Data / Employer firm births / Philadelphia County

Employer firm births in Philadelphia County

Employer firm births in Philadelphia County was 1,766 in 2023, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. That is down 15.2% from 2022. That is the 1st highest of 67 counties in 2023.

2023, count1,766
Change on 2022-15.2%
Rank1st of 67Counties in Pennsylvania ranked
Series high2,1931983
Series low1,3152000
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Employer firm births in Philadelphia County, 1978 to 2023

1,2001,4001,6001,8002,0002,20019781985199219992006201320231978: 2,092 count1979: 2,036 count1980: 2,058 count1981: 1,796 count1982: 1,808 count1983: 2,193 count1984: 2,010 count1985: 2,025 count1986: 2,120 count1987: 2,059 count1988: 2,054 count1989: 1,932 count1990: 1,798 count1991: 1,582 count1992: 1,510 count1993: 1,476 count1994: 1,423 count1995: 1,578 count1996: 1,521 count1997: 1,542 count1998: 1,473 count1999: 1,405 count2000: 1,315 count2001: 1,393 count2002: 1,397 count2003: 1,496 count2004: 1,649 count2005: 1,638 count2006: 1,691 count2007: 1,641 count2008: 1,639 count2009: 1,472 count2010: 1,473 count2011: 1,493 count2012: 1,609 count2013: 1,571 count2014: 1,634 count2015: 1,640 count2016: 1,788 count2017: 1,853 count2018: 1,808 count2019: 1,943 count2020: 1,912 count2021: 2,165 count2022: 2,082 count2023: 1,766 count1,2501,5001,7502,0002,25019781994201020231978: 2,092 count1979: 2,036 count1980: 2,058 count1981: 1,796 count1982: 1,808 count1983: 2,193 count1984: 2,010 count1985: 2,025 count1986: 2,120 count1987: 2,059 count1988: 2,054 count1989: 1,932 count1990: 1,798 count1991: 1,582 count1992: 1,510 count1993: 1,476 count1994: 1,423 count1995: 1,578 count1996: 1,521 count1997: 1,542 count1998: 1,473 count1999: 1,405 count2000: 1,315 count2001: 1,393 count2002: 1,397 count2003: 1,496 count2004: 1,649 count2005: 1,638 count2006: 1,691 count2007: 1,641 count2008: 1,639 count2009: 1,472 count2010: 1,473 count2011: 1,493 count2012: 1,609 count2013: 1,571 count2014: 1,634 count2015: 1,640 count2016: 1,788 count2017: 1,853 count2018: 1,808 count2019: 1,943 count2020: 1,912 count2021: 2,165 count2022: 2,082 count2023: 1,766 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
20231,766
20222,082
20212,165
20201,912
20191,943
20181,808
20171,853
20161,788
20151,640
20141,634
20131,571
20121,609
20111,493
20101,473
20091,472
20081,639
20071,641
20061,691
20051,638
20041,649
20031,496
20021,397
20011,393
20001,315
19991,405
19981,473
19971,542
19961,521
19951,578
19941,423
19931,476
19921,510
19911,582
19901,798
19891,932
19882,054
19872,059
19862,120
19852,025
19842,010
19832,193
19821,808
19811,796
19802,058
19792,036
19782,092

Compared with Pennsylvania and United States

Place2023
Philadelphia County1,766
Pennsylvania14,288
United States508,777

Philadelphia County compared with nearby places

Adams County: 112 countAllegheny County: 1,544 countArmstrong County: 56 countBeaver County: 125 countBedford County: 34 countBerks County: 401 countBlair County: 118 countBradford County: 51 countBucks County: 1,041 countButler County: 230 countCambria County: 88 countCameron County: 6 countCarbon County: 60 countCentre County: 147 countChester County: 741 countClarion County: 30 countClearfield County: 62 countClinton County: 31 countColumbia County: 66 countCrawford County: 79 countCumberland County: 319 countDauphin County: 351 countDelaware County: 687 countElk County: 26 countErie County: 184 countFayette County: 88 countForest County: 3 countFranklin County: 124 countFulton County: 13 countGreene County: 35 countHuntingdon County: 31 countIndiana County: 73 countJefferson County: 45 countJuniata County: 26 countLackawanna County: 177 countLancaster County: 675 countLawrence County: 67 countLebanon County: 141 countLehigh County: 372 countLuzerne County: 338 countLycoming County: 99 countMcKean County: 32 countMercer County: 96 countMifflin County: 43 countMonroe County: 183 countMontgomery County: 1,314 countMontour County: 15 countNorthampton County: 310 countNorthumberland County: 60 countPerry County: 33 countPhiladelphia County: 1,766 countPike County: 68 countPotter County: 11 countSchuylkill County: 95 countSnyder County: 40 countSomerset County: 73 countSullivan County: 7 countSusquehanna County: 45 countTioga County: 34 countUnion County: 47 countVenango County: 36 countWarren County: 19 countWashington County: 257 countWayne County: 59 countWestmoreland County: 327 countWyoming County: 24 countYork County: 427 count
  • Under 30
  • 30 to 50
  • 50 to 70
  • 70 to 130
  • 130 to 340
  • 340 and over
Employer firm births, 2023, count. Philadelphia 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, Philadelphia 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, Philadelphia 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/philadelphia-county-pennsylvania. 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, Philadelphia 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/philadelphia-county-pennsylvania.

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, Philadelphia 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/philadelphia-county-pennsylvania (Accessed: 22 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{census_employer_firm_births_philadelphia_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, Philadelphia 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/philadelphia-county-pennsylvania. 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, Philadelphia 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/philadelphia-county-pennsylvania
Y2  - 2026/10/22
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/en/employer-firm-births/philadelphia-county-pennsylvania.
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 Philadelphia County?

Employer firm births in Philadelphia County was 1,766 in 2023, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. That is down 15.2% from 2022. That is the 1st highest of 67 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 Philadelphia County?

2,193 in 1983, the highest value since 1978 in this series.

Related statistics for Philadelphia County

All statistics for Philadelphia County | Philadelphia County in figures