Data / Rankings / Nonfarm payroll employment / US states

US states by nonfarm payroll employment, August 2026

California had the highest nonfarm payroll employment of 51 states in August 2026, at 18,177,200 jobs. Wyoming had the lowest, at 295,700 jobs. The median was 2,022,000 jobs and the figure for the United States was 159,015,000 jobs. Source: the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

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Highest18,177,200California
Lowest295,700Wyoming
Median2,022,00051 states
United States159,015,000History

Map of states, August 2026

Alabama: 2,221,000 jobsAlaska: 341,800 jobsArizona: 3,279,500 jobsArkansas: 1,348,500 jobsCalifornia: 18,177,200 jobsColorado: 2,970,300 jobsConnecticut: 1,730,500 jobsDelaware: 496,400 jobsDistrict of Columbia: 719,900 jobsFlorida: 10,051,600 jobsGeorgia: 4,985,700 jobsHawaii: 643,000 jobsIdaho: 890,700 jobsIllinois: 6,175,600 jobsIndiana: 3,266,500 jobsIowa: 1,585,800 jobsKansas: 1,472,300 jobsKentucky: 2,034,200 jobsLouisiana: 2,022,000 jobsMaine: 660,200 jobsMaryland: 2,806,200 jobsMassachusetts: 3,706,000 jobsMichigan: 4,496,100 jobsMinnesota: 3,068,600 jobsMississippi: 1,199,800 jobsMissouri: 3,015,700 jobsMontana: 522,100 jobsNebraska: 1,062,700 jobsNevada: 1,619,400 jobsNew Hampshire: 703,300 jobsNew Jersey: 4,359,600 jobsNew Mexico: 907,400 jobsNew York: 9,946,000 jobsNorth Carolina: 5,128,400 jobsNorth Dakota: 448,300 jobsOhio: 5,688,700 jobsOklahoma: 1,799,600 jobsOregon: 1,964,700 jobsPennsylvania: 6,206,700 jobsRhode Island: 515,100 jobsSouth Carolina: 2,426,300 jobsSouth Dakota: 470,200 jobsTennessee: 3,384,300 jobsTexas: 14,469,300 jobsUtah: 1,791,500 jobsVermont: 310,600 jobsVirginia: 4,240,300 jobsWashington: 3,647,000 jobsWest Virginia: 717,100 jobsWisconsin: 3,057,300 jobsWyoming: 295,700 jobs
  • Under 600K
  • 600K to 1.3M
  • 1.3M to 2M
  • 2M to 3.1M
  • 3.1M to 4.8M
  • 4.8M and over
jobs, August 2026. Source: BLS, Current Employment Statistics, State and Area: all employees, total nonfarm, statewide, seasonally adjusted (SMS, state, 000000000000001). Boundaries: U.S. Census Bureau cartographic boundary files.

All states, August 2026

California: 18,177,200 jobsCalifornia18,177,200Texas: 14,469,300 jobsTexas14,469,300Florida: 10,051,600 jobsFlorida10,051,600New York: 9,946,000 jobsNew York9,946,000Pennsylvania: 6,206,700 jobsPennsylvania6,206,700Illinois: 6,175,600 jobsIllinois6,175,600Ohio: 5,688,700 jobsOhio5,688,700North Carolina: 5,128,400 jobsNorth Carolina5,128,400Georgia: 4,985,700 jobsGeorgia4,985,700Michigan: 4,496,100 jobsMichigan4,496,100New Jersey: 4,359,600 jobsNew Jersey4,359,600Virginia: 4,240,300 jobsVirginia4,240,300Massachusetts: 3,706,000 jobsMassachusetts3,706,000Washington: 3,647,000 jobsWashington3,647,000Tennessee: 3,384,300 jobsTennessee3,384,300Arizona: 3,279,500 jobsArizona3,279,500Indiana: 3,266,500 jobsIndiana3,266,500Minnesota: 3,068,600 jobsMinnesota3,068,600Wisconsin: 3,057,300 jobsWisconsin3,057,300Missouri: 3,015,700 jobsMissouri3,015,700Colorado: 2,970,300 jobsColorado2,970,300Maryland: 2,806,200 jobsMaryland2,806,200South Carolina: 2,426,300 jobsSouth Carolina2,426,300Alabama: 2,221,000 jobsAlabama2,221,000Kentucky: 2,034,200 jobsKentucky2,034,200Louisiana: 2,022,000 jobsLouisiana2,022,000Oregon: 1,964,700 jobsOregon1,964,700Oklahoma: 1,799,600 jobsOklahoma1,799,600Utah: 1,791,500 jobsUtah1,791,500Connecticut: 1,730,500 jobsConnecticut1,730,500Nevada: 1,619,400 jobsNevada1,619,400Iowa: 1,585,800 jobsIowa1,585,800Kansas: 1,472,300 jobsKansas1,472,300Arkansas: 1,348,500 jobsArkansas1,348,500Mississippi: 1,199,800 jobsMississippi1,199,800Nebraska: 1,062,700 jobsNebraska1,062,700New Mexico: 907,400 jobsNew Mexico907,400Idaho: 890,700 jobsIdaho890,700District of Columbia: 719,900 jobsDistrict of Columbia719,900West Virginia: 717,100 jobsWest Virginia717,100New Hampshire: 703,300 jobsNew Hampshire703,300Maine: 660,200 jobsMaine660,200Hawaii: 643,000 jobsHawaii643,000Montana: 522,100 jobsMontana522,100Rhode Island: 515,100 jobsRhode Island515,100Delaware: 496,400 jobsDelaware496,400South Dakota: 470,200 jobsSouth Dakota470,200North Dakota: 448,300 jobsNorth Dakota448,300Alaska: 341,800 jobsAlaska341,800Vermont: 310,600 jobsVermont310,600Wyoming: 295,700 jobsWyoming295,700California: 18,177,200 jobsCalifornia18,177,200Texas: 14,469,300 jobsTexas14,469,300Florida: 10,051,600 jobsFlorida10,051,600New York: 9,946,000 jobsNew York9,946,000Pennsylvania: 6,206,700 jobsPennsylvania6,206,700Illinois: 6,175,600 jobsIllinois6,175,600Ohio: 5,688,700 jobsOhio5,688,700North Carolina: 5,128,400 jobsNorth Carolina5,128,400Georgia: 4,985,700 jobsGeorgia4,985,700Michigan: 4,496,100 jobsMichigan4,496,100New Jersey: 4,359,600 jobsNew Jersey4,359,600Virginia: 4,240,300 jobsVirginia4,240,300Massachusetts: 3,706,000 jobsMassachusetts3,706,000Washington: 3,647,000 jobsWashington3,647,000Tennessee: 3,384,300 jobsTennessee3,384,300Arizona: 3,279,500 jobsArizona3,279,500Indiana: 3,266,500 jobsIndiana3,266,500Minnesota: 3,068,600 jobsMinnesota3,068,600Wisconsin: 3,057,300 jobsWisconsin3,057,300Missouri: 3,015,700 jobsMissouri3,015,700Colorado: 2,970,300 jobsColorado2,970,300Maryland: 2,806,200 jobsMaryland2,806,200South Carolina: 2,426,300 jobsSouth Carolina2,426,300Alabama: 2,221,000 jobsAlabama2,221,000Kentucky: 2,034,200 jobsKentucky2,034,200Louisiana: 2,022,000 jobsLouisiana2,022,000Oregon: 1,964,700 jobsOregon1,964,700Oklahoma: 1,799,600 jobsOklahoma1,799,600Utah: 1,791,500 jobsUtah1,791,500Connecticut: 1,730,500 jobsConnecticut1,730,500Nevada: 1,619,400 jobsNevada1,619,400Iowa: 1,585,800 jobsIowa1,585,800Kansas: 1,472,300 jobsKansas1,472,300Arkansas: 1,348,500 jobsArkansas1,348,500Mississippi: 1,199,800 jobsMississippi1,199,800Nebraska: 1,062,700 jobsNebraska1,062,700New Mexico: 907,400 jobsNew Mexico907,400Idaho: 890,700 jobsIdaho890,700District of Columbia: 719,900 jobsDistrict of Columbia719,900West Virginia: 717,100 jobsWest Virginia717,100New Hampshire: 703,300 jobsNew Hampshire703,300Maine: 660,200 jobsMaine660,200Hawaii: 643,000 jobsHawaii643,000Montana: 522,100 jobsMontana522,100Rhode Island: 515,100 jobsRhode Island515,100Delaware: 496,400 jobsDelaware496,400South Dakota: 470,200 jobsSouth Dakota470,200North Dakota: 448,300 jobsNorth Dakota448,300Alaska: 341,800 jobsAlaska341,800Vermont: 310,600 jobsVermont310,600Wyoming: 295,700 jobsWyoming295,700
jobs. Source: BLS, Current Employment Statistics, State and Area: all employees, total nonfarm, statewide, seasonally adjusted (SMS, state, 000000000000001). Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Full ranking

RankStatesAugust 2026
jobs		Change on August 2025
1California Provisional18,177,200+0.8%
2Texas Provisional14,469,300+1.1%
3Florida Provisional10,051,600+0.6%
4New York Provisional9,946,000-0%
5Pennsylvania Provisional6,206,700+0.6%
6Illinois Provisional6,175,600+0.2%
7Ohio Provisional5,688,700+0.2%
8North Carolina Provisional5,128,400+1.3%
9Georgia Provisional4,985,700-0.1%
10Michigan Provisional4,496,100+0.2%
11New Jersey Provisional4,359,600-0.2%
12Virginia Provisional4,240,300-0.9%
13Massachusetts Provisional3,706,000+0.2%
14Washington Provisional3,647,000+0.4%
15Tennessee Provisional3,384,300+0.5%
16Arizona Provisional3,279,500+0.6%
17Indiana Provisional3,266,500-0.5%
18Minnesota Provisional3,068,600+1.5%
19Wisconsin Provisional3,057,300+0.6%
20Missouri Provisional3,015,700+1.1%
21Colorado Provisional2,970,300+0.2%
22Maryland Provisional2,806,200-0.2%
23South Carolina Provisional2,426,300+1.6%
24Alabama Provisional2,221,000+1.1%
25Kentucky Provisional2,034,200-0.1%
26Louisiana Provisional2,022,000+1.6%
27Oregon Provisional1,964,700-0.8%
28Oklahoma Provisional1,799,600+0.7%
29Utah Provisional1,791,500+1%
30Connecticut Provisional1,730,500+0.9%
31Nevada Provisional1,619,400+1.3%
32Iowa Provisional1,585,8000%
33Kansas Provisional1,472,300+0.5%
34Arkansas Provisional1,348,500+0.6%
35Mississippi Provisional1,199,800+0.4%
36Nebraska Provisional1,062,700+0.2%
37New Mexico Provisional907,400+1.6%
38Idaho Provisional890,700+0.9%
39District of Columbia Provisional719,900-3.6%
40West Virginia Provisional717,100-0.3%
41New Hampshire Provisional703,300+0.2%
42Maine Provisional660,200-0.1%
43Hawaii Provisional643,000+0.2%
44Montana Provisional522,100-0.9%
45Rhode Island Provisional515,100+0.1%
46Delaware Provisional496,400+0.1%
47South Dakota Provisional470,200+0.2%
48North Dakota Provisional448,300+0.5%
49Alaska Provisional341,800+1.3%
50Vermont Provisional310,600-0.4%
51Wyoming Provisional295,700+0.8%

Other periods

About this ranking

Number of jobs on nonfarm payrolls in the month, seasonally adjusted, from the Current Employment Statistics (CES) survey of businesses and government agencies run by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The monthly jobs count of the national Employment Situation report and the State Employment and Unemployment release. Counts jobs on nonfarm payrolls, not people: someone with two jobs counts twice. It covers full-time and part-time employees paid for any part of the pay period that includes the 12th of the month, and excludes the self-employed, farm workers, private household workers and unpaid family workers. For employed people from the household survey use employment_population_ratio; for May job counts by occupation use 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. Current Employment Statistics, State and Area: all employees, total nonfarm, statewide, seasonally adjusted (SMS, state, 000000000000001). https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/sm/sm.data.55.TotalNonFarmStateWide.All. 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). Current Employment Statistics, State and Area: all employees, total nonfarm, statewide, seasonally adjusted (SMS, state, 000000000000001) (US states by nonfarm payroll employment, 2026-08) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/sm/sm.data.55.TotalNonFarmStateWide.All

MLA 9

Current Employment Statistics, State and Area: all employees, total nonfarm, statewide, seasonally adjusted (SMS, state, 000000000000001), US states by nonfarm payroll employment, 2026-08. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 18 Sept. 2026, https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/sm/sm.data.55.TotalNonFarmStateWide.All. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/nonfarm-payroll-employment/us-states. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. 2026. Current Employment Statistics, State and Area: all employees, total nonfarm, statewide, seasonally adjusted (SMS, state, 000000000000001). US states by nonfarm payroll employment, 2026-08. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/sm/sm.data.55.TotalNonFarmStateWide.All. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/nonfarm-payroll-employment/us-states.

Harvard

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (2026) Current Employment Statistics, State and Area: all employees, total nonfarm, statewide, seasonally adjusted (SMS, state, 000000000000001), US states by nonfarm payroll employment, 2026-08 [Dataset]. Available at: https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/sm/sm.data.55.TotalNonFarmStateWide.All, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/nonfarm-payroll-employment/us-states (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{bureau_us_states_by_nonfarm_2026,
  author = {{U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics}},
  title = {{Current Employment Statistics, State and Area: all employees, total nonfarm, statewide, seasonally adjusted (SMS, state, 000000000000001): US states by nonfarm payroll employment, 2026-08}},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/sm/sm.data.55.TotalNonFarmStateWide.All},
  urldate = {2026-10-12},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/nonfarm-payroll-employment/us-states. Publisher attribution: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Current Employment Statistics, State and Area: all employees, total nonfarm, statewide, seasonally adjusted (SMS, state, 000000000000001). https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/sm/sm.data.55.TotalNonFarmStateWide.All. Retrieved 2026-10-12.},
}
RIS
TY  - DATA
AU  - U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
TI  - Current Employment Statistics, State and Area: all employees, total nonfarm, statewide, seasonally adjusted (SMS, state, 000000000000001): US states by nonfarm payroll employment, 2026-08
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/09/18
PB  - U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
DB  - Invokely
UR  - https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/sm/sm.data.55.TotalNonFarmStateWide.All
L2  - https://invokely.ai/rankings/nonfarm-payroll-employment/us-states
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/nonfarm-payroll-employment/us-states.
N1  - Publisher attribution: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Current Employment Statistics, State and Area: all employees, total nonfarm, statewide, seasonally adjusted (SMS, state, 000000000000001). https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/sm/sm.data.55.TotalNonFarmStateWide.All. Retrieved 2026-10-12.
ER  -
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Rank US states by nonfarm payroll employment using official data, and cite the source.
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Questions

Which state has the highest nonfarm payroll employment?

California, with 18,177,200 jobs in August 2026, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Which state has the lowest nonfarm payroll employment?

Wyoming, with 295,700 jobs in August 2026.

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, Current Employment Statistics, State and Area: all employees, total nonfarm, statewide, seasonally adjusted (SMS, state, 000000000000001). Retrieved 2026-10-12.

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