Counties in Washington by job creation rate

Columbia County had the highest job creation rate of 39 counties in 2012, at 22.028%. Mason County had the lowest, at 9.366%. The median was 12.955% and the figure for Washington was 13.422%. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.

Highest22.028Columbia County

Lowest9.366Mason County

Median12.95539 counties

Washington13.422History

Map of counties, 2012

Under 11
11 to 12
12 to 13
13 to 14
14 to 15
15 and over

%, 2012. 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, 2012

%. 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	2012 (%)	Change on 2011
1	Columbia County	22.028	+9.98 pts
2	Skamania County	18.663	+9.25 pts
3	San Juan County	17.655	+4.49 pts
4	Garfield County	17.417	-0.79 pts
5	Clark County	15.427	+1.31 pts
6	Okanogan County	15.289	+2.55 pts
7	Jefferson County	15.199	+5.63 pts
8	Whitman County	15.013	+2.33 pts
9	Whatcom County	14.363	+1.69 pts
10	Thurston County	14.035	+2.49 pts
11	Snohomish County	13.948	+0.58 pts
12	Kittitas County	13.942	-0.18 pts
13	King County	13.79	-1.2 pts
14	Wahkiakum County	13.719	-3.54 pts
15	Lincoln County	13.625	+3.25 pts
16	Kitsap County	13.442	+1.12 pts
17	Pacific County	13.434	-1.76 pts
18	Franklin County	13.424	+1.34 pts
19	Grays Harbor County	13.104	+1.25 pts
20	Island County	12.955	-0.3 pts
21	Pierce County	12.698	-0.09 pts
22	Clallam County	12.669	+1.17 pts
23	Skagit County	12.518	+1.46 pts
24	Asotin County	12.431	+2.84 pts
25	Ferry County	12.354	+2.42 pts
26	Lewis County	12.329	+0.73 pts
27	Benton County	12.115	+0.25 pts
28	Klickitat County	12.033	-7.61 pts
29	Grant County	11.845	-0.76 pts
30	Walla Walla County	11.809	+3.61 pts
31	Spokane County	11.528	+0.85 pts
32	Yakima County	11.491	+1.5 pts
33	Cowlitz County	10.801	-3.44 pts
34	Stevens County	10.588	-1.65 pts
35	Douglas County	10.384	-2.25 pts
36	Adams County	10.375	-2.54 pts
37	Chelan County	10.085	-0.39 pts
38	Pend Oreille County	10.006	-1.76 pts
39	Mason County	9.366	-5.4 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 Washington by job creation rate, 2012) [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 Washington by job creation rate, 2012. 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/washington-counties?period=2012. 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 Washington by job creation rate, 2012. 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/washington-counties?period=2012.

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 Washington by job creation rate, 2012 [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/washington-counties?period=2012 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX

@misc{census_counties_in_washington_by_2012,
  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 Washington by job creation rate, 2012}},
  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/washington-counties?period=2012. 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 Washington by job creation rate, 2012
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/washington-counties?period=2012
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/job-creation-rate/washington-counties?period=2012.
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?

Columbia County, with 22.028% in 2012, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Which county has the lowest job creation rate?

Mason County, with 9.366% in 2012.

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.