Employment in California’s largest counties increased in 11 out of 29 counties between March 2024 and March 2025, according to a report from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. San Joaquin County saw the highest growth with a 1.2 percent increase in employment during this period.
Los Angeles County reported the highest employment among these counties, with 4,504,700 jobs as of March 2025. The group of 29 largest counties made up 93.1 percent of total covered employment in California. Nationally, the largest 372 counties accounted for about 73.4 percent of total covered employment across the United States.
All twenty-seven large California counties with published data experienced increases in average weekly wages over the year. San Mateo County recorded the highest wage growth at 11.4 percent, while other large counties saw wage gains ranging from 6.9 percent to 1.5 percent.
Ten of California’s largest counties reported average weekly wages above the national average of $1,589, with San Mateo leading at $4,379 and Tulare recording $1,035.
Data on employment and wage levels are also available for California’s smaller counties—those with fewer than 75,000 employees in 2024—but not on year-over-year changes. All small counties had average weekly wages below the national figure; Yuba posted the highest at $1,335 and Alpine the lowest at $837.
Across all 58 California counties, wage distributions varied: eighteen had average weekly wages under $1,100; fourteen were between $1,100 and $1,199; seven ranged from $1,200 to $1,299; three fell between $1,300 and $1,399; and sixteen had wages of $1,400 or higher.
QCEW data for states is included in table form within this release.
“Regional Commissioner Chris Rosenlund noted that San Joaquin County had the largest over-the-year increase in employment, with a gain of 1.2 percent.”
The next release covering second quarter data for 2025 is scheduled for December 3, 2025.
Further information about quarterly employment and wage data can be found through the Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages website (https://www.bls.gov/cew/) or by reviewing technical notes provided by BLS (https://www.bls.gov/cew/news-release-technical-note.htm).
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