Business Formation Pulse · WA counties

Washington Business Applications by County

Explore annual Census business applications across Washington. Bubble size shows application volume; color can show volume or year-over-year change.

Latest year: 2025 · 39 counties

Interactive county map

Where are business applications concentrated?

Choose a year and map view, then select a bubble or ranking bar for exact county context.

Map view
Light to dark: lower to higher application volumeBubble size: applications

County points use official Census internal coordinates. Values are protected estimates from the published annual BFS county file.

County ranking

Highest application counties

The ranking follows the selected year and map measure. Select a bar to inspect that county.

Ranking

All counties

Ranked by 2025 business applications

Washington counties ranked by 2025 business applications
RankCountyApplicationsvs. prior yearShare of state
1King County (featured)46,989+25.3%33.0%
2Pierce County17,007+38.8%12.0%
3Snohomish County14,411+30.3%10.1%
4Spokane County14,175+28.0%10.0%
5Clark County9,863+8.1%6.9%
6Thurston County4,614+36.3%3.2%
7Kitsap County4,426+46.6%3.1%
8Whatcom County3,825+23.9%2.7%
9Benton County3,206+34.1%2.3%
10Yakima County3,126+33.8%2.2%
11Skagit County1,925+26.2%1.4%
12Cowlitz County1,582+30.9%1.1%
13Island County1,333+34.4%0.9%
14Lewis County1,309+50.6%0.9%
15Grant County1,270+35.4%0.9%
16Franklin County1,236+21.1%0.9%
17Chelan County1,224+23.5%0.9%
18Clallam County1,112+31.0%0.8%
19Grays Harbor County1,006+35.4%0.7%
20Mason County916+24.5%0.6%
21Walla Walla County875+45.8%0.6%
22Stevens County831+34.2%0.6%
23Kittitas County786+19.5%0.6%
24Whitman County665+98.5%0.5%
25Okanogan County659+55.4%0.5%
26Douglas County638+35.2%0.4%
27Jefferson County589+46.5%0.4%
28San Juan County422+18.9%0.3%
29Klickitat County400+22.0%0.3%
30Pacific County330+20.9%0.2%
31Asotin County261+60.1%0.2%
32Pend Oreille County260+94.0%0.2%
33Skamania County228+34.1%0.2%
34Adams County225+37.2%0.2%
35Lincoln County177+52.6%0.1%
36Ferry County96+74.5%0.1%
37Wahkiakum County91+59.6%0.1%
38Columbia County67+13.6%0.0%
39Garfield County39-4.9%0.0%