NextChapter

Best counties for laid-off professionals in the Mid-Atlantic

Kings County is the best all-round county for laid-off professionals in the Mid-Atlantic, with a score of 87 / 100.November 2026 edition. Updated monthly, from public Bureau of Labor Statistics and Census data.

Key facts

  • #1 Kings County, NY: 87 / 100
  • #2 Philadelphia County, PA: 76 / 100
  • #3 Anne Arundel County, MD: 75 / 100
  • 64 counties ranked in the Mid-Atlantic
  • Data as of November 2026
  1. 1Kings County NY87 / 100
  2. 2Philadelphia County PA76 / 100
  3. 3Anne Arundel County MD75 / 100
  4. 4Morris County NJ73 / 100
  5. 5District of Columbia DC72 / 100
  6. 6Allegheny County PA72 / 100
  7. 7Fairfax County VA70 / 100
  8. 8Arlington County VA69 / 100
  9. 9Dauphin County PA67 / 100
  10. 10Richmond city VA67 / 100

What stands out

  • The top ten is tightly packed: Kings County leads on 87 / 100, and #10 Richmond city is at 67 / 100.
  • Dauphin County reaches #9 on a sample of 359 openings, a smaller market than most of the top ten, so its rank can move more from month to month.
  • Kings County is the largest market in the top ten, with 22,158 openings behind its figure.
  • Counties with fewer than 100 openings are not ranked, and small differences between neighbouring ranks are not meaningful.

Why this ranking matters

What it shows

For someone who has lost a job, the useful counties have openings for people looking, job centers to help and unemployment that is falling. This list weighs those with published weights.

How to use it

If you are between jobs, use it to find nearby counties with more going on, and read each county page for its American Job Centers and workforce board.

The top 25

  1. 1

    Kings County NY

    87 / 100

    Openings per 100 unemployed
    32
    American Job Centers
    3
    Change in unemployment over a year
    −0.8 points

    Based on 22,158 openings.

    Kings County job market

  2. 2

    Philadelphia County PA

    76 / 100

    Openings per 100 unemployed
    5
    American Job Centers
    3
    Change in unemployment over a year
    −1.3 points

    Based on 1,803 openings.

    Philadelphia County job market

  3. 3

    Anne Arundel County MD

    75 / 100

    Openings per 100 unemployed
    8
    American Job Centers
    2
    Change in unemployment over a year
    −0.8 points

    Based on 790 openings.

    Anne Arundel County job market

  4. 4

    Morris County NJ

    73 / 100

    Openings per 100 unemployed
    8
    American Job Centers
    2
    Change in unemployment over a year
    −1.3 points

    Based on 801 openings.

    Morris County job market

  5. 5

    District of Columbia DC

    72 / 100

    Openings per 100 unemployed
    21
    American Job Centers
    2
    Change in unemployment over a year
    −1.5 points

    Based on 4,393 openings.

    District of Columbia job market

  6. 6

    Allegheny County PA

    72 / 100

    Openings per 100 unemployed
    9
    American Job Centers
    3
    Change in unemployment over a year
    −1.0 points

    Based on 1,712 openings.

    Allegheny County job market

  7. 7

    Fairfax County VA

    70 / 100

    Openings per 100 unemployed
    20
    American Job Centers
    3
    Change in unemployment over a year
    +0.1 points

    Based on 4,186 openings.

    Fairfax County job market

  8. 8

    Arlington County VA

    69 / 100

    Openings per 100 unemployed
    45
    American Job Centers
    1
    Change in unemployment over a year
    −0.1 points

    Based on 1,989 openings.

    Arlington County job market

  9. 9

    Dauphin County PA

    67 / 100

    Openings per 100 unemployed
    7
    American Job Centers
    1
    Change in unemployment over a year
    −1.4 points

    Based on 359 openings.

    Dauphin County job market

  10. 10

    Richmond city VA

    67 / 100

    Openings per 100 unemployed
    22
    American Job Centers
    1
    Change in unemployment over a year
    +0.3 points

    Based on 1,147 openings.

    Richmond city job market

  11. 11

    Baltimore city MD

    66 / 100

    Openings per 100 unemployed
    8
    American Job Centers
    3
    Change in unemployment over a year
    −0.9 points

    Based on 1,061 openings.

    Baltimore city job market

  12. 12

    Loudoun County VA

    64 / 100

    Openings per 100 unemployed
    8
    American Job Centers
    1
    Change in unemployment over a year
    +0.2 points

    Based on 638 openings.

    Loudoun County job market

  13. 13

    Washington County PA

    62 / 100

    Openings per 100 unemployed
    4
    American Job Centers
    2
    Change in unemployment over a year
    −1.1 points

    Based on 114 openings.

    Washington County job market

  14. 14

    New Castle County DE

    61 / 100

    Openings per 100 unemployed
    5
    American Job Centers
    2
    Change in unemployment over a year
    −0.5 points

    Based on 744 openings.

    New Castle County job market

  15. 15

    Howard County MD

    61 / 100

    Openings per 100 unemployed
    7
    American Job Centers
    1
    Change in unemployment over a year
    −0.9 points

    Based on 406 openings.

    Howard County job market

  16. 16

    Essex County NJ

    61 / 100

    Openings per 100 unemployed
    2
    American Job Centers
    2
    Change in unemployment over a year
    −2.0 points

    Based on 511 openings.

    Essex County job market

  17. 17

    Montgomery County MD

    59 / 100

    Openings per 100 unemployed
    7
    American Job Centers
    2
    Change in unemployment over a year
    −1.0 points

    Based on 1,177 openings.

    Montgomery County job market

  18. 18

    Prince George's County MD

    58 / 100

    Openings per 100 unemployed
    3
    American Job Centers
    4
    Change in unemployment over a year
    −0.7 points

    Based on 622 openings.

    Prince George's County job market

  19. 19

    Lehigh County PA

    56 / 100

    Openings per 100 unemployed
    4
    American Job Centers
    1
    Change in unemployment over a year
    −1.5 points

    Based on 281 openings.

    Lehigh County job market

  20. 20

    Roanoke city VA

    56 / 100

    Openings per 100 unemployed
    9
    American Job Centers
    1
    Change in unemployment over a year
    +0.4 points

    Based on 181 openings.

    Roanoke city job market

  21. 21

    Montgomery County PA

    55 / 100

    Openings per 100 unemployed
    8
    American Job Centers
    1
    Change in unemployment over a year
    −1.0 points

    Based on 1,105 openings.

    Montgomery County job market

  22. 22

    Harford County MD

    54 / 100

    Openings per 100 unemployed
    5
    American Job Centers
    1
    Change in unemployment over a year
    −0.8 points

    Based on 227 openings.

    Harford County job market

  23. 23

    Cumberland County PA

    54 / 100

    Openings per 100 unemployed
    7
    American Job Centers
    1
    Change in unemployment over a year
    −1.0 points

    Based on 255 openings.

    Cumberland County job market

  24. 24

    Hudson County NJ

    53 / 100

    Openings per 100 unemployed
    5
    American Job Centers
    1
    Change in unemployment over a year
    −1.5 points

    Based on 861 openings.

    Hudson County job market

  25. 25

    Monroe County NY

    52 / 100

    Openings per 100 unemployed
    4
    American Job Centers
    4
    Change in unemployment over a year
    +0.2 points

    Based on 592 openings.

    Monroe County job market

Full ranking

All 64 counties that qualified, with the figure each is ranked on.

RankCountyScoreSample
1Kings County NY87 / 10022,158
2Philadelphia County PA76 / 1001,803
3Anne Arundel County MD75 / 100790
4Morris County NJ73 / 100801
5District of Columbia DC72 / 1004,393
6Allegheny County PA72 / 1001,712
7Fairfax County VA70 / 1004,186
8Arlington County VA69 / 1001,989
9Dauphin County PA67 / 100359
10Richmond city VA67 / 1001,147
11Baltimore city MD66 / 1001,061
12Loudoun County VA64 / 100638
13Washington County PA62 / 100114
14New Castle County DE61 / 100744
15Howard County MD61 / 100406
16Essex County NJ61 / 100511
17Montgomery County MD59 / 1001,177
18Prince George's County MD58 / 100622
19Lehigh County PA56 / 100281
20Roanoke city VA56 / 100181
21Montgomery County PA55 / 1001,105
22Harford County MD54 / 100227
23Cumberland County PA54 / 100255
24Hudson County NJ53 / 100861
25Monroe County NY52 / 100592
26Norfolk city VA52 / 100327
27Berks County PA51 / 100278
28Alexandria city VA51 / 100583
29Monmouth County NJ51 / 100173
30Albany County NY50 / 100445
31Passaic County NJ50 / 100137
32Steuben County NY50 / 100111
33Mercer County NJ49 / 100553
34Chester County PA48 / 100410
35Onondaga County NY47 / 100482
36Frederick County MD46 / 100182
37Westchester County NY46 / 100506
38Bronx County NY46 / 100184
39Queens County NY46 / 100106
40Erie County NY44 / 100501
41Somerset County NJ44 / 100257
42Lancaster County PA44 / 100260
43Union County NJ43 / 100202
44Northampton County PA43 / 100177
45Suffolk County NY42 / 100471
46Westmoreland County PA42 / 100133
47Bucks County PA41 / 100169
48Delaware County PA41 / 100233
49Middlesex County NJ40 / 100333
50York County PA40 / 100199
51Nassau County NY40 / 100470
52Camden County NJ38 / 100193
53Bergen County NJ37 / 100433
54Hampton city VA37 / 100111
55Baltimore County MD36 / 100326
56Orange County NY36 / 100101
57Prince William County VA35 / 100152
58Tompkins County NY32 / 100104
59Montgomery County VA32 / 100113
60Lynchburg city VA28 / 100113
61Chesapeake city VA27 / 100132
62Virginia Beach city VA27 / 100259
63Newport News city VA25 / 100123
64Henrico County VA25 / 100100

How this ranking works

A county's score is the weighted average of its percentile rank on each measure among the ranked counties (100 is first, 0 is last): openings per 100 unemployed 40%, american job centers 20%, change in unemployment over a year 20%, private-sector job growth since 2022 20%.

Openings are our professional roles placed in the county of the city their posting names; unemployment is BLS Local Area Unemployment Statistics, not seasonally adjusted; jobs and sectors are BLS Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages; population is Census; American Job Centers are from CareerOneStop. The measures and weights are fixed in advance and shown here.

Only counties with at least 20,000 people in the labor force, 100 openings, 500 unemployed people and 50,000 residents are ranked.

Sample bar: counties with fewer than 100 openings are not ranked.

Sources: NextChapter job data: open professional roles by county; Bureau of Labor Statistics, Local Area Unemployment Statistics and Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages; CareerOneStop American Job Center directory. Data as of November 2026.

Our job data covers professional roles on the career sites of employers we track, so figures describe that market, not every job. Spot an error? Tell us.

Questions

Which county ranks first: best counties for laid-off professionals in the mid-atlantic?
Kings County is the best all-round county for laid-off professionals in the Mid-Atlantic, with a score of 87 / 100.
How many counties are ranked?
64 counties have at least 100 openings, so the list has 64 entries.
How is the ranking calculated?
A county's score is the weighted average of its percentile rank on each measure among the ranked counties (100 is first, 0 is last): openings per 100 unemployed 40%, american job centers 20%, change in unemployment over a year 20%, private-sector job growth since 2022 20%. Openings are our professional roles placed in the county of the city their posting names; unemployment is BLS Local Area Unemployment Statistics, not seasonally adjusted; jobs and sectors are BLS Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages; population is Census; American Job Centers are from CareerOneStop. The measures and weights are fixed in advance and shown here. Only counties with at least 20,000 people in the labor force, 100 openings, 500 unemployed people and 50,000 residents are ranked.
How often is it updated?
Every month. This is the November 2026 edition. Older editions stay on this site at their own dated addresses.

More rankings

Cite this ranking

NextChapter, “Best counties for laid-off professionals in the Mid-Atlantic,” November 2026 edition. https://launchyournextchapter.com/rankings/best-counties-for-laid-off-professionals-in-the-mid-atlantic

Link to it: <a href="https://launchyournextchapter.com/rankings/best-counties-for-laid-off-professionals-in-the-mid-atlantic">Best counties for laid-off professionals in the Mid-Atlantic (NextChapter, November 2026)</a>

Download the data: CSV · JSON. Free to use with a link back.

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