The Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW) is one of the most comprehensive measures of labor-market activity, covering more than 95 percent of wage-and-salary employment through Unemployment Insurance records. Produced by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, QCEW provides quarterly establishment counts, monthly employment, and total wages by detailed NAICS industry for states, counties, metros, and ZIP codes. These administrative data offer unmatched precision for mapping local industry structures, wage trends, and employment dynamics.
QCEW data serve as a cornerstone for market intelligence, economic analysis, and regional benchmarking. On an integrated data platform, QCEW can be visualized alongside demographic data to evaluate workforce concentration, wage growth, and business composition by sector. It supports site selection, workforce strategy, and economic-development planning, allowing users to track employer activity and monitor growth trends. Because the dataset is standardized and historically consistent, it underpins employment forecasting and long-term research on local and national economic performance.