Counties in Alabama by job destruction rate
Barbour County had the highest job destruction rate of 67 counties in 2021, at 22.194%. Clay County had the lowest, at 6.066%. The median was 12.135% and the figure for Alabama was 13.799%. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.
Map of counties, 2021
- Under 8.9
- 8.9 to 11
- 11 to 12
- 12 to 14
- 14 to 15
- 15 and over
Top 40 counties, 2021
Full ranking
| Rank | Counties | 2021 (%) | Change on 2020 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Barbour County | 22.194 | +15.22 pts |
| 2 | Crenshaw County | 17.598 | +10.44 pts |
| 3 | Jefferson County | 16.752 | +6.02 pts |
| 4 | Lamar County | 15.681 | +6.64 pts |
| 5 | Conecuh County | 15.499 | +3.97 pts |
| 6 | Dallas County | 15.281 | -0.33 pts |
| 7 | St. Clair County | 15.149 | +3.18 pts |
| 8 | Baldwin County | 15.141 | +3.03 pts |
| 9 | Lauderdale County | 15.044 | +1.36 pts |
| 10 | Etowah County | 14.936 | +1.58 pts |
| 11 | Morgan County | 14.734 | +5.11 pts |
| 12 | Marengo County | 14.628 | +5.9 pts |
| 13 | Pickens County | 14.624 | +4.87 pts |
| 14 | Russell County | 14.54 | +5.58 pts |
| 15 | Macon County | 14.476 | +7.74 pts |
| 16 | Shelby County | 14.475 | +3.66 pts |
| 17 | Butler County | 14.295 | -0.8 pts |
| 18 | Walker County | 14.066 | +2.07 pts |
| 19 | Perry County | 14.018 | +4.82 pts |
| 20 | Coosa County | 13.937 | +7.95 pts |
| 21 | Bibb County | 13.924 | +3.96 pts |
| 22 | Chambers County | 13.762 | +6.39 pts |
| 23 | Madison County | 13.667 | +4.52 pts |
| 24 | Montgomery County | 13.627 | +3.18 pts |
| 25 | Greene County | 13.619 | -2.06 pts |
| 26 | Tuscaloosa County | 13.255 | +3.57 pts |
| 27 | Elmore County | 13.249 | +3.46 pts |
| 28 | Calhoun County | 13.221 | +2.51 pts |
| 29 | Mobile County | 13.165 | +1.14 pts |
| 30 | Coffee County | 12.822 | +1.36 pts |
| 31 | Winston County | 12.778 | +1.76 pts |
| 32 | Autauga County | 12.706 | +0.17 pts |
| 33 | Geneva County | 12.577 | -0.94 pts |
| 34 | Marshall County | 12.135 | +4.46 pts |
| 35 | Monroe County | 12.061 | +2.98 pts |
| 36 | Dale County | 11.964 | +3.71 pts |
| 37 | Limestone County | 11.938 | +3.97 pts |
| 38 | Clarke County | 11.684 | +3.28 pts |
| 39 | Sumter County | 11.609 | -3.12 pts |
| 40 | Chilton County | 11.591 | -0.9 pts |
| 41 | Lee County | 11.536 | +0.54 pts |
| 42 | Escambia County | 11.255 | +2.15 pts |
| 43 | Wilcox County | 11.058 | +3.15 pts |
| 44 | Houston County | 11.057 | +1 pts |
| 45 | Tallapoosa County | 11.055 | -1.42 pts |
| 46 | Lowndes County | 10.962 | +1.64 pts |
| 47 | Randolph County | 10.919 | -2.27 pts |
| 48 | Bullock County | 10.645 | +7.33 pts |
| 49 | Cullman County | 10.642 | +2.76 pts |
| 50 | Lawrence County | 10.603 | -3.15 pts |
| 51 | Blount County | 10.601 | -2.05 pts |
| 52 | Colbert County | 10.289 | +0.74 pts |
| 53 | Cleburne County | 9.644 | -4.11 pts |
| 54 | Talladega County | 9.565 | -0.42 pts |
| 55 | Fayette County | 9.071 | -3.89 pts |
| 56 | Cherokee County | 8.891 | -4.73 pts |
| 57 | Franklin County | 8.764 | +1.55 pts |
| 58 | Marion County | 8.742 | -1.35 pts |
| 59 | Hale County | 8.741 | -2.17 pts |
| 60 | Jackson County | 8.707 | -6.85 pts |
| 61 | DeKalb County | 8.642 | -1.79 pts |
| 62 | Covington County | 8.218 | -5.31 pts |
| 63 | Pike County | 8.073 | +1.36 pts |
| 64 | Washington County | 7.821 | -3.72 pts |
| 65 | Choctaw County | 7.711 | -2.48 pts |
| 66 | Henry County | 6.449 | -8.19 pts |
| 67 | Clay County | 6.066 | +2.54 pts |
Other periods
About this ranking
Jobs lost at closing and shrinking 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 added elsewhere are not subtracted, so the net change is job_creation_rate minus this rate. Not a layoff rate: it counts positions lost at establishments, not people who lost a job. 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 destruction 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
APA 7
U.S. Census Bureau. (2025). Business Dynamics Statistics: job destruction rate, all covered industries, nation and states from 1978, counties from 2010 (Counties in Alabama by job destruction 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 destruction rate, all covered industries, nation and states from 1978, counties from 2010, Counties in Alabama by job destruction 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-destruction-rate/alabama-counties?period=2021. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.
Chicago (author-date)
U.S. Census Bureau. 2025. Business Dynamics Statistics: job destruction rate, all covered industries, nation and states from 1978, counties from 2010. Counties in Alabama by job destruction 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-destruction-rate/alabama-counties?period=2021.
Harvard
U.S. Census Bureau (2025) Business Dynamics Statistics: job destruction rate, all covered industries, nation and states from 1978, counties from 2010, Counties in Alabama by job destruction 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-destruction-rate/alabama-counties?period=2021 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).
BibTeX
@misc{census_counties_in_alabama_by_2021,
author = {{U.S. Census Bureau}},
title = {{Business Dynamics Statistics: job destruction rate, all covered industries, nation and states from 1978, counties from 2010: Counties in Alabama by job destruction 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-destruction-rate/alabama-counties?period=2021. Publisher attribution: U.S. Census Bureau. Business Dynamics Statistics: job destruction 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 destruction rate, all covered industries, nation and states from 1978, counties from 2010: Counties in Alabama by job destruction 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-destruction-rate/alabama-counties?period=2021
Y2 - 2026/10/12
N1 - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/job-destruction-rate/alabama-counties?period=2021.
N1 - Publisher attribution: U.S. Census Bureau. Business Dynamics Statistics: job destruction 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 -
Use this data in your AI agent
Invokely serves this figure to AI assistants through MCP and to code through a REST API, with the source and citation attached. Ask your assistant:
Rank Counties in Alabama by job destruction rate using official data, and cite the source.
rank_places {"indicator":"job_destruction_rate","level":"province","within":"Alabama","limit":10}
GET https://invokely.ai/api/v1/rank?indicator=job_destruction_rate&level=province&within=Alabama&limit=10
Questions
Which county has the highest job destruction rate?
Barbour County, with 22.194% in 2021, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
Which county has the lowest job destruction rate?
Clay County, with 6.066% 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 destruction rate, all covered industries, nation and states from 1978, counties from 2010. Retrieved 2026-10-12.
Job destruction rate: other rankings
Counties in Alabama: more rankings
- Business revenue: real estate, rental and leasing (Economic Census)
- Business establishments (QCEW)
- Business revenue: educational services (Economic Census)
- Business revenue: health care and social assistance (Economic Census)
- Real GDP growth
- Households with a broadband internet subscription
- Covered employment (QCEW)
- Unemployment rate (US five-year survey estimate)