Counties in Washington by job destruction rate

Skamania County had the highest job destruction rate of 39 counties in 2021, at 29.916%. Asotin County had the lowest, at 7.494%. The median was 14.44% and the figure for Washington was 16.278%. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.

Highest29.916Skamania County

Lowest7.494Asotin County

Median14.4439 counties

Washington16.278History

Map of counties, 2021

Under 11
11 to 13
13 to 14
14 to 16
16 to 18
18 and over

%, 2021. 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, 2021

%. 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	2021 (%)	Change on 2020
1	Skamania County	29.916	+18.8 pts
2	Columbia County	22.912	+18.23 pts
3	Pend Oreille County	19.201	+11.18 pts
4	King County	18.549	+7.7 pts
5	Okanogan County	17.876	+7.47 pts
6	Franklin County	17.777	+6.89 pts
7	Skagit County	17.77	+5.73 pts
8	Jefferson County	17.331	+6.08 pts
9	San Juan County	17.149	+3.61 pts
10	Kitsap County	16.466	+3.24 pts
11	Whatcom County	16.308	+5.54 pts
12	Snohomish County	16.112	+4.51 pts
13	Benton County	16.077	+7.73 pts
14	Pacific County	16.054	+0.68 pts
15	Island County	15.836	+4.26 pts
16	Thurston County	15.607	+4.19 pts
17	Kittitas County	15.437	+3.68 pts
18	Ferry County	15.103	-0.21 pts
19	Pierce County	14.579	+4.64 pts
20	Clark County	14.44	+4.13 pts
21	Grays Harbor County	14.366	+2.71 pts
22	Whitman County	14.16	+5.2 pts
23	Clallam County	13.803	+2.48 pts
24	Adams County	13.646	+4.39 pts
25	Spokane County	13.583	+3.59 pts
26	Mason County	13.581	+2.41 pts
27	Lewis County	13.249	+1.49 pts
28	Yakima County	12.904	+1.29 pts
29	Chelan County	12.808	+1.5 pts
30	Wahkiakum County	12.806	-2.82 pts
31	Klickitat County	12.152	+2.51 pts
32	Cowlitz County	11.682	-2.63 pts
33	Douglas County	11.119	-0.43 pts
34	Grant County	10.692	+0.64 pts
35	Walla Walla County	10.105	+1.13 pts
36	Lincoln County	9.756	-1.98 pts
37	Stevens County	9.705	-5.75 pts
38	Garfield County	9.195	-0.17 pts
39	Asotin County	7.494	+0.39 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, 2021) [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, 2021. 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=2021. 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, 2021. 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=2021.

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, 2021 [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=2021 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX

@misc{census_counties_in_washington_by_2021,
  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, 2021}},
  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=2021. 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, 2021
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=2021
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/job-destruction-rate/washington-counties?period=2021.
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?

Skamania County, with 29.916% in 2021, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Which county has the lowest job destruction rate?

Asotin County, with 7.494% in 2021.

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.