The Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW) program publishes a quarterly count of employment and wages reported by employers covering 98 percent of U.S. jobs, available at the county, MSA, state and national levels by industry.

Announcements

NEW As of June 2, 2015, the QCEW Data Viewer includes over-the-year level and percent changes for third-month employment and average weekly wages. Table options have been expanded to include multi-year QCEW data by area and industry, and by establishment size class. Size data are available for the first quarter of each year.

NEW QCEW CSV Files Updated with Over-the-Year Changes
QCEW NAICS data CSV files for the years 1975-2014 were updated on June 2nd to include pre-calculated over-the-year level and percent change fields. The legacy format ENB/END files and the SIC history files were not part of this update. The new QCEW over-the-year change fields are available from the Open Data Access files and from the CSV files on the QCEW Data Files page. Over-the-year change fields for third-month employment and average weekly wage are also available from the State and County Map application.

NEW As of January 8, 2015, the QCEW Data Viewer includes employment and wages location quotients in all tables. Table options have been expanded to include QCEW data by establishment size class. Size data are available for the first quarter of each year.

NEW QCEW File Formats and Content
Most QCEW NAICS data flat files for the years 1975-2014 were updated on December 9th to include location quotients (LQs). Location quotients compare the concentration of an industry within a specific area to the concentration of that industry nationwide. Location quotients were calculated for each of the data points within these files. The legacy format ENB/END files and the SIC history files were not part of this update.

The new QCEW location quotients are available from the Open Data Access files and from the CSV files on the QCEW Data Files page. Location quotients are also available from the LQ Calculator, the State and County Map application, and the high level county files.

On December 2nd, BLS released updated file format documentation here (CSV) and here (Open Data) to allow users to prepare for the new format. With the December 9th release, this documentation now reflects the standard formats used in the CSV files and the Open Data Access files.

NEW Research data on the nonprofit sector

UPDATED Tuesday, September 30, 2014 - QCEW 2013 annual average CSV files updated with correct annual average pay values. Details

NEW Employment and Wages, Annual Averages 2013

NEW QCEW Open Data Access: QCEW now provides a collection of CSV files designed to allow third party programmers, developers, and organizations to retrieve published QCEW data in CSV format.

NEW QCEW Data Viewer: County, MSA, State, and National Data by Industry

NEW Hurricane flood zone maps and tables of employment, wages, and establishment counts

Changes to QCEW Data Files

NEW Article The Marcellus Shale gas boom in Pennsylvania: employment and wage trends

Ready–To–Go Industry Tables

Changes to E&W; Tables

QCEW News Releases

Benton, Ark., has largest county 4th quarter 2014 over-the-year wage gain at 9.9%

06/17/2015

From fourth quarter 2013 to fourth quarter 2014, Benton, Ark., had the largest percentage increase in average weekly wages at 9.9 percent. Weld, Colo., and Midland, Texas, had the largest over-the-year percentage increases in employment in December 2014 at 8.0 percent each.
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Quarterly Releases

Discontinued Annual Releases

Archived News Releases

 

QCEW Databases

Databases

Database Name Special
Notice
Top
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One
Screen
Multi-
Screen
Tables Text Files
State and County Wages
(Quarterly Census of Employment & Wages - QCEW)
  Top Picks One Screen Data Search Multi Screen Data Search Tables Text Files

 

Calculators

Calculator Name Calculator
Location Quotient
Provides a way to readily compare the industrial activity levels among different areas of the country.
Calculator

Downloadable Data Files

More Tools

  • Open Data Access
    • Overview -Learn more about the collection of CSV files designed to allow third party programmers, developers, and organizations to retrieve published QCEW data in CSV format.
    • Data Slices: Structure and Storage -Learn more about the storage and structure of QCEW's collection of CSV data slices.
    • Programming Language Examples -QCEW data slices can be directly accessed from various programming languages. QCEW has made an effort to provide simple examples in several different languages.
  • QCEW State and County Maps - View QCEW maps, charts and data tables
  • Series Report —Already know the series identifier for the statistic you want? Use this shortcut to retrieve your data.

 

All CEW Databases

 

QCEW Reporting Data

 

QCEW Publications

 

Last Modified Date: September 18, 2014

QCEW Frequently Asked Questions

 

QCEW Special Notices

 

Other BLS Programs

Other Useful Links

 

Contact QCEW

Contact Us

For BLS QCEW Survey Respondents

For QCEW Data Users

  • Telephone: (202) 691-6567
  • E-mail: Contact QCEW

  • Written inquiries:

  • Bureau of Labor Statistics
    Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages
    Room 4840
    2 Massachusetts Ave., NE
    Washington, D.C. 20212

For related data sources

For state-published data

The cooperating State Workforce Agencies (SWAs) have labor market information offices that publish and disseminate QCEW data for their states.