Only a seventh of its working people are employed in agriculture. The land is fertile, and farms are amongst the largest in Ireland, averaging 30 hectares. Dairying and cattle production are the two leading types of farming. About one sixth of the land is under arable crops, these are mainly feeding barley, potatoes, sugar beet, and wheat. As is the norm in the rest of the country sheep are reared on the higher ground. Manufacturing is very important, it accounts for about 30% of employment. The county is famous for the manufacture of the crystal which bears its name, waterford crystal is exported across the world and employs about 2,000 people.

Half the population work in various service industries. The most important service industry is retail and wholesale distribution. Others include Tourism, catering, education, finance, health, public administration, and transport,. There is a regional technical college city. Tramore, which has a fine beach and recreation facilities, is one of the major Irish seaside resorts.

Dunmore East is one of the major fishing ports in Ireland and has fish-processing industries. There has been much development of forestry in the upland areas of the county.

Waterford city is the center for transport, from which railways and major roads radiate to Wexford, Dublin, and Limerick. But these do not pass through the rest of the county, and the only national primary road is the N25 from waterford to Cork. Lying on the deep and sheltered waterford Harbour and Suir estuary, waterford city is one of the major seaports of the Irish Republic. It is particularly important for container traffic but has no passenger services, the county has a small airport.

The annual rainfall is 100 centimetres. Being in the southeast, the coastal lowlands have fewer wet days and more sunshine than most of Ireland. The average monthly temperatures are 6 °C in January and 16 °C in July.