Employment in half of Georgia’s 12 largest counties increased between March 2024 and March 2025, according to new data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Victoria G. Lee, Regional Commissioner, said Henry County experienced the highest employment growth with a 1.4 percent increase over the year. Clayton County recorded the steepest decline at -2.3 percent.
Fulton County reported the highest employment among large counties, with 944,900 jobs as of March 2025. These dozen largest counties made up 58.7 percent of all covered employment in Georgia during this period. For context, across the United States, the largest 372 counties represent about 73.4 percent of total covered employment.
Average weekly wages rose in eleven out of twelve large Georgia counties over the year, with DeKalb County seeing the biggest gain at 6.4 percent. The remaining ten counties saw wage increases ranging from 5.6 percent to just above zero, while Muscogee County was the only one to report a decline at -1.0 percent.
Three of these large counties—Fulton, Cobb, and Gwinnett—had average weekly wages higher than the national average of $1,589 for this quarter; Fulton’s average weekly wage reached $2,284 and Henry’s was $1,018.
For Georgia’s smaller counties—those with fewer than 75,000 employees—employment and wage levels were also reported by BLS but not annual changes. Among these small counties, Burke had the highest average weekly wage at $2,054 while Clay posted the lowest at $655.
Statewide across all 159 Georgia counties:
– Forty-four had average weekly wages below $875,
– Forty-two ranged from $875 to $949,
– Twenty-four fell between $950 and $1,024,
– Seventeen were between $1,025 and $1,099,
– Thirty-two had average weekly wages above $1,100.
Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW) data for all states are included in this release as well as additional details on county-level employment trends nationwide through related BLS news releases and resources on their official website.
“Information in this release will be made available to individuals with sensory impairments upon request,” according to BLS officials.
The next update covering second quarter data is scheduled for December 3, 2025.
