Counties in Washington by job creation rate

Pacific County had the highest job creation rate of 39 counties in 2021, at 16.695%. Columbia County had the lowest, at 6.998%. The median was 12.05% and the figure for Washington was 11.942%. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.

Highest16.695Pacific County

Lowest6.998Columbia County

Median12.0539 counties

Washington11.942History

Map of counties, 2021

Under 10
10 to 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	Pacific County	16.695	+1.69 pts
2	Wahkiakum County	16.531	+9.51 pts
3	Benton County	16.494	+5.17 pts
4	Ferry County	15.904	+9.34 pts
5	Skamania County	15.074	-18.22 pts
6	Stevens County	15.028	+2.42 pts
7	San Juan County	14.117	+1.18 pts
8	Pend Oreille County	13.99	+2.26 pts
9	Jefferson County	13.848	+3.72 pts
10	Franklin County	13.617	+0.11 pts
11	Lincoln County	13.49	+2.91 pts
12	Thurston County	13.477	+1.01 pts
13	Kittitas County	13.284	+0.33 pts
14	Island County	13.223	+2.13 pts
15	Pierce County	13.212	+0.65 pts
16	Spokane County	13.039	+1.57 pts
17	Snohomish County	12.921	+0.08 pts
18	Douglas County	12.719	+1.24 pts
19	Lewis County	12.633	-0.39 pts
20	Grant County	12.05	+1.31 pts
21	Clark County	11.918	+0.56 pts
22	Clallam County	11.801	+2.26 pts
23	Kitsap County	11.749	-0.32 pts
24	Okanogan County	11.734	-5.54 pts
25	Asotin County	11.434	+1.99 pts
26	Mason County	11.276	+1.99 pts
27	Klickitat County	11.195	-2.44 pts
28	Cowlitz County	11.034	+1.48 pts
29	King County	10.911	-2.39 pts
30	Whatcom County	10.595	-0.44 pts
31	Grays Harbor County	10.35	-0.21 pts
32	Chelan County	10.341	-0.06 pts
33	Garfield County	10.181	+3.72 pts
34	Yakima County	8.814	-2.12 pts
35	Whitman County	8.78	-1.25 pts
36	Skagit County	8.372	-5.37 pts
37	Walla Walla County	8.32	+0.34 pts
38	Adams County	7.872	-5.28 pts
39	Columbia County	6.998	-5.42 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, 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 Washington 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/washington-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 Washington 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/washington-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 Washington 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/washington-counties?period=2021 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX

@misc{census_counties_in_washington_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 Washington 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/washington-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 Washington 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/washington-counties?period=2021
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/job-creation-rate/washington-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?

Pacific County, with 16.695% in 2021, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Which county has the lowest job creation rate?

Columbia County, with 6.998% 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.