Data / Rankings / Job creation rate / Counties in Illinois

Counties in Illinois by job creation rate

Pope County had the highest job creation rate of 102 counties in 2016, at 29.207%. Jefferson County had the lowest, at 6.032%. The median was 10.061% and the figure for Illinois was 12.153%. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.

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Highest29.207Pope County
Lowest6.032Jefferson County
Median10.061102 counties
Illinois12.153History

Map of counties, 2016

Adams County: 7.93 %Alexander County: 13.719 %Bond County: 7.253 %Boone County: 6.575 %Brown County: 8.318 %Bureau County: 12.416 %Calhoun County: 9.788 %Carroll County: 10.506 %Cass County: 6.972 %Champaign County: 10.256 %Christian County: 7.541 %Clark County: 8.83 %Clay County: 7.463 %Clinton County: 8.679 %Coles County: 15.653 %Cook County: 12.69 %Crawford County: 18.727 %Cumberland County: 8.473 %DeKalb County: 11.931 %De Witt County: 8.239 %Douglas County: 9.843 %DuPage County: 12.365 %Edgar County: 16.994 %Edwards County: 6.62 %Effingham County: 10.588 %Fayette County: 10.108 %Ford County: 8.307 %Franklin County: 11.808 %Fulton County: 10.818 %Gallatin County: 19.256 %Greene County: 10.311 %Grundy County: 12.193 %Hamilton County: 20.57 %Hancock County: 9.074 %Hardin County: 10.828 %Henderson County: 9.459 %Henry County: 9.326 %Iroquois County: 11.148 %Jackson County: 13.86 %Jasper County: 8.842 %Jefferson County: 6.032 %Jersey County: 10.084 %Jo Daviess County: 11.664 %Johnson County: 9.769 %Kane County: 12.325 %Kankakee County: 9.052 %Kendall County: 13.875 %Knox County: 9.704 %Lake County: 11.08 %LaSalle County: 8.577 %Lawrence County: 8.17 %Lee County: 10.244 %Livingston County: 7.886 %Logan County: 8.665 %McDonough County: 8.788 %McHenry County: 12.644 %McLean County: 9.378 %Macon County: 7.976 %Macoupin County: 8.549 %Madison County: 11.345 %Marion County: 10.168 %Marshall County: 11.332 %Mason County: 9.942 %Massac County: 7.149 %Menard County: 16.541 %Mercer County: 11.407 %Monroe County: 10.344 %Montgomery County: 11.911 %Morgan County: 9.635 %Moultrie County: 6.994 %Ogle County: 11.331 %Peoria County: 12.263 %Perry County: 6.679 %Piatt County: 9.682 %Pike County: 10.395 %Pope County: 29.207 %Pulaski County: 8.785 %Putnam County: 13.457 %Randolph County: 8.29 %Richland County: 10.803 %Rock Island County: 8.754 %St. Clair County: 10.542 %Saline County: 8.598 %Sangamon County: 9.884 %Schuyler County: 15.716 %Scott County: 7.43 %Shelby County: 9.35 %Stark County: 16.172 %Stephenson County: 9.435 %Tazewell County: 9.93 %Union County: 10.052 %Vermilion County: 7.246 %Wabash County: 8.632 %Warren County: 12.22 %Washington County: 18.905 %Wayne County: 12.911 %White County: 11.396 %Whiteside County: 9.118 %Will County: 13.56 %Williamson County: 11.686 %Winnebago County: 9.744 %Woodford County: 10.069 %
  • Under 8.3
  • 8.3 to 9.1
  • 9.1 to 10
  • 10 to 11
  • 11 to 13
  • 13 and over
%, 2016. 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.

Top 40 counties, 2016

Pope County: 29.207 %Pope County29.207Hamilton County: 20.57 %Hamilton County20.57Gallatin County: 19.256 %Gallatin County19.256Washington County: 18.905 %Washington County18.905Crawford County: 18.727 %Crawford County18.727Edgar County: 16.994 %Edgar County16.994Menard County: 16.541 %Menard County16.541Stark County: 16.172 %Stark County16.172Schuyler County: 15.716 %Schuyler County15.716Coles County: 15.653 %Coles County15.653Kendall County: 13.875 %Kendall County13.875Jackson County: 13.86 %Jackson County13.86Alexander County: 13.719 %Alexander County13.719Will County: 13.56 %Will County13.56Putnam County: 13.457 %Putnam County13.457Wayne County: 12.911 %Wayne County12.911Cook County: 12.69 %Cook County12.69McHenry County: 12.644 %McHenry County12.644Bureau County: 12.416 %Bureau County12.416DuPage County: 12.365 %DuPage County12.365Kane County: 12.325 %Kane County12.325Peoria County: 12.263 %Peoria County12.263Warren County: 12.22 %Warren County12.22Grundy County: 12.193 %Grundy County12.193DeKalb County: 11.931 %DeKalb County11.931Montgomery County: 11.911 %Montgomery County11.911Franklin County: 11.808 %Franklin County11.808Williamson County: 11.686 %Williamson County11.686Jo Daviess County: 11.664 %Jo Daviess County11.664Mercer County: 11.407 %Mercer County11.407White County: 11.396 %White County11.396Madison County: 11.345 %Madison County11.345Marshall County: 11.332 %Marshall County11.332Ogle County: 11.331 %Ogle County11.331Iroquois County: 11.148 %Iroquois County11.148Lake County: 11.08 %Lake County11.08Hardin County: 10.828 %Hardin County10.828Fulton County: 10.818 %Fulton County10.818Richland County: 10.803 %Richland County10.803Effingham County: 10.588 %Effingham County10.588Pope County: 29.207 %Pope County29.207Hamilton County: 20.57 %Hamilton County20.57Gallatin County: 19.256 %Gallatin County19.256Washington County: 18.905 %Washington County18.905Crawford County: 18.727 %Crawford County18.727Edgar County: 16.994 %Edgar County16.994Menard County: 16.541 %Menard County16.541Stark County: 16.172 %Stark County16.172Schuyler County: 15.716 %Schuyler County15.716Coles County: 15.653 %Coles County15.653Kendall County: 13.875 %Kendall County13.875Jackson County: 13.86 %Jackson County13.86Alexander County: 13.719 %Alexander County13.719Will County: 13.56 %Will County13.56Putnam County: 13.457 %Putnam County13.457Wayne County: 12.911 %Wayne County12.911Cook County: 12.69 %Cook County12.69McHenry County: 12.644 %McHenry County12.644Bureau County: 12.416 %Bureau County12.416DuPage County: 12.365 %DuPage County12.365Kane County: 12.325 %Kane County12.325Peoria County: 12.263 %Peoria County12.263Warren County: 12.22 %Warren County12.22Grundy County: 12.193 %Grundy County12.193DeKalb County: 11.931 %DeKalb County11.931Montgomery County: 11.911 %Montgomery County11.911Franklin County: 11.808 %Franklin County11.808Williamson County: 11.686 %Williamson County11.686Jo Daviess County: 11.664 %Jo Daviess County11.664Mercer County: 11.407 %Mercer County11.407White County: 11.396 %White County11.396Madison County: 11.345 %Madison County11.345Marshall County: 11.332 %Marshall County11.332Ogle County: 11.331 %Ogle County11.331Iroquois County: 11.148 %Iroquois County11.148Lake County: 11.08 %Lake County11.08Hardin County: 10.828 %Hardin County10.828Fulton County: 10.818 %Fulton County10.818Richland County: 10.803 %Richland County10.803Effingham County: 10.588 %Effingham County10.588
%. 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

RankCounties2016 (%)Change on 2015
1Pope County29.207+0.82 pts
2Hamilton County20.57+0.08 pts
3Gallatin County19.256+11.18 pts
4Washington County18.905+6.51 pts
5Crawford County18.727+10.4 pts
6Edgar County16.994+3.97 pts
7Menard County16.541-1.61 pts
8Stark County16.172+6.17 pts
9Schuyler County15.716+5.84 pts
10Coles County15.653+4.62 pts
11Kendall County13.875-1.52 pts
12Jackson County13.86+2.29 pts
13Alexander County13.719+10.33 pts
14Will County13.56-1.23 pts
15Putnam County13.457+4.87 pts
16Wayne County12.911+2.45 pts
17Cook County12.69-0.79 pts
18McHenry County12.644-2.22 pts
19Bureau County12.416+4.97 pts
20DuPage County12.365-0.49 pts
21Kane County12.325+0.44 pts
22Peoria County12.263+0.01 pts
23Warren County12.22-3.61 pts
24Grundy County12.193-2.26 pts
25DeKalb County11.931-1.46 pts
26Montgomery County11.911+1.87 pts
27Franklin County11.808-0.96 pts
28Williamson County11.686-0.9 pts
29Jo Daviess County11.664+0.19 pts
30Mercer County11.407+3.97 pts
31White County11.396+1.73 pts
32Madison County11.345-1.55 pts
33Marshall County11.332+2.93 pts
34Ogle County11.331+1.1 pts
35Iroquois County11.148+3.38 pts
36Lake County11.08-0.26 pts
37Hardin County10.828-0.59 pts
38Fulton County10.818+0.51 pts
39Richland County10.803+4.46 pts
40Effingham County10.588-3.88 pts
41St. Clair County10.542-1.08 pts
42Carroll County10.506-5.95 pts
43Pike County10.395-1.36 pts
44Monroe County10.344-3.21 pts
45Greene County10.311-0.68 pts
46Champaign County10.256+0.03 pts
47Lee County10.244-0.54 pts
48Marion County10.168-0.25 pts
49Fayette County10.108+0.63 pts
50Jersey County10.084-0.63 pts
51Woodford County10.069+1.29 pts
52Union County10.052-2.97 pts
53Mason County9.942-0.1 pts
54Tazewell County9.93-1.02 pts
55Sangamon County9.884-1.63 pts
56Douglas County9.843-1.31 pts
57Calhoun County9.788+2.47 pts
58Johnson County9.769-5.02 pts
59Winnebago County9.744+0.62 pts
60Knox County9.704-1.03 pts
61Piatt County9.682+1.62 pts
62Morgan County9.635-0.28 pts
63Henderson County9.459-10.08 pts
64Stephenson County9.435+0.1 pts
65McLean County9.378+0.47 pts
66Shelby County9.35-1.57 pts
67Henry County9.326-1.39 pts
68Whiteside County9.118-2.06 pts
69Hancock County9.074-0.29 pts
70Kankakee County9.052-2.07 pts
71Jasper County8.842-4.88 pts
72Clark County8.83-4.23 pts
73McDonough County8.788-1.12 pts
74Pulaski County8.785-30.87 pts
75Rock Island County8.754-0.94 pts
76Clinton County8.679-3.98 pts
77Logan County8.665+0.12 pts
78Wabash County8.632+2.41 pts
79Saline County8.598-4.89 pts
80LaSalle County8.577-1.78 pts
81Macoupin County8.549-1.02 pts
82Cumberland County8.473+0.63 pts
83Brown County8.318+0.11 pts
84Ford County8.307-1.7 pts
85Randolph County8.29-0.31 pts
86De Witt County8.239-7.42 pts
87Lawrence County8.17-5.92 pts
88Macon County7.976-1.16 pts
89Adams County7.93-1.4 pts
90Livingston County7.886-1.2 pts
91Christian County7.541+0.23 pts
92Clay County7.463-1.89 pts
93Scott County7.43-3.61 pts
94Bond County7.253+0.22 pts
95Vermilion County7.246-4.19 pts
96Massac County7.149-9.02 pts
97Moultrie County6.994-0.13 pts
98Cass County6.972+1.9 pts
99Perry County6.679-5.31 pts
100Edwards County6.62-9.9 pts
101Boone County6.575-5.56 pts
102Jefferson County6.032-0.74 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 Illinois by job creation rate, 2016) [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 Illinois by job creation rate, 2016. 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/illinois-counties?period=2016. 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 Illinois by job creation rate, 2016. 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/illinois-counties?period=2016.

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 Illinois by job creation rate, 2016 [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/illinois-counties?period=2016 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{census_counties_in_illinois_by_2016,
  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 Illinois by job creation rate, 2016}},
  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/illinois-counties?period=2016. 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 Illinois by job creation rate, 2016
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/illinois-counties?period=2016
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/job-creation-rate/illinois-counties?period=2016.
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?

Pope County, with 29.207% in 2016, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Which county has the lowest job creation rate?

Jefferson County, with 6.032% in 2016.

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.

Job creation rate: other rankings

Counties in Illinois: more rankings