Newly released data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics show employment declined in Worcester and Middlesex counties, while average weekly wages rose faster than the national rate in Middlesex County and more slowly in Worcester County.
Middlesex County has the ninth-highest average weekly wage among U.S. counties. Worcester County ranked 136th.
Employment decreased in eight of Massachusetts’ nine large counties from September 2024 to September 2025, according to data released by BLS on Tuesday. Employment declined 2% in Middlesex County and 0.5% in Worcester County.
Cape Cod’s Barnstable County was the lone large county seeing growth, with employment growing 0.1%. Massachusetts saw employment decline 0.9%, in contrast to the national growth rate of 0.1%.
BLS tracks statistics for large counties, defined as those with more than 75,000 employees, separately from small counties, which include counties such as Nantucket and Franklin. Year-over-year statistics for small counties were not included in BLS’ Tuesday release.
While employment declined in the Central Massachusetts region, the average weekly wage grew 7.5% to $2,221 in Middlesex County and 3.8% to $1,373 in Worcester County.
The national growth rate was 4.7%, bringing the national average wage to $1,459.
Massachusetts has the third-highest wage of any state, climbing 4.8% to $1,818. Only the District of Columbia ($2,393) and Washington ($1,923) had a higher average weekly wage. BLS treats the District of Columbia as a state for data-tracking purposes, but does not include data from Puerto Rico or the U.S. Virgin Islands.
BLS tracked wages and employment at 59,365 establishments in Middlesex County and 28,212 establishments in Worcester County.
Eric Casey is the managing editor at Worcester Business Journal, who primarily covers the real estate and banking & finance industries.
