Data / Rankings / Establishment exit rate / Counties in Kentucky

Counties in Kentucky by establishment exit rate, 2023

Fulton County had the highest establishment exit rate of 118 counties in 2023, at 24.576%. Carroll County had the lowest, at 3.31%. The median was 7.792% and the figure for Kentucky was 8.203%. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.

Highest24.576Fulton County
Lowest3.31Carroll County
Median7.792118 counties
Kentucky8.203History

Top 40 counties, 2023

Fulton County: 24.576 %Fulton County24.576Metcalfe County: 17.062 %Metcalfe County17.062Lewis County: 14.847 %Lewis County14.847Hickman County: 14.286 %Hickman County14.286Gallatin County: 12.5 %Gallatin County12.5Livingston County: 11.765 %Livingston County11.765Henry County: 11.705 %Henry County11.705Ballard County: 11.594 %Ballard County11.594Carter County: 11.554 %Carter County11.554Bourbon County: 11.189 %Bourbon County11.189Hart County: 10.901 %Hart County10.901Graves County: 10.492 %Graves County10.492Grayson County: 10.435 %Grayson County10.435Greenup County: 10.412 %Greenup County10.412Clinton County: 10.398 %Clinton County10.398Meade County: 10.287 %Meade County10.287Edmonson County: 10.185 %Edmonson County10.185Webster County: 9.845 %Webster County9.845Marion County: 9.841 %Marion County9.841Clark County: 9.813 %Clark County9.813Trimble County: 9.524 %Trimble County9.524Bullitt County: 9.461 %Bullitt County9.461Bath County: 9.449 %Bath County9.449Green County: 9.396 %Green County9.396Jefferson County: 9.219 %Jefferson County9.219Trigg County: 9.201 %Trigg County9.201McLean County: 9.121 %McLean County9.121Estill County: 9.036 %Estill County9.036Lawrence County: 9 %Lawrence County9Calloway County: 8.981 %Calloway County8.981Carlisle County: 8.974 %Carlisle County8.974Elliott County: 8.955 %Elliott County8.955Owen County: 8.907 %Owen County8.907Henderson County: 8.896 %Henderson County8.896Muhlenberg County: 8.844 %Muhlenberg County8.844Laurel County: 8.82 %Laurel County8.82Boyle County: 8.696 %Boyle County8.696Breathitt County: 8.696 %Breathitt County8.696Daviess County: 8.659 %Daviess County8.659Boone County: 8.634 %Boone County8.634
%. 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

RankCounties2023 (%)Change on 2022
1Fulton County24.576+19.72 pts
2Metcalfe County17.062+6.97 pts
3Lewis County14.847+2.35 pts
4Hickman County14.286+6.77 pts
5Gallatin County12.5+6.97 pts
6Livingston County11.765+3.17 pts
7Henry County11.705+2.52 pts
8Ballard County11.594+2.77 pts
9Carter County11.554+1.99 pts
10Bourbon County11.189+2.73 pts
11Hart County10.901-1.81 pts
12Graves County10.492+2.67 pts
13Grayson County10.435+0.53 pts
14Greenup County10.412+1.14 pts
15Clinton County10.398+4.28 pts
16Meade County10.287+1.41 pts
17Edmonson County10.185+3.22 pts
18Webster County9.845+3.69 pts
19Marion County9.841+3.45 pts
20Clark County9.813+2.48 pts
21Trimble County9.524+3.73 pts
22Bullitt County9.461+0.88 pts
23Bath County9.449+3.15 pts
24Green County9.396-0.19 pts
25Jefferson County9.219-0.4 pts
26Trigg County9.201+1.24 pts
27McLean County9.121-4.6 pts
28Estill County9.036+5.89 pts
29Lawrence County9+0.54 pts
30Calloway County8.981+1.39 pts
31Carlisle County8.974+1.28 pts
32Elliott County8.955-2.64 pts
33Owen County8.907+0.57 pts
34Henderson County8.896+0.9 pts
35Muhlenberg County8.844-0.32 pts
36Laurel County8.82+1.71 pts
37Boyle County8.696+1.73 pts
37Breathitt County8.696+1.41 pts
39Daviess County8.659+0.6 pts
40Boone County8.634+0.96 pts
41Montgomery County8.612+2 pts
42Hardin County8.595+0.72 pts
43Garrard County8.511-3.57 pts
44Hopkins County8.488+0.47 pts
45Campbell County8.375+0.25 pts
46Woodford County8.364+0.84 pts
47Nicholas County8.333+2.49 pts
48Oldham County8.282-2.06 pts
49Scott County8.239+0.58 pts
50Nelson County8.134+0.38 pts
51Grant County8.092+1.56 pts
52Boyd County8.078-1.79 pts
53Letcher County8.077-2.35 pts
54Logan County7.991+0.77 pts
55Fayette County7.84-0.12 pts
56Mason County7.823-0.15 pts
57Bracken County7.821-0.18 pts
58Pulaski County7.794+0.35 pts
59Marshall County7.792+0.22 pts
59Rowan County7.792+1.58 pts
61Washington County7.572+2.57 pts
62Jessamine County7.521-0.72 pts
63Breckinridge County7.463-1.09 pts
63Larue County7.463-1.72 pts
65Franklin County7.452+0.36 pts
66Allen County7.44-2.87 pts
67Martin County7.438-1.96 pts
68Todd County7.427+1.93 pts
69Jackson County7.407-3.4 pts
69Knott County7.407-2.02 pts
71Taylor County7.372-1.2 pts
72Harlan County7.331+0.02 pts
73Kenton County7.291+0.72 pts
74Spencer County7.256+0.98 pts
75Cumberland County7.254-3.16 pts
76Simpson County7.235+0.37 pts
77Caldwell County7.157+0.25 pts
78Adair County7.131-2.34 pts
79McCracken County7.067+0.25 pts
80Warren County7.064-1.07 pts
81Knox County7.047-0.24 pts
82Madison County7.046-2.5 pts
83Floyd County7.039-1.78 pts
84Shelby County6.974+0.46 pts
85Union County6.972-1.01 pts
86Pendleton County6.962-4.65 pts
87McCreary County6.92-2.23 pts
88Bell County6.913-2.51 pts
89Pike County6.86-0.93 pts
90Casey County6.813-4.13 pts
91Lee County6.742-3.26 pts
92Russell County6.677-0.8 pts
93Whitley County6.463-0.58 pts
94Mercer County6.442-2.06 pts
95Ohio County6.433-3.17 pts
96Anderson County6.431-1.34 pts
97Perry County6.377-0.6 pts
98Christian County6.336-2.77 pts
99Morgan County6.04-1.47 pts
100Barren County6.006-1.88 pts
101Leslie County5.848-4.5 pts
102Crittenden County5.839-4.46 pts
103Menifee County5.66-0.28 pts
104Johnson County5.607-4.16 pts
105Clay County5.594-2.37 pts
106Wayne County5.385-1.42 pts
107Lincoln County5.367-1.26 pts
108Rockcastle County5.319-1.76 pts
109Wolfe County5.263-2.04 pts
110Lyon County5.145-2.78 pts
111Harrison County5.068-3.08 pts
112Powell County4.348-4.66 pts
113Magoffin County4.255-6.61 pts
114Butler County3.955-3.56 pts
115Hancock County3.721-4.97 pts
116Monroe County3.608-4.33 pts
117Fleming County3.596-4 pts
118Carroll County3.31-3.5 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. 2 counties with data in other periods have no value for 2023 and are left out rather than filled from another source. 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 Kentucky by establishment exit rate, 2023) [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 Kentucky by establishment exit rate, 2023. 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/kentucky-counties. 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 Kentucky by establishment exit rate, 2023. 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/kentucky-counties.

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 Kentucky by establishment exit rate, 2023 [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/kentucky-counties (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{census_counties_in_kentucky_by_2023,
  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 Kentucky by establishment exit rate, 2023}},
  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/kentucky-counties. 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 Kentucky by establishment exit rate, 2023
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/kentucky-counties
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/establishment-exit-rate/kentucky-counties.
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?

Fulton County, with 24.576% in 2023, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Which county has the lowest establishment exit rate?

Carroll County, with 3.31% in 2023.

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. 2 counties have no value for 2023 and are not ranked.

Establishment exit rate: other rankings

Counties in Kentucky: more rankings