Data / Rankings / Job destruction rate / Counties in Washington

Counties in Washington by job destruction rate

Wahkiakum County had the highest job destruction rate of 39 counties in 2020, at 15.629%. Columbia County had the lowest, at 4.684%. The median was 11.255% and the figure for Washington was 10.77%. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.

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Highest15.629Wahkiakum County
Lowest4.684Columbia County
Median11.25539 counties
Washington10.77History

Map of counties, 2020

Adams County: 9.252 %Asotin County: 7.101 %Benton County: 8.35 %Chelan County: 11.303 %Clallam County: 11.321 %Clark County: 10.314 %Columbia County: 4.684 %Cowlitz County: 14.309 %Douglas County: 11.551 %Ferry County: 15.309 %Franklin County: 10.892 %Garfield County: 9.37 %Grant County: 10.054 %Grays Harbor County: 11.654 %Island County: 11.572 %Jefferson County: 11.255 %King County: 10.853 %Kitsap County: 13.228 %Kittitas County: 11.76 %Klickitat County: 9.646 %Lewis County: 11.755 %Lincoln County: 11.74 %Mason County: 11.166 %Okanogan County: 10.404 %Pacific County: 15.371 %Pend Oreille County: 8.025 %Pierce County: 9.942 %San Juan County: 13.538 %Skagit County: 12.038 %Skamania County: 11.118 %Snohomish County: 11.606 %Spokane County: 9.989 %Stevens County: 15.452 %Thurston County: 11.421 %Wahkiakum County: 15.629 %Walla Walla County: 8.979 %Whatcom County: 10.769 %Whitman County: 8.959 %Yakima County: 11.61 %
  • Under 9.3
  • 9.3 to 10
  • 10 to 11
  • 11 to 12
  • 12 to 13
  • 13 and over
%, 2020. 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, 2020

Wahkiakum County: 15.629 %Wahkiakum County15.629Stevens County: 15.452 %Stevens County15.452Pacific County: 15.371 %Pacific County15.371Ferry County: 15.309 %Ferry County15.309Cowlitz County: 14.309 %Cowlitz County14.309San Juan County: 13.538 %San Juan County13.538Kitsap County: 13.228 %Kitsap County13.228Skagit County: 12.038 %Skagit County12.038Kittitas County: 11.76 %Kittitas County11.76Lewis County: 11.755 %Lewis County11.755Lincoln County: 11.74 %Lincoln County11.74Grays Harbor County: 11.654 %Grays Harbor County11.654Yakima County: 11.61 %Yakima County11.61Snohomish County: 11.606 %Snohomish County11.606Island County: 11.572 %Island County11.572Douglas County: 11.551 %Douglas County11.551Thurston County: 11.421 %Thurston County11.421Clallam County: 11.321 %Clallam County11.321Chelan County: 11.303 %Chelan County11.303Jefferson County: 11.255 %Jefferson County11.255Mason County: 11.166 %Mason County11.166Skamania County: 11.118 %Skamania County11.118Franklin County: 10.892 %Franklin County10.892King County: 10.853 %King County10.853Whatcom County: 10.769 %Whatcom County10.769Okanogan County: 10.404 %Okanogan County10.404Clark County: 10.314 %Clark County10.314Grant County: 10.054 %Grant County10.054Spokane County: 9.989 %Spokane County9.989Pierce County: 9.942 %Pierce County9.942Klickitat County: 9.646 %Klickitat County9.646Garfield County: 9.37 %Garfield County9.37Adams County: 9.252 %Adams County9.252Walla Walla County: 8.979 %Walla Walla County8.979Whitman County: 8.959 %Whitman County8.959Benton County: 8.35 %Benton County8.35Pend Oreille County: 8.025 %Pend Oreille County8.025Asotin County: 7.101 %Asotin County7.101Columbia County: 4.684 %Columbia County4.684Wahkiakum County: 15.629 %Wahkiakum County15.629Stevens County: 15.452 %Stevens County15.452Pacific County: 15.371 %Pacific County15.371Ferry County: 15.309 %Ferry County15.309Cowlitz County: 14.309 %Cowlitz County14.309San Juan County: 13.538 %San Juan County13.538Kitsap County: 13.228 %Kitsap County13.228Skagit County: 12.038 %Skagit County12.038Kittitas County: 11.76 %Kittitas County11.76Lewis County: 11.755 %Lewis County11.755Lincoln County: 11.74 %Lincoln County11.74Grays Harbor County: 11.654 %Grays Harbor County11.654Yakima County: 11.61 %Yakima County11.61Snohomish County: 11.606 %Snohomish County11.606Island County: 11.572 %Island County11.572Douglas County: 11.551 %Douglas County11.551Thurston County: 11.421 %Thurston County11.421Clallam County: 11.321 %Clallam County11.321Chelan County: 11.303 %Chelan County11.303Jefferson County: 11.255 %Jefferson County11.255Mason County: 11.166 %Mason County11.166Skamania County: 11.118 %Skamania County11.118Franklin County: 10.892 %Franklin County10.892King County: 10.853 %King County10.853Whatcom County: 10.769 %Whatcom County10.769Okanogan County: 10.404 %Okanogan County10.404Clark County: 10.314 %Clark County10.314Grant County: 10.054 %Grant County10.054Spokane County: 9.989 %Spokane County9.989Pierce County: 9.942 %Pierce County9.942Klickitat County: 9.646 %Klickitat County9.646Garfield County: 9.37 %Garfield County9.37Adams County: 9.252 %Adams County9.252Walla Walla County: 8.979 %Walla Walla County8.979Whitman County: 8.959 %Whitman County8.959Benton County: 8.35 %Benton County8.35Pend Oreille County: 8.025 %Pend Oreille County8.025Asotin County: 7.101 %Asotin County7.101Columbia County: 4.684 %Columbia County4.684
%. 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

RankCounties2020 (%)Change on 2019
1Wahkiakum County15.629+4.33 pts
2Stevens County15.452+6.93 pts
3Pacific County15.371+2.9 pts
4Ferry County15.309+4.86 pts
5Cowlitz County14.309+6.85 pts
6San Juan County13.538+1.04 pts
7Kitsap County13.228+3.82 pts
8Skagit County12.038+3.08 pts
9Kittitas County11.76-1.11 pts
10Lewis County11.755+2.97 pts
11Lincoln County11.74+1.84 pts
12Grays Harbor County11.654+0.09 pts
13Yakima County11.61+1.27 pts
14Snohomish County11.606-0.75 pts
15Island County11.572-0.6 pts
16Douglas County11.551+0.63 pts
17Thurston County11.421+0.84 pts
18Clallam County11.321+0.83 pts
19Chelan County11.303+1.38 pts
20Jefferson County11.255-0.23 pts
21Mason County11.166+1.09 pts
22Skamania County11.118-24.74 pts
23Franklin County10.892-3.22 pts
24King County10.853+0.61 pts
25Whatcom County10.769+0.05 pts
26Okanogan County10.404-1.07 pts
27Clark County10.314-0.03 pts
28Grant County10.054+1.39 pts
29Spokane County9.989-0.17 pts
30Pierce County9.942+0.15 pts
31Klickitat County9.646-3.41 pts
32Garfield County9.37+0.47 pts
33Adams County9.252-2.4 pts
34Walla Walla County8.979+1.78 pts
35Whitman County8.959-0.81 pts
36Benton County8.35-3.42 pts
37Pend Oreille County8.025-1.04 pts
38Asotin County7.101-2.05 pts
39Columbia County4.684-15.22 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, 2020) [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, 2020. 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=2020. 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, 2020. 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=2020.

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, 2020 [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=2020 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{census_counties_in_washington_by_2020,
  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, 2020}},
  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=2020. 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, 2020
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=2020
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/job-destruction-rate/washington-counties?period=2020.
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?

Wahkiakum County, with 15.629% in 2020, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Which county has the lowest job destruction rate?

Columbia County, with 4.684% in 2020.

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 Washington: more rankings