Forsyth Added Jobs. Its Wage Growth Ranked Last Among Georgia’s Large Counties
Forsyth County added jobs at a stronger rate than Fulton and Gwinnett counties but recorded the lowest wage growth among Georgia’s largest counties. Wages rose only 1.1%, well below state and national averages.
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FORSYTH COUNTY — Forsyth County entered 2026 with a modest increase in jobs but the weakest wage growth among Georgia’s large counties.
Employment at Forsyth workplaces rose 0.8% between March 2025 and March 2026, reaching 89,915 jobs. That exceeded the 0.3% increase in Fulton County, while employment in Gwinnett County declined 0.4%.
Pay moved differently. Forsyth’s average weekly wage increased just 1.1% from a year earlier to $1,286, according to first-quarter figures from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. That was the smallest increase among Georgia’s 12 largest counties and well below the statewide gain of 3.3%.
Nationally, average weekly wages rose 3.9%.
Fulton remained far ahead in pay, with an average weekly wage of $2,355, up 2.7%. Gwinnett averaged $1,366 a week, up 2.9%.
The figures underline the different roles the three counties play in North Atlanta’s economy. Forsyth had the strongest percentage growth in jobs but the slowest increase in average pay. Gwinnett lost jobs while its average wage rose more quickly. Fulton added jobs slowly but continued to command substantially higher pay.
The employment changes amount to roughly 700 additional jobs in Forsyth and about 2,800 in Fulton. Gwinnett lost approximately 1,500 jobs over the same period.
Only Fulton’s average weekly wage exceeded the national average of $1,654. Gwinnett was about $288 below that mark, while Forsyth was $368 below it.
These are workplace figures, not household-income estimates. Employees are generally counted in the county where their job is based rather than where they live. A Forsyth resident commuting to a job in Fulton, for example, contributes to Fulton’s wage total.
Fulton’s figures also cover the entire county, including Atlanta, and cannot be used as a separate measure of North Fulton pay.
The report covers jobs supported by unemployment-insurance records and offers a broader count than individual hiring announcements. The first-quarter estimates are preliminary, but they point to a North Atlanta labor market in which employment growth and wage growth are no longer moving together.
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