Counties in Massachusetts by job destruction rate

Plymouth County had the highest job destruction rate of 14 counties in 2012, at 12.963%. Suffolk County had the lowest, at 7.269%. The median was 10.511% and the figure for Massachusetts was 9.82%. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.

Highest12.963Plymouth County

Lowest7.269Suffolk County

Median10.51114 counties

Massachusetts9.82History

Map of counties, 2012

Under 9.6
9.6 to 10
10 to 11
11 to 12
12 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.

All counties, 2012

%. 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

Rank	Counties	2012 (%)	Change on 2011
1	Plymouth County	12.963	+2.06 pts
2	Franklin County	12.414	+2.31 pts
3	Dukes County	12.102	-0.99 pts
4	Nantucket County	11.774	-2.89 pts
5	Barnstable County	11.543	+0.22 pts
6	Norfolk County	10.76	+0.71 pts
7	Middlesex County	10.619	-0.37 pts
8	Bristol County	10.402	-0.03 pts
9	Essex County	10.367	+0.62 pts
10	Berkshire County	10.014	-0.25 pts
11	Worcester County	9.775	+0.1 pts
12	Hampden County	9.255	-0.24 pts
13	Hampshire County	9.064	-0.59 pts
14	Suffolk County	7.269	-1.71 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 Massachusetts 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 Massachusetts 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/massachusetts-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 Massachusetts 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/massachusetts-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 Massachusetts 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/massachusetts-counties?period=2012 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX

@misc{census_counties_in_massachusetts_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 Massachusetts 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/massachusetts-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 Massachusetts 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/massachusetts-counties?period=2012
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/job-destruction-rate/massachusetts-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?

Plymouth County, with 12.963% in 2012, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Which county has the lowest job destruction rate?

Suffolk County, with 7.269% 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.