Counties in California by job creation rate

Alpine County had the highest job creation rate of 58 counties in 2021, at 29.003%. Inyo County had the lowest, at 6.235%. The median was 12.164% and the figure for California was 12.658%. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.

Highest29.003Alpine County

Lowest6.235Inyo County

Median12.16458 counties

California12.658History

Map of counties, 2021

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

%, 2021. 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, 2021

%. 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	2021 (%)	Change on 2020
1	Alpine County	29.003	-0.7 pts
2	Sierra County	21.138	-11.42 pts
3	Trinity County	17.679	+4.87 pts
4	Modoc County	17.518	+0.96 pts
5	San Francisco County	16.272	+1.51 pts
6	Colusa County	16.07	+2.96 pts
7	San Joaquin County	14.152	-0.14 pts
8	San Bernardino County	14.042	-0.06 pts
9	Lassen County	13.979	+1.96 pts
10	Plumas County	13.796	-1.66 pts
11	Mono County	13.315	+2.28 pts
12	Riverside County	13.301	-0.15 pts
13	Mendocino County	13.114	+0.84 pts
14	Yuba County	12.961	-8.09 pts
15	El Dorado County	12.955	-2.02 pts
16	Lake County	12.895	+1.3 pts
17	Calaveras County	12.877	-1.64 pts
18	Siskiyou County	12.764	-1.19 pts
19	Kern County	12.76	-0 pts
19	San Benito County	12.76	+0.37 pts
21	Sacramento County	12.707	+0.09 pts
22	Madera County	12.685	+2.64 pts
23	Placer County	12.663	-0.23 pts
24	San Mateo County	12.606	-1.2 pts
25	Santa Clara County	12.463	-0.54 pts
26	Los Angeles County	12.375	-0.55 pts
27	Sutter County	12.309	-2.8 pts
28	Ventura County	12.231	-0.51 pts
29	Alameda County	12.184	-0.38 pts
30	Nevada County	12.144	-0.02 pts
31	Contra Costa County	12.122	+0.29 pts
32	San Diego County	12.036	-0.38 pts
33	Orange County	11.965	-1.39 pts
34	Shasta County	11.837	+0.47 pts
35	Sonoma County	11.734	+0.01 pts
36	Kings County	11.512	-0.3 pts
37	Solano County	11.292	-1.62 pts
38	Marin County	11.211	-2.43 pts
39	Imperial County	11.149	-1.57 pts
40	San Luis Obispo County	11.071	-1.67 pts
41	Fresno County	10.954	-2.13 pts
42	Monterey County	10.892	-0.67 pts
43	Stanislaus County	10.844	-0.63 pts
44	Merced County	10.791	+0.17 pts
45	Mariposa County	10.756	-2.16 pts
46	Humboldt County	10.737	-0.63 pts
47	Tuolumne County	10.662	+0.53 pts
48	Yolo County	10.64	-0.89 pts
49	Glenn County	10.623	-4.76 pts
50	Tulare County	10.43	-1.35 pts
51	Santa Cruz County	10.339	-2.42 pts
52	Santa Barbara County	10.214	-1.56 pts
53	Butte County	10.089	-1.13 pts
54	Napa County	9.933	-1.89 pts
55	Tehama County	9.921	-1.16 pts
56	Amador County	9.787	+0.05 pts
57	Del Norte County	8.302	-0.87 pts
58	Inyo County	6.235	-3.98 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, 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: job creation rate, all covered industries, nation and states from 1978, counties from 2010, Counties in California by job creation 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/job-creation-rate/california-counties?period=2021. 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, 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/job-creation-rate/california-counties?period=2021.

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, 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/job-creation-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: job creation rate, all covered industries, nation and states from 1978, counties from 2010: Counties in California by job creation 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/job-creation-rate/california-counties?period=2021. 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, 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/job-creation-rate/california-counties?period=2021
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/job-creation-rate/california-counties?period=2021.
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?

Alpine County, with 29.003% in 2021, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Which county has the lowest job creation rate?

Inyo County, with 6.235% 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: job creation rate, all covered industries, nation and states from 1978, counties from 2010. Retrieved 2026-10-12.