Counties in Washington by employer firms

King County had the highest employer firms of 39 counties in 2020, at 50,074. Garfield County had the lowest, at 37. The median was 1,212 and the figure for Washington was 137,435. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.

Highest50,074King County

Lowest37Garfield County

Median1,21239 counties

Washington137,435History

Map of counties, 2020

Under 200
200 to 700
700 to 1,200
1,200 to 1,700
1,700 to 5,000
5,000 and over

count, 2020. 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, 2020

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	2020 count	Change on 2019
1	King County	50,074	-0.5%
2	Snohomish County	14,834	-0.6%
3	Pierce County	14,066	+0.3%
4	Spokane County	9,983	+0.5%
5	Clark County	9,047	0%
6	Whatcom County	5,457	-1.4%
7	Thurston County	5,171	+0.4%
8	Kitsap County	4,575	-0.8%
9	Yakima County	3,783	+0.4%
10	Benton County	3,687	+1%
11	Skagit County	2,944	-1.6%
12	Chelan County	2,217	+1.4%
13	Cowlitz County	1,820	-1.2%
14	Clallam County	1,710	-2.1%
15	Lewis County	1,600	-0.6%
16	Grant County	1,542	+0.1%
17	Island County	1,532	-0.5%
18	Franklin County	1,430	+3.5%
19	Grays Harbor County	1,309	-1%
20	Walla Walla County	1,212	+0.4%
21	Kittitas County	1,132	+0.4%
22	Okanogan County	896	+0.4%
23	Mason County	885	-3%
24	Jefferson County	859	-4.4%
25	San Juan County	820	-2.6%
26	Stevens County	732	+4.6%
27	Whitman County	674	-0.9%
28	Douglas County	668	+1.2%
29	Pacific County	481	-3.2%
30	Klickitat County	465	+4.5%
31	Asotin County	373	-1.1%
32	Adams County	325	0%
33	Pend Oreille County	208	+3%
34	Lincoln County	189	+2.7%
35	Skamania County	164	-0.6%
36	Ferry County	110	-6.8%
37	Columbia County	91	-4.2%
38	Wahkiakum County	76	0%
39	Garfield County	37	-9.8%

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, 2020) [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, 2020. 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=2020. 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, 2020. 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=2020.

Harvard

U.S. Census Bureau (2025) Business Dynamics Statistics: employer firms, all covered industries, nation, states and counties, Counties in Washington by employer firms, 2020 [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=2020 (Accessed: 11 October 2026).

BibTeX

@misc{census_counties_in_washington_by_2020,
  author = {{U.S. Census Bureau}},
  title = {{Business Dynamics Statistics: employer firms, all covered industries, nation, states and counties: Counties in Washington by employer firms, 2020}},
  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=2020. 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, 2020
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=2020
Y2  - 2026/10/11
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/employer-firms/washington-counties?period=2020.
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 50,074 in 2020, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Which county has the lowest employer firms?

Garfield County, with 37 in 2020.

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.