Virginia, Maryland, and Texas Are in a Dead Heat for Third Place in Reported Layoffs

California and Washington dominate the national layoff picture so thoroughly that the rest of the ranking can look like an afterthought. It is not. Behind the two giants, three states — Virginia, Maryland, and Texas — are separated by just 137 reported workers in the race for third place, and a single new filing could reorder them.

The national picture, as of Layoff Atlas data updated November 12, 2026: 667 WARN notices covering 61,284 reported workers in the 90-day window, with 29 notices carrying no available worker count. California accounts for 22,043 of those workers and Washington for 17,333. Together the two states hold 39,376 workers — 64.2 percent of the national total. Add Virginia, Maryland, and Texas, and the top five states account for 46,873 workers, or 76.5 percent of everything reported nationwide.

How close the race really is

Virginia sits third with 2,556 reported workers. Maryland is fourth with 2,522 — just 34 workers behind. Texas is fifth with 2,419, only 103 behind Maryland. The average WARN filing in this window covers about 92 workers, so a single mid-size notice flips the order.

The ranking is a snapshot, not a verdict. It covers the 90-day notice window and reflects only connected sources, so it moves every time a state agency publishes a new batch of filings. The six weeks ahead hold 30,577 scheduled workers nationally, with 7,371 due in the week of November 13 and 7,181 the week after — any of the three contenders could pull ahead before the year ends.

Virginia: breadth over bulk

Virginia's third-place position is built on steady volume rather than one giant filing. The state has 68 notices reporting 8,477 workers so far in 2026, and 75 eligible official filings reporting 9,000 workers over the last 365 days. Fifteen notices carry future effective dates, and the newest official notice is dated October 30, 2026.

That is a quieter year than 2025, when Virginia recorded 112 notices and 12,067 workers. The state is not riding a single headline closure; its total is spread across dozens of smaller filings. That breadth makes its lead the most stable of the three, but also the hardest to extend quickly — no single pending filing is large enough to open a gap on its own.

Maryland: one temporary filing does heavy lifting

Maryland is right behind Virginia, but its total is shaped very differently. The state has 123 notices reporting 8,556 workers in 2026, and 142 eligible official filings reporting 9,672 workers over the last 365 days, with 19 notices carrying future effective dates — the most of the three. Its newest official notice is dated November 6, 2026.

Nearly a third of Maryland's 90-day total comes from a single filing: Dreyer's Grand Ice Cream reported 803 workers in Howard County, effective December 20, 2026 — and the filing is classified as temporary, not permanent. Set that one filing aside and Maryland's total falls to about 1,719, which would drop it below Texas. The rest of Maryland's recent filings are substantial but ordinary in scale: The Container Store's 183-worker closure in Susquehanna, effective January 15, 2027; Aramark Campus with 174 workers in Baltimore, effective November 1; CB Manufacturing, doing business as Pepsi Beverages, with 143 workers in Prince George's County, effective today, November 13; A&G Management with 120 in Anne Arundel County, effective January 3, 2027; and Pharmaceutics International, a Jabil company, with 94 in Hunt Valley, effective December 29.

Maryland's pipeline is the fullest of the three, with 19 future effective dates. If those filings land as reported, Maryland could take third place outright — but if the Dreyer's workers return as a temporary filing implies, the lead could evaporate just as fast.

Texas: one filing is nearly half the total

Texas is fifth, and its position is the most concentrated of all. The state has 102 notices reporting 17,056 workers in 2026, and 85 eligible official filings reporting 16,224 workers over the last 365 days. But only two notices carry future effective dates, and the newest official notice is dated June 23, 2026 — the state's official feed has not published a fresh notice in nearly five months, so recent Texas records arrive through secondary sources.

One filing dominates the state's 90-day total: Conifer Health Solutions reported 1,037 workers in Dallas, effective November 2, 2026 — 43 percent of everything Texas has reported in the window. The next-largest recent filings are far smaller: Texas Family Initiative with 307 workers in Dallas, effective October 31; 4XH Logistics with 230 in San Antonio, effective November 6; and Truist Bank with 205 in Arlington, effective November 30. Without Conifer, Texas would sit at about 1,382 workers — well behind both Virginia and Maryland.

What the ranking does and does not mean

Three cautions apply. First, these are reported plans, not confirmed job losses, and temporary filings like Dreyer's are counted alongside permanent closures. Second, coverage varies by state: Texas's official feed is months stale while Virginia and Maryland publish regularly, so the totals reflect reporting as much as reality. Third, 29 notices nationally carry no available worker count, so every total is a floor, not a final figure.

The takeaway is narrower than the headline. Virginia leads on breadth, Maryland leads on pipeline, and Texas leads on a single large filing. The state that holds third place a month from now will be the one whose next batch of notices is biggest — and with 7,181 workers scheduled nationally in the week of November 20, the next batch is already coming.

Data source: Layoff Atlas