Data / Rankings / Job destruction rate / US states

US states by job destruction rate

District of Columbia had the highest job destruction rate of 51 states in 2019, at 12.152%. North Dakota had the lowest, at 8.721%. The median was 10.239% and the figure for the United States was 10.349%. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.

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Highest12.152District of Columbia
Lowest8.721North Dakota
Median10.23951 states
United States10.349History

Map of states, 2019

Alabama: 9.503 %Alaska: 10.661 %Arizona: 11.173 %Arkansas: 10.239 %California: 11.18 %Colorado: 11.301 %Connecticut: 9.309 %Delaware: 10.427 %District of Columbia: 12.152 %Florida: 10.889 %Georgia: 11.36 %Hawaii: 9.528 %Idaho: 9.474 %Illinois: 10.318 %Indiana: 9.216 %Iowa: 8.768 %Kansas: 10.092 %Kentucky: 9.701 %Louisiana: 10.26 %Maine: 9.658 %Maryland: 10.159 %Massachusetts: 8.944 %Michigan: 9.847 %Minnesota: 10.194 %Mississippi: 9.421 %Missouri: 10.163 %Montana: 10.392 %Nebraska: 9.556 %Nevada: 10.396 %New Hampshire: 8.956 %New Jersey: 10.44 %New Mexico: 10.786 %New York: 10.384 %North Carolina: 10.261 %North Dakota: 8.721 %Ohio: 9.842 %Oklahoma: 10.866 %Oregon: 10.688 %Pennsylvania: 9.209 %Rhode Island: 10.276 %South Carolina: 10.738 %South Dakota: 9.361 %Tennessee: 10.088 %Texas: 10.829 %Utah: 10.019 %Vermont: 9.549 %Virginia: 9.843 %Washington: 10.356 %West Virginia: 11.044 %Wisconsin: 10.278 %Wyoming: 10.522 %
  • Under 9.4
  • 9.4 to 9.8
  • 9.8 to 10
  • 10 to 11
  • 11 and over
%, 2019. 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, 2019

District of Columbia: 12.152 %District of Columbia12.152Georgia: 11.36 %Georgia11.36Colorado: 11.301 %Colorado11.301California: 11.18 %California11.18Arizona: 11.173 %Arizona11.173West Virginia: 11.044 %West Virginia11.044Florida: 10.889 %Florida10.889Oklahoma: 10.866 %Oklahoma10.866Texas: 10.829 %Texas10.829New Mexico: 10.786 %New Mexico10.786South Carolina: 10.738 %South Carolina10.738Oregon: 10.688 %Oregon10.688Alaska: 10.661 %Alaska10.661Wyoming: 10.522 %Wyoming10.522New Jersey: 10.44 %New Jersey10.44Delaware: 10.427 %Delaware10.427Nevada: 10.396 %Nevada10.396Montana: 10.392 %Montana10.392New York: 10.384 %New York10.384Washington: 10.356 %Washington10.356Illinois: 10.318 %Illinois10.318Wisconsin: 10.278 %Wisconsin10.278Rhode Island: 10.276 %Rhode Island10.276North Carolina: 10.261 %North Carolina10.261Louisiana: 10.26 %Louisiana10.26Arkansas: 10.239 %Arkansas10.239Minnesota: 10.194 %Minnesota10.194Missouri: 10.163 %Missouri10.163Maryland: 10.159 %Maryland10.159Kansas: 10.092 %Kansas10.092Tennessee: 10.088 %Tennessee10.088Utah: 10.019 %Utah10.019Michigan: 9.847 %Michigan9.847Virginia: 9.843 %Virginia9.843Ohio: 9.842 %Ohio9.842Kentucky: 9.701 %Kentucky9.701Maine: 9.658 %Maine9.658Nebraska: 9.556 %Nebraska9.556Vermont: 9.549 %Vermont9.549Hawaii: 9.528 %Hawaii9.528Alabama: 9.503 %Alabama9.503Idaho: 9.474 %Idaho9.474Mississippi: 9.421 %Mississippi9.421South Dakota: 9.361 %South Dakota9.361Connecticut: 9.309 %Connecticut9.309Indiana: 9.216 %Indiana9.216Pennsylvania: 9.209 %Pennsylvania9.209New Hampshire: 8.956 %New Hampshire8.956Massachusetts: 8.944 %Massachusetts8.944Iowa: 8.768 %Iowa8.768North Dakota: 8.721 %North Dakota8.721District of Columbia: 12.152 %District of Columbia12.152Georgia: 11.36 %Georgia11.36Colorado: 11.301 %Colorado11.301California: 11.18 %California11.18Arizona: 11.173 %Arizona11.173West Virginia: 11.044 %West Virginia11.044Florida: 10.889 %Florida10.889Oklahoma: 10.866 %Oklahoma10.866Texas: 10.829 %Texas10.829New Mexico: 10.786 %New Mexico10.786South Carolina: 10.738 %South Carolina10.738Oregon: 10.688 %Oregon10.688Alaska: 10.661 %Alaska10.661Wyoming: 10.522 %Wyoming10.522New Jersey: 10.44 %New Jersey10.44Delaware: 10.427 %Delaware10.427Nevada: 10.396 %Nevada10.396Montana: 10.392 %Montana10.392New York: 10.384 %New York10.384Washington: 10.356 %Washington10.356Illinois: 10.318 %Illinois10.318Wisconsin: 10.278 %Wisconsin10.278Rhode Island: 10.276 %Rhode Island10.276North Carolina: 10.261 %North Carolina10.261Louisiana: 10.26 %Louisiana10.26Arkansas: 10.239 %Arkansas10.239Minnesota: 10.194 %Minnesota10.194Missouri: 10.163 %Missouri10.163Maryland: 10.159 %Maryland10.159Kansas: 10.092 %Kansas10.092Tennessee: 10.088 %Tennessee10.088Utah: 10.019 %Utah10.019Michigan: 9.847 %Michigan9.847Virginia: 9.843 %Virginia9.843Ohio: 9.842 %Ohio9.842Kentucky: 9.701 %Kentucky9.701Maine: 9.658 %Maine9.658Nebraska: 9.556 %Nebraska9.556Vermont: 9.549 %Vermont9.549Hawaii: 9.528 %Hawaii9.528Alabama: 9.503 %Alabama9.503Idaho: 9.474 %Idaho9.474Mississippi: 9.421 %Mississippi9.421South Dakota: 9.361 %South Dakota9.361Connecticut: 9.309 %Connecticut9.309Indiana: 9.216 %Indiana9.216Pennsylvania: 9.209 %Pennsylvania9.209New Hampshire: 8.956 %New Hampshire8.956Massachusetts: 8.944 %Massachusetts8.944Iowa: 8.768 %Iowa8.768North Dakota: 8.721 %North Dakota8.721
%. 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

RankStates2019 (%)Change on 2018
1District of Columbia12.152+2.52 pts
2Georgia11.36-0.36 pts
3Colorado11.301-0.73 pts
4California11.18-0.32 pts
5Arizona11.173+0.15 pts
6West Virginia11.044+0.04 pts
7Florida10.889-0.46 pts
8Oklahoma10.866-0.9 pts
9Texas10.829-1.19 pts
10New Mexico10.786-0.38 pts
11South Carolina10.738-0.55 pts
12Oregon10.688-0.06 pts
13Alaska10.661-1.77 pts
14Wyoming10.522-1.29 pts
15New Jersey10.44-1.18 pts
16Delaware10.427-1.05 pts
17Nevada10.396-1.16 pts
18Montana10.392-3.55 pts
19New York10.384-0.88 pts
20Washington10.356-0.51 pts
21Illinois10.318-0.97 pts
22Wisconsin10.278+0.53 pts
23Rhode Island10.276-0.79 pts
24North Carolina10.261-0.72 pts
25Louisiana10.26-1.7 pts
26Arkansas10.239-0.52 pts
27Minnesota10.194-0.06 pts
28Missouri10.163-1.36 pts
29Maryland10.159-0.68 pts
30Kansas10.092-1.48 pts
31Tennessee10.088-0.58 pts
32Utah10.019-0.23 pts
33Michigan9.847-0.73 pts
34Virginia9.843-0.64 pts
35Ohio9.842-0.92 pts
36Kentucky9.701-1.13 pts
37Maine9.658-0.77 pts
38Nebraska9.556-0.92 pts
39Vermont9.549+0.13 pts
40Hawaii9.528-0.36 pts
41Alabama9.503-1.49 pts
42Idaho9.474-1.61 pts
43Mississippi9.421-1.36 pts
44South Dakota9.361-1.08 pts
45Connecticut9.309-2.74 pts
46Indiana9.216-1.88 pts
47Pennsylvania9.209-1.05 pts
48New Hampshire8.956-1.23 pts
49Massachusetts8.944-1.62 pts
50Iowa8.768-0.86 pts
51North Dakota8.721-2.66 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, 2019) [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, 2019. 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=2019. 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, 2019. 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=2019.

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, 2019 [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=2019 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{census_us_states_by_job_2019,
  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, 2019}},
  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=2019. 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, 2019
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=2019
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/job-destruction-rate/us-states?period=2019.
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?

District of Columbia, with 12.152% in 2019, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Which state has the lowest job destruction rate?

North Dakota, with 8.721% in 2019.

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