The county economy from official statistics, with source and year on every table.
Click any dot to open that city: jobs, pay, rent, commute, county economy and climate. Dot size follows population; colours follow the state flag.
By AtiveSite · Published 07/11/2026 · Updated 07/11/2026 · Every figure is linked to its source below.
Bristol County is a county of Massachusetts with 582,270 residents. Its economy produced $36,041 million in 2024 (ranked #7 of 14 counties) and had 227,971 jobs with an average annual pay of $64,669 (#10 for pay). The unemployment rate was 4.5% in 2026M09. It is part of the Providence-Warwick, RI-MA metropolitan area (central county).
Bristol County produced about $36,041 million of goods and services in 2024, which is 4.6% of the combined output of the 14 counties of Massachusetts that BEA reports (about 8.3% of the state's population lives here), and ranks it 7th of 14 on that measure. Per resident that is $61,897, 44% below the state average; the average for all counties of the state taken together is $110,522. In current dollars output grew 5.0% from 2023 to 2024, before adjusting for inflation.
BLS counts 227,971 jobs located in Bristol County on average in 2024, spread over 17,906 employer sites (about 13 jobs per site). That is 0.39 jobs for every resident, below the 0.44 of the typical county in Massachusetts, which tells you whether the county is a place people mostly commute to for work or a place they commute from. The average annual pay per job was $64,669, 32% below the average of all counties in the state ($64,669 against $94,544). Average pay is total wages divided by jobs, so it is pulled up by high earners and counts part-time jobs as whole jobs; it is not the pay of a typical worker. The number of jobs did not change 0.0% from 2023 to 2024.
The three largest private industries are health care and social assistance (21.5% of private jobs, $61,535 a year on average), retail trade (15.9% of private jobs, $40,606 a year on average), manufacturing (11.7% of private jobs, $84,766 a year on average). Together they hold 49.1% of private-sector jobs. Among industries with at least 3% of jobs, the best paying is professional and technical services at $103,734 a year, followed by wholesale trade ($98,288). Several of the biggest employers pay well below the county average: retail trade ($40,606), accommodation and food services ($27,727). Jobs there are plentiful but the pay is lower than the headline average suggests.
In 2026M09 the unemployment rate in Bristol County was 4.5%, 8% above the average of the state's counties (4.5% against 4.1%). The labour force (people working or looking for work) numbered 313,254. Over the last 12 months it ranged from 4.5% (2026M05) to 6.2% (2026M01); the latest month is preliminary and BLS revises it. These county rates are not seasonally adjusted, so compare the same month across years.
The median household income was $85,625 (ACS 2020–2024), 18% below the state median ($85,625 against $103,960). The guide covers 6 cities with this as the main county: New Bedford, Fall River, Taunton, Attleboro, North Attleborough Town, Somerset. Open any of them for rent, home values, commuting and climate. Within the county, median rent runs from $1,137 in New Bedford to $1,590 in Attleboro, so where you live matters as much as which county you pick.
Counties close to Bristol County in output are Essex County, Plymouth County, Hampden County, Barnstable County. Compare their jobs, pay and unemployment on their own pages.
| Measure ⇅ | Value ⇅ | Rank among the 14 counties of Massachusetts ⇅ |
|---|---|---|
| Population | 582,270 | 6 of 14 |
| GDP 2024 | $36,041 million | 7 of 14 |
| GDP per resident | $61,897 | 13 of 14 |
| Jobs (QCEW 2024) | 227,971 | 6 of 14 |
| Average annual pay | $64,669 | 10 of 14 |
| Job change vs 2023 | +0.0% | 9 of 14 |
| Unemployment rate (lower is better) | 4.5% | 13 of 14 |
| Median household income | $85,625 | 11 of 14 |
Federal jobs in Massachusetts (896) →All cities of MassachusettsState guide: Massachusetts
These links go to official sources and open in a new window. The first one is the government's or company's own site as listed in Wikidata (property "official website"); check it before relying on it.
Cities of this guide whose main county is Bristol County.
| City ⇅ | Population ⇅ | Median household income ⇅ | Median rent ⇅ | Median home value ⇅ | Bachelor's+ ⇅ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New Bedford | 100,998 | $56,981 | $1,137 | $357,300 | 17.0% |
| Fall River | 94,082 | $56,673 | $1,155 | $395,500 | 16.4% |
| Taunton | 60,433 | $79,283 | $1,324 | $422,800 | 23.9% |
| Attleboro | 46,762 | $98,954 | $1,590 | $448,100 | 34.0% |
| North Attleborough Town | 30,984 | $112,665 | $1,509 | $482,200 | 46.4% |
| Somerset | 18,298 | $112,677 | $1,271 | $418,800 | 37.6% |
| Industry ⇅ | Jobs ⇅ | Share of private jobs ⇅ | Average annual pay ⇅ | Concentration vs US (location quotient) ⇅ |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Health care and social assistance | 42,694 | 21.5% | $61,535 | 1.31 |
| Retail trade | 31,467 | 15.9% | $40,606 | 1.38 |
| Manufacturing | 23,116 | 11.7% | $84,766 | 1.23 |
| Accommodation and food services | 21,167 | 10.7% | $27,727 | 1.02 |
| Construction | 12,550 | 6.3% | $87,687 | 1.05 |
| Wholesale trade | 11,839 | 6.0% | $98,288 | 1.32 |
| Transportation and warehousing | 10,889 | 5.5% | $63,147 | 1.13 |
| Administrative and waste services | 10,699 | 5.4% | $52,510 | 0.80 |
| Other services (except public administration) | 7,900 | 4.0% | $40,844 | 1.15 |
| Professional and technical services | 7,029 | 3.5% | $103,734 | 0.44 |
| Finance and insurance | 3,997 | 2.0% | $98,847 | 0.43 |
| Educational services | 3,116 | 1.6% | $53,532 | 0.66 |
| Arts, entertainment, recreation | 2,994 | 1.5% | $30,796 | 0.78 |
| Management of companies | 2,275 | 1.1% | $123,846 | 0.59 |
| Information | 2,072 | 1.0% | $99,512 | 0.48 |
| Agriculture, forestry, fishing | 1,891 | 1.0% | $75,397 | 1.02 |
| Real estate and rental | 1,637 | 0.8% | $66,910 | 0.46 |
| Utilities | 778 | 0.4% | $135,508 | 0.90 |
| Mining, oil and gas | 40 | 0.0% | $76,941 | 0.05 |
A location quotient above 1 means the industry is more concentrated here than in the US. BLS withholds sectors with too few employers.
| Measure ⇅ | Value ⇅ |
|---|---|
| Labour force | 313,254 |
| Employed residents | 299,119 |
| Unemployed residents | 14,135 |
| Unemployment rate | 4.5% |
| Jobs located in the county (QCEW) | 227,971 |
| Employer sites | 17,906 |
Residents employed and jobs located here differ: many residents commute to other counties.
| County ⇅ | Population ⇅ | GDP 2024 ⇅ | GDP per resident ⇅ | Jobs ⇅ | Average annual pay ⇅ | Unemployment ⇅ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Middlesex County | 1,638,365 | $240,665 million | $146,894 | 926,104 | $113,704 | 3.8% |
| Worcester County | 867,788 | $60,947 million | $70,233 | 351,476 | $71,641 | 4.2% |
| Essex County | 813,054 | $60,733 million | $74,697 | 323,694 | $75,548 | 4.3% |
| Suffolk County | 785,121 | $190,778 million | $242,992 | 713,809 | $131,280 | 4.2% |
| Norfolk County | 730,082 | $75,071 million | $102,826 | 346,327 | $84,497 | 3.9% |
| Bristol County | 582,270 | $36,041 million | $61,897 | 227,971 | $64,669 | 4.5% |
| Plymouth County | 535,075 | $36,917 million | $68,993 | 194,985 | $69,858 | 4.2% |
| Hampden County | 462,815 | $30,598 million | $66,113 | 202,129 | $62,834 | 5.3% |
| Barnstable County | 231,668 | $19,298 million | $83,302 | 96,280 | $64,707 | 3.8% |
| Hampshire County | 162,028 | $10,389 million | $64,117 | 65,786 | $62,006 | 3.8% |
| Berkshire County | 129,430 | $9,165 million | $70,812 | 57,946 | $62,257 | 3.9% |
| Franklin County | 70,944 | $3,704 million | $52,208 | 25,435 | $54,261 | 3.8% |
| Dukes County | 20,933 | $2,110 million | $100,784 | 9,176 | $71,428 | 3.3% |
| Nantucket County | 14,483 | $2,107 million | $145,505 | 8,560 | $78,799 | 3.0% |
582,270 (Census Bureau ACS 2020–2024).
$36,041 million in 2024 (BEA, current dollars).
4.5% in 2026M09 (BLS, not seasonally adjusted; the latest month may be revised).
227,971 jobs on average in 2024 with an average annual pay of $64,669 (BLS QCEW).