2  - https://invokely.ai/rankings/covered-employment/washington-counties?period=2015
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/covered-employment/washington-counties?period=2015.
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/2015/a/industry/10.csv. Retrieved 2026-10-12.
ER  - 
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Questions

Which county has the highest covered employment (QCEW)?

King County, with 1,274,203 jobs in 2015, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Which county has the lowest covered employment (QCEW)?

Wahkiakum County, with 712 jobs in 2015.

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 Washington: more rankings