Counties in Washington by employer firms

King County had the highest employer firms of 39 counties in 2022, at 51,058. Garfield County had the lowest, at 38. The median was 1,246 and the figure for Washington was 142,271. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.

Highest51,058King County

Lowest38Garfield County

Median1,24639 counties

Washington142,271History

Map of counties, 2022

Under 200
200 to 700
700 to 1,200
1,200 to 1,800
1,800 to 5,100
5,100 and over

count, 2022. 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, 2022

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	2022 count	Change on 2021
1	King County	51,058	+1.7%
2	Snohomish County	15,423	+1.8%
3	Pierce County	14,912	+3.3%
4	Spokane County	10,418	+2.5%
5	Clark County	9,638	+3.5%
6	Whatcom County	5,639	+2.4%
7	Thurston County	5,335	+2.3%
8	Kitsap County	4,747	+2.9%
9	Yakima County	3,905	+2.7%
10	Benton County	3,863	+2.1%
11	Skagit County	2,958	+0.2%
12	Chelan County	2,260	+1.2%
13	Cowlitz County	1,875	+3.3%
14	Clallam County	1,736	+0.8%
15	Grant County	1,636	+4.7%
16	Lewis County	1,614	-0.4%
17	Island County	1,603	+3.1%
18	Franklin County	1,540	+4.9%
19	Grays Harbor County	1,332	+1.5%
20	Walla Walla County	1,246	+1.5%
21	Kittitas County	1,208	+2.6%
22	Okanogan County	945	+2.5%
23	Mason County	905	+2%
24	San Juan County	848	+1.9%
25	Jefferson County	845	+2.1%
26	Stevens County	726	-1%
27	Douglas County	693	+2.5%
28	Whitman County	678	+0.7%
29	Pacific County	478	-1.4%
30	Klickitat County	474	+3.7%
31	Asotin County	368	-0.5%
32	Adams County	323	-3%
33	Pend Oreille County	206	-1%
34	Lincoln County	203	+2.5%
35	Skamania County	178	+2.3%
36	Ferry County	120	+8.1%
37	Columbia County	96	-2%
38	Wahkiakum County	77	0%
39	Garfield County	38	-2.6%

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, 2022) [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, 2022. 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=2022. 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, 2022. 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=2022.

Harvard

U.S. Census Bureau (2025) Business Dynamics Statistics: employer firms, all covered industries, nation, states and counties, Counties in Washington by employer firms, 2022 [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=2022 (Accessed: 11 October 2026).

BibTeX

@misc{census_counties_in_washington_by_2022,
  author = {{U.S. Census Bureau}},
  title = {{Business Dynamics Statistics: employer firms, all covered industries, nation, states and counties: Counties in Washington by employer firms, 2022}},
  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=2022. 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, 2022
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=2022
Y2  - 2026/10/11
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/employer-firms/washington-counties?period=2022.
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 51,058 in 2022, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Which county has the lowest employer firms?

Garfield County, with 38 in 2022.

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.