Data / Rankings / Job destruction rate / US counties

US counties by job destruction rate

Eureka County had the highest job destruction rate of 3141 counties in 2016, at 85.094%. Blaine County had the lowest, at 0%. The median was 10.085% and the figure for the United States was 10.876%. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.

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Highest85.094Eureka County
Lowest0Blaine County
Median10.0853141 counties
United States10.876History

Map of counties, 2016

%, 2016. Hatched areas have no value for this period. 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, 2016

Eureka County: 85.094 %Eureka County85.094Sterling County: 82.449 %Sterling County82.449Boise County: 66.779 %Boise County66.779Jackson County: 48.051 %Jackson County48.051Cheyenne County: 47.557 %Cheyenne County47.557McKenzie County: 47.032 %McKenzie County47.032Webster County: 44.923 %Webster County44.923Dimmit County: 44.093 %Dimmit County44.093Pulaski County: 41.728 %Pulaski County41.728Divide County: 41.284 %Divide County41.284Yukon-Koyukuk Census Area: 40.661 %Yukon-Koyukuk Census Area40.661Foard County: 40.138 %Foard County40.138Sioux County: 39.506 %Sioux County39.506Williams County: 36.449 %Williams County36.449Mountrail County: 35.565 %Mountrail County35.565Crockett County: 34.523 %Crockett County34.523Logan County: 34.32 %Logan County34.32Ellis County: 33.851 %Ellis County33.851Mariposa County: 33.651 %Mariposa County33.651Aleutians East Borough: 33.611 %Aleutians East Borough33.611Irion County: 33.251 %Irion County33.251Glasscock County: 32.287 %Glasscock County32.287Harmon County: 32.123 %Harmon County32.123Upton County: 31.808 %Upton County31.808Willacy County: 31.669 %Willacy County31.669Lafayette County: 31.495 %Lafayette County31.495Hinsdale County: 31.229 %Hinsdale County31.229Knott County: 30.641 %Knott County30.641Goochland County: 30.631 %Goochland County30.631Echols County: 30.568 %Echols County30.568Beckham County: 30.397 %Beckham County30.397Morton County: 30.234 %Morton County30.234McMullen County: 30.048 %McMullen County30.048Jim Wells County: 29.945 %Jim Wells County29.945Uintah County: 29.939 %Uintah County29.939Hamilton County: 29.854 %Hamilton County29.854Briscoe County: 29.661 %Briscoe County29.661Boone County: 29.33 %Boone County29.33La Salle County: 28.861 %La Salle County28.861Sublette County: 28.653 %Sublette County28.653Eureka County: 85.094 %Eureka County85.094Sterling County: 82.449 %Sterling County82.449Boise County: 66.779 %Boise County66.779Jackson County: 48.051 %Jackson County48.051Cheyenne County: 47.557 %Cheyenne County47.557McKenzie County: 47.032 %McKenzie County47.032Webster County: 44.923 %Webster County44.923Dimmit County: 44.093 %Dimmit County44.093Pulaski County: 41.728 %Pulaski County41.728Divide County: 41.284 %Divide County41.284Yukon-Koyukuk Census Area: 40.661 %Yukon-Koyukuk Census Area40.661Foard County: 40.138 %Foard County40.138Sioux County: 39.506 %Sioux County39.506Williams County: 36.449 %Williams County36.449Mountrail County: 35.565 %Mountrail County35.565Crockett County: 34.523 %Crockett County34.523Logan County: 34.32 %Logan County34.32Ellis County: 33.851 %Ellis County33.851Mariposa County: 33.651 %Mariposa County33.651Aleutians East Borough: 33.611 %Aleutians East Borough33.611Irion County: 33.251 %Irion County33.251Glasscock County: 32.287 %Glasscock County32.287Harmon County: 32.123 %Harmon County32.123Upton County: 31.808 %Upton County31.808Willacy County: 31.669 %Willacy County31.669Lafayette County: 31.495 %Lafayette County31.495Hinsdale County: 31.229 %Hinsdale County31.229Knott County: 30.641 %Knott County30.641Goochland County: 30.631 %Goochland County30.631Echols County: 30.568 %Echols County30.568Beckham County: 30.397 %Beckham County30.397Morton County: 30.234 %Morton County30.234McMullen County: 30.048 %McMullen County30.048Jim Wells County: 29.945 %Jim Wells County29.945Uintah County: 29.939 %Uintah County29.939Hamilton County: 29.854 %Hamilton County29.854Briscoe County: 29.661 %Briscoe County29.661Boone County: 29.33 %Boone County29.33La Salle County: 28.861 %La Salle County28.861Sublette County: 28.653 %Sublette County28.653
%. 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

RankCounties2016 (%)Change on 2015
1Eureka County85.094+62.8 pts
2Sterling County82.449+67.69 pts
3Boise County66.779+56.99 pts
4Jackson County48.051+42.5 pts
5Cheyenne County47.557+30.73 pts
6McKenzie County47.032+29.01 pts
7Webster County44.923+0.73 pts
8Dimmit County44.093+27.66 pts
9Pulaski County41.728+31.28 pts
10Divide County41.284+17.89 pts
11Yukon-Koyukuk Census Area40.661+32.2 pts
12Foard County40.138+28.55 pts
13Sioux County39.506+19.75 pts
14Williams County36.449+19.49 pts
15Mountrail County35.565+16.41 pts
16Crockett County34.523+20.41 pts
17Logan County34.32+18.08 pts
18Ellis County33.851+0.91 pts
19Mariposa County33.651+26.29 pts
20Aleutians East Borough33.611+31.92 pts
21Irion County33.251+13.79 pts
22Glasscock County32.287-4.5 pts
23Harmon County32.123+27.08 pts
24Upton County31.808+26.13 pts
25Willacy County31.669+21.33 pts
26Lafayette County31.495+18.31 pts
27Hinsdale County31.229+5.59 pts
28Knott County30.641+15.83 pts
29Goochland County30.631+18.06 pts
30Echols County30.568+14.44 pts
31Beckham County30.397+15.75 pts
32Morton County30.234+15.63 pts
33McMullen County30.048+15.3 pts
34Jim Wells County29.945+16.82 pts
35Uintah County29.939+10.63 pts
36Hamilton County29.854+22.35 pts
37Briscoe County29.661+9.3 pts
38Boone County29.33+12.95 pts
39La Salle County28.861+12.25 pts
40Sublette County28.653+9.38 pts
41Frio County28.63+12.33 pts
42Piute County28.571+0.76 pts
43Chippewa County28.334+22.04 pts
44Atascosa County28.033+13.26 pts
45Refugio County27.724+15.86 pts
46Fentress County27.637+22.6 pts
47Hemphill County27.584+8.87 pts
48Dunn County27.53+7.53 pts
49Slope County27.5-8.5 pts
50Richland County27.361+9.48 pts
51Major County27.253+8.48 pts
52Donley County27.243+8.19 pts
53Marion County27.141+11.11 pts
54Torrance County27.12+11.69 pts
55Duchesne County27.093+1.13 pts
56Oglethorpe County26.993+15.58 pts
57Archer County26.942-6.29 pts
58Stark County26.713+12.01 pts
59Montgomery County26.443+11.56 pts
60Hockley County26.367+12.1 pts
61Zapata County26.348-2.34 pts
62Loup County26.316+11.5 pts
63Cannon County26.309+16.07 pts
64Reagan County26.307+8.41 pts
65Shackelford County26.146+12.95 pts
66Hall County26.094+16.87 pts
67Cottle County25.911+19.8 pts
68Jack County25.819+3.02 pts
69Cleveland County25.599+12.75 pts
70De Soto Parish25.51+3.16 pts
71Live Oak County25.508+1.08 pts
72Adams County25.386+11.96 pts
73Garden County25.308-19.99 pts
74Fallon County25.212+5.74 pts
75Andrews County25.192+10.11 pts
76Martin County25.143+17 pts
77Greene County25.12+1.15 pts
78Crane County25.012+2.96 pts
79Keya Paha County25+6.2 pts
80Karnes County24.903+6.46 pts
81Kiowa County24.87+9.77 pts
82Kimball County24.714+14.52 pts
83Garrett County24.67+13.67 pts
84McCulloch County24.535+8.61 pts
85Uinta County24.478+15.37 pts
86Mitchell County24.365+0.91 pts
87Madison County24.331+15.78 pts
88Gosper County24.242+12.01 pts
89Jefferson County24.191+15.5 pts
90Oregon County24.119+12.74 pts
91Jackson County24.084+11.1 pts
92Lea County24.074+11.57 pts
93Berrien County24.069+15.89 pts
94San Jacinto County24.064+14.44 pts
95Holmes County23.991+18.16 pts
96Hoonah-Angoon Census Area23.762-1.24 pts
97Armstrong County23.746+9.64 pts
98Reeves County23.516+12.35 pts
99Franklin County23.5+16.1 pts
100Harding County23.377+16.92 pts
101Billings County23.356+14.15 pts
102Midland County23.33+7.68 pts
103Iberia Parish23.304+2.71 pts
104Woodward County23.205+5.6 pts
105Freestone County23.181+8.95 pts
106Schleicher County22.925-9.47 pts
107Ector County22.805+8.08 pts
108Buena Vista city22.589+14.61 pts
109Madison County22.458+16.38 pts
110Lyon County22.384+14.45 pts
111Duval County22.348-0.86 pts
112McPherson County22.222+17.57 pts
112Petroleum County22.222+11.41 pts
114DeWitt County22.01+7.61 pts
115Yakutat City and Borough21.958+18.24 pts
116Wheeler County21.957-0.14 pts
117Sierra County21.911+11.61 pts
118Harper County21.705+4.44 pts
119Heard County21.665+9.56 pts
120Saline County21.642+13.36 pts
121Jefferson County21.63-11.82 pts
122Houston County21.609+11.29 pts
123Lincoln County21.596+2.24 pts
124Cimarron County21.552+8.8 pts
125Woods County21.498+10.73 pts
126Howell County21.487+13.05 pts
127Brooks County21.346+1.06 pts
128Gilmer County21.343+7.87 pts
129Dixon County21.319+8.42 pts
130Catahoula Parish21.272+0.85 pts
130East Carroll Parish21.272+15.9 pts
132Roger Mills County21.269+5.83 pts
133Currituck County21.248+11.28 pts
134Grimes County21.226+10.98 pts
135San Saba County21.218+12.86 pts
136Cameron Parish21.189+5.14 pts
137Sutton County21.184-5.93 pts
138Fremont County21.096+6.58 pts
139Eddy County21.004+11.87 pts
140Washita County20.98-0.67 pts
141Pike County20.956+14.54 pts
142Telfair County20.883+6.06 pts
143Kenedy County20.87+12.12 pts
144Dewey County20.741+6.08 pts
145Scurry County20.714+5.41 pts
146Gray County20.708+9.07 pts
147Butler County20.68+13.7 pts
148Grant County20.663+6.71 pts
149Harrison County20.653+12.64 pts
150Nottoway County20.647+13.79 pts
151Graham County20.606-6.68 pts
152Martin County20.444+3.02 pts
153Hodgeman County20.408+7.48 pts
154Leslie County20.317+13.39 pts
155Crawford County20.304+6.66 pts
156Panola County20.295-1.44 pts
157Tyler County20.218+10.49 pts
158Graham County20.202+4.31 pts
159Dickenson County20.201+2.33 pts
160Custer County20.18+3.36 pts
161Terrebonne Parish20.143+6.01 pts
162Howard County20.129+3.34 pts
163Nowata County20.054+5.82 pts
164Emery County20.033+1.75 pts
165Collingsworth County20+11.04 pts
166St. Martin Parish19.965+8.52 pts
167North Slope Borough19.788-7.96 pts
168Stephens County19.754+7.88 pts
169Newton County19.743+10 pts
170Copper River Census Area19.727+6.63 pts
171Wheeler County19.672-4.52 pts
172Northumberland County19.622+7.25 pts
173Teton County19.608+10.59 pts
174Elbert County19.565+6.04 pts
175Polk County19.5+3.85 pts
176Jackson County19.483+12.57 pts
177Kingfisher County19.48+8.03 pts
178Gasconade County19.466+11.98 pts
179Wise County19.369+5.36 pts
180Scotland County19.266+11.34 pts
181Wells County19.251+8.5 pts
182Skagway Municipality19.236+7.38 pts
183Cooke County19.223+6.44 pts
184Garfield County19.221+7.3 pts
185Grant County19.178+4.48 pts
186Young County19.168+8.24 pts
187Johnson County19.161+10.53 pts
188Schuyler County19.145+0.48 pts
189Montague County19.124-1.37 pts
190Monroe County19.106-2.11 pts
191Fremont County19.073+2.39 pts
192Wahkiakum County19.072+6.96 pts
193Humboldt County19.053+1.51 pts
194Pickens County18.915+9.61 pts
195Bee County18.891+4.12 pts
196Plaquemines Parish18.837+7.39 pts
197Eastland County18.763+0.42 pts
198Stephens County18.75+6.67 pts
199Palo Pinto County18.738+3.35 pts
200Pecos County18.708+5.81 pts
201St. Mary Parish18.663+6.94 pts
202Perry County18.622+5.77 pts
203Lafourche Parish18.541+5.74 pts
204Marshall County18.508-4.96 pts
205Natrona County18.432+5.37 pts
206Jasper County18.403+6.52 pts
207Park County18.37+3.02 pts
208Polk County18.248+10.09 pts
209McIntosh County18.229+4.94 pts
210Greer County18.195+7.94 pts
210Webster County18.195+5 pts
212Aurora County18.156+8.5 pts
213Colorado County18.105-3.59 pts
214Knox County18.083+8.98 pts
215Mingo County18.076-16.05 pts
216Waller County18.075+8.6 pts
217Hampton County18.06+5.64 pts
218Red Lake County18.048-9.73 pts
219Wyoming County18.018-8.13 pts
220Ness County18.009+8.07 pts
221Platte County18.008+5.2 pts
222Morris County17.959+0.36 pts
223Haywood County17.944+5.43 pts
224Powell County17.92+11.01 pts
225Tillman County17.896+7.98 pts
226Beaver County17.884+6.12 pts
227Robertson County17.866+5.53 pts
228Independence County17.845+10.55 pts
229Carbon County17.83+4.18 pts
230Cochran County17.811+3.15 pts
231Cleburne County17.794+1.29 pts
232Southeast Fairbanks Census Area17.765+4.65 pts
233Mason County17.754-9.16 pts
234Nicholas County17.727-10.38 pts
235Canadian County17.716+4.97 pts
236Hamilton County17.696+5.94 pts
237Susquehanna County17.689+3.39 pts
238Crittenden County17.653+12.99 pts
239Bottineau County17.647+2.13 pts
240Juab County17.633+7.63 pts
241Webster Parish17.613+8.21 pts
242Schley County17.566+4.79 pts
243Fairfax city17.525+6.47 pts
244Banner County17.476+0.17 pts
245Leon County17.469+7.9 pts
246Garrard County17.429+5.38 pts
247Wibaux County17.427+1.33 pts
248Dawson County17.405+5.81 pts
249Petersburg Borough17.401-6.09 pts
250Rusk County17.391+4 pts

Showing the top 250 of 3141. The Excel download has every row.

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. 1 counties with data in other periods have no value for 2016 and are left out rather than filled from another source. 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 (US counties by job destruction rate, 2016) [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, US counties by job destruction rate, 2016. 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/us-counties?period=2016. 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. US counties by job destruction rate, 2016. 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/us-counties?period=2016.

Harvard

U.S. Census Bureau (2025) Business Dynamics Statistics: job destruction rate, all covered industries, nation and states from 1978, counties from 2010, US counties by job destruction rate, 2016 [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/us-counties?period=2016 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{census_us_counties_by_job_2016,
  author = {{U.S. Census Bureau}},
  title = {{Business Dynamics Statistics: job destruction rate, all covered industries, nation and states from 1978, counties from 2010: US counties by job destruction rate, 2016}},
  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/us-counties?period=2016. 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: US counties by job destruction rate, 2016
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/us-counties?period=2016
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/job-destruction-rate/us-counties?period=2016.
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?

Eureka County, with 85.094% in 2016, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Which county has the lowest job destruction rate?

Blaine County, with 0% in 2016.

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. 1 counties have no value for 2016 and are not ranked.

Job destruction rate: other rankings

US counties: more rankings