More than eight years after the Great Recession began in December 2007, the majority of California’s most populous regions have regained all jobs lost. As of June 2016, nearly all of Southern California and coastal counties have recovered. These parts of the state are also experiencing the fastest real estate recoveries. However, some northern regions and far inland counties are lagging behind, still in the midst of a drawn-out jobs recovery.
View your county in the map below to find out where you stand on the path to the employment recovery.
Updated 07/27/2016. Original copy released 03/19/2014.
Map update 07/27/16
| County | Dec 2007 Jobs | Jun 2016 Jobs | Percent change |
| Alameda | 1,071,700 | 1,124,400 | +5% |
| Alpine | 860 | 660 | -2% |
| Amador | 12,820 | 11,920 | -7% |
| Butte | 76,800 | 80,000 | +4% |
| Calaveras | 8,950 | 8,990 | +0.4% |
| Colusa | 5,420 | 6,520 | +20% |
| Contra Costa | 1,071,700 | 1,124,400 | +5% |
| Del Norte | 7,940 | 8,100 | +2% |
| El Dorado | 919,900 | 946,900 | +3% |
| Fresno | 313,300 | 338,700 | +8% |
| Glenn | 6,620 | 6,990 | +6% |
| Humboldt | 49,100 | 48,600 | -1% |
| Imperial | 49,500 | 54,200 | +9% |
| Inyo | 7,630 | 7,710 | +1% |
| Kern | 244,100 | 262,700 | +8% |
| Kings | 37,600 | 38,900 | +3% |
| Lake | 13,850 | 15,360 | +11% |
| Lassen | 10,000 | 9,860 | -1% |
| Los Angeles | 4,287,500 | 4,381,300 | +2% |
| Madera | 36,500 | 38,700 | +6% |
| Marin | 1,022,300 | 1,082,500 | +6% |
| Mariposa | 5,360 | 6,130 | +14% |
| Mendocino | 31,010 | 31,880 | +3% |
| Merced | 60,100 | 65,700 | +9% |
| Modoc | 2,510 | 2,410 | -4% |
| Mono | 7,490 | 6,880 | -8% |
| Monterey | 131,800 | 137,800 | +5% |
| Napa | 64,800 | 73,700 | +14% |
| Nevada | 30,820 | 32,060 | +4% |
| Orange | 1,530,800 | 1,589,800 | +4% |
| Placer | 919,900 | 946,900 | +3% |
| Plumas | 6,800 | 6,910 | +2% |
| Riverside | 1,296,100 | 1,382,900 | +7% |
| Sacramento | 919,900 | 946,900 | +3% |
| San Benito | 933,000 | 1,085,800 | +16% |
| San Bernardino | 1,296,100 | 1,382,900 | +7% |
| San Diego | 1,333,400 | 1,426,800 | +7% |
| San Francisco | 1,022,300 | 1,082,500 | +6% |
| San Joaquin | 216,000 | 227,100 | +5% |
| San Luis Obispo | 105,500 | 120,100 | +14% |
| San Mateo | 1,022,300 | 1,082,500 | +6% |
| Santa Barbara | 175,400 | 186,600 | +6% |
| Santa Clara | 933,000 | 1,085,800 | +16% |
| Santa Cruz | 95,800 | 103,300 | +8% |
| Shasta | 65,400 | 65,700 | +0.5% |
| Sierra | 740 | 660 | -11% |
| Siskiyou | 13,180 | 13,590 | +3% |
| Solano | 130,400 | 136,200 | +4% |
| Sonoma | 194,200 | 203,600 | +5% |
| Stanislaus | 162,200 | 172,400 | +6% |
| Sutter | 42,100 | 42,600 | +1% |
| Tehama | 15,960 | 16,130 | +1% |
| Trinity | 2,900 | 3,320 | +14% |
| Tulare | 117,200 | 122,000 | +4% |
| Tuolumne | 17,860 | 17,890 | +0.2% |
| Ventura | 300,300 | 299,400 | -0.3% |
| Yolo | 919,900 | 946,900 | +3% |
| Yuba | 42,100 | 42,600 | +1% |
The Golden State’s jobs recovery is a complex machine. In Q2 2016, 50 of 58 California counties have completed their job recoveries and employment numbers are continuing to grow. In less affluent counties — mainly the far northern and some inland counties — employment is still struggling to make up that last 10% to reach pre-recession levels.
Statewide, California’s jobs market is about 6% (959,700 jobs) above the pre-recession employment peak as of Q2 2016. It took California almost seven years to regain all jobs lost to the recession. Considering the intervening population increase of 1.2 million working-aged individuals, the employment picture won’t fully recover until around 2018 or 2019 at today’s recovery pace.
Where does your county fall? And what is the significance for your local housing market?
Without income from employment, households cannot rent or buy a home (unless they are subsidized by the government or possess substantial independent wealth). Thus, of all the factors affecting our state’s economy, employment has the most impact on the vigor of local real estate markets. This is true in good economic times and in recession or recovery.
The more quickly your local job markets recovers, the sooner you’ll experience a stable and profitable housing market.
For further reading on California’s jobs recovery, see Jobs move real estate. Or, for a closer look at your county’s economic performance, see first tuesday’s Regional Forecasts.
