Dauphin County, PA jobs, unemployment and layoffs

Dauphin County’s unemployment rate is 3.2%. No layoff notices here in the last 12 months. 302 open professional jobs are in its cities.

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Dauphin County economy

3.2%
unemployment, Sep 2026
4.6% the month before
150,236
in the labor force
Source: BLS Local Area Unemployment Statistics
287,484
people in Dauphin County
Source: U.S. Census Bureau
$74,159
median household income
Source: Census ACS
42%
of workers in white-collar occupations
Management, business, financial and professional; Census ACS

Where Dauphin County ranks

Where Dauphin County placed in our monthly rankings, month by month. Each month stays online at its own address.

November 2026

#5Best county job markets for job seekers in the Northeast72 / 100 · of 51
#6Best counties for laid-off professionals in the Northeast69 / 100 · of 51
#7Best county job markets for job seekers in the Mid-Atlantic71 / 100 · of 64
#8Counties with the most job openings per unemployed person in the Northeast7 per 100 · of 51
#9Best counties for laid-off professionals in the Mid-Atlantic67 / 100 · of 64
#16Counties with the most job openings per unemployed person in the Mid-Atlantic7 per 100 · of 66

Dauphin County outlook: Steady

Built from public Bureau of Labor Statistics and Census figures. It describes the area, not any one employer in it.

Private-sector jobs up 3.9% from 2022 to 2025
Population up 2.3% from 2020 to 2025
Unemployment 3.2%, down 1.4 points from a year ago
Sectors adding the most jobs: health care (+5,766 jobs), transportation & warehousing (+1,655 jobs)
Sectors losing the most jobs: manufacturing (−1,933 jobs), admin & staffing (−1,425 jobs)

Learn and get funded in Dauphin County

Which AI skills each kind of job asks for, with the pay premium.
Your local workforce board and American Job Centers: training vouchers and re-employment help.
Grants and funding for job seekers, ranked for your state and situation.
Unemployment benefits by state, if you are between jobs.

Dauphin County layoffs

No layoff notices naming Dauphin County in the last 12 months are on file. The WARN Act covers employers with 100 or more workers, so smaller layoffs are not in it.

All layoff notices in the state

Employers hiring most in Dauphin County

Employers with the most open professional roles in this county’s cities. The county is taken from each job’s city, so roles with no city are not counted.

Hershey41 open roles
GSK10 open roles
Flagger Force9 open roles
Michels8 open roles
Parsons7 open roles
Hershey6 open roles
Michael Baker International6 open roles
Merakey5 open roles
Penn State Health5 open roles
Hamilton Health Center4 open roles

Largest employers headquartered in Dauphin County

Hershey5,001–20,000 employees

Employee counts with a year are published figures (Wikidata). Other sizes are estimates from our company directory, not payroll counts.

Colleges in Dauphin County

Colleges in Dauphin County
College	City	Type	Students
Harrisburg University of Science and Technology	Harrisburg	Private non-profit 4-year	1,000–4,999
Pennsylvania State University-Penn State Harrisburg	Middletown	Public 4-year	1,000–4,999

Conferences in Dauphin County

Industry conferences and trade shows held in Dauphin County. 2 with dates announced.

PA Digital Summit
Nov 18, 2026 · Harrisburg, PA
Paid ticket. Ticket price not listed
PONL Annual Nursing Leadership Conference
Oct 28 to Oct 29, 2027 · Harrisburg, PA
Paid ticket. Attendee prices not yet posted; 2027 prospectus under construction.

All conferences

Workforce development and job centers

The public workforce board and American Job Centers serving Dauphin County. They offer free help with job search, training and filing for benefits.

Laid off in Pennsylvania? How to file for unemployment in Pennsylvania (steps, weekly amount and the appeal deadline).

South Central Workforce Development Board
Adams, Cumberland, Dauphin, Franklin, Juniata, Lebanon, Perry, York

PA CareerLink - Capitol Region
Harrisburg · Comprehensive · 717-783-3270
8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday - Friday

Cities in Dauphin County

Other Pennsylvania counties

All of Pennsylvania

Laid off or looking for work in Dauphin County?

See what to do first and the jobs open near you.

See your options after a layoff

Sources: Census Bureau and BLS (county unemployment is not seasonally adjusted); layoff notices from Pennsylvania’s published record; job counts from our live job board; IPEDS for colleges; CareerOneStop for workforce boards and job centers. Pennsylvania unemployment benefits and severance rules.

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