Counties in Washington by employer firms

King County had the highest employer firms of 39 counties in 2013, at 45,866. Garfield County had the lowest, at 39. The median was 1,145 and the figure for Washington was 125,777. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.

Highest45,866King County

Lowest39Garfield County

Median1,14539 counties

Washington125,777History

Map of counties, 2013

Under 200
200 to 700
700 to 1,100
1,100 to 1,800
1,800 to 4,600
4,600 and over

count, 2013. 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, 2013

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	2013 count	Change on 2012
1	King County	45,866	+1.5%
2	Snohomish County	13,207	+2%
3	Pierce County	12,741	+0.5%
4	Spokane County	9,119	+0.1%
5	Clark County	7,664	+1.8%
6	Whatcom County	4,961	+0.9%
7	Thurston County	4,692	+1.1%
8	Kitsap County	4,337	+0.3%
9	Yakima County	3,652	-0.3%
10	Benton County	3,239	+0.4%
11	Skagit County	2,768	+0.3%
12	Chelan County	1,995	+2%
13	Cowlitz County	1,810	-1%
14	Clallam County	1,725	-0.5%
15	Lewis County	1,527	-1.4%
16	Grant County	1,422	+0.5%
17	Grays Harbor County	1,392	-1.7%
18	Island County	1,388	+0.4%
19	Franklin County	1,201	+2.5%
20	Walla Walla County	1,145	-0.6%
21	Kittitas County	964	+1.4%
22	Okanogan County	889	+0.1%
23	Jefferson County	868	+1%
24	Mason County	852	-0.7%
25	San Juan County	770	+2%
26	Whitman County	682	+1%
27	Stevens County	672	-0.9%
28	Douglas County	590	+4.8%
29	Pacific County	499	-1%
30	Klickitat County	432	+3.6%
31	Asotin County	373	0%
32	Adams County	311	+0.6%
33	Lincoln County	192	-5%
34	Pend Oreille County	190	+2.7%
35	Skamania County	146	+1.4%
36	Ferry County	122	-3.2%
37	Columbia County	101	0%
38	Wahkiakum County	75	+1.4%
39	Garfield County	39	-4.9%

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, 2013) [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, 2013. 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=2013. 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, 2013. 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=2013.

Harvard

U.S. Census Bureau (2025) Business Dynamics Statistics: employer firms, all covered industries, nation, states and counties, Counties in Washington by employer firms, 2013 [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=2013 (Accessed: 11 October 2026).

BibTeX

@misc{census_counties_in_washington_by_2013,
  author = {{U.S. Census Bureau}},
  title = {{Business Dynamics Statistics: employer firms, all covered industries, nation, states and counties: Counties in Washington by employer firms, 2013}},
  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=2013. 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, 2013
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=2013
Y2  - 2026/10/11
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/employer-firms/washington-counties?period=2013.
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 45,866 in 2013, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Which county has the lowest employer firms?

Garfield County, with 39 in 2013.

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.