Where a City’s Labor Data Is Really Its County’s
The Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes labor figures for cities of 25,000 or more. For smaller places, and for some larger ones the Bureau does not report separately, the only figure available is the county’s. Here is how often a profile shows one.
Of the 4,226 published city profiles that carry a labor force figure, 2,520 (60%) show the figure for the county that contains the city rather than one measured for the city itself. Each of those profiles says so, in the table row and in the sentence above it. This counts how often that is the case.
Key findings
- Among cities under 15,000 residents, 99% show a county figure. Among cities of 50,000 or more, 10% do.
- In 2,386 of the 2,520 (95%), the labor force shown is larger than the city’s entire population, so it cannot describe the city.
- Among the 37 states with 25 or more published cities, the share runs from 35% in Massachusetts to 100% in Hawaii.
- The most extreme case is Malibu, CA: a city of 10,421 people showing a labor force of 4,990,443, the figure for Los Angeles County, CA.
It depends mostly on size
| City population | Profiles | Showing a county figure | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15,000 | 1,216 | 1,206 | 99% |
| 15,000 to 24,999 | 1,134 | 1,005 | 89% |
| 25,000 to 49,999 | 993 | 224 | 23% |
| 50,000 or more | 883 | 85 | 10% |
It varies a great deal by state
| State | Published cities | Showing a county figure | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hawaii | 34 | 34 | 100% |
| Puerto Rico | 29 | 29 | 100% |
| Maryland | 139 | 129 | 93% |
| New York | 201 | 162 | 81% |
| Louisiana | 56 | 43 | 77% |
| New Jersey | 158 | 119 | 75% |
| Virginia | 127 | 93 | 73% |
| Pennsylvania | 86 | 61 | 71% |
| Florida | 348 | 243 | 70% |
| Missouri | 87 | 57 | 66% |
| Washington | 133 | 86 | 65% |
| Kentucky | 46 | 30 | 65% |
| Wisconsin | 97 | 62 | 64% |
| Oregon | 69 | 44 | 64% |
| Ohio | 187 | 116 | 62% |
| Georgia | 112 | 67 | 60% |
| Colorado | 70 | 42 | 60% |
| South Carolina | 63 | 38 | 60% |
| Alabama | 70 | 40 | 57% |
| Tennessee | 67 | 38 | 57% |
| Minnesota | 102 | 57 | 56% |
| Oklahoma | 45 | 25 | 56% |
| Mississippi | 42 | 23 | 55% |
| Illinois | 226 | 122 | 54% |
| North Carolina | 96 | 52 | 54% |
| Indiana | 86 | 46 | 53% |
| Arizona | 68 | 36 | 53% |
| Texas | 269 | 135 | 50% |
| Michigan | 101 | 50 | 50% |
| Arkansas | 39 | 18 | 46% |
| Connecticut | 35 | 16 | 46% |
| Kansas | 35 | 16 | 46% |
| Iowa | 42 | 19 | 45% |
| Idaho | 25 | 11 | 44% |
| California | 498 | 214 | 43% |
| Utah | 67 | 28 | 42% |
| Massachusetts | 89 | 31 | 35% |
Where the mismatch is largest
| City | Population | Labor force shown | Whose figure it is | Labor force ÷ population |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Malibu, CA | 10,421 | 4,990,443 | Los Angeles County, CA | 479× |
| Lyons, IL | 10,339 | 2,724,457 | Cook County, IL | 264× |
| Galena Park, TX | 10,487 | 2,547,066 | Harris County, TX | 243× |
| Paradise Valley, AZ | 12,611 | 2,453,129 | Maricopa County, AZ | 195× |
| San Diego Country Estates, CA | 10,223 | 1,634,421 | San Diego County, CA | 160× |
| Rossmoor, CA | 11,532 | 1,603,641 | Orange County, CA | 139× |
| Westwood Lakes, FL | 10,553 | 1,446,920 | Miami-Dade County, FL | 137× |
| Lake Morton-Berrydale, WA | 11,183 | 1,349,771 | King County, WA | 121× |
| Home Gardens, CA | 10,506 | 1,177,958 | Riverside County, CA | 112× |
| Lighthouse Point, FL | 10,600 | 1,067,539 | Broward County, FL | 101× |
The largest cities that show a county figure
| City | Population | Labor force shown | Whose figure it is | Labor force ÷ population |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nashville-Davidson, TN | 690,130 | 430,711 | Davidson County, TN | 0.62× |
| Louisville/Jefferson County, KY | 631,818 | 406,762 | Jefferson County, KY | 0.64× |
| Urban Honolulu, HI | 345,482 | 475,656 | Honolulu County, HI | 1.38× |
| San Juan, PR | 317,995 | 147,771 | San Juan Municipio, PR | 0.46× |
| Enterprise, NV | 240,464 | 1,240,011 | Clark County, NV | 5.16× |
| Arlington, VA | 236,254 | 152,147 | Arlington County, VA | 0.64× |
| Spring Valley, NV | 219,187 | 1,240,011 | Clark County, NV | 5.66× |
| Augusta-Richmond County, GA | 201,528 | 87,091 | Richmond County, GA | 0.43× |
Size does not settle whether the county’s figure is a fair stand-in. Of these eight, 5 show a labor force at or below the city’s own population, so the county figure is a plausible stand-in there. 3 show one above it, so it is not.
A county figure describes the county. It is a close description of a city only where the city and the county cover nearly the same people, and it says almost nothing about a small place inside a large county. The unemployment rate on all of these profiles is the county’s as well.
Methodology
Every published city profile that carries a labor force figure. A profile is counted as showing a county figure when the stored measurement records that the number belongs to a larger area, in the wording “This is the figure for” followed by that area, which the profile itself prints beside the figure. As a check that such a figure cannot be the city’s own, it is compared with the city’s population from the same profile: a labor force cannot exceed the number of people living there. Size bands use the same population. States with fewer than 25 published cities are left out of the state comparison, since a share of a handful is not a pattern.
Sources
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics — Local Area Unemployment Statistics (la)
- U.S. Census Bureau — American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (Table-Based Summary File) (2024)
Related
Every figure here is recalculated from the same measurements the profiles use. See the methodology for how the underlying data is collected and normalized, and the editorial policy for how these reports are written.