Data / Rankings / Job destruction rate / US states

US states by job destruction rate

Wyoming had the highest job destruction rate of 51 states in 2016, at 16.373%. New Hampshire had the lowest, at 8.439%. The median was 10.242% and the figure for the United States was 10.876%. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.

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Highest16.373Wyoming
Lowest8.439New Hampshire
Median10.24251 states
United States10.876History

Map of states, 2016

Alabama: 9.881 %Alaska: 13.722 %Arizona: 12.167 %Arkansas: 9.945 %California: 12.105 %Colorado: 11.72 %Connecticut: 9.535 %Delaware: 11.49 %District of Columbia: 10.266 %Florida: 11.634 %Georgia: 10.534 %Hawaii: 10.03 %Idaho: 10.717 %Illinois: 11.323 %Indiana: 9.752 %Iowa: 9.219 %Kansas: 11.22 %Kentucky: 10.167 %Louisiana: 12.587 %Maine: 9.232 %Maryland: 10 %Massachusetts: 9.635 %Michigan: 9.859 %Minnesota: 10.24 %Mississippi: 10.138 %Missouri: 9.819 %Montana: 10.771 %Nebraska: 9.158 %Nevada: 11.189 %New Hampshire: 8.439 %New Jersey: 11.206 %New Mexico: 11.406 %New York: 10.686 %North Carolina: 10.09 %North Dakota: 14.798 %Ohio: 9.913 %Oklahoma: 12.835 %Oregon: 9.694 %Pennsylvania: 10.284 %Rhode Island: 9.565 %South Carolina: 10.134 %South Dakota: 8.67 %Tennessee: 9.729 %Texas: 12.121 %Utah: 10.511 %Vermont: 9.534 %Virginia: 10.914 %Washington: 10.242 %West Virginia: 12.11 %Wisconsin: 9.897 %Wyoming: 16.373 %
  • Under 9.7
  • 9.7 to 9.9
  • 9.9 to 10
  • 10 to 11
  • 11 to 12
  • 12 and over
%, 2016. 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, 2016

Wyoming: 16.373 %Wyoming16.373North Dakota: 14.798 %North Dakota14.798Alaska: 13.722 %Alaska13.722Oklahoma: 12.835 %Oklahoma12.835Louisiana: 12.587 %Louisiana12.587Arizona: 12.167 %Arizona12.167Texas: 12.121 %Texas12.121West Virginia: 12.11 %West Virginia12.11California: 12.105 %California12.105Colorado: 11.72 %Colorado11.72Florida: 11.634 %Florida11.634Delaware: 11.49 %Delaware11.49New Mexico: 11.406 %New Mexico11.406Illinois: 11.323 %Illinois11.323Kansas: 11.22 %Kansas11.22New Jersey: 11.206 %New Jersey11.206Nevada: 11.189 %Nevada11.189Virginia: 10.914 %Virginia10.914Montana: 10.771 %Montana10.771Idaho: 10.717 %Idaho10.717New York: 10.686 %New York10.686Georgia: 10.534 %Georgia10.534Utah: 10.511 %Utah10.511Pennsylvania: 10.284 %Pennsylvania10.284District of Columbia: 10.266 %District of Columbia10.266Washington: 10.242 %Washington10.242Minnesota: 10.24 %Minnesota10.24Kentucky: 10.167 %Kentucky10.167Mississippi: 10.138 %Mississippi10.138South Carolina: 10.134 %South Carolina10.134North Carolina: 10.09 %North Carolina10.09Hawaii: 10.03 %Hawaii10.03Maryland: 10 %Maryland10Arkansas: 9.945 %Arkansas9.945Ohio: 9.913 %Ohio9.913Wisconsin: 9.897 %Wisconsin9.897Alabama: 9.881 %Alabama9.881Michigan: 9.859 %Michigan9.859Missouri: 9.819 %Missouri9.819Indiana: 9.752 %Indiana9.752Tennessee: 9.729 %Tennessee9.729Oregon: 9.694 %Oregon9.694Massachusetts: 9.635 %Massachusetts9.635Rhode Island: 9.565 %Rhode Island9.565Connecticut: 9.535 %Connecticut9.535Vermont: 9.534 %Vermont9.534Maine: 9.232 %Maine9.232Iowa: 9.219 %Iowa9.219Nebraska: 9.158 %Nebraska9.158South Dakota: 8.67 %South Dakota8.67New Hampshire: 8.439 %New Hampshire8.439Wyoming: 16.373 %Wyoming16.373North Dakota: 14.798 %North Dakota14.798Alaska: 13.722 %Alaska13.722Oklahoma: 12.835 %Oklahoma12.835Louisiana: 12.587 %Louisiana12.587Arizona: 12.167 %Arizona12.167Texas: 12.121 %Texas12.121West Virginia: 12.11 %West Virginia12.11California: 12.105 %California12.105Colorado: 11.72 %Colorado11.72Florida: 11.634 %Florida11.634Delaware: 11.49 %Delaware11.49New Mexico: 11.406 %New Mexico11.406Illinois: 11.323 %Illinois11.323Kansas: 11.22 %Kansas11.22New Jersey: 11.206 %New Jersey11.206Nevada: 11.189 %Nevada11.189Virginia: 10.914 %Virginia10.914Montana: 10.771 %Montana10.771Idaho: 10.717 %Idaho10.717New York: 10.686 %New York10.686Georgia: 10.534 %Georgia10.534Utah: 10.511 %Utah10.511Pennsylvania: 10.284 %Pennsylvania10.284District of Columbia: 10.266 %District of Columbia10.266Washington: 10.242 %Washington10.242Minnesota: 10.24 %Minnesota10.24Kentucky: 10.167 %Kentucky10.167Mississippi: 10.138 %Mississippi10.138South Carolina: 10.134 %South Carolina10.134North Carolina: 10.09 %North Carolina10.09Hawaii: 10.03 %Hawaii10.03Maryland: 10 %Maryland10Arkansas: 9.945 %Arkansas9.945Ohio: 9.913 %Ohio9.913Wisconsin: 9.897 %Wisconsin9.897Alabama: 9.881 %Alabama9.881Michigan: 9.859 %Michigan9.859Missouri: 9.819 %Missouri9.819Indiana: 9.752 %Indiana9.752Tennessee: 9.729 %Tennessee9.729Oregon: 9.694 %Oregon9.694Massachusetts: 9.635 %Massachusetts9.635Rhode Island: 9.565 %Rhode Island9.565Connecticut: 9.535 %Connecticut9.535Vermont: 9.534 %Vermont9.534Maine: 9.232 %Maine9.232Iowa: 9.219 %Iowa9.219Nebraska: 9.158 %Nebraska9.158South Dakota: 8.67 %South Dakota8.67New Hampshire: 8.439 %New Hampshire8.439
%. 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

RankStates2016 (%)Change on 2015
1Wyoming16.373+3.69 pts
2North Dakota14.798+3.46 pts
3Alaska13.722+0.97 pts
4Oklahoma12.835+1.02 pts
5Louisiana12.587+0.04 pts
6Arizona12.167+0.65 pts
7Texas12.121+0.34 pts
8West Virginia12.11+0.15 pts
9California12.105+0.87 pts
10Colorado11.72+0.3 pts
11Florida11.634+0.46 pts
12Delaware11.49-0.34 pts
13New Mexico11.406+0.77 pts
14Illinois11.323-0.03 pts
15Kansas11.22-0.26 pts
16New Jersey11.206-0.81 pts
17Nevada11.189-0.26 pts
18Virginia10.914-0.14 pts
19Montana10.771+0.18 pts
20Idaho10.717+0.44 pts
21New York10.686-0.55 pts
22Georgia10.534-0.56 pts
23Utah10.511-0.5 pts
24Pennsylvania10.284-0.21 pts
25District of Columbia10.266-1.29 pts
26Washington10.242-0.32 pts
27Minnesota10.24+0.29 pts
28Kentucky10.167+0.39 pts
29Mississippi10.138-0.33 pts
30South Carolina10.134+0.23 pts
31North Carolina10.09+0.13 pts
32Hawaii10.03+0.18 pts
33Maryland10-0.94 pts
34Arkansas9.945-0.91 pts
35Ohio9.913-0.61 pts
36Wisconsin9.897+0.92 pts
37Alabama9.881-0.15 pts
38Michigan9.859+0.01 pts
39Missouri9.819-1.16 pts
40Indiana9.752-0.15 pts
41Tennessee9.729-0.52 pts
42Oregon9.694-0.28 pts
43Massachusetts9.635+0.32 pts
44Rhode Island9.565+0.13 pts
45Connecticut9.535-1.01 pts
46Vermont9.534+0.9 pts
47Maine9.232-0.75 pts
48Iowa9.219+0.67 pts
49Nebraska9.158-0.34 pts
50South Dakota8.67-0.23 pts
51New Hampshire8.439-0.57 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, 2016) [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, 2016. 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=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 states by job destruction rate, 2016. 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=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 states by job destruction rate, 2016 [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=2016 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{census_us_states_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 states by job destruction rate, 2016}},
  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=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.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, 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.csv
L2  - https://invokely.ai/rankings/job-destruction-rate/us-states?period=2016
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/job-destruction-rate/us-states?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.csv. Retrieved 2026-10-12.
ER  -
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Questions

Which state has the highest job destruction rate?

Wyoming, with 16.373% in 2016, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Which state has the lowest job destruction rate?

New Hampshire, with 8.439% 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.

Job destruction rate: other rankings

US states: more rankings