Counties in Washington by employer firms

King County had the highest employer firms of 39 counties in 2018, at 49,859. Garfield County had the lowest, at 42. The median was 1,173 and the figure for Washington was 136,529. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.

Highest49,859King County

Lowest42Garfield County

Median1,17339 counties

Washington136,529History

Map of counties, 2018

Under 200
200 to 700
700 to 1,200
1,200 to 1,800
1,800 to 4,900
4,900 and over

count, 2018. 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, 2018

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	2018 count	Change on 2017
1	King County	49,859	+1.7%
2	Snohomish County	14,668	+2.2%
3	Pierce County	13,799	+1.9%
4	Spokane County	9,847	+2%
5	Clark County	8,880	+2.4%
6	Whatcom County	5,461	+1.7%
7	Thurston County	5,097	+1.7%
8	Kitsap County	4,578	+1.8%
9	Yakima County	3,768	+1.6%
10	Benton County	3,589	+2.7%
11	Skagit County	2,968	+1.6%
12	Chelan County	2,189	+1.5%
13	Cowlitz County	1,832	+0.2%
14	Clallam County	1,763	+2.9%
15	Lewis County	1,562	+0.4%
16	Grant County	1,532	+1.7%
17	Island County	1,504	+2%
18	Grays Harbor County	1,340	-2.3%
19	Franklin County	1,336	+3.6%
20	Walla Walla County	1,173	-0.2%
21	Kittitas County	1,109	+4.7%
22	Mason County	925	+1.9%
23	Okanogan County	918	+1.4%
24	Jefferson County	874	-1.4%
25	San Juan County	844	+0.2%
26	Stevens County	705	+0.7%
27	Whitman County	678	-1%
28	Douglas County	660	+2%
29	Pacific County	483	+0.8%
30	Klickitat County	446	-0.7%
31	Asotin County	371	-1.6%
32	Adams County	309	+0.3%
33	Pend Oreille County	207	+4.5%
34	Lincoln County	180	-0.6%
35	Skamania County	174	+5.5%
36	Ferry County	127	-0.8%
37	Columbia County	92	+1.1%
38	Wahkiakum County	72	+9.1%
39	Garfield County	42	+2.4%

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, 2018) [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, 2018. 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=2018. 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, 2018. 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=2018.

Harvard

U.S. Census Bureau (2025) Business Dynamics Statistics: employer firms, all covered industries, nation, states and counties, Counties in Washington by employer firms, 2018 [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=2018 (Accessed: 11 October 2026).

BibTeX

@misc{census_counties_in_washington_by_2018,
  author = {{U.S. Census Bureau}},
  title = {{Business Dynamics Statistics: employer firms, all covered industries, nation, states and counties: Counties in Washington by employer firms, 2018}},
  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=2018. 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, 2018
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=2018
Y2  - 2026/10/11
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/employer-firms/washington-counties?period=2018.
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 49,859 in 2018, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Which county has the lowest employer firms?

Garfield County, with 42 in 2018.

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.