Of Yokohama's roughly 1.69 million employed residents, about 80% work in the tertiary sector, while 33.8% of employees are in non-regular work such as dispatch, part-time, and casual employment. This article looks beyond Yokohama's image as an office city centered on Minato Mirai to examine the diverse workforce supporting retail, health care, and everyday services across the city.
Yokohama's key labor indicators (2020)
| Indicator | Value |
|---|---|
| Labor force | 1,750,694 |
| Employed persons | 1,688,272 |
| Completely unemployed persons | 62,422 |
| Approximate unemployment rate | About 3.6% |
Published figures by employment status
| Employment status | People | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Regular employees | 952,414 | 66.2% |
| Dispatched workers | 53,586 | 3.7% |
| Part-time, casual, and similar workers | 432,885 | 30.1% |
| Total non-regular employment (dispatch + part-time, etc.) | 486,471 | 33.8% |
Published figures by industry sector
| Industry sector | Employed persons | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Primary sector (agriculture, forestry, fisheries) | 7,482 | 0.4% |
| Secondary sector (manufacturing, construction) | 301,600 | 17.9% |
| Tertiary sector (services, etc.) | 1,325,603 | 78.5% |
Two defining numbers: 78.5% in the tertiary sector and 33.8% in non-regular employment
In 2020, Yokohama had 1,688,272 employed residents, and completely unemployed persons accounted for an estimated 3.6% of the labor force. By industry, 78.5% worked in the tertiary sector, 17.9% in the secondary sector, and 0.4% in the primary sector.
By employment status, regular employees accounted for 66.2%, dispatched workers 3.7%, and part-time, casual, and similar workers 30.1%. Combined non-regular employment was 33.8%, showing that Yokohama's service economy is not sustained by regular employees alone.
A huge city where headquarters, commerce, health care, and suburban daily life overlap
Yokohama Station and Minato Mirai contain headquarters and major business sites for companies such as Nissan, FUJIFILM Business Innovation, JVCKENWOOD, and the Sotetsu Group, while Shin-Yokohama also has a significant office concentration. Across the city's 18 wards, however, jobs in retail, food services, nursing care, health care, education, and logistics are widely distributed to support residents' everyday lives.
Many Yokohama residents also commute to Tokyo on the Tokyu Toyoko and Den-en-toshi lines, JR lines, and Keikyu Line. Because the Census employment structure captures residents, people who work outside the city and people employed in local services are both counted among Yokohama's working population. The high non-regular employment share should therefore not be reduced to a simple claim that Yokohama's labor market is weak; it also reflects the scale of the city's consumer-service economy and the diversity of employment among women and older workers.
How to read these figures
The published figures summarized on this page are based on 2020 data. Because they are Census-based, they do not reflect subsequent economic conditions or changes in employment.
Conclusion: Yokohama is both an office city and a city of everyday services
Yokohama's employment structure is defined by the depth of its tertiary sector and by non-regular work, which accounts for roughly one in three employees. Employment on a scale of nearly 1.69 million people is supported not only by large companies in Minato Mirai, but also by retail, health care, welfare, and education across all 18 wards.
- About 1.688 million people are employed
- The tertiary sector accounts for 78.5%
- Non-regular employment accounts for 33.8%
- Yokohama's labor market has three overlapping layers: headquarters functions, resident-facing services, and commuting to Tokyo
Source: Statistics Bureau of Japan, Social and Demographic Statistics System (Labor)
📊 Analysis notes
- Statistics used: Statistics Bureau of Japan, Social and Demographic Statistics System (Labor) (e-Stat table ID: 0000020106, view on e-Stat)
- Area covered: Yokohama
- Reference year: 2020
- Data retrieved: June 6, 2026
- Note: The article centers on values published in the official statistics. Interpretation of the background may also involve factors not directly shown in the table, such as industry composition and employment practices, so the published figures should be distinguished from contextual interpretation.
Figures in the table were organized from the statistical data above.