US counties by wages and salaries paid

New York County had the highest wages and salaries paid of 3080 counties in 2018, at $318.26 billion. McPherson County had the lowest, at $3.91 million. The median was $357.76 million and the figure for the United States was $8.89 trillion. Source: the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis.

Highest318,260New York County

Lowest3.9McPherson County

Median357.83080 counties

United States8,888,150History

Map of counties, 2018

USD million, 2018. Hatched areas have no value for this period. Source: BEA, CAINC4: personal income by major component, wages and salaries (published in thousands of dollars, shown in millions), individual counties and county equivalents. Boundaries: U.S. Census Bureau cartographic boundary files.

Top 40 counties, 2018

USD million. Source: BEA, CAINC4: personal income by major component, wages and salaries (published in thousands of dollars, shown in millions), individual counties and county equivalents. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Full ranking

Rank	Counties	2018 USD million	Change on 2017
1	New York County	318,260	+3.5%
2	Los Angeles County	315,062.8	+4.6%
3	Cook County	193,178.9	+4.9%
4	Harris County	172,860.4	+4.6%
5	Santa Clara County	156,388.5	+9.6%
6	King County	128,876.8	+11%
7	Dallas County	125,276.3	+4.6%
8	Maricopa County	117,489.6	+6.8%
9	Orange County	111,455.5	+3.9%
10	San Diego County	104,251.1	+4.4%
11	San Francisco County	95,191.1	+12.7%
12	Middlesex County	82,964.9	+6.3%
13	District of Columbia	76,569	+4.9%
14	Fulton County	74,289.6	+5%
15	Suffolk County	71,547.7	+6.5%
16	Hennepin County	70,934.8	+4.1%
17	Miami-Dade County	70,872.3	+5.6%
18	Alameda County	64,922.7	+4.9%
19	San Mateo County	54,453.9	+7%
20	Tarrant County	54,241.4	+6%
21	Travis County	54,003.5	+8.8%
22	Clark County	52,895.4	+6.8%
23	Mecklenburg County	52,107	+6.3%
24	Oakland County	50,466.6	+3.9%
25	Bexar County	50,026.3	+4.7%
26	Philadelphia County	49,335.9	+5.1%
27	Broward County	49,059.1	+5.6%
28	Orange County	48,266.6	+7.3%
29	Wayne County	47,731.9	+3%
30	Franklin County	47,355.3	+4.2%
31	Allegheny County	46,745.4	+4.7%
32	Cuyahoga County	45,841.4	+3.5%
33	Sacramento County	43,801.8	+4.9%
34	DuPage County	43,775.5	+1.9%
35	Hillsborough County	43,266	+5.8%
36	Suffolk County	42,319.4	+2.1%
37	Queens County	42,166.1	+14.3%
38	Nassau County	41,678.9	+2.6%
39	Salt Lake County	41,193.5	+6.7%
40	St. Louis County	41,167	+5%
41	San Bernardino County	39,824.9	+5.8%
42	Montgomery County	39,709.5	+3.6%
43	Kings County	39,537.1	+15%
44	Denver County	39,337.4	+7.4%
45	Marion County	38,218.5	+4.1%
46	Montgomery County	38,203.4	+3.7%
47	Wake County	37,817.5	+10.3%
48	Palm Beach County	37,662.7	+4.2%
49	Riverside County	36,633.1	+5.7%
50	Hamilton County	34,346.6	+3.2%
51	Westchester County	33,253.3	+2.7%
52	Multnomah County	32,985.6	+6.8%
53	Duval County	32,476.3	+4.8%
54	Bergen County	31,949.9	+2.7%
55	Davidson County	31,806.5	+7.3%
56	Middlesex County	30,622.1	+4.6%
57	Collin County	30,055.1	+9.1%
58	Shelby County	30,007.3	+4%
59	Honolulu County	29,312.7	+1.6%
60	Milwaukee County	28,968.8	+3.8%
61	Lake County	28,827.9	+4.4%
62	Contra Costa County	27,909.8	+3.3%
63	Jefferson County	27,385.5	+3.2%
64	Morris County	26,722.4	+2.5%
65	Oklahoma County	26,706.5	+4.4%
66	Essex County	26,039.3	+4%
67	Erie County	24,982.4	+3.7%
68	Norfolk County	24,789.4	+3.6%
69	Baltimore city	24,508.2	+2.5%
70	Pinellas County	24,324.3	+5.7%
71	Cobb County	24,249	+4.1%
72	Baltimore County	24,042.5	+5.3%
73	Arapahoe County	23,907.9	+4.6%
74	Jackson County	23,437.6	+3.7%
75	Ramsey County	22,507.1	+1.9%
76	Hudson County	22,449.8	+5.2%
77	Anne Arundel County	22,300.1	+3.2%
78	Washington County	22,018.2	+5.2%
79	Johnson County	21,906.3	+4.9%
80	Jefferson County	21,486.9	+5%
81	Gwinnett County	21,390.4	+1.6%
82	Kent County	21,335	+5.2%
83	Prince George's County	21,155.9	+3.3%
84	Monroe County	21,153.5	+3.1%
85	Essex County	20,642.2	+3.8%
86	Worcester County	20,412	+3%
87	Douglas County	20,268.8	+3.3%
88	Dane County	20,099.6	+5.1%
89	Ventura County	19,938.3	+2.2%
90	Macomb County	19,937.4	+3.1%
91	Tulsa County	19,886.8	+4.9%
92	Chester County	19,803.3	+4%
93	New Castle County	19,727.8	+2.5%
94	Pima County	19,392	+5%
95	DeKalb County	19,358.4	+4.8%
96	Pierce County	19,299.7	+6.2%
97	Arlington County	19,080.2	+6%
98	Bronx County	18,871.1	+14.3%
99	Snohomish County	18,868.5	+5.3%
100	Fresno County	18,711.1	+4.5%
101	Somerset County	18,155.4	+4.5%
102	Polk County	17,905	+3.8%
103	Providence County	17,581	+1.6%
104	Bernalillo County	17,546.4	+3.7%
105	El Paso County	17,405.4	+4.9%
106	Mercer County	17,204.2	+4.6%
107	Union County	17,143.6	+2.2%
108	Kern County	16,761	+5.1%
109	Monmouth County	16,139.1	+5.2%
110	Durham County	15,781.3	+7.2%
111	St. Louis city	15,566	+5.5%
112	East Baton Rouge Parish	15,544.4	+5.2%
113	Guilford County	15,384.8	+3.6%
114	Bucks County	15,341.8	+3.9%
115	Jefferson County	15,180.1	+7.6%
116	Waukesha County	15,152.1	+5.7%
117	Greenville County	15,011.5	+4.7%
118	Delaware County	14,917.4	+4.5%
119	Summit County	14,607.3	+2.7%
120	Charleston County	14,527.5	+4.1%
121	El Paso County	14,453.4	+4%
122	Albany County	14,438.3	+3%
123	Pulaski County	14,340.6	+2.7%
124	Hillsborough County	13,790.3	+4.4%
125	Montgomery County	13,615.9	+3%
126	Denton County	13,582.5	+5.2%
127	Onondaga County	13,517.5	+4.1%
128	Ada County	13,510.4	+9.2%
129	Boulder County	13,313.7	+6.6%
130	Lee County	13,290.5	+5.9%
131	Howard County	13,286.6	+4.9%
132	Burlington County	13,256.2	+2.8%
133	Sedgwick County	13,220.9	+4.4%
134	Will County	13,096.7	+3.8%
135	San Joaquin County	12,973.5	+5.1%
136	Madison County	12,933.9	+5.8%
137	Knox County	12,707.2	+4.8%
138	Adams County	12,673.3	+7.2%
139	Sonoma County	12,503.6	+6.8%
140	Utah County	12,399	+11.6%
141	Loudoun County	12,396.3	+7.8%
142	Washtenaw County	12,392.7	+5%
143	Lancaster County	12,293.1	+5.1%
144	Camden County	12,172.2	+3.5%
145	Bristol County	12,143.2	+3.3%
146	Richland County	12,133	+3.2%
147	Brevard County	12,079.8	+6.7%
148	Spokane County	12,017.9	+5.9%
149	Santa Barbara County	11,900.9	+3.7%
150	Henrico County	11,787.2	+1.9%
151	Washoe County	11,764.5	+7.3%
152	Kane County	11,741.4	+3.3%
153	Orleans Parish	11,639.4	+4.1%
154	Dakota County	11,624.2	+7.2%
155	Montgomery County	11,309.2	+9.7%
156	Lucas County	11,187.3	+4.6%
157	Fort Bend County	11,172.2	+7.7%
158	Lehigh County	11,110.5	+3.3%
159	Dauphin County	10,998.4	+4.1%
160	Plymouth County	10,994.3	+4%
161	Hamilton County	10,987.2	+4.1%
162	Hampden County	10,970.3	+2.4%
163	Seminole County	10,928.1	+8.2%
164	Polk County	10,773.1	+5.7%
165	Cumberland County	10,704	+4.8%
166	Forsyth County	10,587.7	+1.5%
167	Richmond city	10,566.2	+3.8%
168	Jefferson Parish	10,523.3	+1.6%
169	Williamson County	10,469.5	+7.8%
170	Norfolk city	10,468.5	-4.5%
171	Placer County	10,357.1	+6.4%
172	Monterey County	10,335.1	+2.9%
173	Anchorage Municipality	10,274	+3.2%
174	Lake County	10,044.6	+4%
175	Fayette County	10,029.4	+1.1%
176	Virginia Beach city	9,872.6	-0%
177	Stanislaus County	9,825.1	+5.4%
178	Passaic County	9,754.8	+1.9%
179	Allen County	9,729.6	+5.6%
180	Williamson County	9,700.3	+10.4%
181	Hidalgo County	9,593.4	+4.7%
182	Solano County	9,505.4	+5.8%
183	Clackamas County	9,456.8	+5.2%
184	York County	9,405.5	+3.7%
185	Rockingham County	9,388.3	+3.9%
186	Berks County	9,307.7	+4.5%
187	Clark County	9,249.1	+8.2%
188	Sarasota County	9,176.5	+7.8%
189	Marin County	9,168	+6.9%
190	Larimer County	9,105.5	+6.3%
191	Cumberland County	9,039	+2.8%
192	Mobile County	8,936.6	+2.9%
193	Lancaster County	8,789.5	+5.4%
194	Brown County	8,767	+6%
195	Douglas County	8,756.7	+6.4%
196	Hamilton County	8,733.2	+4%
197	Butler County	8,563.5	+2.3%
198	Nueces County	8,530.3	+3.3%
199	Chatham County	8,513.4	+6.4%
200	Midland County	8,361	+24.3%
201	Ocean County	8,298.8	+4.6%
202	Bell County	8,235.6	+1.8%
203	Collier County	8,129.6	+8.6%
204	Greene County	8,113	+4.7%
205	Ingham County	8,107.1	+4%
206	Alexandria city	7,933.8	+1.9%
207	Benton County	7,884	+4.6%
208	Volusia County	7,880.7	+5%
209	Clayton County	7,723.2	+7.4%
210	Leon County	7,662.8	+4.4%
211	Marion County	7,653.2	+6.4%
212	Cumberland County	7,651.7	+5.1%
213	Escambia County	7,622.6	+2.6%
214	Orange County	7,604.8	+5.2%
215	St. Charles County	7,593.3	+4.2%
216	Stark County	7,460.9	+3.3%
217	Linn County	7,434.3	+5%
218	Lane County	7,417.9	+4.3%
219	Jefferson County	7,414.4	+2.8%
220	Chesterfield County	7,379.9	+5.1%
221	Elkhart County	7,355.1	+1.8%
222	Spartanburg County	7,331.1	+4%
223	Anoka County	7,181.3	+5.7%
224	Brazoria County	7,067.1	+9.9%
225	Rockland County	7,061	+4.3%
226	Alachua County	7,032.3	+6.8%
227	Tulare County	7,003.3	+2.4%
228	Yolo County	6,924.6	+6.4%
229	Richmond County	6,876.3	+15.7%
230	Peoria County	6,866	+12.9%
231	Luzerne County	6,826.3	+4.1%
232	Lafayette Parish	6,812.2	+4.6%
233	Montgomery County	6,791.7	+1.5%
234	Kalamazoo County	6,767.3	+4%
235	Rutherford County	6,766.8	+5.4%
236	Winnebago County	6,759.8	+4.2%
237	Genesee County	6,755.3	+3.3%
238	Davis County	6,722.8	+7.1%
239	Atlantic County	6,612.1	+5.6%
240	Westmoreland County	6,598.1	+4.3%
241	Lubbock County	6,573.5	+4.6%
242	Olmsted County	6,546.9	+8.3%
243	Ottawa County	6,506.2	+5.4%
244	Minnehaha County	6,490.1	+3.8%
245	Thurston County	6,464.4	+8.6%
246	Dutchess County	6,365.5	+3.3%
247	Buncombe County	6,355.4	+6.2%
248	Hinds County	6,327.4	+1.7%
249	Cass County	6,277.6	+4%
250	St. Joseph County	6,232.4	+3.9%

Showing the top 250 of 3080. The Excel download has every row.

Other periods

About this ranking

Total wages and salaries paid to employees for jobs located in a place, including tips, bonuses and pay in kind, before deductions, in millions of current US dollars. United States: Bureau of Economic Analysis regional accounts, table SAINC4 line 50 for the nation and states and CAINC4 line 50 for counties.

Counted where the jobs are, not where the workers live, so places with many commuters coming in can pay more in wages than their residents receive in personal income (the District of Columbia does). Excludes employer contributions to pensions, insurance and social security, and the income of the self-employed.

Every value in the ranking comes from the same publisher and the same period, so the counties are compared on one definition. 11 counties with data in other periods have no value for 2018 and are left out rather than filled from another source. Equal values share a rank.

How to cite

U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis. CAINC4: personal income by major component, wages and salaries (published in thousands of dollars, shown in millions), individual counties and county equivalents. https://apps.bea.gov/regional/zip/CAINC4.zip. 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 Economic Analysis. (2026). CAINC4: personal income by major component, wages and salaries (published in thousands of dollars, shown in millions), individual counties and county equivalents (US counties by wages and salaries paid, 2018) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://apps.bea.gov/regional/zip/CAINC4.zip

MLA 9

CAINC4: personal income by major component, wages and salaries (published in thousands of dollars, shown in millions), individual counties and county equivalents, US counties by wages and salaries paid, 2018. U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, 5 Feb. 2026, https://apps.bea.gov/regional/zip/CAINC4.zip. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/wages-and-salaries/us-counties?period=2018. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis. 2026. CAINC4: personal income by major component, wages and salaries (published in thousands of dollars, shown in millions), individual counties and county equivalents. US counties by wages and salaries paid, 2018. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://apps.bea.gov/regional/zip/CAINC4.zip. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/wages-and-salaries/us-counties?period=2018.

Harvard

U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (2026) CAINC4: personal income by major component, wages and salaries (published in thousands of dollars, shown in millions), individual counties and county equivalents, US counties by wages and salaries paid, 2018 [Dataset]. Available at: https://apps.bea.gov/regional/zip/CAINC4.zip, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/wages-and-salaries/us-counties?period=2018 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX

@misc{bureau_us_counties_by_wages_2018,
  author = {{U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis}},
  title = {{CAINC4: personal income by major component, wages and salaries (published in thousands of dollars, shown in millions), individual counties and county equivalents: US counties by wages and salaries paid, 2018}},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://apps.bea.gov/regional/zip/CAINC4.zip},
  urldate = {2026-10-12},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/wages-and-salaries/us-counties?period=2018. Publisher attribution: U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis. CAINC4: personal income by major component, wages and salaries (published in thousands of dollars, shown in millions), individual counties and county equivalents. https://apps.bea.gov/regional/zip/CAINC4.zip. Retrieved 2026-10-12.},
}

RIS

TY  - DATA
AU  - U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis
TI  - CAINC4: personal income by major component, wages and salaries (published in thousands of dollars, shown in millions), individual counties and county equivalents: US counties by wages and salaries paid, 2018
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/02/05
PB  - U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis
DB  - Invokely
UR  - https://apps.bea.gov/regional/zip/CAINC4.zip
L2  - https://invokely.ai/rankings/wages-and-salaries/us-counties?period=2018
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/wages-and-salaries/us-counties?period=2018.
N1  - Publisher attribution: U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis. CAINC4: personal income by major component, wages and salaries (published in thousands of dollars, shown in millions), individual counties and county equivalents. https://apps.bea.gov/regional/zip/CAINC4.zip. 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.

Embed code

<iframe src="https://invokely.ai/embed/rankings/wages-and-salaries/us-counties?period=2018" width="760" height="500" title="US counties by wages and salaries paid, 2018, chart from Invokely" loading="lazy" style="border:0;width:100%;max-width:760px" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin"></iframe>

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 counties by wages and salaries paid using official data, and cite the source.

rank_places {"indicator":"wages_and_salaries","level":"province","within":"United States","limit":10}
GET https://invokely.ai/api/v1/rank?indicator=wages_and_salaries&level=province&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 county has the highest wages and salaries paid?

New York County, with $318.26 billion in 2018, according to the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis.

Which county has the lowest wages and salaries paid?

McPherson County, with $3.91 million in 2018.

Where does this ranking come from?

Every value comes from one source and one period, so the places are comparable: U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, CAINC4: personal income by major component, wages and salaries (published in thousands of dollars, shown in millions), individual counties and county equivalents. Retrieved 2026-10-12. 11 counties have no value for 2018 and are not ranked.