Counties in California by job creation rate

San Benito County had the highest job creation rate of 58 counties in 2018, at 17.588%. Modoc County had the lowest, at 8.068%. The median was 12.869% and the figure for California was 13.544%. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.

Highest17.588San Benito County

Lowest8.068Modoc County

Median12.86958 counties

California13.544History

Map of counties, 2018

Under 11
11 to 12
12 to 13
13 to 14
14 and over

%, 2018. Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Business Dynamics Statistics: job creation rate, all covered industries, nation and states from 1978, counties from 2010. Boundaries: U.S. Census Bureau cartographic boundary files.

All counties, 2018

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

Full ranking

Rank	Counties	2018 (%)	Change on 2017
1	San Benito County	17.588	+1.36 pts
2	San Francisco County	14.968	-1.66 pts
3	Mariposa County	14.795	+0.63 pts
4	Trinity County	14.579	+2.17 pts
5	Calaveras County	14.532	-0.34 pts
6	Santa Barbara County	14.425	+1.16 pts
7	San Mateo County	14.404	-2 pts
8	Riverside County	14.292	-1.69 pts
9	Kern County	14.173	+0.45 pts
10	Sonoma County	14.107	-1.21 pts
11	Sacramento County	14.077	-0.15 pts
12	Colusa County	14.008	+2.84 pts
13	El Dorado County	13.998	-1.32 pts
14	Solano County	13.993	+0.34 pts
15	Fresno County	13.941	+0.11 pts
16	Orange County	13.893	-0.52 pts
17	Sutter County	13.819	+1.63 pts
18	Shasta County	13.734	+0.78 pts
19	San Bernardino County	13.674	-1.89 pts
20	Imperial County	13.657	+2.15 pts
21	Monterey County	13.628	-1.39 pts
22	Placer County	13.301	-1.01 pts
23	Santa Clara County	13.267	-0.44 pts
24	Ventura County	13.256	-0.17 pts
25	San Luis Obispo County	13.242	-0.3 pts
26	Marin County	13.226	+0.37 pts
27	San Diego County	13.217	-0.29 pts
28	Lassen County	13.158	+1.38 pts
29	Los Angeles County	12.984	-0.75 pts
30	Contra Costa County	12.753	-1.52 pts
31	Siskiyou County	12.704	-1.54 pts
32	Alameda County	12.703	-3.04 pts
33	Nevada County	12.546	-4.03 pts
34	Yolo County	12.501	-2.15 pts
35	Santa Cruz County	12.399	-1.09 pts
36	Plumas County	12.323	-0.8 pts
37	Merced County	12.311	-2.2 pts
38	Mendocino County	12.277	-0.49 pts
39	San Joaquin County	12.215	-5.54 pts
40	Kings County	12.162	-1.5 pts
41	Humboldt County	12.083	-2.56 pts
42	Lake County	12.073	-1.15 pts
43	Stanislaus County	11.929	-0.87 pts
44	Butte County	11.797	-1.88 pts
45	Napa County	11.619	-2.45 pts
46	Tulare County	11.507	-0.96 pts
47	Tuolumne County	11.442	-1.31 pts
48	Inyo County	11.303	+0.05 pts
49	Sierra County	10.973	-5.03 pts
50	Madera County	10.967	+0.64 pts
51	Yuba County	10.236	-7.32 pts
52	Tehama County	10.118	-3.18 pts
53	Del Norte County	9.946	-4.57 pts
54	Amador County	9.842	-2.1 pts
55	Glenn County	9.832	-0.03 pts
56	Mono County	9.524	-2.37 pts
57	Alpine County	8.754	-13.18 pts
58	Modoc County	8.068	-1.82 pts

Other periods

About this ranking

Jobs added at opening and expanding establishments during the year, as a percentage of average employment in the two years. United States: Census Bureau Business Dynamics Statistics.

A gross flow: jobs lost elsewhere are not subtracted, so the net change is this rate minus job_destruction_rate. Not the same as payroll job growth from the monthly employment surveys. 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: job creation 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: job creation rate, all covered industries, nation and states from 1978, counties from 2010 (Counties in California by job creation 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: job creation rate, all covered industries, nation and states from 1978, counties from 2010, Counties in California by job creation 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/job-creation-rate/california-counties?period=2018. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

U.S. Census Bureau. 2025. Business Dynamics Statistics: job creation rate, all covered industries, nation and states from 1978, counties from 2010. Counties in California by job creation 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/job-creation-rate/california-counties?period=2018.

Harvard

U.S. Census Bureau (2025) Business Dynamics Statistics: job creation rate, all covered industries, nation and states from 1978, counties from 2010, Counties in California by job creation 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/job-creation-rate/california-counties?period=2018 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX

@misc{census_counties_in_california_by_2018,
  author = {{U.S. Census Bureau}},
  title = {{Business Dynamics Statistics: job creation rate, all covered industries, nation and states from 1978, counties from 2010: Counties in California by job creation 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/job-creation-rate/california-counties?period=2018. Publisher attribution: U.S. Census Bureau. Business Dynamics Statistics: job creation 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: job creation rate, all covered industries, nation and states from 1978, counties from 2010: Counties in California by job creation 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/job-creation-rate/california-counties?period=2018
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/job-creation-rate/california-counties?period=2018.
N1  - Publisher attribution: U.S. Census Bureau. Business Dynamics Statistics: job creation 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 job creation rate?

San Benito County, with 17.588% in 2018, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Which county has the lowest job creation rate?

Modoc County, with 8.068% 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: job creation rate, all covered industries, nation and states from 1978, counties from 2010. Retrieved 2026-10-12.