Employment in Mississippi’s two largest counties increased from March 2024 to March 2025, according to data released by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Hinds County recorded a 0.3 percent rise in employment, which was the higher increase between the two counties.
Hinds County had 109,200 employed persons in March 2025, making it the larger of the two counties. Combined, Hinds and Harrison Counties represented 17.1 percent of all covered employment in Mississippi. On a national scale, large counties—those with at least 75,000 employees on average during 2024—make up about 73.4 percent of total covered employment across the United States.
Both Hinds and Harrison Counties saw their average weekly wages rise over the year. Wages in Hinds increased by 5.2 percent while Harrison reported a gain of 3.7 percent.
Despite these increases, average weekly wages in both counties remained below the national average of $1,589 per week. In March 2025, Hinds County reported an average weekly wage of $1,200; Harrison County reported $990.
For Mississippi’s smaller counties—defined as those with fewer than 75,000 employees—employment and wage levels are also tracked but only for wage levels rather than changes over time. Of these smaller counties, Claiborne had the highest average weekly wage at $1,607 while Issaquena recorded the lowest at $601.
Across all 82 counties in Mississippi: ten had an average weekly wage under $775; twenty-three ranged from $775 to $849; twenty-two ranged from $850 to $924; ten fell between $925 and $999; and seventeen had wages of $1,000 or more per week.
“Regional Commissioner Victoria G. Lee noted that Hinds County had the larger over-the-year increase in employment (+0.3 percent).”
The release notes that additional data for states is available and that nationwide coverage is provided through separate publications from the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages program (https://www.bls.gov/cew/).
The next update covering second quarter data for 2025 will be published on December 3, 2025.
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