Business & Economy Data retrieved 2026-07-16
Jobs in New York City
Payroll jobs located in the five boroughs, averaged over each year since 1990.
4.82 million
payroll jobs in 2025, on average
The most in the series. The city had 3.57 million jobs in 1990 and 4.16 million in 2020, the pandemic year.
The numbers behind this chart
| Year | Total nonfarm jobs in New York City, annual average |
|---|---|
| 1990 | 3,574,700 |
| 1991 | 3,383,400 |
| 1992 | 3,290,900 |
| 1993 | 3,299,800 |
| 1994 | 3,331,300 |
| 1995 | 3,348,900 |
| 1996 | 3,379,900 |
| 1997 | 3,453,100 |
| 1998 | 3,541,300 |
| 1999 | 3,635,100 |
| 2000 | 3,736,200 |
| 2001 | 3,710,100 |
| 2002 | 3,604,100 |
| 2003 | 3,555,900 |
| 2004 | 3,576,100 |
| 2005 | 3,631,300 |
| 2006 | 3,698,000 |
| 2007 | 3,778,100 |
| 2008 | 3,831,200 |
| 2009 | 3,733,200 |
| 2010 | 3,754,500 |
| 2011 | 3,844,600 |
| 2012 | 3,933,300 |
| 2013 | 4,029,700 |
| 2014 | 4,163,200 |
| 2015 | 4,291,200 |
| 2016 | 4,383,500 |
| 2017 | 4,471,500 |
| 2018 | 4,563,200 |
| 2019 | 4,661,400 |
| 2020 | 4,164,800 |
| 2021 | 4,261,200 |
| 2022 | 4,570,100 |
| 2023 | 4,686,700 |
| 2024 | 4,793,700 |
| 2025 | 4,817,500 |
The key years
What this counts
Jobs on employer payrolls located in New York City, public and private, averaged across the year, from the Current Employment Statistics survey the state Department of Labor runs with the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics. A job counts where the workplace is, not where the worker lives.
What it does not say
- It counts jobs, not employed people: someone holding two payroll jobs counts twice, and freelancers, gig workers, and the self-employed are not in it at all.
- Every March the series is re-benchmarked against unemployment-insurance records, so recent years shift after first publication.
- Commuters are in, resident workers with jobs elsewhere are out. The unemployment series is the residence-side mirror of this one.
The questions New Yorkers actually ask
How many jobs are in New York City?
An average of 4.82 million payroll jobs in 2025, the highest annual average on record, per the state Department of Labor's Current Employment Statistics.
Has NYC recovered the jobs it lost in the pandemic?
Yes, and passed them: the 2025 average of 4.82 million is above 2019's 4.66 million. The 2020 average was 4.16 million.
The numbers move. We watch them.
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