Data / Rankings / Job destruction rate / US states

US states by job destruction rate

Wyoming had the highest job destruction rate of 51 states in 2017, at 15.845%. New Hampshire had the lowest, at 10.056%. The median was 11.608% and the figure for the United States was 11.951%. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.

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Highest15.845Wyoming
Lowest10.056New Hampshire
Median11.60851 states
United States11.951History

Map of states, 2017

Alabama: 11.563 %Alaska: 14.348 %Arizona: 12.147 %Arkansas: 11.822 %California: 12.621 %Colorado: 12.786 %Connecticut: 11.856 %Delaware: 14.294 %District of Columbia: 10.703 %Florida: 12.234 %Georgia: 12.082 %Hawaii: 11.081 %Idaho: 11.449 %Illinois: 12.371 %Indiana: 10.941 %Iowa: 10.949 %Kansas: 11.556 %Kentucky: 11.753 %Louisiana: 13.481 %Maine: 10.921 %Maryland: 11.608 %Massachusetts: 10.448 %Michigan: 11.133 %Minnesota: 11.233 %Mississippi: 11.16 %Missouri: 11.746 %Montana: 12.521 %Nebraska: 10.951 %Nevada: 11.776 %New Hampshire: 10.056 %New Jersey: 12.337 %New Mexico: 12.516 %New York: 12.106 %North Carolina: 11.009 %North Dakota: 13.763 %Ohio: 11.747 %Oklahoma: 12.615 %Oregon: 10.993 %Pennsylvania: 10.839 %Rhode Island: 11.284 %South Carolina: 11.259 %South Dakota: 11.098 %Tennessee: 11.552 %Texas: 13.589 %Utah: 11.21 %Vermont: 11.743 %Virginia: 11.437 %Washington: 11.243 %West Virginia: 12.882 %Wisconsin: 10.666 %Wyoming: 15.845 %
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%, 2017. 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, 2017

Wyoming: 15.845 %Wyoming15.845Alaska: 14.348 %Alaska14.348Delaware: 14.294 %Delaware14.294North Dakota: 13.763 %North Dakota13.763Texas: 13.589 %Texas13.589Louisiana: 13.481 %Louisiana13.481West Virginia: 12.882 %West Virginia12.882Colorado: 12.786 %Colorado12.786California: 12.621 %California12.621Oklahoma: 12.615 %Oklahoma12.615Montana: 12.521 %Montana12.521New Mexico: 12.516 %New Mexico12.516Illinois: 12.371 %Illinois12.371New Jersey: 12.337 %New Jersey12.337Florida: 12.234 %Florida12.234Arizona: 12.147 %Arizona12.147New York: 12.106 %New York12.106Georgia: 12.082 %Georgia12.082Connecticut: 11.856 %Connecticut11.856Arkansas: 11.822 %Arkansas11.822Nevada: 11.776 %Nevada11.776Kentucky: 11.753 %Kentucky11.753Ohio: 11.747 %Ohio11.747Missouri: 11.746 %Missouri11.746Vermont: 11.743 %Vermont11.743Maryland: 11.608 %Maryland11.608Alabama: 11.563 %Alabama11.563Kansas: 11.556 %Kansas11.556Tennessee: 11.552 %Tennessee11.552Idaho: 11.449 %Idaho11.449Virginia: 11.437 %Virginia11.437Rhode Island: 11.284 %Rhode Island11.284South Carolina: 11.259 %South Carolina11.259Washington: 11.243 %Washington11.243Minnesota: 11.233 %Minnesota11.233Utah: 11.21 %Utah11.21Mississippi: 11.16 %Mississippi11.16Michigan: 11.133 %Michigan11.133South Dakota: 11.098 %South Dakota11.098Hawaii: 11.081 %Hawaii11.081North Carolina: 11.009 %North Carolina11.009Oregon: 10.993 %Oregon10.993Nebraska: 10.951 %Nebraska10.951Iowa: 10.949 %Iowa10.949Indiana: 10.941 %Indiana10.941Maine: 10.921 %Maine10.921Pennsylvania: 10.839 %Pennsylvania10.839District of Columbia: 10.703 %District of Columbia10.703Wisconsin: 10.666 %Wisconsin10.666Massachusetts: 10.448 %Massachusetts10.448New Hampshire: 10.056 %New Hampshire10.056Wyoming: 15.845 %Wyoming15.845Alaska: 14.348 %Alaska14.348Delaware: 14.294 %Delaware14.294North Dakota: 13.763 %North Dakota13.763Texas: 13.589 %Texas13.589Louisiana: 13.481 %Louisiana13.481West Virginia: 12.882 %West Virginia12.882Colorado: 12.786 %Colorado12.786California: 12.621 %California12.621Oklahoma: 12.615 %Oklahoma12.615Montana: 12.521 %Montana12.521New Mexico: 12.516 %New Mexico12.516Illinois: 12.371 %Illinois12.371New Jersey: 12.337 %New Jersey12.337Florida: 12.234 %Florida12.234Arizona: 12.147 %Arizona12.147New York: 12.106 %New York12.106Georgia: 12.082 %Georgia12.082Connecticut: 11.856 %Connecticut11.856Arkansas: 11.822 %Arkansas11.822Nevada: 11.776 %Nevada11.776Kentucky: 11.753 %Kentucky11.753Ohio: 11.747 %Ohio11.747Missouri: 11.746 %Missouri11.746Vermont: 11.743 %Vermont11.743Maryland: 11.608 %Maryland11.608Alabama: 11.563 %Alabama11.563Kansas: 11.556 %Kansas11.556Tennessee: 11.552 %Tennessee11.552Idaho: 11.449 %Idaho11.449Virginia: 11.437 %Virginia11.437Rhode Island: 11.284 %Rhode Island11.284South Carolina: 11.259 %South Carolina11.259Washington: 11.243 %Washington11.243Minnesota: 11.233 %Minnesota11.233Utah: 11.21 %Utah11.21Mississippi: 11.16 %Mississippi11.16Michigan: 11.133 %Michigan11.133South Dakota: 11.098 %South Dakota11.098Hawaii: 11.081 %Hawaii11.081North Carolina: 11.009 %North Carolina11.009Oregon: 10.993 %Oregon10.993Nebraska: 10.951 %Nebraska10.951Iowa: 10.949 %Iowa10.949Indiana: 10.941 %Indiana10.941Maine: 10.921 %Maine10.921Pennsylvania: 10.839 %Pennsylvania10.839District of Columbia: 10.703 %District of Columbia10.703Wisconsin: 10.666 %Wisconsin10.666Massachusetts: 10.448 %Massachusetts10.448New Hampshire: 10.056 %New Hampshire10.056
%. 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

RankStates2017 (%)Change on 2016
1Wyoming15.845-0.53 pts
2Alaska14.348+0.63 pts
3Delaware14.294+2.8 pts
4North Dakota13.763-1.04 pts
5Texas13.589+1.47 pts
6Louisiana13.481+0.89 pts
7West Virginia12.882+0.77 pts
8Colorado12.786+1.07 pts
9California12.621+0.52 pts
10Oklahoma12.615-0.22 pts
11Montana12.521+1.75 pts
12New Mexico12.516+1.11 pts
13Illinois12.371+1.05 pts
14New Jersey12.337+1.13 pts
15Florida12.234+0.6 pts
16Arizona12.147-0.02 pts
17New York12.106+1.42 pts
18Georgia12.082+1.55 pts
19Connecticut11.856+2.32 pts
20Arkansas11.822+1.88 pts
21Nevada11.776+0.59 pts
22Kentucky11.753+1.59 pts
23Ohio11.747+1.83 pts
24Missouri11.746+1.93 pts
25Vermont11.743+2.21 pts
26Maryland11.608+1.61 pts
27Alabama11.563+1.68 pts
28Kansas11.556+0.34 pts
29Tennessee11.552+1.82 pts
30Idaho11.449+0.73 pts
31Virginia11.437+0.52 pts
32Rhode Island11.284+1.72 pts
33South Carolina11.259+1.13 pts
34Washington11.243+1 pts
35Minnesota11.233+0.99 pts
36Utah11.21+0.7 pts
37Mississippi11.16+1.02 pts
38Michigan11.133+1.27 pts
39South Dakota11.098+2.43 pts
40Hawaii11.081+1.05 pts
41North Carolina11.009+0.92 pts
42Oregon10.993+1.3 pts
43Nebraska10.951+1.79 pts
44Iowa10.949+1.73 pts
45Indiana10.941+1.19 pts
46Maine10.921+1.69 pts
47Pennsylvania10.839+0.55 pts
48District of Columbia10.703+0.44 pts
49Wisconsin10.666+0.77 pts
50Massachusetts10.448+0.81 pts
51New Hampshire10.056+1.62 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, 2017) [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, 2017. 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=2017. 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, 2017. 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=2017.

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, 2017 [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=2017 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{census_us_states_by_job_2017,
  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, 2017}},
  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=2017. 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, 2017
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=2017
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/job-destruction-rate/us-states?period=2017.
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 15.845% in 2017, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Which state has the lowest job destruction rate?

New Hampshire, with 10.056% in 2017.

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