Counties in Alabama by business establishments (QCEW)

Jefferson County had the highest business establishments (QCEW) of 67 counties in 2014, at 17,706. Coosa County had the lowest, at 118. The median was 686 and the figure for Alabama was 117,452. Source: the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

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Highest17,706Jefferson County
Lowest118Coosa County
Median68667 counties
Alabama117,452History

Map of counties, 2014

Autauga County: 822 countBaldwin County: 5,401 countBarbour County: 568 countBibb County: 343 countBlount County: 715 countBullock County: 146 countButler County: 468 countCalhoun County: 2,460 countChambers County: 577 countCherokee County: 410 countChilton County: 736 countChoctaw County: 284 countClarke County: 676 countClay County: 212 countCleburne County: 205 countCoffee County: 1,030 countColbert County: 1,296 countConecuh County: 250 countCoosa County: 118 countCovington County: 902 countCrenshaw County: 250 countCullman County: 1,772 countDale County: 867 countDallas County: 863 countDeKalb County: 1,137 countElmore County: 1,281 countEscambia County: 815 countEtowah County: 2,072 countFayette County: 328 countFranklin County: 564 countGeneva County: 484 countGreene County: 151 countHale County: 279 countHenry County: 322 countHouston County: 2,873 countJackson County: 970 countJefferson County: 17,706 countLamar County: 274 countLauderdale County: 2,024 countLawrence County: 437 countLee County: 2,824 countLimestone County: 1,358 countLowndes County: 151 countMacon County: 238 countMadison County: 9,017 countMarengo County: 512 countMarion County: 612 countMarshall County: 2,009 countMobile County: 9,543 countMonroe County: 426 countMontgomery County: 6,312 countMorgan County: 2,692 countPerry County: 151 countPickens County: 334 countPike County: 686 countRandolph County: 362 countRussell County: 867 countSt. Clair County: 1,373 countShelby County: 5,046 countSumter County: 246 countTalladega County: 1,335 countTallapoosa County: 789 countTuscaloosa County: 4,290 countWalker County: 1,352 countWashington County: 242 countWilcox County: 231 countWinston County: 471 count
  • Under 300
  • 300 to 400
  • 400 to 700
  • 700 to 1,000
  • 1,000 to 2,100
  • 2,100 and over
count, 2014. Source: BLS, Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW): annual average establishments, total covered, all industries (NAICS 10), nation, states and counties. Boundaries: U.S. Census Bureau cartographic boundary files.

Top 40 counties, 2014

Jefferson County: 17,706 countJefferson County17,706Mobile County: 9,543 countMobile County9,543Madison County: 9,017 countMadison County9,017Montgomery County: 6,312 countMontgomery County6,312Baldwin County: 5,401 countBaldwin County5,401Shelby County: 5,046 countShelby County5,046Tuscaloosa County: 4,290 countTuscaloosa County4,290Houston County: 2,873 countHouston County2,873Lee County: 2,824 countLee County2,824Morgan County: 2,692 countMorgan County2,692Calhoun County: 2,460 countCalhoun County2,460Etowah County: 2,072 countEtowah County2,072Lauderdale County: 2,024 countLauderdale County2,024Marshall County: 2,009 countMarshall County2,009Cullman County: 1,772 countCullman County1,772St. Clair County: 1,373 countSt. Clair County1,373Limestone County: 1,358 countLimestone County1,358Walker County: 1,352 countWalker County1,352Talladega County: 1,335 countTalladega County1,335Colbert County: 1,296 countColbert County1,296Elmore County: 1,281 countElmore County1,281DeKalb County: 1,137 countDeKalb County1,137Coffee County: 1,030 countCoffee County1,030Jackson County: 970 countJackson County970Covington County: 902 countCovington County902Dale County: 867 countDale County867Russell County: 867 countRussell County867Dallas County: 863 countDallas County863Autauga County: 822 countAutauga County822Escambia County: 815 countEscambia County815Tallapoosa County: 789 countTallapoosa County789Chilton County: 736 countChilton County736Blount County: 715 countBlount County715Pike County: 686 countPike County686Clarke County: 676 countClarke County676Marion County: 612 countMarion County612Chambers County: 577 countChambers County577Barbour County: 568 countBarbour County568Franklin County: 564 countFranklin County564Marengo County: 512 countMarengo County512Jefferson County: 17,706 countJefferson County17,706Mobile County: 9,543 countMobile County9,543Madison County: 9,017 countMadison County9,017Montgomery County: 6,312 countMontgomery County6,312Baldwin County: 5,401 countBaldwin County5,401Shelby County: 5,046 countShelby County5,046Tuscaloosa County: 4,290 countTuscaloosa County4,290Houston County: 2,873 countHouston County2,873Lee County: 2,824 countLee County2,824Morgan County: 2,692 countMorgan County2,692Calhoun County: 2,460 countCalhoun County2,460Etowah County: 2,072 countEtowah County2,072Lauderdale County: 2,024 countLauderdale County2,024Marshall County: 2,009 countMarshall County2,009Cullman County: 1,772 countCullman County1,772St. Clair County: 1,373 countSt. Clair County1,373Limestone County: 1,358 countLimestone County1,358Walker County: 1,352 countWalker County1,352Talladega County: 1,335 countTalladega County1,335Colbert County: 1,296 countColbert County1,296Elmore County: 1,281 countElmore County1,281DeKalb County: 1,137 countDeKalb County1,137Coffee County: 1,030 countCoffee County1,030Jackson County: 970 countJackson County970Covington County: 902 countCovington County902Dale County: 867 countDale County867Russell County: 867 countRussell County867Dallas County: 863 countDallas County863Autauga County: 822 countAutauga County822Escambia County: 815 countEscambia County815Tallapoosa County: 789 countTallapoosa County789Chilton County: 736 countChilton County736Blount County: 715 countBlount County715Pike County: 686 countPike County686Clarke County: 676 countClarke County676Marion County: 612 countMarion County612Chambers County: 577 countChambers County577Barbour County: 568 countBarbour County568Franklin County: 564 countFranklin County564Marengo County: 512 countMarengo County512
count. Source: BLS, Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW): annual average establishments, total covered, all industries (NAICS 10), nation, states and counties. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Full ranking

RankCounties2014
count
Change on 2013
1Jefferson County17,706+1.1%
2Mobile County9,543+0.5%
3Madison County9,017+1.1%
4Montgomery County6,312+0.1%
5Baldwin County5,401+2.9%
6Shelby County5,046+2.2%
7Tuscaloosa County4,290+1.1%
8Houston County2,873-0.2%
9Lee County2,824+4.7%
10Morgan County2,692-1.1%
11Calhoun County2,460-0.2%
12Etowah County2,072-0.2%
13Lauderdale County2,024+1.5%
14Marshall County2,009+0.9%
15Cullman County1,772+0.1%
16St. Clair County1,373+1.8%
17Limestone County1,358+0.6%
18Walker County1,352+0.1%
19Talladega County1,335+1.1%
20Colbert County1,296+0.5%
21Elmore County1,281+0.6%
22DeKalb County1,137+0.7%
23Coffee County1,030+0.6%
24Jackson County970+0.8%
25Covington County902-0.2%
26Dale County867-0.3%
26Russell County867-0.7%
28Dallas County863-2.2%
29Autauga County822-1%
30Escambia County815+0.9%
31Tallapoosa County789+0.8%
32Chilton County736+0.8%
33Blount County715-1%
34Pike County686-1.2%
35Clarke County676+1%
36Marion County612+0.3%
37Chambers County577-0.3%
38Barbour County568-1.2%
39Franklin County564-0.4%
40Marengo County5120%
41Geneva County484+2.5%
42Winston County471-0.6%
43Butler County468-0.2%
44Lawrence County437-1.4%
45Monroe County426-0.5%
46Cherokee County410+1.7%
47Randolph County3620%
48Bibb County343+1.2%
49Pickens County334+2.1%
50Fayette County328-1.8%
51Henry County322-1.2%
52Choctaw County284-2.4%
53Hale County279+3.3%
54Lamar County274-0.4%
55Conecuh County250+1.6%
55Crenshaw County250+1.6%
57Sumter County246-1.2%
58Washington County242-1.2%
59Macon County2380%
60Wilcox County231-0.4%
61Clay County212-3.2%
62Cleburne County2050%
63Greene County151+2.7%
63Lowndes County1510%
63Perry County151-6.2%
66Bullock County146+0.7%
67Coosa County118-2.5%

Other periods

About this ranking

Average number of establishments with jobs covered by unemployment insurance during the year, all industries, private and government, from the Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW) of the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. An establishment is a single place of business, such as a factory, store or office; a company with several locations has several.

Counts places of business, not firms: for firms use employer_firms. Changes in how large employers report their locations can move the count without any change in activity.

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. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW): annual average establishments, total covered, all industries (NAICS 10), nation, states and counties. https://data.bls.gov/cew/data/api/2014/a/industry/10.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. Bureau of Labor Statistics. (2026). Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW): annual average establishments, total covered, all industries (NAICS 10), nation, states and counties (Counties in Alabama by business establishments (QCEW), 2014) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://data.bls.gov/cew/data/api/2014/a/industry/10.csv

MLA 9

Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW): annual average establishments, total covered, all industries (NAICS 10), nation, states and counties, Counties in Alabama by business establishments (QCEW), 2014. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 21 Aug. 2026, https://data.bls.gov/cew/data/api/2014/a/industry/10.csv. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/business-establishments/alabama-counties?period=2014. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. 2026. Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW): annual average establishments, total covered, all industries (NAICS 10), nation, states and counties. Counties in Alabama by business establishments (QCEW), 2014. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://data.bls.gov/cew/data/api/2014/a/industry/10.csv. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/business-establishments/alabama-counties?period=2014.

Harvard

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (2026) Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW): annual average establishments, total covered, all industries (NAICS 10), nation, states and counties, Counties in Alabama by business establishments (QCEW), 2014 [Dataset]. Available at: https://data.bls.gov/cew/data/api/2014/a/industry/10.csv, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/business-establishments/alabama-counties?period=2014 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{bureau_counties_in_alabama_by_2014,
  author = {{U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics}},
  title = {{Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW): annual average establishments, total covered, all industries (NAICS 10), nation, states and counties: Counties in Alabama by business establishments (QCEW), 2014}},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://data.bls.gov/cew/data/api/2014/a/industry/10.csv},
  urldate = {2026-10-12},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/business-establishments/alabama-counties?period=2014. Publisher attribution: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW): annual average establishments, total covered, all industries (NAICS 10), nation, states and counties. https://data.bls.gov/cew/data/api/2014/a/industry/10.csv. Retrieved 2026-10-12.},
}
RIS
TY  - DATA
AU  - U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
TI  - Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW): annual average establishments, total covered, all industries (NAICS 10), nation, states and counties: Counties in Alabama by business establishments (QCEW), 2014
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/08/21
PB  - U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
DB  - Invokely
UR  - https://data.bls.gov/cew/data/api/2014/a/industry/10.csv
L2  - https://invokely.ai/rankings/business-establishments/alabama-counties?period=2014
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/business-establishments/alabama-counties?period=2014.
N1  - Publisher attribution: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW): annual average establishments, total covered, all industries (NAICS 10), nation, states and counties. https://data.bls.gov/cew/data/api/2014/a/industry/10.csv. Retrieved 2026-10-12.
ER  - 
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Questions

Which county has the highest business establishments (QCEW)?

Jefferson County, with 17,706 in 2014, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Which county has the lowest business establishments (QCEW)?

Coosa County, with 118 in 2014.

Where does this ranking come from?

Every value comes from one source and one period, so the places are comparable: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW): annual average establishments, total covered, all industries (NAICS 10), nation, states and counties. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Business establishments (QCEW): other rankings

Counties in Alabama: more rankings