What does this measure?
The growth or decline in total jobs, shown as a percentage gain or loss from the previous year.
Why is this important?
Job growth is a key indicator of economic health and vitality and reveals whether and by how much an economy is expanding. In addition to the number of jobs, the quality of jobs should be considered. This is reflected in measures of average salary.
How does our county compare?
Lancaster County had job growth of 3.6% from 2020 to 2021, above the state and nation rates of 2.8% and 3.0% respectively. Since 2001, the number of jobs in the county increased 18% to a total of 340,700 jobs, a growth rate higher than the state (10%) and slightly lower than the nation (22%).
Lancaster's annual growth rate was the same or higher than all neighboring counties (which ranged from 2.2% to 3.6%).
Notes about the data
Data is from the Bureau of Economic Analysis. County employment is reported by place of work, not place of residence.
| 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pennsylvania | N/A | -0.4% | -0.2% | 1.1% | 1.5% | 1.4% | 1.6% | 0.2% | -2.4% | 0.3% | 1.4% | 0.9% | 0.9% | 1.1% | 1.0% | 1.1% | 0.9% | 1.3% | 0.1% | -4.6% | 2.8% |
| Lancaster County | N/A | -0.0% | 0.0% | 2.4% | 2.0% | 0.9% | 1.5% | 0.1% | -2.9% | -0.2% | 0.7% | 1.6% | 1.3% | 2.3% | 2.3% | 2.1% | 1.2% | 2.1% | 0.3% | -4.0% | 3.6% |
| Berks County | N/A | -1.2% | -1.0% | 1.8% | 1.8% | 3.1% | 1.2% | -0.6% | -3.5% | 0.6% | 1.2% | 0.5% | 0.7% | 1.4% | 1.3% | 0.9% | 0.4% | 1.5% | 0.6% | -5.8% | 2.2% |
| Chester County | N/A | 0.2% | 1.0% | 2.7% | 3.9% | 2.9% | 3.5% | 1.3% | -2.0% | -0.0% | 1.4% | 0.6% | 1.8% | 1.3% | 1.7% | 2.8% | 0.6% | 1.1% | -0.4% | -3.4% | 3.4% |
| Cumberland County | N/A | 0.7% | 0.7% | 1.7% | 0.2% | 1.2% | 0.9% | -0.3% | -2.6% | -0.3% | 2.3% | 1.6% | 1.2% | 1.9% | 2.6% | 0.1% | 0.8% | 1.3% | 1.1% | -3.4% | 3.6% |
| Dauphin County | N/A | 0.8% | 0.2% | 0.8% | 1.3% | 2.5% | 1.0% | 0.4% | -1.6% | -1.1% | 0.1% | -0.2% | 1.4% | 0.6% | 0.9% | 1.3% | 1.3% | 1.9% | 1.0% | -4.4% | 2.6% |
| Lebanon County | N/A | 0.5% | 1.2% | 2.4% | 2.3% | 3.0% | 1.8% | -0.6% | -1.4% | 0.9% | 2.2% | 2.3% | -0.1% | -0.4% | -0.3% | 0.5% | 0.1% | 1.6% | 1.1% | -3.9% | 3.5% |
| York County | N/A | -0.2% | 0.2% | 2.5% | 3.0% | 1.5% | 2.2% | 0.2% | -3.9% | -0.5% | 1.2% | 0.5% | 0.6% | 1.0% | 0.9% | 1.7% | 0.9% | 1.2% | 0.1% | -4.4% | 3.4% |
Notes: Rate is percentage change from previous year
| 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pennsylvania | 6,915,464 | 6,887,155 | 6,875,863 | 6,951,840 | 7,053,674 | 7,152,678 | 7,265,045 | 7,278,608 | 7,101,557 | 7,119,776 | 7,217,098 | 7,284,519 | 7,350,854 | 7,434,313 | 7,510,351 | 7,593,733 | 7,662,469 | 7,763,334 | 7,773,246 | 7,413,333 | 7,618,631 |
| Lancaster County | 287,532 | 287,524 | 287,563 | 294,482 | 300,350 | 303,188 | 307,737 | 308,123 | 299,341 | 298,774 | 300,897 | 305,697 | 309,716 | 316,744 | 323,991 | 330,633 | 334,589 | 341,647 | 342,522 | 328,959 | 340,679 |
| Berks County | 207,227 | 204,712 | 202,718 | 206,368 | 210,061 | 216,496 | 219,162 | 217,938 | 210,367 | 211,636 | 214,240 | 215,262 | 216,789 | 219,852 | 222,716 | 224,682 | 225,489 | 228,794 | 230,210 | 216,755 | 221,592 |
| Chester County | 283,391 | 283,954 | 286,713 | 294,474 | 305,835 | 314,682 | 325,694 | 330,052 | 323,483 | 323,455 | 328,069 | 330,160 | 336,046 | 340,287 | 346,142 | 355,816 | 357,802 | 361,810 | 360,379 | 348,100 | 359,821 |
| Cumberland County | 155,302 | 156,338 | 157,406 | 160,108 | 160,460 | 162,320 | 163,724 | 163,250 | 158,983 | 158,541 | 162,242 | 164,907 | 166,807 | 170,019 | 174,465 | 174,609 | 176,051 | 178,259 | 180,307 | 174,220 | 180,473 |
| Dauphin County | 205,413 | 206,973 | 207,358 | 209,090 | 211,760 | 217,082 | 219,241 | 220,186 | 216,674 | 214,250 | 214,571 | 214,064 | 217,042 | 218,445 | 220,439 | 223,401 | 226,377 | 230,700 | 232,974 | 222,819 | 228,580 |
| Lebanon County | 58,544 | 58,829 | 59,506 | 60,913 | 62,302 | 64,150 | 65,328 | 64,936 | 64,003 | 64,608 | 66,020 | 67,515 | 67,426 | 67,167 | 66,946 | 67,314 | 67,358 | 68,442 | 69,197 | 66,507 | 68,861 |
| York County | 211,514 | 211,138 | 211,658 | 217,006 | 223,488 | 226,836 | 231,790 | 232,142 | 223,008 | 221,987 | 224,717 | 225,936 | 227,264 | 229,563 | 231,735 | 235,663 | 237,734 | 240,499 | 240,701 | 230,125 | 237,934 |
| INDICATORS | TREND |
|---|---|
| Change in Total Jobs | Increasing |
| Change in Employment by Sector | Not Applicable |
| Sector Share of Total Jobs | Not Applicable |
| Workers by Occupation | Not Applicable |
| Change in Labor Force | Decreasing |
| People Entering/Leaving County/Region for Work | Not Applicable |
| Average Salary by Sector | Not Applicable |
| Change in Average Salary Since 2000 | Increasing |
| Female to Male Earnings Ratio | Maintaining |
| Employer Size | Not Applicable |
| Change in Number of Businesses by Sector | Increasing |
| Change in Total Agricultural Sales | Increasing |
| Spending for Local Government | Maintaining |
| Spending for School Districts | Maintaining |
