Data / Rankings / Job creation rate / US states

US states by job creation rate

Colorado had the highest job creation rate of 51 states in 2020, at 13.624%. Hawaii had the lowest, at 8.996%. The median was 11.459% and the figure for the United States was 11.958%. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.

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Highest13.624Colorado
Lowest8.996Hawaii
Median11.45951 states
United States11.958History

Map of states, 2020

Alabama: 11.499 %Alaska: 11.257 %Arizona: 12.464 %Arkansas: 10.977 %California: 13.353 %Colorado: 13.624 %Connecticut: 12.338 %Delaware: 12.666 %District of Columbia: 12.259 %Florida: 13.593 %Georgia: 12.965 %Hawaii: 8.996 %Idaho: 13.168 %Illinois: 11.222 %Indiana: 10.559 %Iowa: 9.813 %Kansas: 10.88 %Kentucky: 10.587 %Louisiana: 11.019 %Maine: 10.158 %Maryland: 11.857 %Massachusetts: 10.655 %Michigan: 11.015 %Minnesota: 10.312 %Mississippi: 10.3 %Missouri: 11.166 %Montana: 11.934 %Nebraska: 11 %Nevada: 12.93 %New Hampshire: 9.429 %New Jersey: 11.748 %New Mexico: 11.882 %New York: 11.459 %North Carolina: 11.523 %North Dakota: 10.943 %Ohio: 11.062 %Oklahoma: 12.309 %Oregon: 11.53 %Pennsylvania: 10.451 %Rhode Island: 11.066 %South Carolina: 11.843 %South Dakota: 11.404 %Tennessee: 12.251 %Texas: 13.302 %Utah: 13.479 %Vermont: 9.34 %Virginia: 11.737 %Washington: 12.559 %West Virginia: 9.529 %Wisconsin: 10.363 %Wyoming: 12.037 %
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%, 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 states, 2020

Colorado: 13.624 %Colorado13.624Florida: 13.593 %Florida13.593Utah: 13.479 %Utah13.479California: 13.353 %California13.353Texas: 13.302 %Texas13.302Idaho: 13.168 %Idaho13.168Georgia: 12.965 %Georgia12.965Nevada: 12.93 %Nevada12.93Delaware: 12.666 %Delaware12.666Washington: 12.559 %Washington12.559Arizona: 12.464 %Arizona12.464Connecticut: 12.338 %Connecticut12.338Oklahoma: 12.309 %Oklahoma12.309District of Columbia: 12.259 %District of Columbia12.259Tennessee: 12.251 %Tennessee12.251Wyoming: 12.037 %Wyoming12.037Montana: 11.934 %Montana11.934New Mexico: 11.882 %New Mexico11.882Maryland: 11.857 %Maryland11.857South Carolina: 11.843 %South Carolina11.843New Jersey: 11.748 %New Jersey11.748Virginia: 11.737 %Virginia11.737Oregon: 11.53 %Oregon11.53North Carolina: 11.523 %North Carolina11.523Alabama: 11.499 %Alabama11.499New York: 11.459 %New York11.459South Dakota: 11.404 %South Dakota11.404Alaska: 11.257 %Alaska11.257Illinois: 11.222 %Illinois11.222Missouri: 11.166 %Missouri11.166Rhode Island: 11.066 %Rhode Island11.066Ohio: 11.062 %Ohio11.062Louisiana: 11.019 %Louisiana11.019Michigan: 11.015 %Michigan11.015Nebraska: 11 %Nebraska11Arkansas: 10.977 %Arkansas10.977North Dakota: 10.943 %North Dakota10.943Kansas: 10.88 %Kansas10.88Massachusetts: 10.655 %Massachusetts10.655Kentucky: 10.587 %Kentucky10.587Indiana: 10.559 %Indiana10.559Pennsylvania: 10.451 %Pennsylvania10.451Wisconsin: 10.363 %Wisconsin10.363Minnesota: 10.312 %Minnesota10.312Mississippi: 10.3 %Mississippi10.3Maine: 10.158 %Maine10.158Iowa: 9.813 %Iowa9.813West Virginia: 9.529 %West Virginia9.529New Hampshire: 9.429 %New Hampshire9.429Vermont: 9.34 %Vermont9.34Hawaii: 8.996 %Hawaii8.996Colorado: 13.624 %Colorado13.624Florida: 13.593 %Florida13.593Utah: 13.479 %Utah13.479California: 13.353 %California13.353Texas: 13.302 %Texas13.302Idaho: 13.168 %Idaho13.168Georgia: 12.965 %Georgia12.965Nevada: 12.93 %Nevada12.93Delaware: 12.666 %Delaware12.666Washington: 12.559 %Washington12.559Arizona: 12.464 %Arizona12.464Connecticut: 12.338 %Connecticut12.338Oklahoma: 12.309 %Oklahoma12.309District of Columbia: 12.259 %District of Columbia12.259Tennessee: 12.251 %Tennessee12.251Wyoming: 12.037 %Wyoming12.037Montana: 11.934 %Montana11.934New Mexico: 11.882 %New Mexico11.882Maryland: 11.857 %Maryland11.857South Carolina: 11.843 %South Carolina11.843New Jersey: 11.748 %New Jersey11.748Virginia: 11.737 %Virginia11.737Oregon: 11.53 %Oregon11.53North Carolina: 11.523 %North Carolina11.523Alabama: 11.499 %Alabama11.499New York: 11.459 %New York11.459South Dakota: 11.404 %South Dakota11.404Alaska: 11.257 %Alaska11.257Illinois: 11.222 %Illinois11.222Missouri: 11.166 %Missouri11.166Rhode Island: 11.066 %Rhode Island11.066Ohio: 11.062 %Ohio11.062Louisiana: 11.019 %Louisiana11.019Michigan: 11.015 %Michigan11.015Nebraska: 11 %Nebraska11Arkansas: 10.977 %Arkansas10.977North Dakota: 10.943 %North Dakota10.943Kansas: 10.88 %Kansas10.88Massachusetts: 10.655 %Massachusetts10.655Kentucky: 10.587 %Kentucky10.587Indiana: 10.559 %Indiana10.559Pennsylvania: 10.451 %Pennsylvania10.451Wisconsin: 10.363 %Wisconsin10.363Minnesota: 10.312 %Minnesota10.312Mississippi: 10.3 %Mississippi10.3Maine: 10.158 %Maine10.158Iowa: 9.813 %Iowa9.813West Virginia: 9.529 %West Virginia9.529New Hampshire: 9.429 %New Hampshire9.429Vermont: 9.34 %Vermont9.34Hawaii: 8.996 %Hawaii8.996
%. 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

RankStates2020 (%)Change on 2019
1Colorado13.624-0.17 pts
2Florida13.593+0.7 pts
3Utah13.479+0.68 pts
4California13.353-0.04 pts
5Texas13.302-0.29 pts
6Idaho13.168+0.29 pts
7Georgia12.965-0.38 pts
8Nevada12.93-0.87 pts
9Delaware12.666-0.65 pts
10Washington12.559+0.1 pts
11Arizona12.464-1.34 pts
12Connecticut12.338+1.57 pts
13Oklahoma12.309+0.03 pts
14District of Columbia12.259+1.89 pts
15Tennessee12.251+0.39 pts
16Wyoming12.037+0.77 pts
17Montana11.934+0.53 pts
18New Mexico11.882+0.26 pts
19Maryland11.857+0.91 pts
20South Carolina11.843-1.1 pts
21New Jersey11.748-0.56 pts
22Virginia11.737-0.27 pts
23Oregon11.53-0.41 pts
24North Carolina11.523-1.05 pts
25Alabama11.499-0.25 pts
26New York11.459-0.89 pts
27South Dakota11.404+2 pts
28Alaska11.257-0.38 pts
29Illinois11.222+0.17 pts
30Missouri11.166+0.23 pts
31Rhode Island11.066+1.44 pts
32Ohio11.062+0.07 pts
33Louisiana11.019-1.02 pts
34Michigan11.015+0.27 pts
35Nebraska11+0.08 pts
36Arkansas10.977-0.55 pts
37North Dakota10.943+0.28 pts
38Kansas10.88-0.23 pts
39Massachusetts10.655-0.37 pts
40Kentucky10.587-0.99 pts
41Indiana10.559+0.53 pts
42Pennsylvania10.451-0.25 pts
43Wisconsin10.363-0.23 pts
44Minnesota10.312+0.05 pts
45Mississippi10.3-0.57 pts
46Maine10.158-0.74 pts
47Iowa9.813-0.59 pts
48West Virginia9.529-1.07 pts
49New Hampshire9.429-0.64 pts
50Vermont9.34+0.22 pts
51Hawaii8.996-1.04 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 states 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.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 (US states 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.csv

MLA 9

Business Dynamics Statistics: job creation rate, all covered industries, nation and states from 1978, counties from 2010, US states 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.csv. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/job-creation-rate/us-states?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. US states by job creation rate, 2020. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/bds/tables/time-series/2023/bds2023_st.csv. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/job-creation-rate/us-states?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, US states by job creation rate, 2020 [Dataset]. Available at: https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/bds/tables/time-series/2023/bds2023_st.csv, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/job-creation-rate/us-states?period=2020 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{census_us_states_by_job_2020,
  author = {{U.S. Census Bureau}},
  title = {{Business Dynamics Statistics: job creation rate, all covered industries, nation and states from 1978, counties from 2010: US states by job creation rate, 2020}},
  year = {2025},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/bds/tables/time-series/2023/bds2023_st.csv},
  urldate = {2026-10-12},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/job-creation-rate/us-states?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.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: US states 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.csv
L2  - https://invokely.ai/rankings/job-creation-rate/us-states?period=2020
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/job-creation-rate/us-states?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.csv. Retrieved 2026-10-12.
ER  -
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Questions

Which state has the highest job creation rate?

Colorado, with 13.624% in 2020, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Which state has the lowest job creation rate?

Hawaii, with 8.996% 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.

Job creation rate: other rankings

US states: more rankings