Data / Employer firms / Polk County

Employer firms in Polk County

Employer firms in Polk County was 9,809 in 2023, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. That is up 1.2% from 2022. That is the 1st highest of 99 counties in 2023.

2023, count9,809
Change on 2022+1.2%
Rank1st of 99Counties in Iowa ranked
Series high9,8092023
Series low6,7431978

Next release: Sunday, 26 September 2027, estimated by Invokely from past publication dates (low confidence), not announced by the publisher. Release calendar

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Employer firms in Polk County, 1978 to 2023

6,0007,0008,0009,00010K19781985199219992006201320231978: 6,743 count1979: 6,871 count1980: 6,911 count1981: 6,930 count1982: 6,793 count1983: 6,941 count1984: 7,127 count1985: 7,054 count1986: 7,067 count1987: 7,105 count1988: 7,201 count1989: 7,375 count1990: 7,545 count1991: 7,619 count1992: 7,697 count1993: 7,796 count1994: 7,984 count1995: 8,113 count1996: 8,115 count1997: 8,098 count1998: 8,202 count1999: 8,229 count2000: 8,259 count2001: 8,163 count2002: 8,101 count2003: 8,244 count2004: 8,388 count2005: 8,490 count2006: 8,638 count2007: 8,730 count2008: 8,652 count2009: 8,568 count2010: 8,444 count2011: 8,420 count2012: 8,409 count2013: 8,379 count2014: 8,529 count2015: 8,712 count2016: 8,931 count2017: 9,038 count2018: 9,216 count2019: 9,254 count2020: 9,379 count2021: 9,589 count2022: 9,692 count2023: 9,809 count6,0007,0008,0009,00010K19781994201020231978: 6,743 count1979: 6,871 count1980: 6,911 count1981: 6,930 count1982: 6,793 count1983: 6,941 count1984: 7,127 count1985: 7,054 count1986: 7,067 count1987: 7,105 count1988: 7,201 count1989: 7,375 count1990: 7,545 count1991: 7,619 count1992: 7,697 count1993: 7,796 count1994: 7,984 count1995: 8,113 count1996: 8,115 count1997: 8,098 count1998: 8,202 count1999: 8,229 count2000: 8,259 count2001: 8,163 count2002: 8,101 count2003: 8,244 count2004: 8,388 count2005: 8,490 count2006: 8,638 count2007: 8,730 count2008: 8,652 count2009: 8,568 count2010: 8,444 count2011: 8,420 count2012: 8,409 count2013: 8,379 count2014: 8,529 count2015: 8,712 count2016: 8,931 count2017: 9,038 count2018: 9,216 count2019: 9,254 count2020: 9,379 count2021: 9,589 count2022: 9,692 count2023: 9,809 count
count. Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Business Dynamics Statistics: employer firms, all covered industries, nation, states and counties. Retrieved 2026-10-11, published 2025-09-25.
All 46 values
Periodcount
20239,809
20229,692
20219,589
20209,379
20199,254
20189,216
20179,038
20168,931
20158,712
20148,529
20138,379
20128,409
20118,420
20108,444
20098,568
20088,652
20078,730
20068,638
20058,490
20048,388
20038,244
20028,101
20018,163
20008,259
19998,229
19988,202
19978,098
19968,115
19958,113
19947,984
19937,796
19927,697
19917,619
19907,545
19897,375
19887,201
19877,105
19867,067
19857,054
19847,127
19836,941
19826,793
19816,930
19806,911
19796,871
19786,743

Compared with Iowa and United States

Place2023
Polk County9,809
Iowa56,436
United States5,593,727

Polk County compared with nearby places

Adair County: 194 countAdams County: 94 countAllamakee County: 296 countAppanoose County: 264 countAudubon County: 166 countBenton County: 440 countBlack Hawk County: 2,374 countBoone County: 507 countBremer County: 464 countBuchanan County: 411 countBuena Vista County: 410 countButler County: 253 countCalhoun County: 221 countCarroll County: 681 countCass County: 369 countCedar County: 397 countCerro Gordo County: 1,098 countCherokee County: 294 countChickasaw County: 295 countClarke County: 165 countClay County: 496 countClayton County: 414 countClinton County: 880 countCrawford County: 345 countDallas County: 1,955 countDavis County: 159 countDecatur County: 137 countDelaware County: 442 countDes Moines County: 844 countDickinson County: 642 countDubuque County: 2,190 countEmmet County: 238 countFayette County: 421 countFloyd County: 315 countFranklin County: 248 countFremont County: 140 countGreene County: 210 countGrundy County: 242 countGuthrie County: 241 countHamilton County: 313 countHancock County: 243 countHardin County: 402 countHarrison County: 290 countHenry County: 398 countHoward County: 220 countHumboldt County: 259 countIda County: 210 countIowa County: 391 countJackson County: 431 countJasper County: 623 countJefferson County: 489 countJohnson County: 2,763 countJones County: 411 countKeokuk County: 175 countKossuth County: 426 countLee County: 635 countLinn County: 4,262 countLouisa County: 168 countLucas County: 169 countLyon County: 322 countMadison County: 354 countMahaska County: 459 countMarion County: 710 countMarshall County: 647 countMills County: 285 countMitchell County: 266 countMonona County: 182 countMonroe County: 156 countMontgomery County: 243 countMuscatine County: 766 countO'Brien County: 426 countOsceola County: 158 countPage County: 353 countPalo Alto County: 233 countPlymouth County: 571 countPocahontas County: 162 countPolk County: 9,809 countPottawattamie County: 1,551 countPoweshiek County: 464 countRinggold County: 105 countSac County: 259 countScott County: 3,418 countShelby County: 331 countSioux County: 1,099 countStory County: 1,765 countTama County: 229 countTaylor County: 117 countUnion County: 262 countVan Buren County: 121 countWapello County: 575 countWarren County: 814 countWashington County: 576 countWayne County: 123 countWebster County: 811 countWinnebago County: 268 countWinneshiek County: 514 countWoodbury County: 2,043 countWorth County: 138 countWright County: 292 count
  • Under 180
  • 180 to 260
  • 260 to 350
  • 350 to 450
  • 450 to 750
  • 750 and over
Employer firms, 2023, count. Polk 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

Number of firms in the private nonfarm sectors covered by the US Census Bureau Business Dynamics Statistics. Establishments under common ownership form one firm.

Excludes nonemployer businesses. Differs from active_companies, the INE DIRCE count, which includes businesses without employees.

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How to cite

U.S. Census Bureau. Business Dynamics Statistics: employer firms, all covered industries, nation, states and counties. https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/bds/tables/time-series/2023/bds2023_st_cty.csv. Retrieved 2026-10-11.

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: employer firms, all covered industries, nation, states and counties (Employer firms, Polk County, 1978 to 2023) [Data set]. Retrieved October 11, 2026, from https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/bds/tables/time-series/2023/bds2023_st_cty.csv

MLA 9

Business Dynamics Statistics: employer firms, all covered industries, nation, states and counties, Employer firms, Polk 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.csv. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/en/employer-firms/polk-county-iowa. Accessed 11 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

U.S. Census Bureau. 2025. Business Dynamics Statistics: employer firms, all covered industries, nation, states and counties. Employer firms, Polk County, 1978 to 2023. Dataset. Accessed October 11, 2026. https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/bds/tables/time-series/2023/bds2023_st_cty.csv. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/en/employer-firms/polk-county-iowa.

Harvard

U.S. Census Bureau (2025) Business Dynamics Statistics: employer firms, all covered industries, nation, states and counties, Employer firms, Polk County, 1978 to 2023 [Dataset]. Available at: https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/bds/tables/time-series/2023/bds2023_st_cty.csv, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/en/employer-firms/polk-county-iowa (Accessed: 11 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{census_employer_firms_polk_county_2023,
  author = {{U.S. Census Bureau}},
  title = {{Business Dynamics Statistics: employer firms, all covered industries, nation, states and counties: Employer firms, Polk County, 1978 to 2023}},
  year = {2025},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/bds/tables/time-series/2023/bds2023_st_cty.csv},
  urldate = {2026-10-11},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/en/employer-firms/polk-county-iowa. Publisher attribution: U.S. Census Bureau. Business Dynamics Statistics: employer firms, all covered industries, nation, states and counties. https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/bds/tables/time-series/2023/bds2023\_st\_cty.csv. Retrieved 2026-10-11.},
}
RIS
TY  - DATA
AU  - U.S. Census Bureau
TI  - Business Dynamics Statistics: employer firms, all covered industries, nation, states and counties: Employer firms, Polk 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.csv
L2  - https://invokely.ai/en/employer-firms/polk-county-iowa
Y2  - 2026/10/11
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/en/employer-firms/polk-county-iowa.
N1  - Publisher attribution: U.S. Census Bureau. Business Dynamics Statistics: employer firms, all covered industries, nation, states and counties. https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/bds/tables/time-series/2023/bds2023_st_cty.csv. Retrieved 2026-10-11.
ER  -
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Questions

What is the employer firms in Polk County?

Employer firms in Polk County was 9,809 in 2023, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. That is up 1.2% from 2022. That is the 1st highest of 99 counties in 2023.

Where does this figure come from?

U.S. Census Bureau. Business Dynamics Statistics: employer firms, all covered industries, nation, states and counties. Retrieved by Invokely on 2026-10-11.

What was the highest employer firms in Polk County?

9,809 in 2023, the highest value since 1978 in this series.

Related statistics for Polk County

All statistics for Polk County | Polk County in figures