Counties in Washington by employer firms

King County had the highest employer firms of 39 counties in 2017, at 49,049. Garfield County had the lowest, at 41. The median was 1,175 and the figure for Washington was 134,096. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.

Highest49,049King County

Lowest41Garfield County

Median1,17539 counties

Washington134,096History

Map of counties, 2017

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

count, 2017. 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, 2017

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	2017 count	Change on 2016
1	King County	49,049	+1.3%
2	Snohomish County	14,349	+1.9%
3	Pierce County	13,543	+2.1%
4	Spokane County	9,653	+0.3%
5	Clark County	8,675	+3.7%
6	Whatcom County	5,370	+1.6%
7	Thurston County	5,011	+1.7%
8	Kitsap County	4,497	0%
9	Yakima County	3,709	+0.2%
10	Benton County	3,493	+2.7%
11	Skagit County	2,921	+0.7%
12	Chelan County	2,157	+1.9%
13	Cowlitz County	1,828	+1.4%
14	Clallam County	1,713	+0.2%
15	Lewis County	1,556	+0.9%
16	Grant County	1,506	+1.3%
17	Island County	1,475	+0.5%
18	Grays Harbor County	1,371	-0.6%
19	Franklin County	1,290	+2.1%
20	Walla Walla County	1,175	-0.8%
21	Kittitas County	1,059	+1.8%
22	Mason County	908	+3.5%
23	Okanogan County	905	-2.9%
24	Jefferson County	886	+1.3%
25	San Juan County	842	+1.7%
26	Stevens County	700	-1.4%
27	Whitman County	685	-1%
28	Douglas County	647	-0.3%
29	Pacific County	479	-1.2%
30	Klickitat County	449	+0.7%
31	Asotin County	377	-2.1%
32	Adams County	308	-0.3%
33	Pend Oreille County	198	+4.8%
34	Lincoln County	181	-3.7%
35	Skamania County	165	+6.5%
36	Ferry County	128	+7.6%
37	Columbia County	91	-3.2%
38	Wahkiakum County	66	-4.3%
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, 2017) [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, 2017. 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=2017. 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, 2017. 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=2017.

Harvard

U.S. Census Bureau (2025) Business Dynamics Statistics: employer firms, all covered industries, nation, states and counties, Counties in Washington by employer firms, 2017 [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=2017 (Accessed: 11 October 2026).

BibTeX

@misc{census_counties_in_washington_by_2017,
  author = {{U.S. Census Bureau}},
  title = {{Business Dynamics Statistics: employer firms, all covered industries, nation, states and counties: Counties in Washington by employer firms, 2017}},
  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=2017. 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, 2017
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=2017
Y2  - 2026/10/11
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/employer-firms/washington-counties?period=2017.
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 49,049 in 2017, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Which county has the lowest employer firms?

Garfield County, with 41 in 2017.

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.