Counties in Washington by job destruction rate

Ferry County had the highest job destruction rate of 39 counties in 2017, at 24.781%. Pend Oreille County had the lowest, at 7.138%. The median was 11.192% and the figure for Washington was 11.243%. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.

Highest24.781Ferry County

Lowest7.138Pend Oreille County

Median11.19239 counties

Washington11.243History

Map of counties, 2017

Under 10
10 to 11
11 to 12
12 to 14
14 and over

%, 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 counties, 2017

%. 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

Rank	Counties	2017 (%)	Change on 2016
1	Ferry County	24.781	+16.27 pts
2	Okanogan County	17.234	+7.18 pts
3	Klickitat County	15.871	+6.01 pts
4	Chelan County	15.744	+4.19 pts
5	Adams County	14.663	+3.82 pts
6	Mason County	14.441	+5.7 pts
7	Kitsap County	14.14	+3.07 pts
8	Island County	13.605	+3.82 pts
9	San Juan County	13.053	-0.75 pts
10	Spokane County	12.124	+2.53 pts
11	Walla Walla County	11.915	+5.52 pts
12	Snohomish County	11.884	+1.62 pts
13	Lincoln County	11.626	+0.05 pts
14	Asotin County	11.542	+3.93 pts
15	Skamania County	11.464	+1.48 pts
16	Grays Harbor County	11.458	+1.15 pts
17	Whatcom County	11.383	+0.5 pts
18	Pacific County	11.382	+0.38 pts
19	Thurston County	11.206	+2.59 pts
20	Pierce County	11.192	+0.73 pts
21	Douglas County	11.096	+0.28 pts
22	Franklin County	11.03	+0.38 pts
23	Stevens County	11.019	+0.85 pts
24	Clark County	10.936	+0.51 pts
25	King County	10.863	+0.28 pts
26	Skagit County	10.744	+0.65 pts
27	Clallam County	10.617	+0.22 pts
28	Grant County	10.477	+2 pts
29	Cowlitz County	10.453	-0.44 pts
30	Garfield County	10.289	+0.9 pts
31	Benton County	10.283	+0.95 pts
32	Yakima County	10.161	+1.25 pts
33	Wahkiakum County	9.896	-9.18 pts
34	Whitman County	9.812	+1.35 pts
35	Jefferson County	9.731	+0.74 pts
36	Lewis County	9.419	+0.71 pts
37	Columbia County	9.333	+0.45 pts
38	Kittitas County	9.233	-3.85 pts
39	Pend Oreille County	7.138	-4.72 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 Washington 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_cty.csv

MLA 9

Business Dynamics Statistics: job destruction rate, all covered industries, nation and states from 1978, counties from 2010, Counties in Washington 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_cty.csv. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/job-destruction-rate/washington-counties?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. Counties in Washington by job destruction rate, 2017. 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/washington-counties?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, Counties in Washington by job destruction rate, 2017 [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/washington-counties?period=2017 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX

@misc{census_counties_in_washington_by_2017,
  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 Washington by job destruction rate, 2017}},
  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/washington-counties?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\_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 Washington 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_cty.csv
L2  - https://invokely.ai/rankings/job-destruction-rate/washington-counties?period=2017
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/job-destruction-rate/washington-counties?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_cty.csv. Retrieved 2026-10-12.
ER  -

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Questions

Which county has the highest job destruction rate?

Ferry County, with 24.781% in 2017, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Which county has the lowest job destruction rate?

Pend Oreille County, with 7.138% 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.