Data / Rankings / Job destruction rate / US states

US states by job destruction rate

Alaska had the highest job destruction rate of 51 states in 2015, at 12.754%. Iowa had the lowest, at 8.551%. The median was 10.587% and the figure for the United States was 10.837%. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.

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Highest12.754Alaska
Lowest8.551Iowa
Median10.58751 states
United States10.837History

Map of states, 2015

Alabama: 10.035 %Alaska: 12.754 %Arizona: 11.515 %Arkansas: 10.86 %California: 11.237 %Colorado: 11.416 %Connecticut: 10.542 %Delaware: 11.826 %District of Columbia: 11.56 %Florida: 11.174 %Georgia: 11.098 %Hawaii: 9.853 %Idaho: 10.276 %Illinois: 11.355 %Indiana: 9.898 %Iowa: 8.551 %Kansas: 11.482 %Kentucky: 9.778 %Louisiana: 12.55 %Maine: 9.983 %Maryland: 10.94 %Massachusetts: 9.313 %Michigan: 9.854 %Minnesota: 9.953 %Mississippi: 10.469 %Missouri: 10.977 %Montana: 10.587 %Nebraska: 9.496 %Nevada: 11.453 %New Hampshire: 9.011 %New Jersey: 12.014 %New Mexico: 10.636 %New York: 11.235 %North Carolina: 9.964 %North Dakota: 11.335 %Ohio: 10.522 %Oklahoma: 11.817 %Oregon: 9.973 %Pennsylvania: 10.49 %Rhode Island: 9.434 %South Carolina: 9.902 %South Dakota: 8.9 %Tennessee: 10.253 %Texas: 11.782 %Utah: 11.008 %Vermont: 8.632 %Virginia: 11.054 %Washington: 10.564 %West Virginia: 11.958 %Wisconsin: 8.981 %Wyoming: 12.686 %
  • Under 9.8
  • 9.8 to 10
  • 10 to 11
  • 11 to 12
  • 12 and over
%, 2015. 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 states, 2015

Alaska: 12.754 %Alaska12.754Wyoming: 12.686 %Wyoming12.686Louisiana: 12.55 %Louisiana12.55New Jersey: 12.014 %New Jersey12.014West Virginia: 11.958 %West Virginia11.958Delaware: 11.826 %Delaware11.826Oklahoma: 11.817 %Oklahoma11.817Texas: 11.782 %Texas11.782District of Columbia: 11.56 %District of Columbia11.56Arizona: 11.515 %Arizona11.515Kansas: 11.482 %Kansas11.482Nevada: 11.453 %Nevada11.453Colorado: 11.416 %Colorado11.416Illinois: 11.355 %Illinois11.355North Dakota: 11.335 %North Dakota11.335California: 11.237 %California11.237New York: 11.235 %New York11.235Florida: 11.174 %Florida11.174Georgia: 11.098 %Georgia11.098Virginia: 11.054 %Virginia11.054Utah: 11.008 %Utah11.008Missouri: 10.977 %Missouri10.977Maryland: 10.94 %Maryland10.94Arkansas: 10.86 %Arkansas10.86New Mexico: 10.636 %New Mexico10.636Montana: 10.587 %Montana10.587Washington: 10.564 %Washington10.564Connecticut: 10.542 %Connecticut10.542Ohio: 10.522 %Ohio10.522Pennsylvania: 10.49 %Pennsylvania10.49Mississippi: 10.469 %Mississippi10.469Idaho: 10.276 %Idaho10.276Tennessee: 10.253 %Tennessee10.253Alabama: 10.035 %Alabama10.035Maine: 9.983 %Maine9.983Oregon: 9.973 %Oregon9.973North Carolina: 9.964 %North Carolina9.964Minnesota: 9.953 %Minnesota9.953South Carolina: 9.902 %South Carolina9.902Indiana: 9.898 %Indiana9.898Michigan: 9.854 %Michigan9.854Hawaii: 9.853 %Hawaii9.853Kentucky: 9.778 %Kentucky9.778Nebraska: 9.496 %Nebraska9.496Rhode Island: 9.434 %Rhode Island9.434Massachusetts: 9.313 %Massachusetts9.313New Hampshire: 9.011 %New Hampshire9.011Wisconsin: 8.981 %Wisconsin8.981South Dakota: 8.9 %South Dakota8.9Vermont: 8.632 %Vermont8.632Iowa: 8.551 %Iowa8.551Alaska: 12.754 %Alaska12.754Wyoming: 12.686 %Wyoming12.686Louisiana: 12.55 %Louisiana12.55New Jersey: 12.014 %New Jersey12.014West Virginia: 11.958 %West Virginia11.958Delaware: 11.826 %Delaware11.826Oklahoma: 11.817 %Oklahoma11.817Texas: 11.782 %Texas11.782District of Columbia: 11.56 %District of Columbia11.56Arizona: 11.515 %Arizona11.515Kansas: 11.482 %Kansas11.482Nevada: 11.453 %Nevada11.453Colorado: 11.416 %Colorado11.416Illinois: 11.355 %Illinois11.355North Dakota: 11.335 %North Dakota11.335California: 11.237 %California11.237New York: 11.235 %New York11.235Florida: 11.174 %Florida11.174Georgia: 11.098 %Georgia11.098Virginia: 11.054 %Virginia11.054Utah: 11.008 %Utah11.008Missouri: 10.977 %Missouri10.977Maryland: 10.94 %Maryland10.94Arkansas: 10.86 %Arkansas10.86New Mexico: 10.636 %New Mexico10.636Montana: 10.587 %Montana10.587Washington: 10.564 %Washington10.564Connecticut: 10.542 %Connecticut10.542Ohio: 10.522 %Ohio10.522Pennsylvania: 10.49 %Pennsylvania10.49Mississippi: 10.469 %Mississippi10.469Idaho: 10.276 %Idaho10.276Tennessee: 10.253 %Tennessee10.253Alabama: 10.035 %Alabama10.035Maine: 9.983 %Maine9.983Oregon: 9.973 %Oregon9.973North Carolina: 9.964 %North Carolina9.964Minnesota: 9.953 %Minnesota9.953South Carolina: 9.902 %South Carolina9.902Indiana: 9.898 %Indiana9.898Michigan: 9.854 %Michigan9.854Hawaii: 9.853 %Hawaii9.853Kentucky: 9.778 %Kentucky9.778Nebraska: 9.496 %Nebraska9.496Rhode Island: 9.434 %Rhode Island9.434Massachusetts: 9.313 %Massachusetts9.313New Hampshire: 9.011 %New Hampshire9.011Wisconsin: 8.981 %Wisconsin8.981South Dakota: 8.9 %South Dakota8.9Vermont: 8.632 %Vermont8.632Iowa: 8.551 %Iowa8.551
%. 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

RankStates2015 (%)Change on 2014
1Alaska12.754-1.04 pts
2Wyoming12.686+1.29 pts
3Louisiana12.55+1.52 pts
4New Jersey12.014+0.3 pts
5West Virginia11.958+0.31 pts
6Delaware11.826+0.71 pts
7Oklahoma11.817+1.01 pts
8Texas11.782-0.28 pts
9District of Columbia11.56+0.81 pts
10Arizona11.515-1.45 pts
11Kansas11.482+0.61 pts
12Nevada11.453+0.5 pts
13Colorado11.416-0.45 pts
14Illinois11.355+0.92 pts
15North Dakota11.335+0.51 pts
16California11.237-0.86 pts
17New York11.235+0.29 pts
18Florida11.174-0.92 pts
19Georgia11.098-0.34 pts
20Virginia11.054-0.45 pts
21Utah11.008-0.1 pts
22Missouri10.977+1.09 pts
23Maryland10.94+0.2 pts
24Arkansas10.86+0.17 pts
25New Mexico10.636-0.22 pts
26Montana10.587-0.39 pts
27Washington10.564+0.22 pts
28Connecticut10.542-0.02 pts
29Ohio10.522+0.28 pts
30Pennsylvania10.49+0.67 pts
31Mississippi10.469+0.65 pts
32Idaho10.276-1.08 pts
33Tennessee10.253+0.07 pts
34Alabama10.035-1.49 pts
35Maine9.983-0.24 pts
36Oregon9.973-0.59 pts
37North Carolina9.964-0.77 pts
38Minnesota9.953+0.52 pts
39South Carolina9.902-0.14 pts
40Indiana9.898+0.17 pts
41Michigan9.854-0.35 pts
42Hawaii9.853+0.75 pts
43Kentucky9.778-1.39 pts
44Nebraska9.496+0.44 pts
45Rhode Island9.434-0.2 pts
46Massachusetts9.313-1.1 pts
47New Hampshire9.011-0.31 pts
48Wisconsin8.981+0.34 pts
49South Dakota8.9-0.2 pts
50Vermont8.632-0.94 pts
51Iowa8.551-0.36 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 states 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.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 states by job destruction rate, 2015) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/bds/tables/time-series/2023/bds2023_st.csv

MLA 9

Business Dynamics Statistics: job destruction rate, all covered industries, nation and states from 1978, counties from 2010, US states by job destruction rate, 2015. U.S. Census Bureau, 25 Sept. 2025, https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/bds/tables/time-series/2023/bds2023_st.csv. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/job-destruction-rate/us-states?period=2015. 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 states by job destruction rate, 2015. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/bds/tables/time-series/2023/bds2023_st.csv. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/job-destruction-rate/us-states?period=2015.

Harvard

U.S. Census Bureau (2025) Business Dynamics Statistics: job destruction rate, all covered industries, nation and states from 1978, counties from 2010, US states by job destruction rate, 2015 [Dataset]. Available at: https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/bds/tables/time-series/2023/bds2023_st.csv, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/job-destruction-rate/us-states?period=2015 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{census_us_states_by_job_2015,
  author = {{U.S. Census Bureau}},
  title = {{Business Dynamics Statistics: job destruction rate, all covered industries, nation and states from 1978, counties from 2010: US states by job destruction rate, 2015}},
  year = {2025},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/bds/tables/time-series/2023/bds2023_st.csv},
  urldate = {2026-10-12},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/job-destruction-rate/us-states?period=2015. 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.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 states by job destruction rate, 2015
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.csv
L2  - https://invokely.ai/rankings/job-destruction-rate/us-states?period=2015
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/job-destruction-rate/us-states?period=2015.
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.csv. Retrieved 2026-10-12.
ER  -
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Questions

Which state has the highest job destruction rate?

Alaska, with 12.754% in 2015, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Which state has the lowest job destruction rate?

Iowa, with 8.551% in 2015.

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

US states: more rankings