Data / Rankings / Job destruction rate / Counties in Iowa

Counties in Iowa by job destruction rate

Hamilton County had the highest job destruction rate of 99 counties in 2012, at 28.614%. Van Buren County had the lowest, at 4.877%. The median was 9.198% and the figure for Iowa was 9.76%. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.

Keep it in a collection in your library.
Highest28.614Hamilton County
Lowest4.877Van Buren County
Median9.19899 counties
Iowa9.76History

Map of counties, 2012

Adair County: 7.752 %Adams County: 12.507 %Allamakee County: 9.165 %Appanoose County: 10.885 %Audubon County: 11.392 %Benton County: 10.294 %Black Hawk County: 8.643 %Boone County: 13.007 %Bremer County: 7.324 %Buchanan County: 9.855 %Buena Vista County: 6.664 %Butler County: 9.198 %Calhoun County: 11.078 %Carroll County: 10.137 %Cass County: 9.353 %Cedar County: 7.937 %Cerro Gordo County: 10.418 %Cherokee County: 12.944 %Chickasaw County: 11.899 %Clarke County: 6.702 %Clay County: 10.493 %Clayton County: 9.856 %Clinton County: 9.903 %Crawford County: 7.42 %Dallas County: 8.298 %Davis County: 11.356 %Decatur County: 6.983 %Delaware County: 7.733 %Des Moines County: 9.081 %Dickinson County: 15.901 %Dubuque County: 7.725 %Emmet County: 8.346 %Fayette County: 9.321 %Floyd County: 8.759 %Franklin County: 9.699 %Fremont County: 10.214 %Greene County: 7.063 %Grundy County: 6.219 %Guthrie County: 10.034 %Hamilton County: 28.614 %Hancock County: 5.858 %Hardin County: 10.629 %Harrison County: 7.033 %Henry County: 9.939 %Howard County: 6.456 %Humboldt County: 9.312 %Ida County: 8.121 %Iowa County: 12.014 %Jackson County: 7.615 %Jasper County: 9.539 %Jefferson County: 10.812 %Johnson County: 11.71 %Jones County: 8.991 %Keokuk County: 8.802 %Kossuth County: 7.597 %Lee County: 9.18 %Linn County: 9.425 %Louisa County: 5.558 %Lucas County: 6.496 %Lyon County: 6.621 %Madison County: 12.767 %Mahaska County: 8.105 %Marion County: 6.672 %Marshall County: 10.949 %Mills County: 8.207 %Mitchell County: 8.343 %Monona County: 17.297 %Monroe County: 8.193 %Montgomery County: 6.819 %Muscatine County: 9.404 %O'Brien County: 8.789 %Osceola County: 7.94 %Page County: 14.199 %Palo Alto County: 9.893 %Plymouth County: 6.926 %Pocahontas County: 8.983 %Polk County: 9.531 %Pottawattamie County: 8.582 %Poweshiek County: 7.428 %Ringgold County: 11.081 %Sac County: 9.824 %Scott County: 11.688 %Shelby County: 11.656 %Sioux County: 9.105 %Story County: 11.186 %Tama County: 9 %Taylor County: 8.639 %Union County: 9.285 %Van Buren County: 4.877 %Wapello County: 10.066 %Warren County: 16.428 %Washington County: 9.248 %Wayne County: 8.33 %Webster County: 14.013 %Winnebago County: 12.173 %Winneshiek County: 7.268 %Woodbury County: 11.173 %Worth County: 5.435 %Wright County: 8.999 %
  • Under 7.3
  • 7.3 to 8.3
  • 8.3 to 9.2
  • 9.2 to 10
  • 10 to 11
  • 11 and over
%, 2012. Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Business Dynamics Statistics: job destruction rate, all covered industries, nation and states from 1978, counties from 2010. Boundaries: U.S. Census Bureau cartographic boundary files.

Top 40 counties, 2012

Hamilton County: 28.614 %Hamilton County28.614Monona County: 17.297 %Monona County17.297Warren County: 16.428 %Warren County16.428Dickinson County: 15.901 %Dickinson County15.901Page County: 14.199 %Page County14.199Webster County: 14.013 %Webster County14.013Boone County: 13.007 %Boone County13.007Cherokee County: 12.944 %Cherokee County12.944Madison County: 12.767 %Madison County12.767Adams County: 12.507 %Adams County12.507Winnebago County: 12.173 %Winnebago County12.173Iowa County: 12.014 %Iowa County12.014Chickasaw County: 11.899 %Chickasaw County11.899Johnson County: 11.71 %Johnson County11.71Scott County: 11.688 %Scott County11.688Shelby County: 11.656 %Shelby County11.656Audubon County: 11.392 %Audubon County11.392Davis County: 11.356 %Davis County11.356Story County: 11.186 %Story County11.186Woodbury County: 11.173 %Woodbury County11.173Ringgold County: 11.081 %Ringgold County11.081Calhoun County: 11.078 %Calhoun County11.078Marshall County: 10.949 %Marshall County10.949Appanoose County: 10.885 %Appanoose County10.885Jefferson County: 10.812 %Jefferson County10.812Hardin County: 10.629 %Hardin County10.629Clay County: 10.493 %Clay County10.493Cerro Gordo County: 10.418 %Cerro Gordo County10.418Benton County: 10.294 %Benton County10.294Fremont County: 10.214 %Fremont County10.214Carroll County: 10.137 %Carroll County10.137Wapello County: 10.066 %Wapello County10.066Guthrie County: 10.034 %Guthrie County10.034Henry County: 9.939 %Henry County9.939Clinton County: 9.903 %Clinton County9.903Palo Alto County: 9.893 %Palo Alto County9.893Clayton County: 9.856 %Clayton County9.856Buchanan County: 9.855 %Buchanan County9.855Sac County: 9.824 %Sac County9.824Franklin County: 9.699 %Franklin County9.699Hamilton County: 28.614 %Hamilton County28.614Monona County: 17.297 %Monona County17.297Warren County: 16.428 %Warren County16.428Dickinson County: 15.901 %Dickinson County15.901Page County: 14.199 %Page County14.199Webster County: 14.013 %Webster County14.013Boone County: 13.007 %Boone County13.007Cherokee County: 12.944 %Cherokee County12.944Madison County: 12.767 %Madison County12.767Adams County: 12.507 %Adams County12.507Winnebago County: 12.173 %Winnebago County12.173Iowa County: 12.014 %Iowa County12.014Chickasaw County: 11.899 %Chickasaw County11.899Johnson County: 11.71 %Johnson County11.71Scott County: 11.688 %Scott County11.688Shelby County: 11.656 %Shelby County11.656Audubon County: 11.392 %Audubon County11.392Davis County: 11.356 %Davis County11.356Story County: 11.186 %Story County11.186Woodbury County: 11.173 %Woodbury County11.173Ringgold County: 11.081 %Ringgold County11.081Calhoun County: 11.078 %Calhoun County11.078Marshall County: 10.949 %Marshall County10.949Appanoose County: 10.885 %Appanoose County10.885Jefferson County: 10.812 %Jefferson County10.812Hardin County: 10.629 %Hardin County10.629Clay County: 10.493 %Clay County10.493Cerro Gordo County: 10.418 %Cerro Gordo County10.418Benton County: 10.294 %Benton County10.294Fremont County: 10.214 %Fremont County10.214Carroll County: 10.137 %Carroll County10.137Wapello County: 10.066 %Wapello County10.066Guthrie County: 10.034 %Guthrie County10.034Henry County: 9.939 %Henry County9.939Clinton County: 9.903 %Clinton County9.903Palo Alto County: 9.893 %Palo Alto County9.893Clayton County: 9.856 %Clayton County9.856Buchanan County: 9.855 %Buchanan County9.855Sac County: 9.824 %Sac County9.824Franklin County: 9.699 %Franklin County9.699
%. Source: 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.

Full ranking

RankCounties2012 (%)Change on 2011
1Hamilton County28.614+19.38 pts
2Monona County17.297+4.68 pts
3Warren County16.428+4.02 pts
4Dickinson County15.901+5.33 pts
5Page County14.199+3.55 pts
6Webster County14.013+6.2 pts
7Boone County13.007+5.05 pts
8Cherokee County12.944+6.79 pts
9Madison County12.767-0.2 pts
10Adams County12.507-0.74 pts
11Winnebago County12.173+5.83 pts
12Iowa County12.014+3.6 pts
13Chickasaw County11.899-1.01 pts
14Johnson County11.71+3.06 pts
15Scott County11.688+2.01 pts
16Shelby County11.656+0.88 pts
17Audubon County11.392-0.16 pts
18Davis County11.356+0.49 pts
19Story County11.186+1.19 pts
20Woodbury County11.173-2.32 pts
21Ringgold County11.081-1.03 pts
22Calhoun County11.078+3.26 pts
23Marshall County10.949+4.14 pts
24Appanoose County10.885+0.04 pts
25Jefferson County10.812+0.95 pts
26Hardin County10.629-8.61 pts
27Clay County10.493+0.33 pts
28Cerro Gordo County10.418+1.41 pts
29Benton County10.294-1.96 pts
30Fremont County10.214+3.83 pts
31Carroll County10.137-2.76 pts
32Wapello County10.066+0.38 pts
33Guthrie County10.034-11.73 pts
34Henry County9.939+3.42 pts
35Clinton County9.903+1.09 pts
36Palo Alto County9.893-18 pts
37Clayton County9.856-2.66 pts
38Buchanan County9.855-2.16 pts
39Sac County9.824-1.67 pts
40Franklin County9.699+1.08 pts
41Jasper County9.539-11.62 pts
42Polk County9.531-1.52 pts
43Linn County9.425+0.45 pts
44Muscatine County9.404-1.54 pts
45Cass County9.353-2.93 pts
46Fayette County9.321+0.68 pts
47Humboldt County9.312+0.03 pts
48Union County9.285+0.83 pts
49Washington County9.248-2.2 pts
50Butler County9.198-1.46 pts
51Lee County9.18-4.55 pts
52Allamakee County9.165+0.83 pts
53Sioux County9.105+2.89 pts
54Des Moines County9.081-2.65 pts
55Tama County9+0.7 pts
56Wright County8.999+0.63 pts
57Jones County8.991-2.34 pts
58Pocahontas County8.983-0.03 pts
59Keokuk County8.802-2.2 pts
60O'Brien County8.789+0.04 pts
61Floyd County8.759-0.6 pts
62Black Hawk County8.643+0.47 pts
63Taylor County8.639+0.6 pts
64Pottawattamie County8.582-2.24 pts
65Emmet County8.346+1.62 pts
66Mitchell County8.343-0.83 pts
67Wayne County8.33-3.42 pts
68Dallas County8.298+1.16 pts
69Mills County8.207-6.81 pts
70Monroe County8.193+0.14 pts
71Ida County8.121-0.96 pts
72Mahaska County8.105+0.4 pts
73Osceola County7.94-8.15 pts
74Cedar County7.937-2.24 pts
75Adair County7.752+0.63 pts
76Delaware County7.733-1.95 pts
77Dubuque County7.725-0.55 pts
78Jackson County7.615-3.33 pts
79Kossuth County7.597+0.19 pts
80Poweshiek County7.428-4.43 pts
81Crawford County7.42-1.84 pts
82Bremer County7.324+0.83 pts
83Winneshiek County7.268+0.88 pts
84Greene County7.063-3.16 pts
85Harrison County7.033-1.63 pts
86Decatur County6.983-2.57 pts
87Plymouth County6.926-0.6 pts
88Montgomery County6.819-10.67 pts
89Clarke County6.702-2.78 pts
90Marion County6.672-0.71 pts
91Buena Vista County6.664-0.08 pts
92Lyon County6.621-0.55 pts
93Lucas County6.496-10.24 pts
94Howard County6.456+0.67 pts
95Grundy County6.219-1.88 pts
96Hancock County5.858-4.25 pts
97Louisa County5.558+0.53 pts
98Worth County5.435-2.83 pts
99Van Buren County4.877-10.52 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

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 destruction rate, all covered industries, nation and states from 1978, counties from 2010 (Counties in Iowa by job destruction 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 destruction rate, all covered industries, nation and states from 1978, counties from 2010, Counties in Iowa by job destruction 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-destruction-rate/iowa-counties?period=2012. 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 Iowa by job destruction 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-destruction-rate/iowa-counties?period=2012.

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 Iowa by job destruction 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-destruction-rate/iowa-counties?period=2012 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{census_counties_in_iowa_by_2012,
  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 Iowa by job destruction 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-destruction-rate/iowa-counties?period=2012. 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 Iowa by job destruction 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-destruction-rate/iowa-counties?period=2012
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/job-destruction-rate/iowa-counties?period=2012.
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  -
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Questions

Which county has the highest job destruction rate?

Hamilton County, with 28.614% in 2012, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Which county has the lowest job destruction rate?

Van Buren County, with 4.877% 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 destruction rate, all covered industries, nation and states from 1978, counties from 2010. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Job destruction rate: other rankings

Counties in Iowa: more rankings