Data / Employer firm births / Cook County

Employer firm births in Cook County

Employer firm births in Cook County was 7,269 in 2023, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. That is down 8.1% from 2022. That is the 1st highest of 98 counties in 2023.

2023, count7,269
Change on 2022-8.1%
Rank1st of 98Counties in Illinois ranked
Series high8,5292006
Series low6,7702010
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Employer firm births in Cook County, 1978 to 2023

6,5007,0007,5008,0008,5009,00019781985199219992006201320231978: 8,300 count1979: 8,068 count1980: 7,721 count1981: 7,558 count1982: 7,470 count1983: 8,381 count1984: 8,326 count1985: 8,158 count1986: 8,454 count1987: 8,481 count1988: 8,317 count1989: 8,211 count1990: 8,205 count1991: 7,782 count1992: 7,470 count1993: 7,740 count1994: 7,803 count1995: 8,080 count1996: 8,012 count1997: 7,993 count1998: 7,633 count1999: 7,115 count2000: 7,055 count2001: 6,837 count2002: 6,966 count2003: 7,374 count2004: 7,973 count2005: 8,180 count2006: 8,529 count2007: 8,090 count2008: 7,773 count2009: 6,845 count2010: 6,770 count2011: 7,371 count2012: 7,493 count2013: 7,299 count2014: 7,159 count2015: 7,281 count2016: 7,538 count2017: 7,304 count2018: 7,055 count2019: 7,341 count2020: 7,159 count2021: 7,880 count2022: 7,910 count2023: 7,269 count6,5007,0007,5008,0008,5009,00019781994201020231978: 8,300 count1979: 8,068 count1980: 7,721 count1981: 7,558 count1982: 7,470 count1983: 8,381 count1984: 8,326 count1985: 8,158 count1986: 8,454 count1987: 8,481 count1988: 8,317 count1989: 8,211 count1990: 8,205 count1991: 7,782 count1992: 7,470 count1993: 7,740 count1994: 7,803 count1995: 8,080 count1996: 8,012 count1997: 7,993 count1998: 7,633 count1999: 7,115 count2000: 7,055 count2001: 6,837 count2002: 6,966 count2003: 7,374 count2004: 7,973 count2005: 8,180 count2006: 8,529 count2007: 8,090 count2008: 7,773 count2009: 6,845 count2010: 6,770 count2011: 7,371 count2012: 7,493 count2013: 7,299 count2014: 7,159 count2015: 7,281 count2016: 7,538 count2017: 7,304 count2018: 7,055 count2019: 7,341 count2020: 7,159 count2021: 7,880 count2022: 7,910 count2023: 7,269 count
count. Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Business Dynamics Statistics by firm age: employer firms of age zero, all covered industries, nation, states and counties from 1978. Retrieved 2026-10-22, published 2025-09-25.
All 46 values
Periodcount
20237,269
20227,910
20217,880
20207,159
20197,341
20187,055
20177,304
20167,538
20157,281
20147,159
20137,299
20127,493
20117,371
20106,770
20096,845
20087,773
20078,090
20068,529
20058,180
20047,973
20037,374
20026,966
20016,837
20007,055
19997,115
19987,633
19977,993
19968,012
19958,080
19947,803
19937,740
19927,470
19917,782
19908,205
19898,211
19888,317
19878,481
19868,454
19858,158
19848,326
19838,381
19827,470
19817,558
19807,721
19798,068
19788,300

Compared with Illinois and United States

Place2023
Cook County7,269
Illinois16,056
United States508,777

Cook County compared with nearby places

Adams County: 86 countBond County: 15 countBoone County: 54 countBrown County: 5 countBureau County: 24 countCalhoun County: 7 countCarroll County: 15 countCass County: 9 countChampaign County: 210 countChristian County: 25 countClark County: 22 countClay County: 15 countClinton County: 35 countColes County: 39 countCook County: 7,269 countCrawford County: 13 countCumberland County: 11 countDeKalb County: 79 countDe Witt County: 12 countDouglas County: 27 countDuPage County: 1,665 countEdgar County: 11 countEdwards County: 4 countEffingham County: 57 countFayette County: 21 countFord County: 18 countFranklin County: 33 countFulton County: 26 countGallatin County: 3 countGreene County: 9 countGrundy County: 55 countHamilton County: 7 countHancock County: 16 countHardin County: 3 countHenry County: 44 countIroquois County: 25 countJackson County: 41 countJasper County: 8 countJefferson County: 37 countJersey County: 14 countJo Daviess County: 27 countJohnson County: 6 countKane County: 749 countKankakee County: 84 countKendall County: 199 countKnox County: 33 countLake County: 1,023 countLaSalle County: 95 countLawrence County: 9 countLee County: 23 countLivingston County: 37 countLogan County: 14 countMcDonough County: 25 countMcHenry County: 391 countMcLean County: 158 countMacon County: 77 countMacoupin County: 34 countMadison County: 265 countMarion County: 49 countMarshall County: 10 countMason County: 15 countMassac County: 6 countMenard County: 17 countMercer County: 18 countMonroe County: 48 countMontgomery County: 39 countMorgan County: 30 countMoultrie County: 8 countOgle County: 60 countPeoria County: 158 countPerry County: 12 countPiatt County: 15 countPike County: 17 countPutnam County: 9 countRandolph County: 25 countRichland County: 18 countRock Island County: 112 countSt. Clair County: 180 countSaline County: 16 countSangamon County: 235 countSchuyler County: 6 countScott County: 5 countShelby County: 17 countStark County: 9 countStephenson County: 31 countTazewell County: 115 countUnion County: 24 countVermilion County: 43 countWabash County: 11 countWarren County: 13 countWashington County: 12 countWayne County: 18 countWhite County: 9 countWhiteside County: 36 countWill County: 956 countWilliamson County: 77 countWinnebago County: 239 countWoodford County: 46 count
  • Under 10
  • 10 to 20
  • 20 to 30
  • 30 to 40
  • 40 to 90
  • 90 and over
  • No data
Employer firm births, 2023, count. Cook County is outlined. Same source and period for every area shown. Source: U.S. Census Bureau. Boundaries: U.S. Census Bureau cartographic boundary files.

Rankings

Definition

New employer firms: firms of age zero in March of the year, meaning that every establishment of the firm had its first employees during the previous twelve months. United States: Census Bureau Business Dynamics Statistics, which calls these firms startups.

A firm counts only when it has employees, so a business without staff is not a birth, and a new branch, merger or change of ownership of an existing firm is not a birth either. Not the same as business_applications (requests for an employer number) or enterprise_births (European business demography). The year is the twelve months to March: 2023 compares March 2022 with March 2023.

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How to cite

U.S. Census Bureau. Business Dynamics Statistics by firm age: employer firms of age zero, all covered industries, nation, states and counties from 1978. https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/bds/tables/time-series/2023/bds2023_st_cty_fac.csv. Retrieved 2026-10-22.

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 by firm age: employer firms of age zero, all covered industries, nation, states and counties from 1978 (Employer firm births, Cook County, 1978 to 2023) [Data set]. Retrieved October 22, 2026, from https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/bds/tables/time-series/2023/bds2023_st_cty_fac.csv

MLA 9

Business Dynamics Statistics by firm age: employer firms of age zero, all covered industries, nation, states and counties from 1978, Employer firm births, Cook County, 1978 to 2023. U.S. Census Bureau, 25 Sept. 2025, https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/bds/tables/time-series/2023/bds2023_st_cty_fac.csv. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/en/employer-firm-births/cook-county-illinois. Accessed 22 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

U.S. Census Bureau. 2025. Business Dynamics Statistics by firm age: employer firms of age zero, all covered industries, nation, states and counties from 1978. Employer firm births, Cook County, 1978 to 2023. Dataset. Accessed October 22, 2026. https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/bds/tables/time-series/2023/bds2023_st_cty_fac.csv. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/en/employer-firm-births/cook-county-illinois.

Harvard

U.S. Census Bureau (2025) Business Dynamics Statistics by firm age: employer firms of age zero, all covered industries, nation, states and counties from 1978, Employer firm births, Cook County, 1978 to 2023 [Dataset]. Available at: https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/bds/tables/time-series/2023/bds2023_st_cty_fac.csv, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/en/employer-firm-births/cook-county-illinois (Accessed: 22 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{census_employer_firm_births_cook_2023,
  author = {{U.S. Census Bureau}},
  title = {{Business Dynamics Statistics by firm age: employer firms of age zero, all covered industries, nation, states and counties from 1978: Employer firm births, Cook County, 1978 to 2023}},
  year = {2025},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/bds/tables/time-series/2023/bds2023_st_cty_fac.csv},
  urldate = {2026-10-22},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/en/employer-firm-births/cook-county-illinois. Publisher attribution: U.S. Census Bureau. Business Dynamics Statistics by firm age: employer firms of age zero, all covered industries, nation, states and counties from 1978. https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/bds/tables/time-series/2023/bds2023\_st\_cty\_fac.csv. Retrieved 2026-10-22.},
}
RIS
TY  - DATA
AU  - U.S. Census Bureau
TI  - Business Dynamics Statistics by firm age: employer firms of age zero, all covered industries, nation, states and counties from 1978: Employer firm births, Cook County, 1978 to 2023
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_fac.csv
L2  - https://invokely.ai/en/employer-firm-births/cook-county-illinois
Y2  - 2026/10/22
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/en/employer-firm-births/cook-county-illinois.
N1  - Publisher attribution: U.S. Census Bureau. Business Dynamics Statistics by firm age: employer firms of age zero, all covered industries, nation, states and counties from 1978. https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/bds/tables/time-series/2023/bds2023_st_cty_fac.csv. Retrieved 2026-10-22.
ER  -
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Questions

What is the employer firm births in Cook County?

Employer firm births in Cook County was 7,269 in 2023, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. That is down 8.1% from 2022. That is the 1st highest of 98 counties in 2023.

Where does this figure come from?

U.S. Census Bureau. Business Dynamics Statistics by firm age: employer firms of age zero, all covered industries, nation, states and counties from 1978. Retrieved by Invokely on 2026-10-22.

What was the highest employer firm births in Cook County?

8,529 in 2006, the highest value since 1978 in this series.

Related statistics for Cook County

All statistics for Cook County | Cook County in figures