U.S. metro unemployment rates are published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) in its metro area release. The July 2026 edition, published September 2, 2026, covers 387 metropolitan statistical areas plus 6 in Puerto Rico, and adds estimates for 37 metropolitan divisions. The figures come from the Local Area Unemployment Statistics (LAUS) program.
Where to find official metro unemployment rates
Start with the BLS metro release tables. They give one row per area with its unemployment rate for the reference month, so you can compare areas directly without rebuilding the numbers yourself.
The release draws on two separate BLS programs. Keep them apart when you compare places:
| Data | Source program | Geographic basis | Use for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Unemployment rate and labor force | LAUS | Place of residence | Ranking and comparing metro areas |
| Metro division estimates | LAUS | Place of residence | Finer geography inside large metro areas |
| Payroll employment | CES | Place of work | Job counts, not unemployment |
For a single area over several months, use the LAUS series behind the release. Each area has its own series ID in the BLS LAUS data. Search by the metro area name, then select the unemployment rate measure rather than the labor force count.
Release timing: The July 2026 data was published on September 2, 2026, about two months after the reference month. Check the BLS release calendar before you compare a new month, so you know which edition is current.
How does BLS measure metro unemployment?
The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) estimates metro unemployment through the Local Area Unemployment Statistics (LAUS) program, which counts people by place of residence. A resident is counted in the metro where they live, not where they commute to.
Job counts follow a different basis. Payroll employment comes from the Current Employment Statistics (CES) program, which is based on place of work. A metro’s payroll figure therefore reflects where employers are located, while its unemployment rate reflects where residents live. Workers who live in one metro and hold jobs in another can appear in different totals depending on the measure used.
Metro labor force estimates have no published sampling error. The release states that sampling error measures are not available for these figures, so a reader cannot gauge the statistical precision of a single metro’s labor force or unemployment estimate from the release itself. Comparisons between metros should be read with that limit in mind.
This guide does not cover the estimation method behind the metro figures.
Why can’t you compare raw metro rates month to month?
The metro rates in the July 2026 release are not seasonally adjusted, so each monthly figure reflects the calendar as well as the local labor market. Hiring, layoffs, and local industries follow recurring yearly cycles, and these cycles affect the monthly rate. A change between two consecutive months therefore mixes real labor market movement with normal seasonal variation. Comparing the same month in two different years removes most of that seasonal effect, which is why the year-over-year comparison is the more reliable reading.
Latest-month estimates are also preliminary. Each one is revised the following month, so a figure published on September 2, 2026 is a first estimate and not a final value. A metro area that appears to have moved sharply in one release may look different once the next release revises the prior month.
Year-over-year, the July 2026 release compares each metro area with July 2025:
| Comparison with July 2025 | Number of metro areas |
|---|---|
| Unemployment rate lower | 241 |
| Unemployment rate higher | 128 |
| Unchanged | 18 |
The three groups add up to 387, the number of metropolitan statistical areas in the release. Most areas improved, but the counts show only direction. They do not show how large each change was, so a metro area counted as “higher” may have moved by a fraction of a point.
Which metros have the highest and lowest rates?
In July 2026, the lowest metro unemployment rates were 1.9%, shared by Bismarck ND, Rapid City SD and Sioux Falls SD-MN. The highest were El Centro CA at 19.7% and Yuma AZ at 18.9%. The gap between the top and bottom metros is 17.8 percentage points.
| Tier | Metro (BLS label) | July 2026 rate |
|---|---|---|
| Lowest | Bismarck ND | 1.9% |
| Lowest | Rapid City SD | 1.9% |
| Lowest | Sioux Falls SD-MN | 1.9% |
| Highest | El Centro CA | 19.7% |
| Highest | Yuma AZ | 18.9% |
The extremes are not typical of the full set. The release counts 22 metro areas below 3.0% and 7 at 8.0% or higher. This section names only the five metros above, so the other metros in those counts are not identified here.
Small differences between metros carry the sampling caveat explained in How does BLS measure metro unemployment?
What do metro boundaries change in a comparison?
A metro area is a group of counties defined by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget. The current set uses 2020-based delineations under OMB Bulletin 23-01, dated July 21, 2023. Because every metro area in the July 2026 BLS release follows the same delineation standard, the rates share a common geographic definition. This is not enough to make every comparison like-for-like: check the geography level and the release date as well. The boundaries themselves determine which population, jobs and labor force are counted in each figure, so changing a boundary changes the number.
The current geography breaks down as follows:
| Geography element | Count | Basis |
|---|---|---|
| Metropolitan statistical areas (excluding Puerto Rico) | 387 | OMB Bulletin 23-01 |
| Metropolitan areas in Puerto Rico | 6 | OMB Bulletin 23-01 |
| Metropolitan divisions with separate estimates | 37 | BLS July 2026 release |
Two practical effects follow from this structure:
- Metro area versus city. A metro area includes the surrounding counties, so its rate can differ from the rate of the central city. When comparing “Miami” with “Chicago”, check whether the source uses the full metro area or a city-proper figure.
- Metropolitan divisions. Some large metro areas are split into divisions, and BLS publishes separate estimates for 37 of them. A division is a smaller sub-area, so a comparison that mixes a full metro area with one of its divisions is not like-for-like.
Unemployment alongside housing, wages and cost of living
An unemployment rate describes the labor market only. It does not show whether a metro is affordable. To compare costs, pair the BLS metro rate with three public series that cover the same areas: Census American Community Survey (ACS) housing data, the FHFA house price index, and BLS OEWS wage estimates.
| Series | What it measures | How to use it in a comparison |
|---|---|---|
| Census ACS | Median home values and median rents by metro | Compare the entry cost of owning and renting across metros |
| FHFA house price index | Change in metro house prices over time | Check whether prices are rising, flat or falling, and how fast |
| BLS OEWS | Metro wage estimates by occupation | Measure pay levels against housing costs |
Work through the comparison in this order:
- Confirm the geography first. The BLS metro areas use 2020-based delineations under OMB Bulletin 23-01 (July 21, 2023). Check that each source uses the same metro boundaries before you merge them. Mismatched boundaries make any ratio meaningless.
- Match the time periods. Label the reference year of every series so readers know which figures are comparable.
- Keep wages and rates separate. A low unemployment rate does not mean high pay, and high pay does not mean low unemployment. Report the wage level from OEWS as its own figure rather than inferring it from the jobless rate.
How to read the rate before choosing where to live
A metro unemployment rate means little on its own. The benchmark for July 2026 is the national rate of 4.4%. In the July 2026 release, 239 metro areas were below the national rate, 134 were above it, and 14 matched it. The three groups sum to 387, the number of metropolitan statistical areas covered.
| Position versus 4.4% national rate | Metro areas |
|---|---|
| Below | 239 |
| Above | 134 |
| Equal | 14 |
| Total | 387 |
Treat the group as a first filter, not a verdict. The lowest July 2026 metro rates, 1.9% in Bismarck ND, Rapid City SD and Sioux Falls SD-MN, sit far below the national figure, while El Centro CA (19.7%) and Yuma AZ (18.9%) sit far above it. The spread is wide, so one metro’s position against the national rate says little about its typical conditions.
Before treating a low rate as good news, check whether the labor force is shrinking. The unemployment rate is the number of unemployed people divided by the labor force, which includes employed people and those actively seeking work. Someone who stops looking for work leaves the labor force and is no longer counted as unemployed. A falling rate can therefore come from people leaving the market rather than from more jobs.
To run this check, compare the metro’s labor force count for the same month with the prior year. If the rate fell while the count also fell, the drop reflects fewer people in the market.
