Employment in Mississippi’s two largest counties, Hinds and Harrison, increased from March 2024 to March 2025, according to data released by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Regional Commissioner Victoria G. Lee stated that Hinds County saw a larger year-over-year employment increase at 0.3 percent.
Hinds County reported higher employment numbers in March 2025 with 109,200 jobs. Combined, Hinds and Harrison counties represented 17.1 percent of all covered employment in Mississippi during this period. For comparison, the nation’s 372 largest counties accounted for 73.4 percent of total covered employment across the United States.
Both large counties also experienced growth in average weekly wages over the year. Hinds County led with a wage increase of 5.2 percent, while Harrison County followed with a rise of 3.7 percent.
Despite these increases, both counties’ average weekly wages remained below the national average of $1,589 for the first quarter of 2025. In Hinds County, the average was $1,200 per week; in Harrison County it was $990 per week.
The report also included data on Mississippi’s smaller counties—those with fewer than 75,000 employees as of 2024—which number eighty statewide. Wage levels in nearly all small counties lagged behind the national figure: Claiborne had the highest average weekly wage among them at $1,607; Issaquena had the lowest at $601.
Of all eighty-two Mississippi counties surveyed during this period: ten posted average weekly wages under $775; twenty-three ranged from $775 to $849; twenty-two fell between $850 and $924; ten were between $925 and $999; and seventeen recorded averages above $1,000 per week.
Further details on quarterly county-level employment and wage data are available through official BLS releases and their Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages website.
The next update covering second quarter results is scheduled for release on December 3, 2025.
