Pay grew 1.9% in Bristol County and 0.6% in Plymouth County early this year, behind the state's 4.8%, federal figures show
Both counties had fewer jobs in March than a year earlier, and Plymouth County's 2.0% drop was the largest among the state's large counties.
SOUTH COAST The average job in Bristol County paid $1,326 a week in the first three months of 2026, up 1.9% from a year earlier, and the average job in Plymouth County paid $1,443, up 0.6%, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics' newest county count of jobs and pay. Across Massachusetts the average rose 4.8% to $2,201 a week, and nationwide it rose 3.9% to $1,654.
Plymouth County's gain was the smallest of the state's nine large counties and ranked 354th among the 376 largest counties in the country, the bureau's Sept. 4 release shows, while Bristol County's ranked 301st. Both counties also had fewer jobs in March than a year earlier: employment fell 0.8% in Bristol County and 2.0% in Plymouth County, the largest drop among Massachusetts' large counties.
Prices kept climbing over the same months. From March 2025 to March 2026, the bureau's consumer price index rose 3.3% for the nation and 2.0% for the Boston area, which takes in Plymouth County but not Bristol County. Both counties' average pay gains trailed the national price rise, and Plymouth County's also fell well short of the Boston-area rise.
| Area | Average weekly wage | Change in pay | Jobs in March | Change in jobs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bristol County | $1,326 | +1.9% | 220,596 | -0.8% |
| Plymouth County | $1,443 | +0.6% | 192,096 | -2.0% |
| Massachusetts | $2,201 | +4.8% | 3,552,946 | -0.9% |
| United States | $1,654 | +3.9% | 154,771,941 | +0.1% |
How far behind the state
Bristol County's average weekly wage was $328 below the national average and $875 below the state's. Plymouth County's was $211 below the national average and $758 below the state's. Only three of Massachusetts' nine large counties paid more than the national average: Suffolk, at $3,340 a week, Middlesex, at $2,568, and Norfolk, at $1,819. Suffolk also had the largest gain, 7.5%.
For all of 2025, the average job paid $66,851 in Bristol County and $72,763 in Plymouth County, the bureau's annual county figures show.
Employment fell in all nine large Massachusetts counties from March 2025 to March 2026. Statewide it fell 0.9%, while the national count rose 0.1%. Bristol County had 220,596 jobs at 18,099 establishments in March, and Plymouth County had 192,096 jobs at 17,190.
What jobs pay here
The county files break the totals down by industry. In Bristol County, health care and social assistance had 43,292 jobs in March, more than any other private industry with published figures, and they paid an average of $1,207 a week in the quarter. Retail had 30,213 jobs at $808 a week, manufacturing had 22,040 at $2,015, and accommodation and food services, the restaurant and hotel category, had 20,522 at $524. Local government had 23,410 jobs at $1,384 a week, and 16,389 of them were in education.
In Plymouth County, health care and social assistance had 35,755 jobs at $1,196 a week, retail had 24,948 at $885, accommodation and food services had 18,548 at $582 and construction had 14,343 at $1,838. Local government had 21,887 jobs at $1,432 a week, with 15,393 of them in education.
The averages include part-time workers and count bonuses and tips as pay. The bureau says the balance of full-time and part-time workers, along with how many people hold high-paying and low-paying jobs, moves the numbers, so an average can also rise or fall when the mix of jobs changes.
What the state's figures show
The Massachusetts Department of Economic Research, part of the state's Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development, posts the state's own figures from the same count in its Employment and Wages Report. They come close to the bureau's: $1,324 a week in Bristol County and $1,442 in Plymouth County for the first quarter, with 220,681 and 192,253 jobs in March. The bureau says state figures can differ from its preliminary ones because states keep receiving and reviewing employer reports.
The state's figures are not adjusted, and by them Plymouth County's average weekly wage fell about 1.1% from $1,458 in the first quarter of 2025, while Bristol County's rose about 1.8% from $1,300. The state's March job counts were down about 0.6% in Bristol County and 0.8% in Plymouth County from a year earlier.
The bureau figures its percent changes from prior-year numbers it adjusts for administrative corrections, such as an employer correcting the county or industry listed for its workplace, and it says changes figured from unadjusted data may differ substantially from its own. It does not publish the adjusted prior-year numbers.
About the count
The Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages is compiled from the quarterly reports employers file with state unemployment insurance agencies, and it covers workers under state and federal unemployment insurance. The bureau figures the average weekly wage by dividing a quarter's total wages by the average number of jobs in its three months, then by 13 weeks. It calls the first-quarter 2026 figures preliminary.
The bureau's next county release, covering April through June, is scheduled for Wednesday, Dec. 2.
SC360 reported September unemployment rates for the region in its Oct. 29 story on New Bedford and Fall River jobless rates.
Update, Nov. 1: This story now includes the Massachusetts Department of Economic Research's own county figures and notes that the Boston-area price index covers Plymouth County but not Bristol County.
Label: Reported by us, from the town's posted records.
Notes
The figures come from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, through its Sept. 4 release on county employment and wages in Massachusetts for the first quarter of 2026, its county data files for that quarter and for 2025, its technical note for the county count and its consumer price index for the Boston area and the nation, and from the Massachusetts Department of Economic Research's Employment and Wages Report for the first quarters of 2025 and 2026. We read them on Nov. 1 and figured each difference, price change and state-based change from those records; the bureau's pay and job changes and rankings are its own. We checked each date and weekday against a calendar.
Corrections
No corrections to this story. If something here is wrong, tell us. Every correction is dated on the story and listed in our public log.
Sources (13)
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: County Employment and Wages in Massachusetts, First Quarter 2026Release 26-1472-BOS, posted Friday, Sept. 4, 2026: county and state average weekly wages, employment, percent changes and national rankings; next release Dec. 2. Read Nov. 1, 2026.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages, Bristol County, first quarter 2026Jobs and average weekly wage by industry and ownership. Read Nov. 1, 2026.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages, Plymouth County, first quarter 2026Jobs and average weekly wage by industry and ownership. Read Nov. 1, 2026.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages, Bristol County, 2025 annual averagesAverage annual pay for 2025. Read Nov. 1, 2026.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages, Plymouth County, 2025 annual averagesAverage annual pay for 2025. Read Nov. 1, 2026.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: County Employment and Wages technical noteHow the count is compiled, what wages include, how average weekly wages are figured, how percent changes are adjusted and why state figures can differ. Read Nov. 1, 2026.
- Massachusetts Department of Economic Research: Employment and Wages Report (ES-202), Bristol County, first quarter 2026Establishments, monthly jobs, total wages and average weekly wage, all ownership types. Read Nov. 1, 2026.
- Massachusetts Department of Economic Research: Employment and Wages Report (ES-202), Plymouth County, first quarter 2026Establishments, monthly jobs, total wages and average weekly wage, all ownership types. Read Nov. 1, 2026.
- Massachusetts Department of Economic Research: Employment and Wages Report (ES-202), Bristol County, first quarter 2025Year-earlier jobs and average weekly wage, all ownership types. Read Nov. 1, 2026.
- Massachusetts Department of Economic Research: Employment and Wages Report (ES-202), Plymouth County, first quarter 2025Year-earlier jobs and average weekly wage, all ownership types. Read Nov. 1, 2026.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: Consumer price index, Boston-Cambridge-Newton, all items (CUURS11ASA0)March 2025 index 343.972, March 2026 index 350.705. Read Nov. 1, 2026.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: Consumer Price Index, Boston areaNames the counties in the Boston-Cambridge-Newton price index area: Essex, Middlesex, Norfolk, Plymouth and Suffolk in Massachusetts and two New Hampshire counties. Read Nov. 1, 2026.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: Consumer price index, U.S. city average, all items (CUUR0000SA0)March 2025 index 319.799, March 2026 index 330.213. Read Nov. 1, 2026.