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 2019, at 19.167%. Brown County had the lowest, at 2.475%. The median was 9.01% and the figure for Illinois was 11.047%. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.

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Highest19.167Pope County
Lowest2.475Brown County
Median9.01102 counties
Illinois11.047History

Map of counties, 2019

Adams County: 8.981 %Alexander County: 15.193 %Bond County: 6.81 %Boone County: 7.607 %Brown County: 2.475 %Bureau County: 5.962 %Calhoun County: 7.357 %Carroll County: 8.192 %Cass County: 4.951 %Champaign County: 11.481 %Christian County: 11.209 %Clark County: 7.688 %Clay County: 13.489 %Clinton County: 9.227 %Coles County: 11.391 %Cook County: 11.31 %Crawford County: 13.95 %Cumberland County: 6.041 %DeKalb County: 13.046 %De Witt County: 7.021 %Douglas County: 9.032 %DuPage County: 11.208 %Edgar County: 5.208 %Edwards County: 11.359 %Effingham County: 6.24 %Fayette County: 9.461 %Ford County: 8.93 %Franklin County: 13.366 %Fulton County: 8.636 %Gallatin County: 10.95 %Greene County: 8.64 %Grundy County: 7.069 %Hamilton County: 5.952 %Hancock County: 10.164 %Hardin County: 7.27 %Henderson County: 9.685 %Henry County: 7.76 %Iroquois County: 9.188 %Jackson County: 8.897 %Jasper County: 12.824 %Jefferson County: 13.326 %Jersey County: 6.301 %Jo Daviess County: 11.638 %Johnson County: 16.952 %Kane County: 11.303 %Kankakee County: 9.532 %Kendall County: 13.653 %Knox County: 8.629 %Lake County: 11.185 %LaSalle County: 11.952 %Lawrence County: 8.772 %Lee County: 8.565 %Livingston County: 6.992 %Logan County: 7.18 %McDonough County: 7.994 %McHenry County: 12.048 %McLean County: 7.887 %Macon County: 10.359 %Macoupin County: 8.608 %Madison County: 11.56 %Marion County: 9.87 %Marshall County: 10.346 %Mason County: 5.985 %Massac County: 6.283 %Menard County: 11.796 %Mercer County: 13.55 %Monroe County: 11.428 %Montgomery County: 8.595 %Morgan County: 12.18 %Moultrie County: 10.489 %Ogle County: 6.013 %Peoria County: 7.828 %Perry County: 8.065 %Piatt County: 8.392 %Pike County: 9.824 %Pope County: 19.167 %Pulaski County: 10.544 %Putnam County: 9.01 %Randolph County: 6.303 %Richland County: 6.413 %Rock Island County: 9.009 %St. Clair County: 10.515 %Saline County: 8.514 %Sangamon County: 8.139 %Schuyler County: 8.181 %Scott County: 14.183 %Shelby County: 6.638 %Stark County: 5.049 %Stephenson County: 10.375 %Tazewell County: 17.087 %Union County: 5.754 %Vermilion County: 8.255 %Wabash County: 14.14 %Warren County: 8.814 %Washington County: 8.415 %Wayne County: 9.407 %White County: 12.842 %Whiteside County: 7.642 %Will County: 14.408 %Williamson County: 8.897 %Winnebago County: 9.454 %Woodford County: 11.09 %
  • Under 7
  • 7 to 8.2
  • 8.2 to 9
  • 9 to 11
  • 11 to 12
  • 12 and over
%, 2019. 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, 2019

Pope County: 19.167 %Pope County19.167Tazewell County: 17.087 %Tazewell County17.087Johnson County: 16.952 %Johnson County16.952Alexander County: 15.193 %Alexander County15.193Will County: 14.408 %Will County14.408Scott County: 14.183 %Scott County14.183Wabash County: 14.14 %Wabash County14.14Crawford County: 13.95 %Crawford County13.95Kendall County: 13.653 %Kendall County13.653Mercer County: 13.55 %Mercer County13.55Clay County: 13.489 %Clay County13.489Franklin County: 13.366 %Franklin County13.366Jefferson County: 13.326 %Jefferson County13.326DeKalb County: 13.046 %DeKalb County13.046White County: 12.842 %White County12.842Jasper County: 12.824 %Jasper County12.824Morgan County: 12.18 %Morgan County12.18McHenry County: 12.048 %McHenry County12.048LaSalle County: 11.952 %LaSalle County11.952Menard County: 11.796 %Menard County11.796Jo Daviess County: 11.638 %Jo Daviess County11.638Madison County: 11.56 %Madison County11.56Champaign County: 11.481 %Champaign County11.481Monroe County: 11.428 %Monroe County11.428Coles County: 11.391 %Coles County11.391Edwards County: 11.359 %Edwards County11.359Cook County: 11.31 %Cook County11.31Kane County: 11.303 %Kane County11.303Christian County: 11.209 %Christian County11.209DuPage County: 11.208 %DuPage County11.208Lake County: 11.185 %Lake County11.185Woodford County: 11.09 %Woodford County11.09Gallatin County: 10.95 %Gallatin County10.95Pulaski County: 10.544 %Pulaski County10.544St. Clair County: 10.515 %St. Clair County10.515Moultrie County: 10.489 %Moultrie County10.489Stephenson County: 10.375 %Stephenson County10.375Macon County: 10.359 %Macon County10.359Marshall County: 10.346 %Marshall County10.346Hancock County: 10.164 %Hancock County10.164Pope County: 19.167 %Pope County19.167Tazewell County: 17.087 %Tazewell County17.087Johnson County: 16.952 %Johnson County16.952Alexander County: 15.193 %Alexander County15.193Will County: 14.408 %Will County14.408Scott County: 14.183 %Scott County14.183Wabash County: 14.14 %Wabash County14.14Crawford County: 13.95 %Crawford County13.95Kendall County: 13.653 %Kendall County13.653Mercer County: 13.55 %Mercer County13.55Clay County: 13.489 %Clay County13.489Franklin County: 13.366 %Franklin County13.366Jefferson County: 13.326 %Jefferson County13.326DeKalb County: 13.046 %DeKalb County13.046White County: 12.842 %White County12.842Jasper County: 12.824 %Jasper County12.824Morgan County: 12.18 %Morgan County12.18McHenry County: 12.048 %McHenry County12.048LaSalle County: 11.952 %LaSalle County11.952Menard County: 11.796 %Menard County11.796Jo Daviess County: 11.638 %Jo Daviess County11.638Madison County: 11.56 %Madison County11.56Champaign County: 11.481 %Champaign County11.481Monroe County: 11.428 %Monroe County11.428Coles County: 11.391 %Coles County11.391Edwards County: 11.359 %Edwards County11.359Cook County: 11.31 %Cook County11.31Kane County: 11.303 %Kane County11.303Christian County: 11.209 %Christian County11.209DuPage County: 11.208 %DuPage County11.208Lake County: 11.185 %Lake County11.185Woodford County: 11.09 %Woodford County11.09Gallatin County: 10.95 %Gallatin County10.95Pulaski County: 10.544 %Pulaski County10.544St. Clair County: 10.515 %St. Clair County10.515Moultrie County: 10.489 %Moultrie County10.489Stephenson County: 10.375 %Stephenson County10.375Macon County: 10.359 %Macon County10.359Marshall County: 10.346 %Marshall County10.346Hancock County: 10.164 %Hancock County10.164
%. 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

RankCounties2019 (%)Change on 2018
1Pope County19.167-2.19 pts
2Tazewell County17.087+3.98 pts
3Johnson County16.952+0.89 pts
4Alexander County15.193-3.77 pts
5Will County14.408+0.28 pts
6Scott County14.183+7.2 pts
7Wabash County14.14+5.48 pts
8Crawford County13.95+8.79 pts
9Kendall County13.653+0.92 pts
10Mercer County13.55+0.96 pts
11Clay County13.489+3.91 pts
12Franklin County13.366-1.71 pts
13Jefferson County13.326+5.78 pts
14DeKalb County13.046+0.04 pts
15White County12.842+3.59 pts
16Jasper County12.824+0.64 pts
17Morgan County12.18+3.42 pts
18McHenry County12.048-0.87 pts
19LaSalle County11.952+2.29 pts
20Menard County11.796+0.4 pts
21Jo Daviess County11.638+1.57 pts
22Madison County11.56+0.8 pts
23Champaign County11.481-0.27 pts
24Monroe County11.428+0.96 pts
25Coles County11.391-3.98 pts
26Edwards County11.359+7.27 pts
27Cook County11.31-0.61 pts
28Kane County11.303-1.99 pts
29Christian County11.209+2.26 pts
30DuPage County11.208-0.55 pts
31Lake County11.185-0.11 pts
32Woodford County11.09-2.87 pts
33Gallatin County10.95-3.87 pts
34Pulaski County10.544+2.28 pts
35St. Clair County10.515-0.31 pts
36Moultrie County10.489+2.44 pts
37Stephenson County10.375-0.27 pts
38Macon County10.359+0.44 pts
39Marshall County10.346+1 pts
40Hancock County10.164-2.48 pts
41Marion County9.87-4.81 pts
42Pike County9.824-0.29 pts
43Henderson County9.685-11 pts
44Kankakee County9.532-2.6 pts
45Fayette County9.461-4.23 pts
46Winnebago County9.454-0.36 pts
47Wayne County9.407-2.19 pts
48Clinton County9.227-2.56 pts
49Iroquois County9.188-2.1 pts
50Douglas County9.032-2.78 pts
51Putnam County9.01-11.99 pts
52Rock Island County9.009-4.33 pts
53Adams County8.981-4.68 pts
54Ford County8.93-2.31 pts
55Jackson County8.897-2.96 pts
55Williamson County8.897-0.33 pts
57Warren County8.814+1.08 pts
58Lawrence County8.772+2.36 pts
59Greene County8.64-2.5 pts
60Fulton County8.636-4.09 pts
61Knox County8.629-0.83 pts
62Macoupin County8.608-1.81 pts
63Montgomery County8.595-14.89 pts
64Lee County8.565-1.41 pts
65Saline County8.514-0.74 pts
66Washington County8.415-7.95 pts
67Piatt County8.392-5.38 pts
68Vermilion County8.255-0.89 pts
69Carroll County8.192-3.56 pts
70Schuyler County8.181-0.59 pts
71Sangamon County8.139-0.5 pts
72Perry County8.065-4.17 pts
73McDonough County7.994-2.09 pts
74McLean County7.887-4.52 pts
75Peoria County7.828-2.8 pts
76Henry County7.76-0.46 pts
77Clark County7.688-0.57 pts
78Whiteside County7.642-2.53 pts
79Boone County7.607-7.39 pts
80Calhoun County7.357-8.07 pts
81Hardin County7.27-1.85 pts
82Logan County7.18-3.84 pts
83Grundy County7.069-6.73 pts
84De Witt County7.021-3.15 pts
85Livingston County6.992-5.71 pts
86Bond County6.81-7.67 pts
87Shelby County6.638-16.08 pts
88Richland County6.413-1.7 pts
89Randolph County6.303-2.59 pts
90Jersey County6.301-8.62 pts
91Massac County6.283-1.03 pts
92Effingham County6.24-1.98 pts
93Cumberland County6.041-2.87 pts
94Ogle County6.013-10.57 pts
95Mason County5.985-3.2 pts
96Bureau County5.962-4.29 pts
97Hamilton County5.952-0.91 pts
98Union County5.754-5.89 pts
99Edgar County5.208-1.44 pts
100Stark County5.049-6.16 pts
101Cass County4.951-1.27 pts
102Brown County2.475-6.67 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, 2019) [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, 2019. 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=2019. 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, 2019. 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=2019.

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, 2019 [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=2019 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{census_counties_in_illinois_by_2019,
  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, 2019}},
  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=2019. 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, 2019
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=2019
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/job-creation-rate/illinois-counties?period=2019.
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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Rank Counties in Illinois by job creation rate using official data, and cite the source.
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Questions

Which county has the highest job creation rate?

Pope County, with 19.167% in 2019, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Which county has the lowest job creation rate?

Brown County, with 2.475% in 2019.

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