Workforce, Jobs & Wages in Scotts Bluff County, Nebraska

Employment, earnings and hiring for Scotts Bluff County, Nebraska, from the U.S. Census Bureau's Quarterly Workforce Indicators, refreshed on every publish. Free to read, free to cite, and readable by software at /v1/workforce.

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Latest quarter (Q4 2025)

Private-sector jobs13,169
Average monthly earnings$4,493 (about $53,916 a year)
Hires in the quarter2,249
Change over ten years-938 jobs since Q4 2015

And the most recent estimate (July 2026)

The table above is a count, and counts take time. This one is an estimate for the same county, published monthly, and it is about two months behind instead of three quarters. Neither is wrong; they are different instruments.

Unemployment rate3.7%July 2026 (preliminary)
Unemployed residents621July 2026 (preliminary)
Residents working16,279July 2026 (preliminary)
Labor force16,900July 2026 (preliminary)
Nebraska unemployment rate2.9%August 2026 (preliminary)

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Local Area Unemployment Statistics (LAUS). Figures marked preliminary are the newest month and are routinely revised. This measures RESIDENTS working or looking for work, modelled from a statistical sample. The count above measures JOBS LOCATED in the county, from employer filings. They are not the same quantity and will not agree- do not read one as the other.

Jobs and pay by industry

IndustryJobsAvg monthly earningsHires
Health Care & Social Assistance2,450$4,782311
Retail Trade2,346$2,904532
Accommodation & Food Services1,463$1,779339
Construction1,375$5,647211
Manufacturing1,047$6,098168
Wholesale Trade854$7,41158
Administrative & Waste Services706$4,583206
Professional, Scientific & Technical566$6,60436
Finance & Insurance506$6,446111
Transportation & Warehousing478$4,788117

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Quarterly Workforce Indicators (QWI), Scotts Bluff County (all private industries). The most recent quarter the Census Bureau has released for this county.

Why two different dates

Q4 2025 is the newest quarter the Census Bureau has counted, and July 2026 is the newest month the Bureau of Labor Statistics has estimated. This page shows the newest published figure of each kind rather than guessing at a fresher one.

These numbers are not a survey. They are built from the wage records employers actually file, which means a quarter cannot be counted until every employer in it has filed and the filings have been processed and checked. That takes time, so the series always runs a few quarters behind the calendar. It is the trade the data makes: it is late, and in exchange it counts real jobs and real pay instead of estimating them from a sample.

That is also why it is the right figure to put in a grant or loan application. A reviewer can trace it to the federal source, and the lag is normal and expected in every application they read. The date is printed above so you can quote it exactly.

County records- ownership, assessed value, property tax, sales, and delinquency- come from the county itself and refresh nightly. Those are current. It is the federal statistical series (this page and the census figures) that publish on a schedule.

What this is for

Grant and loan applications ask for labor-market evidence, and most programs want a citable federal source rather than an estimate. These are the figures to quote. The programs that ask for them are listed with their rules under grants, economic development incentives, and business lending.

Common questions

How many people work in Scotts Bluff County?

13,169 private-sector jobs as of Q4 2025, per the U.S. Census Bureau Quarterly Workforce Indicators. That is down 938 from the same quarter ten years earlier.

What is the average wage in Scotts Bluff County?

$4,493 a month, which works out to about $53,916 a year, as of Q4 2025. This is the Census Bureau's average monthly earnings figure for beginning-of-quarter employment, not a survey estimate.

What industry employs the most people in Scotts Bluff County?

Health Care & Social Assistance, with 2,450 jobs and average monthly earnings of $4,782. The full ranking is in the table on this page.

Where does this workforce data come from, and what does it cost?

The U.S. Census Bureau Longitudinal Employer-Household Dynamics program (Quarterly Workforce Indicators), pulled directly and republished free. No account, no sign-up, no charge. Software can read the same figures at /v1/workforce.

Why does this say Q4 2025 when it is already September 2026?

Because Q4 2025 is the newest quarter that has been counted. The job and pay figures are built from the wage records employers actually file, so a quarter cannot be closed until every filing is in and checked, which takes about three quarters. The monthly estimate on this page is much closer to now- July 2026, showing 3.7% unemployment and 16,900 people in the labor force- but it is modelled from a sample rather than counted, and the newest month is preliminary. Both are on this page so you can use whichever your purpose needs.

How current is it?

The newest quarter the Census Bureau has released for Scotts Bluff County is Q4 2025. QWI runs a few quarters behind real time because it is built from employer wage records; this page shows the newest quarter available and re-checks on every publish.

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