Employment in most of Florida’s largest counties increased between March 2024 and March 2025, according to new data released by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Of the 25 largest counties with published data, 20 reported employment growth during this period.
Victoria G. Lee, Regional Commissioner for the BLS, said, “Pasco and St. Johns counties had the largest over-the-year increases in employment, with gains of 2.2 percent each.” The report also noted that Pinellas County experienced the largest decrease in employment at -1.4 percent.
Miami-Dade County recorded the highest employment level among Florida’s large counties, with 1,283,000 jobs as of March 2025. These large counties made up nearly 88 percent of all covered employment in Florida, while nationwide, the largest counties account for just over 73 percent of total covered employment.
All 24 large Florida counties with available wage data saw average weekly wage increases over the year. Duval County led with a 6.8 percent rise. Wage gains in other large counties ranged from 6.7 percent to 1.8 percent.
Only two of Florida’s largest counties had average weekly wages above the national average of $1,589: Miami-Dade at $1,708 and another county not specified in the summary. Marion County had one of the lowest averages among these large counties at $1,032 per week.
For smaller Florida counties—those with fewer than 75,000 jobs—employment and wage levels were also reported but not year-over-year changes. Indian River had the highest average weekly wage among small counties at $1,306; Holmes had the lowest at $773.
Across all 67 Florida counties, nine reported average weekly wages below $900; most others fell into higher brackets up to $1,275 or more per week.
Additional information about these statistics is available on the Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages website (https://www.bls.gov/cew). The next release covering second quarter 2025 is scheduled for December 3, 2025.
“Information in this release will be made available to individuals with sensory impairments upon request. Voice phone: (202) 691-5200; Telecommunications Relay Service: 7-1-1.”
