Counties in Alaska by business establishments (QCEW)
Anchorage Municipality had the highest business establishments (QCEW) of 28 counties in 2017, at 8,196. Yakutat City and Borough had the lowest, at 43. The median was 201 and the figure for Alaska was 21,789. Source: the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Map of counties, 2017
- Under 130
- 130 to 160
- 160 to 260
- 260 to 560
- 560 and over
- No data
All counties, 2017
Full ranking
| Rank | Counties | 2017 | Change on 2016 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Anchorage Municipality | 8,196 | -1% |
| 2 | Fairbanks North Star Borough | 2,267 | +0.1% |
| 3 | Matanuska-Susitna Borough | 2,093 | -0% |
| 4 | Kenai Peninsula Borough | 1,985 | +0.3% |
| 5 | Juneau City and Borough | 1,122 | +0.3% |
| 6 | Ketchikan Gateway Borough | 605 | +0.8% |
| 7 | Kodiak Island Borough | 484 | 0% |
| 8 | Sitka City and Borough | 367 | -3.7% |
| 9 | Bethel Census Area | 349 | -4.6% |
| 10 | Nome Census Area | 306 | -3.2% |
| 11 | Yukon-Koyukuk Census Area | 276 | -4.2% |
| 12 | Southeast Fairbanks Census Area | 254 | -2.3% |
| 13 | North Slope Borough | 243 | -0.8% |
| 14 | Prince of Wales-Hyder Census Area | 226 | -5.8% |
| 15 | Aleutians West Census Area | 176 | +5.4% |
| 16 | Petersburg Borough | 167 | +1.2% |
| 17 | Northwest Arctic Borough | 165 | -5.7% |
| 18 | Dillingham Census Area | 155 | +0.6% |
| 19 | Haines Borough | 154 | -2.5% |
| 20 | Kusilvak Census Area | 142 | 0% |
| 21 | Denali Borough | 137 | +5.4% |
| 22 | Skagway Municipality | 135 | +3.8% |
| 23 | Hoonah-Angoon Census Area | 134 | -2.2% |
| 24 | Lake and Peninsula Borough | 122 | -6.2% |
| 25 | Bristol Bay Borough | 114 | -1.7% |
| 26 | Aleutians East Borough | 102 | -1.9% |
| 27 | Wrangell City and Borough | 93 | -2.1% |
| 28 | Yakutat City and Borough | 43 | -8.5% |
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. 2 counties with data in other periods have no value for 2017 and are left out rather than filled from another source. 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/2017/a/industry/10.csv. Retrieved 2026-10-12.Citation styles
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 Alaska by business establishments (QCEW), 2017) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://data.bls.gov/cew/data/api/2017/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 Alaska by business establishments (QCEW), 2017. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 21 Aug. 2026, https://data.bls.gov/cew/data/api/2017/a/industry/10.csv. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/business-establishments/alaska-counties?period=2017. 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 Alaska by business establishments (QCEW), 2017. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://data.bls.gov/cew/data/api/2017/a/industry/10.csv. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/business-establishments/alaska-counties?period=2017.
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 Alaska by business establishments (QCEW), 2017 [Dataset]. Available at: https://data.bls.gov/cew/data/api/2017/a/industry/10.csv, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/business-establishments/alaska-counties?period=2017 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).
BibTeX
@misc{bureau_counties_in_alaska_by_2017,
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 Alaska by business establishments (QCEW), 2017}},
year = {2026},
howpublished = {Data set},
url = {https://data.bls.gov/cew/data/api/2017/a/industry/10.csv},
urldate = {2026-10-12},
note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/business-establishments/alaska-counties?period=2017. 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/2017/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 Alaska by business establishments (QCEW), 2017
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/08/21
PB - U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
DB - Invokely
UR - https://data.bls.gov/cew/data/api/2017/a/industry/10.csv
L2 - https://invokely.ai/rankings/business-establishments/alaska-counties?period=2017
Y2 - 2026/10/12
N1 - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/business-establishments/alaska-counties?period=2017.
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/2017/a/industry/10.csv. Retrieved 2026-10-12.
ER -
Use this data in your AI agent
Invokely serves this figure to AI assistants through MCP and to code through a REST API, with the source and citation attached. Ask your assistant:
Rank Counties in Alaska by business establishments (QCEW) using official data, and cite the source.
rank_places {"indicator":"establishments_qcew","level":"province","within":"Alaska","limit":10}
GET https://invokely.ai/api/v1/rank?indicator=establishments_qcew&level=province&within=Alaska&limit=10Questions
Which county has the highest business establishments (QCEW)?
Anchorage Municipality, with 8,196 in 2017, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Which county has the lowest business establishments (QCEW)?
Yakutat City and Borough, with 43 in 2017.
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. 2 counties have no value for 2017 and are not ranked.
Business establishments (QCEW): other rankings
Counties in Alaska: more rankings
- Business revenue: arts, entertainment and recreation (Economic Census)
- Establishment exit rate
- Business revenue: accommodation and food services (Economic Census)
- Business revenue: educational services (Economic Census)
- Covered employment (QCEW)
- Mean travel time to work
- Unemployment rate
- Gross domestic product (GDP), US dollars