Counties in Washington by employer firms

King County had the highest employer firms of 39 counties in 2012, at 45,166. Garfield County had the lowest, at 41. The median was 1,152 and the figure for Washington was 124,494. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.

Highest45,166King County

Lowest41Garfield County

Median1,15239 counties

Washington124,494History

Map of counties, 2012

Under 200
200 to 700
700 to 1,200
1,200 to 1,800
1,800 to 4,500
4,500 and over

count, 2012. Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Business Dynamics Statistics: employer firms, all covered industries, nation, states and counties. Boundaries: U.S. Census Bureau cartographic boundary files.

All counties, 2012

count. Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Business Dynamics Statistics: employer firms, all covered industries, nation, states and counties. Retrieved 2026-10-11.

Full ranking

Rank	Counties	2012 count	Change on 2011
1	King County	45,166	+0.7%
2	Snohomish County	12,952	+0.1%
3	Pierce County	12,678	+0.8%
4	Spokane County	9,106	-1%
5	Clark County	7,531	+1.5%
6	Whatcom County	4,916	-1.3%
7	Thurston County	4,642	-0.8%
8	Kitsap County	4,322	-0.6%
9	Yakima County	3,664	-1%
10	Benton County	3,227	+1.2%
11	Skagit County	2,761	-0.9%
12	Chelan County	1,955	-2.3%
13	Cowlitz County	1,828	-0.9%
14	Clallam County	1,734	-2.3%
15	Lewis County	1,549	+1.3%
16	Grays Harbor County	1,416	-1.9%
17	Grant County	1,415	+1%
18	Island County	1,382	-1.8%
19	Franklin County	1,172	+2.7%
20	Walla Walla County	1,152	-1.6%
21	Kittitas County	951	-0.9%
22	Okanogan County	888	-1.2%
23	Jefferson County	859	-0.1%
24	Mason County	858	-1.5%
25	San Juan County	755	-0.3%
26	Stevens County	678	-0.6%
27	Whitman County	675	0%
28	Douglas County	563	-2.3%
29	Pacific County	504	-1%
30	Klickitat County	417	-2.6%
31	Asotin County	373	-1.6%
32	Adams County	309	+0.7%
33	Lincoln County	202	+3.1%
34	Pend Oreille County	185	-0.5%
35	Skamania County	144	-5.3%
36	Ferry County	126	+5.9%
37	Columbia County	101	0%
38	Wahkiakum County	74	-3.9%
39	Garfield County	41	0%

Other periods

About this ranking

Number of firms in the private nonfarm sectors covered by the US Census Bureau Business Dynamics Statistics. Establishments under common ownership form one firm.

Excludes nonemployer businesses. Differs from active_companies, the INE DIRCE count, which includes businesses without employees.

Every value in the ranking comes from the same publisher and the same period, so the counties are compared on one definition. Equal values share a rank.

How to cite

U.S. Census Bureau. Business Dynamics Statistics: employer firms, all covered industries, nation, states and counties. https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/bds/tables/time-series/2023/bds2023_st_cty.csv. Retrieved 2026-10-11.

Citation styles

The publisher is the author. Invokely is named only as the place the figures were read, where a style asks for it.

APA 7

U.S. Census Bureau. (2025). Business Dynamics Statistics: employer firms, all covered industries, nation, states and counties (Counties in Washington by employer firms, 2012) [Data set]. Retrieved October 11, 2026, from https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/bds/tables/time-series/2023/bds2023_st_cty.csv

MLA 9

Business Dynamics Statistics: employer firms, all covered industries, nation, states and counties, Counties in Washington by employer firms, 2012. U.S. Census Bureau, 25 Sept. 2025, https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/bds/tables/time-series/2023/bds2023_st_cty.csv. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/employer-firms/washington-counties?period=2012. Accessed 11 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

U.S. Census Bureau. 2025. Business Dynamics Statistics: employer firms, all covered industries, nation, states and counties. Counties in Washington by employer firms, 2012. Dataset. Accessed October 11, 2026. https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/bds/tables/time-series/2023/bds2023_st_cty.csv. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/employer-firms/washington-counties?period=2012.

Harvard

U.S. Census Bureau (2025) Business Dynamics Statistics: employer firms, all covered industries, nation, states and counties, Counties in Washington by employer firms, 2012 [Dataset]. Available at: https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/bds/tables/time-series/2023/bds2023_st_cty.csv, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/employer-firms/washington-counties?period=2012 (Accessed: 11 October 2026).

BibTeX

@misc{census_counties_in_washington_by_2012,
  author = {{U.S. Census Bureau}},
  title = {{Business Dynamics Statistics: employer firms, all covered industries, nation, states and counties: Counties in Washington by employer firms, 2012}},
  year = {2025},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/bds/tables/time-series/2023/bds2023_st_cty.csv},
  urldate = {2026-10-11},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/employer-firms/washington-counties?period=2012. Publisher attribution: U.S. Census Bureau. Business Dynamics Statistics: employer firms, all covered industries, nation, states and counties. https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/bds/tables/time-series/2023/bds2023\_st\_cty.csv. Retrieved 2026-10-11.},
}

RIS

TY  - DATA
AU  - U.S. Census Bureau
TI  - Business Dynamics Statistics: employer firms, all covered industries, nation, states and counties: Counties in Washington by employer firms, 2012
PY  - 2025
DA  - 2025/09/25
PB  - U.S. Census Bureau
DB  - Invokely
UR  - https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/bds/tables/time-series/2023/bds2023_st_cty.csv
L2  - https://invokely.ai/rankings/employer-firms/washington-counties?period=2012
Y2  - 2026/10/11
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/employer-firms/washington-counties?period=2012.
N1  - Publisher attribution: U.S. Census Bureau. Business Dynamics Statistics: employer firms, all covered industries, nation, states and counties. https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/bds/tables/time-series/2023/bds2023_st_cty.csv. Retrieved 2026-10-11.
ER  -

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Questions

Which county has the highest employer firms?

King County, with 45,166 in 2012, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Which county has the lowest employer firms?

Garfield County, with 41 in 2012.

Where does this ranking come from?

Every value comes from one source and one period, so the places are comparable: U.S. Census Bureau, Business Dynamics Statistics: employer firms, all covered industries, nation, states and counties. Retrieved 2026-10-11.