Counties in California by establishment exit rate

Sierra County had the highest establishment exit rate of 58 counties in 2021, at 18.868%. Colusa County had the lowest, at 5.806%. The median was 11.253% and the figure for California was 12.182%. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.

Highest18.868Sierra County

Lowest5.806Colusa County

Median11.25358 counties

California12.182History

Map of counties, 2021

Under 9.8
9.8 to 11
11 to 12
12 to 13
13 and over

%, 2021. Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Business Dynamics Statistics: establishment exit rate, all covered industries, nation and states from 1978, counties from 2010. Boundaries: U.S. Census Bureau cartographic boundary files.

All counties, 2021

%. Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Business Dynamics Statistics: establishment exit rate, all covered industries, nation and states from 1978, counties from 2010. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Full ranking

Rank	Counties	2021 (%)	Change on 2020
1	Sierra County	18.868	+10.95 pts
2	Mariposa County	15.652	+5.92 pts
3	San Francisco County	15.14	+4.45 pts
4	Plumas County	14.866	+7.86 pts
5	Lassen County	14.752	+5.81 pts
6	Alpine County	14.286	-7.14 pts
7	Los Angeles County	13.734	+3.09 pts
8	Marin County	12.919	+3.49 pts
9	Santa Clara County	12.905	+2.54 pts
10	Siskiyou County	12.876	+3.7 pts
11	Trinity County	12.617	+0.03 pts
12	Mendocino County	12.566	+2.41 pts
13	Alameda County	12.496	+2.77 pts
14	San Mateo County	12.179	+2.65 pts
15	Tuolumne County	12.156	+2.46 pts
16	Yuba County	12.024	+0.39 pts
17	Lake County	11.946	+2.36 pts
18	El Dorado County	11.827	+0.97 pts
19	Contra Costa County	11.717	+2.05 pts
20	Nevada County	11.651	+1.23 pts
21	Calaveras County	11.636	+1.63 pts
22	Orange County	11.633	+1.79 pts
23	San Diego County	11.631	+1.77 pts
24	Santa Cruz County	11.551	+1.78 pts
25	Riverside County	11.536	+1.76 pts
26	Ventura County	11.471	+2.18 pts
27	Amador County	11.44	+3.68 pts
28	Imperial County	11.415	+2.91 pts
29	San Benito County	11.284	+4.69 pts
30	Humboldt County	11.222	+1.34 pts
31	Sonoma County	11.112	+2.19 pts
32	Sacramento County	11.054	+1.61 pts
33	Solano County	11.04	+1.33 pts
34	Mono County	10.816	+2.63 pts
35	Merced County	10.734	+2.25 pts
36	Monterey County	10.642	+1.87 pts
37	Madera County	10.576	+1.02 pts
38	Kern County	10.569	+1.5 pts
39	Stanislaus County	10.562	+2.15 pts
40	San Bernardino County	10.424	+1.21 pts
41	Butte County	10.308	+1.74 pts
42	Placer County	10.291	+0.96 pts
43	San Joaquin County	10.28	+1.19 pts
44	Napa County	10.229	+2.46 pts
45	Santa Barbara County	10.209	+1.88 pts
46	San Luis Obispo County	9.948	+1.82 pts
47	Shasta County	9.914	+1.51 pts
48	Yolo County	9.823	+0.89 pts
49	Tulare County	9.683	+1.03 pts
50	Fresno County	9.632	+1.1 pts
51	Del Norte County	9.613	+4.22 pts
52	Kings County	9.482	+2.09 pts
53	Inyo County	9.43	+1.93 pts
54	Tehama County	9.2	-0.49 pts
55	Sutter County	8.92	+0.67 pts
56	Modoc County	8.759	-4.07 pts
57	Glenn County	8.287	-1.87 pts
58	Colusa County	5.806	-4.12 pts

Other periods

About this ranking

Establishments that closed during the year (employees a year earlier and none in March of the year), as a percentage of the average number of establishments in the two years. United States: Census Bureau Business Dynamics Statistics.

Counts closed locations, including branches of firms that keep operating elsewhere, so it is not a firm failure rate. Not comparable with enterprise_death_rate, which counts enterprise deaths in Europe. The year is the twelve months to March: 2023 compares March 2022 with March 2023.

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: establishment exit rate, all covered industries, nation and states from 1978, counties from 2010. https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/bds/tables/time-series/2023/bds2023_st_cty.csv. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

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: establishment exit rate, all covered industries, nation and states from 1978, counties from 2010 (Counties in California by establishment exit rate, 2021) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/bds/tables/time-series/2023/bds2023_st_cty.csv

MLA 9

Business Dynamics Statistics: establishment exit rate, all covered industries, nation and states from 1978, counties from 2010, Counties in California by establishment exit rate, 2021. 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/establishment-exit-rate/california-counties?period=2021. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

U.S. Census Bureau. 2025. Business Dynamics Statistics: establishment exit rate, all covered industries, nation and states from 1978, counties from 2010. Counties in California by establishment exit rate, 2021. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/bds/tables/time-series/2023/bds2023_st_cty.csv. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/establishment-exit-rate/california-counties?period=2021.

Harvard

U.S. Census Bureau (2025) Business Dynamics Statistics: establishment exit rate, all covered industries, nation and states from 1978, counties from 2010, Counties in California by establishment exit rate, 2021 [Dataset]. Available at: https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/bds/tables/time-series/2023/bds2023_st_cty.csv, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/establishment-exit-rate/california-counties?period=2021 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX

@misc{census_counties_in_california_by_2021,
  author = {{U.S. Census Bureau}},
  title = {{Business Dynamics Statistics: establishment exit rate, all covered industries, nation and states from 1978, counties from 2010: Counties in California by establishment exit rate, 2021}},
  year = {2025},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/bds/tables/time-series/2023/bds2023_st_cty.csv},
  urldate = {2026-10-12},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/establishment-exit-rate/california-counties?period=2021. Publisher attribution: U.S. Census Bureau. Business Dynamics Statistics: establishment exit rate, all covered industries, nation and states from 1978, counties from 2010. https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/bds/tables/time-series/2023/bds2023\_st\_cty.csv. Retrieved 2026-10-12.},
}

RIS

TY  - DATA
AU  - U.S. Census Bureau
TI  - Business Dynamics Statistics: establishment exit rate, all covered industries, nation and states from 1978, counties from 2010: Counties in California by establishment exit rate, 2021
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/establishment-exit-rate/california-counties?period=2021
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/establishment-exit-rate/california-counties?period=2021.
N1  - Publisher attribution: U.S. Census Bureau. Business Dynamics Statistics: establishment exit rate, all covered industries, nation and states from 1978, counties from 2010. https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/bds/tables/time-series/2023/bds2023_st_cty.csv. Retrieved 2026-10-12.
ER  -

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Questions

Which county has the highest establishment exit rate?

Sierra County, with 18.868% in 2021, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Which county has the lowest establishment exit rate?

Colusa County, with 5.806% in 2021.

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: establishment exit rate, all covered industries, nation and states from 1978, counties from 2010. Retrieved 2026-10-12.