Counties in California by job creation rate

Sierra County had the highest job creation rate of 58 counties in 2020, at 32.558%. Del Norte County had the lowest, at 9.167%. The median was 12.73% and the figure for California was 13.353%. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.

Highest32.558Sierra County

Lowest9.167Del Norte County

Median12.7358 counties

California13.353History

Map of counties, 2020

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

%, 2020. 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, 2020

%. 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	2020 (%)	Change on 2019
1	Sierra County	32.558	+11.61 pts
2	Alpine County	29.703	+9.77 pts
3	Yuba County	21.049	+6.93 pts
4	Modoc County	16.554	+8.01 pts
5	Plumas County	15.46	+3.66 pts
6	Glenn County	15.383	+3.83 pts
7	Sutter County	15.107	+4.86 pts
8	El Dorado County	14.974	-1.91 pts
9	San Francisco County	14.766	-1.42 pts
10	Calaveras County	14.513	+1.68 pts
11	San Joaquin County	14.288	+0.58 pts
12	San Bernardino County	14.103	+0.28 pts
13	Siskiyou County	13.957	+1.9 pts
14	San Mateo County	13.81	-0.72 pts
15	Marin County	13.643	+0.79 pts
16	Riverside County	13.448	-0.96 pts
17	Orange County	13.351	+0.29 pts
18	Colusa County	13.113	+2.53 pts
19	Fresno County	13.081	+0.29 pts
20	Santa Clara County	13.008	-0.01 pts
21	Los Angeles County	12.928	+0.12 pts
22	Solano County	12.916	-0.26 pts
23	Mariposa County	12.914	+2.54 pts
24	Placer County	12.893	-0.59 pts
25	Trinity County	12.81	+2.92 pts
26	Kern County	12.763	+0.37 pts
27	Santa Cruz County	12.758	-0.43 pts
28	San Luis Obispo County	12.74	-0.44 pts
28	Ventura County	12.74	+0.09 pts
30	Imperial County	12.72	+0.1 pts
31	Sacramento County	12.62	-0.72 pts
32	Alameda County	12.564	-0.99 pts
33	San Diego County	12.411	-0.2 pts
34	San Benito County	12.393	+2.89 pts
35	Mendocino County	12.274	-0.08 pts
36	Nevada County	12.163	+0.6 pts
37	Lassen County	12.019	-1.51 pts
38	Contra Costa County	11.83	-1.3 pts
39	Napa County	11.822	+1.63 pts
40	Kings County	11.815	+3.14 pts
41	Tulare County	11.778	+0.46 pts
42	Santa Barbara County	11.773	-0.28 pts
43	Sonoma County	11.724	-2.14 pts
44	Lake County	11.593	-1.02 pts
45	Monterey County	11.557	-0.17 pts
46	Yolo County	11.532	-2.37 pts
47	Stanislaus County	11.476	+1.15 pts
48	Humboldt County	11.367	+1.12 pts
49	Shasta County	11.364	-0.12 pts
50	Butte County	11.22	-0.27 pts
51	Tehama County	11.083	-3.02 pts
52	Mono County	11.035	+2.04 pts
53	Merced County	10.62	-0.31 pts
54	Inyo County	10.219	-3.27 pts
55	Tuolumne County	10.137	+0.42 pts
56	Madera County	10.048	-2.46 pts
57	Amador County	9.736	-0.58 pts
58	Del Norte County	9.167	+0.57 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, 2020) [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, 2020. 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=2020. 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, 2020. 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=2020.

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, 2020 [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=2020 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX

@misc{census_counties_in_california_by_2020,
  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, 2020}},
  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=2020. 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, 2020
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=2020
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/job-creation-rate/california-counties?period=2020.
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?

Sierra County, with 32.558% in 2020, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Which county has the lowest job creation rate?

Del Norte County, with 9.167% in 2020.

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.