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Sonoma County Indicators

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Workforce

Sonoma County continues to exceed the national and state level for labor force participation rate. This is partially due to Sonoma County’s workforce having a larger share of mature workers. As Sonoma County’s median age continues to rise, demand for healthcare has spiked and healthcare occupations continue to be the fastest growing occupations in the region. Growth in government and retail trade occupations have also catapulted in Sonoma County.

Graph illustrating the labor force participation rate in Sonoma County, California, and the United States. The labor force participation rate has seen a limited steady decline over the last decade. During this corresponding time, Sonoma County has stayed consistently higher than the state and country rate by an average of 1.6%. With an older than average workforce, the 2020 Sonoma County labor force participation rate was at 65%, while the state placed 63.7% followed by the United States rate of 63.4%. Source: U.S. Census Bureau census.gov Graph illustrating the top industries by employment. The Health Care & Social Assistance industry employs 16% of the Sonoma County labor force with 34,245 jobs in 2022. Government jobs represent 12% of the labor force with 25,890 jobs, followed by Retail Trade (10%) with 24,220 jobs, Manufacturing (10%) with 23,081 jobs, and Construction (9%) with 20,552 jobs. Source: Lightcast economicmodeling.com
Graph illustrating the fastest growing occupations in Sonoma County. The largest percent change in jobs from 2016 to 2021, according to 2-digit SOC codes, comes from Healthcare Support Occupations (30%), followed by Construction & Extraction Occupations (24%), Protective Service Occupations (11%), Community & Social Service Occupations (10%), Business & Financial Operations Occupations (6%), and Legal Occupations (5%). Source: Lightcast economicmodeling.com
Figure illustrating the gender imbalance by industry. In Sonoma County, the most male dominated industry is the Mining, Quarrying, Oil, and Gas Extraction industry, with 82% of the workforce identifying as male. The most female dominated industry is Health Care & Social Assistance, with 74% identifying as female. The most balanced industries in Sonoma County are real estate as well as the arts, entertainment and recreation industries; both industries have a workforce that is composed of 51% male and 49% female. Source: Lightcast economicmodeling.com