Data / Rankings / Job destruction rate / Counties in Virginia

Counties in Virginia by job destruction rate

Craig County had the highest job destruction rate of 133 counties in 2018, at 26.335%. Greensville County had the lowest, at 5.049%. The median was 9.985% and the figure for Virginia was 10.483%. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.

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Highest26.335Craig County
Lowest5.049Greensville County
Median9.985133 counties
Virginia10.483History

Map of counties, 2018

Accomack County: 7.71 %Albemarle County: 9.016 %Alleghany County: 10.076 %Amelia County: 10.378 %Amherst County: 17.518 %Appomattox County: 11.705 %Arlington County: 11.315 %Augusta County: 8.443 %Bath County: 17.703 %Bedford County: 9.14 %Bland County: 15.966 %Botetourt County: 7.761 %Brunswick County: 10.743 %Buchanan County: 17.828 %Buckingham County: 10.122 %Campbell County: 8.242 %Caroline County: 8.417 %Carroll County: 11.013 %Charles City County: 10.371 %Charlotte County: 14.133 %Chesterfield County: 9.477 %Clarke County: 8.488 %Craig County: 26.335 %Culpeper County: 9.763 %Cumberland County: 7.167 %Dickenson County: 9.659 %Dinwiddie County: 7.837 %Essex County: 11.464 %Fairfax County: 10.722 %Fauquier County: 10.497 %Floyd County: 9.599 %Fluvanna County: 9.445 %Franklin County: 8.227 %Frederick County: 14.024 %Giles County: 7.379 %Gloucester County: 11.286 %Goochland County: 5.14 %Grayson County: 7.875 %Greene County: 10.499 %Greensville County: 5.049 %Halifax County: 11.565 %Hanover County: 9.507 %Henrico County: 11.353 %Henry County: 12.266 %Highland County: 9.512 %Isle of Wight County: 9.017 %James City County: 15.505 %King and Queen County: 9.985 %King George County: 12.407 %King William County: 9.215 %Lancaster County: 8.683 %Lee County: 9.629 %Loudoun County: 9.638 %Louisa County: 9.788 %Lunenburg County: 9.96 %Madison County: 11.153 %Mathews County: 12.296 %Mecklenburg County: 14.489 %Middlesex County: 10.258 %Montgomery County: 7.664 %Nelson County: 8.593 %New Kent County: 11.351 %Northampton County: 14.702 %Northumberland County: 19.064 %Nottoway County: 7.809 %Orange County: 8.084 %Page County: 12.095 %Patrick County: 16.659 %Pittsylvania County: 8.827 %Powhatan County: 12.181 %Prince Edward County: 7.99 %Prince George County: 18.236 %Prince William County: 10.789 %Pulaski County: 11.262 %Rappahannock County: 14.651 %Richmond County: 8.312 %Roanoke County: 9.806 %Rockbridge County: 15.736 %Rockingham County: 7.584 %Russell County: 11.367 %Scott County: 12.569 %Shenandoah County: 7.892 %Smyth County: 5.724 %Southampton County: 11.942 %Spotsylvania County: 12.369 %Stafford County: 12.1 %Surry County: 5.687 %Sussex County: 16.112 %Tazewell County: 10.724 %Warren County: 9.59 %Washington County: 8.624 %Westmoreland County: 12.188 %Wise County: 15.893 %Wythe County: 7.404 %York County: 9.513 %Alexandria city: 11.029 %Bristol city: 11.006 %Buena Vista city: 13.42 %Charlottesville city: 12.176 %Chesapeake city: 9.944 %Colonial Heights city: 10.767 %Covington city: 8.195 %Danville city: 9.213 %Emporia city: 10.547 %Fairfax city: 12.333 %Falls Church city: 8.361 %Franklin city: 8.037 %Fredericksburg city: 9.333 %Galax city: 8.228 %Hampton city: 13.88 %Harrisonburg city: 9.369 %Hopewell city: 7.938 %Lexington city: 5.446 %Lynchburg city: 9.895 %Manassas city: 10.201 %Manassas Park city: 10.596 %Martinsville city: 9.127 %Newport News city: 8.831 %Norfolk city: 11.229 %Norton city: 5.858 %Petersburg city: 9.222 %Poquoson city: 7.078 %Portsmouth city: 10.107 %Radford city: 10.325 %Richmond city: 10.424 %Roanoke city: 9.382 %Salem city: 6.999 %Staunton city: 9.069 %Suffolk city: 10.122 %Virginia Beach city: 11.741 %Waynesboro city: 9.549 %Williamsburg city: 12.912 %Winchester city: 7.668 %
  • Under 8
  • 8 to 9.2
  • 9.2 to 10
  • 10 to 11
  • 11 to 12
  • 12 and over
%, 2018. 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, 2018

Craig County: 26.335 %Craig County26.335Northumberland County: 19.064 %Northumberland County19.064Prince George County: 18.236 %Prince George County18.236Buchanan County: 17.828 %Buchanan County17.828Bath County: 17.703 %Bath County17.703Amherst County: 17.518 %Amherst County17.518Patrick County: 16.659 %Patrick County16.659Sussex County: 16.112 %Sussex County16.112Bland County: 15.966 %Bland County15.966Wise County: 15.893 %Wise County15.893Rockbridge County: 15.736 %Rockbridge County15.736James City County: 15.505 %James City County15.505Northampton County: 14.702 %Northampton County14.702Rappahannock County: 14.651 %Rappahannock County14.651Mecklenburg County: 14.489 %Mecklenburg County14.489Charlotte County: 14.133 %Charlotte County14.133Frederick County: 14.024 %Frederick County14.024Hampton city: 13.88 %Hampton city13.88Buena Vista city: 13.42 %Buena Vista city13.42Williamsburg city: 12.912 %Williamsburg city12.912Scott County: 12.569 %Scott County12.569King George County: 12.407 %King George County12.407Spotsylvania County: 12.369 %Spotsylvania County12.369Fairfax city: 12.333 %Fairfax city12.333Mathews County: 12.296 %Mathews County12.296Henry County: 12.266 %Henry County12.266Westmoreland County: 12.188 %Westmoreland County12.188Powhatan County: 12.181 %Powhatan County12.181Charlottesville city: 12.176 %Charlottesville city12.176Stafford County: 12.1 %Stafford County12.1Page County: 12.095 %Page County12.095Southampton County: 11.942 %Southampton County11.942Virginia Beach city: 11.741 %Virginia Beach city11.741Appomattox County: 11.705 %Appomattox County11.705Halifax County: 11.565 %Halifax County11.565Essex County: 11.464 %Essex County11.464Russell County: 11.367 %Russell County11.367Henrico County: 11.353 %Henrico County11.353New Kent County: 11.351 %New Kent County11.351Arlington County: 11.315 %Arlington County11.315Craig County: 26.335 %Craig County26.335Northumberland County: 19.064 %Northumberland County19.064Prince George County: 18.236 %Prince George County18.236Buchanan County: 17.828 %Buchanan County17.828Bath County: 17.703 %Bath County17.703Amherst County: 17.518 %Amherst County17.518Patrick County: 16.659 %Patrick County16.659Sussex County: 16.112 %Sussex County16.112Bland County: 15.966 %Bland County15.966Wise County: 15.893 %Wise County15.893Rockbridge County: 15.736 %Rockbridge County15.736James City County: 15.505 %James City County15.505Northampton County: 14.702 %Northampton County14.702Rappahannock County: 14.651 %Rappahannock County14.651Mecklenburg County: 14.489 %Mecklenburg County14.489Charlotte County: 14.133 %Charlotte County14.133Frederick County: 14.024 %Frederick County14.024Hampton city: 13.88 %Hampton city13.88Buena Vista city: 13.42 %Buena Vista city13.42Williamsburg city: 12.912 %Williamsburg city12.912Scott County: 12.569 %Scott County12.569King George County: 12.407 %King George County12.407Spotsylvania County: 12.369 %Spotsylvania County12.369Fairfax city: 12.333 %Fairfax city12.333Mathews County: 12.296 %Mathews County12.296Henry County: 12.266 %Henry County12.266Westmoreland County: 12.188 %Westmoreland County12.188Powhatan County: 12.181 %Powhatan County12.181Charlottesville city: 12.176 %Charlottesville city12.176Stafford County: 12.1 %Stafford County12.1Page County: 12.095 %Page County12.095Southampton County: 11.942 %Southampton County11.942Virginia Beach city: 11.741 %Virginia Beach city11.741Appomattox County: 11.705 %Appomattox County11.705Halifax County: 11.565 %Halifax County11.565Essex County: 11.464 %Essex County11.464Russell County: 11.367 %Russell County11.367Henrico County: 11.353 %Henrico County11.353New Kent County: 11.351 %New Kent County11.351Arlington County: 11.315 %Arlington County11.315
%. 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

RankCounties2018 (%)Change on 2017
1Craig County26.335+20.29 pts
2Northumberland County19.064+9.53 pts
3Prince George County18.236+4.3 pts
4Buchanan County17.828+6.45 pts
5Bath County17.703+13.41 pts
6Amherst County17.518+8.16 pts
7Patrick County16.659-9.75 pts
8Sussex County16.112+1.08 pts
9Bland County15.966-2.91 pts
10Wise County15.893+1.59 pts
11Rockbridge County15.736+1.89 pts
12James City County15.505+6.18 pts
13Northampton County14.702-3.52 pts
14Rappahannock County14.651-0.5 pts
15Mecklenburg County14.489+4.5 pts
16Charlotte County14.133+3.79 pts
17Frederick County14.024+4.62 pts
18Hampton city13.88+2.15 pts
19Buena Vista city13.42+0.69 pts
20Williamsburg city12.912+5.17 pts
21Scott County12.569-1.79 pts
22King George County12.407-0.64 pts
23Spotsylvania County12.369-1.18 pts
24Fairfax city12.333+2 pts
25Mathews County12.296+2.7 pts
26Henry County12.266-2.84 pts
27Westmoreland County12.188+0.71 pts
28Powhatan County12.181+4.64 pts
29Charlottesville city12.176+0.02 pts
30Stafford County12.1+1.44 pts
31Page County12.095+2.54 pts
32Southampton County11.942+4.04 pts
33Virginia Beach city11.741-0.32 pts
34Appomattox County11.705-1.99 pts
35Halifax County11.565+1.53 pts
36Essex County11.464+2.44 pts
37Russell County11.367+5.33 pts
38Henrico County11.353-4.14 pts
39New Kent County11.351-0.06 pts
40Arlington County11.315+0.71 pts
41Gloucester County11.286+0.39 pts
42Pulaski County11.262+1.16 pts
43Norfolk city11.229+0.45 pts
44Madison County11.153+4.3 pts
45Alexandria city11.029-4.13 pts
46Carroll County11.013-7.24 pts
47Bristol city11.006-4.04 pts
48Prince William County10.789-0.76 pts
49Colonial Heights city10.767-1.68 pts
50Brunswick County10.743-1.64 pts
51Tazewell County10.724-3.38 pts
52Fairfax County10.722-0.29 pts
53Manassas Park city10.596-2.48 pts
54Emporia city10.547+2.37 pts
55Greene County10.499-1.23 pts
56Fauquier County10.497+1.12 pts
57Richmond city10.424-2.09 pts
58Amelia County10.378-0.81 pts
59Charles City County10.371+4.32 pts
60Radford city10.325+0.88 pts
61Middlesex County10.258-1.26 pts
62Manassas city10.201-2.59 pts
63Buckingham County10.122-2.69 pts
63Suffolk city10.122-0.55 pts
65Portsmouth city10.107-6.12 pts
66Alleghany County10.076-1.71 pts
67King and Queen County9.985-1.68 pts
68Lunenburg County9.96-5.04 pts
69Chesapeake city9.944-0.45 pts
70Lynchburg city9.895+1.21 pts
71Roanoke County9.806+0.78 pts
72Louisa County9.788+0.26 pts
73Culpeper County9.763-2.88 pts
74Dickenson County9.659-7.74 pts
75Loudoun County9.638-0.48 pts
76Lee County9.629-2.64 pts
77Floyd County9.599-1.66 pts
78Warren County9.59+0.67 pts
79Waynesboro city9.549-8.67 pts
80York County9.513-0.06 pts
81Highland County9.512-9.31 pts
82Hanover County9.507-0.95 pts
83Chesterfield County9.477-0.8 pts
84Fluvanna County9.445-2.82 pts
85Roanoke city9.382-0.21 pts
86Harrisonburg city9.369-5.51 pts
87Fredericksburg city9.333-0.42 pts
88Petersburg city9.222-0.6 pts
89King William County9.215-7.73 pts
90Danville city9.213-0.41 pts
91Bedford County9.14-4.22 pts
92Martinsville city9.127+0.11 pts
93Staunton city9.069+1.33 pts
94Isle of Wight County9.017+0.41 pts
95Albemarle County9.016-1.7 pts
96Newport News city8.831-0.8 pts
97Pittsylvania County8.827-2.64 pts
98Lancaster County8.683-4.11 pts
99Washington County8.624-5.1 pts
100Nelson County8.593-1.24 pts
101Clarke County8.488-4.38 pts
102Augusta County8.443+0.08 pts
103Caroline County8.417-0.1 pts
104Falls Church city8.361-2.93 pts
105Richmond County8.312-2.74 pts
106Campbell County8.242-16.15 pts
107Galax city8.228-2.71 pts
108Franklin County8.227-1.34 pts
109Covington city8.195-6.52 pts
110Orange County8.084-2.53 pts
111Franklin city8.037-1.83 pts
112Prince Edward County7.99-5.56 pts
113Hopewell city7.938-0.46 pts
114Shenandoah County7.892-2.51 pts
115Grayson County7.875-1.26 pts
116Dinwiddie County7.837-0.98 pts
117Nottoway County7.809-3.06 pts
118Botetourt County7.761-3.02 pts
119Accomack County7.71-3.8 pts
120Winchester city7.668-2.2 pts
121Montgomery County7.664-2.27 pts
122Rockingham County7.584-0.4 pts
123Wythe County7.404-2.41 pts
124Giles County7.379+0.31 pts
125Cumberland County7.167-8.73 pts
126Poquoson city7.078-7.41 pts
127Salem city6.999-4.16 pts
128Norton city5.858-27.96 pts
129Smyth County5.724-2.57 pts
130Surry County5.687-1.55 pts
131Lexington city5.446-1.17 pts
132Goochland County5.14-3.9 pts
133Greensville County5.049-10.54 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 counties 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_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 (Counties in Virginia by job destruction rate, 2018) [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, Counties in Virginia by job destruction rate, 2018. 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/virginia-counties?period=2018. 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. Counties in Virginia by job destruction rate, 2018. 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/virginia-counties?period=2018.

Harvard

U.S. Census Bureau (2025) Business Dynamics Statistics: job destruction rate, all covered industries, nation and states from 1978, counties from 2010, Counties in Virginia by job destruction rate, 2018 [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/virginia-counties?period=2018 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{census_counties_in_virginia_by_2018,
  author = {{U.S. Census Bureau}},
  title = {{Business Dynamics Statistics: job destruction rate, all covered industries, nation and states from 1978, counties from 2010: Counties in Virginia by job destruction rate, 2018}},
  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/virginia-counties?period=2018. 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: Counties in Virginia by job destruction rate, 2018
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/virginia-counties?period=2018
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/job-destruction-rate/virginia-counties?period=2018.
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?

Craig County, with 26.335% in 2018, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Which county has the lowest job destruction rate?

Greensville County, with 5.049% in 2018.

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

Counties in Virginia: more rankings