Work & employment
rankings by state.

Residents, workers and jobs use different denominators

ACS work measures describe resident populations under the definitions attached to each table. Labor force participation and the employment-to-population ratio are different: the labor force also includes people looking for work. Occupational and industry shares describe how work is distributed, while full-time year-round earnings describe a restricted worker population. These annual survey observations are not the monthly unemployment release or an establishment job count. The unemployment rate here is the exception: it is the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ estimate for the latest month, which BLS revises the following month.

Select the table whose age, employment and work-duration universe matches the question. A difference between male and female earnings medians is an unadjusted comparison of groups; it does not isolate a wage difference for the same role, hours or experience. Occupational concentrations describe job mix and are not an occupation-specific salary comparison. Read both definitions before building a composite from related employment measures.

Choose the measure that answers your question

The linked pages retain exact source precision for ranks, show true ties, and display uncertainty where it is available. The comparison tool lets you inspect selected states without changing their rank among the full 50-state universe. Shared comparisons preserve their data edition.