Employment declined in all nine of the largest counties in Massachusetts from March 2025 to March 2026, with Worcester County faring slightly better than most of its peers.
Worcester County’s employment level fell 0.6% when comparing March 2026 with the previous year, the smallest decline among the nine large counties except for Norfolk County, which posted a 0.4% drop, according to data released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics on Sept. 4.
Middlesex County’s employment level fell 1.9% over the same period.
Massachusetts saw a 0.9% decline in overall employment, as the country’s employment level grew 0.1%
Even with the drop, Middlesex County’s 880,700 workers remained the highest number of any of the nine large counties tracked by the BLS. Worcester County had 350,633 workers.
While the number of employees in the state dropped, wages were on the rise.
All nine large Massachusetts counties reported average weekly wage gains over the year, with Suffolk County posting the largest increase at 7.5%.Â
Worcester County’s average weekly wage rose 1.8% to $1,506, tying Norfolk and Bristol counties for one of the more modest gains among the nine large counties, while Middlesex joined Essex and Hampden as counties seeing wages climb about 4%.
Statewide, average weekly wages rose 4.8% over the year to $2,201, ranking Massachusetts third among all states and Washington, D.C., in wage level and sixth in wage growth.Â
Middlesex ($2,568), Suffolk ($3,340), and Norfolk ($1,819) reported average weekly wages above the national average of $1,654; Worcester’s $1,506 wage fell below that national benchmark.
Eric Casey is the managing editor at Worcester Business Journal, who primarily covers the real estate and banking & finance industries.Â
