+1 570 955 3538Lackawanna County Business Economy: Jobs, Wages and Firms by Sector
Lackawanna County had 5,350 private-sector firms and 88,949 private-sector jobs in the second quarter of 2025. Health care and social assistance is the biggest employer, with 21,093 jobs. The average private weekly wage was $1,014. The table below lists every sector the Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes for the county, so you can see where your customers work and who shares your market.
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Sectors ranked by jobs
| Sector | Firms | Jobs | Avg weekly wage | Jobs vs. year ago |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Health care and social assistance | 898 | 21,093 | $1,089 | +4.0% |
| Retail trade | 793 | 11,196 | $666 | -1.0% |
| Manufacturing | 217 | 10,254 | $1,291 | -0.9% |
| Accommodation and food services | 575 | 8,619 | $422 | +2.4% |
| Transportation and warehousing | 176 | 7,418 | $971 | +14.6% |
| Administrative and waste services | 264 | 4,290 | $841 | -10.2% |
| Construction | 455 | 3,943 | $1,466 | +1.1% |
| Wholesale trade | 247 | 3,645 | $1,296 | -2.4% |
| Educational services | 74 | 3,491 | $1,058 | -5.5% |
| Finance and insurance | 289 | 3,416 | $1,595 | -0.4% |
| Other services (repair, personal care) | 476 | 3,066 | $716 | -2.5% |
| Professional, scientific, technical services | 485 | 2,725 | $1,393 | +3.0% |
| Arts, entertainment, recreation | 80 | 1,809 | $512 | +1.3% |
| Management of companies | 54 | 1,321 | $1,737 | -4.8% |
| Real estate and rental | 174 | 931 | $910 | +2.5% |
| Information | 50 | 888 | $1,237 | -10.8% |
| Agriculture, forestry, fishing | 26 | 466 | $681 | +0.0% |
| Utilities | 13 | 343 | $2,134 | +1.5% |
| Mining and quarrying | 4 | 35 | $1,602 | +0.0% |
The last column compares June 2025 with June 2024. Wages are averages for all private employees in the sector, before taxes.
Where pay is highest and lowest
Utilities pays the most: $2,134 a week, about $110,968 a year. Accommodation and food services pays the least: $422 a week, about $21,944 a year. That spread matters if you price to local households. A dentist's patient and a restaurant worker in the same county do not share a budget.
Health care and social assistance pays $1,089 a week. The three largest sectors together hold 48% of private jobs, so a few employers set the pay cycle for most households.
Trades and professions in the county
These seven lines come from a second source, Census County Business Patterns for 2023. Both sources count only employers. A roofer who works alone is in neither.
| Trade or profession | Firms with employees | Employees | Firms per 10,000 residents |
|---|---|---|---|
| Offices of lawyers | 152 | 685 | 7.0 |
| Offices of dentists | 83 | 668 | 3.8 |
| Plumbing/HVAC contractors | 72 | 525 | 3.3 |
| Custom software programming | 16 | 75 | 0.7 |
| Painting & wall covering | 16 | 75 | 0.7 |
| Roofing contractors | 15 | 123 | 0.7 |
| Advertising agencies | 14 | 28 | 0.6 |
Residents come from the American Community Survey (215,834). Counts from different sources and years differ. Do not add them together.
What this means for a small business
- Jobs grew 1.0% and wages grew 3.3% from the second quarter of 2024. Pay rose faster than headcount.
- 5,575 establishments in all once government is counted, with 99,331 jobs. Public employers are a large customer base for local suppliers.
- Most firms are small. The county averages 16.6 private jobs per establishment. Your next competitor has a handful of staff on average.
Our GEO and AI search optimization service starts from numbers like these. See also the ten-county density study and the self-employment page.
Where the numbers come from
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW), 2025 Q2, private ownership. Open data: data.bls.gov/cew. Pulled 2026-10-06.
- U.S. Census Bureau, County Business Patterns (CBP) 2023. Open data: census.gov/programs-surveys/cbp. Pulled 2026-10-06.
- U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates 2019–2023 (tables B01003, B01002, B19013, B25077, B11001, B28002). Pulled 2026-10-06.
The table has 19 sector rows. Rows the BLS withholds for privacy would be left out, and none are missing for Lackawanna.
FAQ
How many people work in Lackawanna County?
The private sector had 88,949 jobs in June 2025 (second quarter, third month). With government included, the same BLS file shows 99,331 jobs.
Why do the firm counts differ between BLS and Census?
They use different years and rules. BLS counts jobs covered by unemployment insurance in 2025. Census counts firms with payroll in 2023. Use one source at a time.
Does this include self-employed owners?
No. Both sources count employers only. The self-employment page shows tax-return data for people who run a business of one.
Where can I get the raw data?
Download the CSV on this page, or use the BLS and Census links in the sources list.
