Data / Rankings / Establishment exit rate / Counties in Washington

Counties in Washington by establishment exit rate

Columbia County had the highest establishment exit rate of 39 counties in 2018, at 11.224%. Wahkiakum County had the lowest, at 5.797%. The median was 9.219% and the figure for Washington was 9.104%. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.

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Highest11.224Columbia County
Lowest5.797Wahkiakum County
Median9.21939 counties
Washington9.104History

Map of counties, 2018

Adams County: 8.923 %Asotin County: 9.689 %Benton County: 8.261 %Chelan County: 8.031 %Clallam County: 8.091 %Clark County: 9.3 %Columbia County: 11.224 %Cowlitz County: 8.698 %Douglas County: 10.208 %Ferry County: 10.895 %Franklin County: 8.098 %Garfield County: 9.412 %Grant County: 8.588 %Grays Harbor County: 9.908 %Island County: 10.792 %Jefferson County: 10.732 %King County: 9.457 %Kitsap County: 8.618 %Kittitas County: 7.105 %Klickitat County: 10.116 %Lewis County: 9.083 %Lincoln County: 9.479 %Mason County: 9.439 %Okanogan County: 8.384 %Pacific County: 9.496 %Pend Oreille County: 9.135 %Pierce County: 9.219 %San Juan County: 10.121 %Skagit County: 8.104 %Skamania County: 11.047 %Snohomish County: 9.661 %Spokane County: 8.264 %Stevens County: 9.72 %Thurston County: 8.199 %Wahkiakum County: 5.797 %Walla Walla County: 9.421 %Whatcom County: 8.624 %Whitman County: 7.921 %Yakima County: 8.158 %
  • Under 8.1
  • 8.1 to 8.6
  • 8.6 to 9.2
  • 9.2 to 9.5
  • 9.5 to 10
  • 10 and over
%, 2018. 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, 2018

Columbia County: 11.224 %Columbia County11.224Skamania County: 11.047 %Skamania County11.047Ferry County: 10.895 %Ferry County10.895Island County: 10.792 %Island County10.792Jefferson County: 10.732 %Jefferson County10.732Douglas County: 10.208 %Douglas County10.208San Juan County: 10.121 %San Juan County10.121Klickitat County: 10.116 %Klickitat County10.116Grays Harbor County: 9.908 %Grays Harbor County9.908Stevens County: 9.72 %Stevens County9.72Asotin County: 9.689 %Asotin County9.689Snohomish County: 9.661 %Snohomish County9.661Pacific County: 9.496 %Pacific County9.496Lincoln County: 9.479 %Lincoln County9.479King County: 9.457 %King County9.457Mason County: 9.439 %Mason County9.439Walla Walla County: 9.421 %Walla Walla County9.421Garfield County: 9.412 %Garfield County9.412Clark County: 9.3 %Clark County9.3Pierce County: 9.219 %Pierce County9.219Pend Oreille County: 9.135 %Pend Oreille County9.135Lewis County: 9.083 %Lewis County9.083Adams County: 8.923 %Adams County8.923Cowlitz County: 8.698 %Cowlitz County8.698Whatcom County: 8.624 %Whatcom County8.624Kitsap County: 8.618 %Kitsap County8.618Grant County: 8.588 %Grant County8.588Okanogan County: 8.384 %Okanogan County8.384Spokane County: 8.264 %Spokane County8.264Benton County: 8.261 %Benton County8.261Thurston County: 8.199 %Thurston County8.199Yakima County: 8.158 %Yakima County8.158Skagit County: 8.104 %Skagit County8.104Franklin County: 8.098 %Franklin County8.098Clallam County: 8.091 %Clallam County8.091Chelan County: 8.031 %Chelan County8.031Whitman County: 7.921 %Whitman County7.921Kittitas County: 7.105 %Kittitas County7.105Wahkiakum County: 5.797 %Wahkiakum County5.797Columbia County: 11.224 %Columbia County11.224Skamania County: 11.047 %Skamania County11.047Ferry County: 10.895 %Ferry County10.895Island County: 10.792 %Island County10.792Jefferson County: 10.732 %Jefferson County10.732Douglas County: 10.208 %Douglas County10.208San Juan County: 10.121 %San Juan County10.121Klickitat County: 10.116 %Klickitat County10.116Grays Harbor County: 9.908 %Grays Harbor County9.908Stevens County: 9.72 %Stevens County9.72Asotin County: 9.689 %Asotin County9.689Snohomish County: 9.661 %Snohomish County9.661Pacific County: 9.496 %Pacific County9.496Lincoln County: 9.479 %Lincoln County9.479King County: 9.457 %King County9.457Mason County: 9.439 %Mason County9.439Walla Walla County: 9.421 %Walla Walla County9.421Garfield County: 9.412 %Garfield County9.412Clark County: 9.3 %Clark County9.3Pierce County: 9.219 %Pierce County9.219Pend Oreille County: 9.135 %Pend Oreille County9.135Lewis County: 9.083 %Lewis County9.083Adams County: 8.923 %Adams County8.923Cowlitz County: 8.698 %Cowlitz County8.698Whatcom County: 8.624 %Whatcom County8.624Kitsap County: 8.618 %Kitsap County8.618Grant County: 8.588 %Grant County8.588Okanogan County: 8.384 %Okanogan County8.384Spokane County: 8.264 %Spokane County8.264Benton County: 8.261 %Benton County8.261Thurston County: 8.199 %Thurston County8.199Yakima County: 8.158 %Yakima County8.158Skagit County: 8.104 %Skagit County8.104Franklin County: 8.098 %Franklin County8.098Clallam County: 8.091 %Clallam County8.091Chelan County: 8.031 %Chelan County8.031Whitman County: 7.921 %Whitman County7.921Kittitas County: 7.105 %Kittitas County7.105Wahkiakum County: 5.797 %Wahkiakum County5.797
%. 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

RankCounties2018 (%)Change on 2017
1Columbia County11.224-6.34 pts
2Skamania County11.047+1.82 pts
3Ferry County10.895+2.86 pts
4Island County10.792+0.59 pts
5Jefferson County10.732+0.99 pts
6Douglas County10.208-0.08 pts
7San Juan County10.121+2.1 pts
8Klickitat County10.116+0.41 pts
9Grays Harbor County9.908+0.65 pts
10Stevens County9.72-2.01 pts
11Asotin County9.689-0.31 pts
12Snohomish County9.661+0.4 pts
13Pacific County9.496+0.83 pts
14Lincoln County9.479-0.73 pts
15King County9.457-0.1 pts
16Mason County9.439+0.51 pts
17Walla Walla County9.421+0.9 pts
18Garfield County9.412-2.49 pts
19Clark County9.3+0.82 pts
20Pierce County9.219+0.33 pts
21Pend Oreille County9.135+3.1 pts
22Lewis County9.083+1.41 pts
23Adams County8.923-0.59 pts
24Cowlitz County8.698+1.47 pts
25Whatcom County8.624-0.34 pts
26Kitsap County8.618-0.94 pts
27Grant County8.588-0.39 pts
28Okanogan County8.384-2.16 pts
29Spokane County8.264-0.74 pts
30Benton County8.261-0.11 pts
31Thurston County8.199-0.44 pts
32Yakima County8.158-0.09 pts
33Skagit County8.104-0.38 pts
34Franklin County8.098-0.66 pts
35Clallam County8.091-1.96 pts
36Chelan County8.031-0.48 pts
37Whitman County7.921+0.24 pts
38Kittitas County7.105-1.41 pts
39Wahkiakum County5.797-3.09 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 Washington by establishment exit rate, 2018) [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 Washington by establishment exit rate, 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/establishment-exit-rate/washington-counties?period=2018. 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 Washington by establishment exit rate, 2018. 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/washington-counties?period=2018.

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 Washington by establishment exit rate, 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/establishment-exit-rate/washington-counties?period=2018 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{census_counties_in_washington_by_2018,
  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 Washington by establishment exit rate, 2018}},
  year = {2025},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/bds/tables/time-series/2023/bds2023_st_cty.csv},
  urldate = {2026-10-12},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/establishment-exit-rate/washington-counties?period=2018. 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 Washington by establishment exit rate, 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/establishment-exit-rate/washington-counties?period=2018
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/establishment-exit-rate/washington-counties?period=2018.
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?

Columbia County, with 11.224% in 2018, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Which county has the lowest establishment exit rate?

Wahkiakum County, with 5.797% 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: establishment exit rate, all covered industries, nation and states from 1978, counties from 2010. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Establishment exit rate: other rankings

Counties in Washington: more rankings