Counties in Washington by employer firms

King County had the highest employer firms of 39 counties in 2015, at 47,561. Garfield County had the lowest, at 39. The median was 1,183 and the figure for Washington was 129,906. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.

Highest47,561King County

Lowest39Garfield County

Median1,18339 counties

Washington129,906History

Map of counties, 2015

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

count, 2015. 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, 2015

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	2015 count	Change on 2014
1	King County	47,561	+1.7%
2	Snohomish County	13,792	+2.2%
3	Pierce County	13,017	+0.7%
4	Spokane County	9,479	+2.8%
5	Clark County	8,045	+2.5%
6	Whatcom County	5,150	+2%
7	Thurston County	4,848	+2.1%
8	Kitsap County	4,438	+2.1%
9	Yakima County	3,696	+0.6%
10	Benton County	3,353	+2.2%
11	Skagit County	2,852	+1.7%
12	Chelan County	2,080	+3%
13	Cowlitz County	1,793	-0.8%
14	Clallam County	1,684	-1.3%
15	Lewis County	1,555	+2.8%
16	Grant County	1,453	+2.3%
17	Island County	1,441	+1.5%
18	Grays Harbor County	1,376	0%
19	Franklin County	1,230	+2.6%
20	Walla Walla County	1,183	+2.9%
21	Kittitas County	1,020	+4.3%
22	Okanogan County	894	+2.4%
23	Mason County	875	+2.3%
24	Jefferson County	871	+1.5%
25	San Juan County	821	+3.1%
26	Whitman County	710	+2.7%
27	Stevens County	678	+3%
28	Douglas County	616	+3.2%
29	Pacific County	490	+2.3%
30	Klickitat County	462	+3.1%
31	Asotin County	371	-1.1%
32	Adams County	312	+2.3%
33	Pend Oreille County	198	+10%
34	Lincoln County	183	-4.2%
35	Skamania County	151	-0.7%
36	Ferry County	121	+1.7%
37	Columbia County	102	+3%
38	Wahkiakum County	69	-1.4%
39	Garfield County	39	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, 2015) [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, 2015. 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=2015. 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, 2015. 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=2015.

Harvard

U.S. Census Bureau (2025) Business Dynamics Statistics: employer firms, all covered industries, nation, states and counties, Counties in Washington by employer firms, 2015 [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=2015 (Accessed: 11 October 2026).

BibTeX

@misc{census_counties_in_washington_by_2015,
  author = {{U.S. Census Bureau}},
  title = {{Business Dynamics Statistics: employer firms, all covered industries, nation, states and counties: Counties in Washington by employer firms, 2015}},
  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=2015. 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, 2015
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=2015
Y2  - 2026/10/11
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/employer-firms/washington-counties?period=2015.
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 47,561 in 2015, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Which county has the lowest employer firms?

Garfield County, with 39 in 2015.

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.