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.
Worcester County is a county of Massachusetts with 867,788 residents. Its economy produced $60,947 million in 2024 (ranked #4 of 14 counties) and had 351,476 jobs with an average annual pay of $71,641 (#6 for pay). The unemployment rate was 4.2% in 2026M09. It is part of the Worcester, MA metropolitan area (central county).
Worcester County produced about $60,947 million of goods and services in 2024, which is 7.8% of the combined output of the 14 counties of Massachusetts that BEA reports (about 12.3% of the state's population lives here), and ranks it 4th of 14 on that measure. Per resident that is $70,233, 36% below the state average; the average for all counties of the state taken together is $110,522. In current dollars output grew 4.4% from 2023 to 2024, before adjusting for inflation.
BLS counts 351,476 jobs located in Worcester County on average in 2024, spread over 27,743 employer sites (about 13 jobs per site). That is 0.41 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 $71,641, 24% below the average of all counties in the state ($71,641 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 rose 0.1% from 2023 to 2024.
The three largest private industries are health care and social assistance (24.5% of private jobs, $68,397 a year on average), retail trade (12.5% of private jobs, $41,663 a year on average), manufacturing (11.8% of private jobs, $91,807 a year on average). Together they hold 48.8% of private-sector jobs. Among industries with at least 3% of jobs, the best paying is finance and insurance at $118,404 a year, followed by professional and technical services ($118,165). The county is specialised in several industries: utilities (2.2 times the US share, 2,995 jobs); educational services (1.6 times the US share, 11,446 jobs); health care and social assistance (1.4 times the US share, 72,626 jobs). A location quotient above 1 means an industry employs a larger share of workers here than in the whole country, so these are the industries where local employers compete hardest for skills. Several of the biggest employers pay well below the county average: retail trade ($41,663), accommodation and food services ($29,398). Jobs there are plentiful but the pay is lower than the headline average suggests.
In 2026M09 the unemployment rate in Worcester County was 4.2%, about the same as the average of the state's counties (4.2% against 4.1%). The labour force (people working or looking for work) numbered 470,233. Over the last 12 months it ranged from 4.1% (2026M05) to 5.3% (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 $95,939 (ACS 2020–2024), 8% below the state median ($95,939 against $103,960). The guide covers 7 cities with this as the main county: Worcester, Leominster, Fitchburg, Milford, Gardner, Southbridge Town, Webster. Open any of them for rent, home values, commuting and climate. Within the county, median rent runs from $1,109 in Gardner to $1,889 in Milford, so where you live matters as much as which county you pick.
Counties close to Worcester County in output are Suffolk County, Norfolk County, Essex County, Plymouth County. Compare their jobs, pay and unemployment on their own pages.
| Measure ⇅ | Value ⇅ | Rank among the 14 counties of Massachusetts ⇅ |
|---|---|---|
| Population | 867,788 | 2 of 14 |
| GDP 2024 | $60,947 million | 4 of 14 |
| GDP per resident | $70,233 | 9 of 14 |
| Jobs (QCEW 2024) | 351,476 | 3 of 14 |
| Average annual pay | $71,641 | 6 of 14 |
| Job change vs 2023 | +0.1% | 8 of 14 |
| Unemployment rate (lower is better) | 4.2% | 9 of 14 |
| Median household income | $95,939 | 7 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 Worcester County.
| City ⇅ | Population ⇅ | Median household income ⇅ | Median rent ⇅ | Median home value ⇅ | Bachelor's+ ⇅ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Worcester | 207,055 | $70,102 | $1,487 | $374,400 | 35.2% |
| Leominster | 43,909 | $83,816 | $1,354 | $380,400 | 33.5% |
| Fitchburg | 41,798 | $73,040 | $1,222 | $336,400 | 25.1% |
| Milford | 27,731 | $93,310 | $1,889 | $464,700 | 32.6% |
| Gardner | 21,148 | $67,518 | $1,109 | $301,600 | 23.8% |
| Southbridge Town | 17,928 | $66,287 | $1,256 | $294,800 | 19.4% |
| Webster | 12,228 | $63,837 | $1,198 | $333,100 | 18.8% |
| Industry ⇅ | Jobs ⇅ | Share of private jobs ⇅ | Average annual pay ⇅ | Concentration vs US (location quotient) ⇅ |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Health care and social assistance | 72,626 | 24.5% | $68,397 | 1.44 |
| Retail trade | 37,057 | 12.5% | $41,663 | 1.06 |
| Manufacturing | 35,042 | 11.8% | $91,807 | 1.21 |
| Accommodation and food services | 25,832 | 8.7% | $29,398 | 0.81 |
| Administrative and waste services | 18,282 | 6.2% | $53,785 | 0.88 |
| Professional and technical services | 17,609 | 5.9% | $118,165 | 0.72 |
| Construction | 16,905 | 5.7% | $90,345 | 0.92 |
| Finance and insurance | 11,623 | 3.9% | $118,404 | 0.81 |
| Educational services | 11,446 | 3.9% | $64,547 | 1.58 |
| Wholesale trade | 11,146 | 3.8% | $99,389 | 0.80 |
| Other services (except public administration) | 9,977 | 3.4% | $45,309 | 0.94 |
| Transportation and warehousing | 9,440 | 3.2% | $61,020 | 0.63 |
| Arts, entertainment, recreation | 5,277 | 1.8% | $29,388 | 0.89 |
| Management of companies | 3,726 | 1.3% | $124,890 | 0.63 |
| Information | 3,054 | 1.0% | $124,395 | 0.46 |
| Utilities | 2,995 | 1.0% | $147,955 | 2.24 |
| Real estate and rental | 2,761 | 0.9% | $85,863 | 0.51 |
| Agriculture, forestry, fishing | 1,709 | 0.6% | $43,207 | 0.60 |
| Mining, oil and gas | 258 | 0.1% | $76,367 | 0.19 |
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 | 470,233 |
| Employed residents | 450,643 |
| Unemployed residents | 19,590 |
| Unemployment rate | 4.2% |
| Jobs located in the county (QCEW) | 351,476 |
| Employer sites | 27,743 |
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% |
867,788 (Census Bureau ACS 2020–2024).
$60,947 million in 2024 (BEA, current dollars).
4.2% in 2026M09 (BLS, not seasonally adjusted; the latest month may be revised).
351,476 jobs on average in 2024 with an average annual pay of $71,641 (BLS QCEW).