Counties in Alaska by business establishments (QCEW)

Anchorage Municipality had the highest business establishments (QCEW) of 30 counties in 2020, at 8,261. Yakutat City and Borough had the lowest, at 45. The median was 204 and the figure for Alaska was 22,594. Source: the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Highest8,261Anchorage Municipality

Lowest45Yakutat City and Borough

Median20430 counties

Alaska22,594History

Map of counties, 2020

Under 130
130 to 150
150 to 200
200 to 320
320 to 690
690 and over

count, 2020. 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.

All counties, 2020

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

Rank	Counties	2020 count	Change on 2019
1	Anchorage Municipality	8,261	+0.8%
2	Matanuska-Susitna Borough	2,371	+5.4%
3	Fairbanks North Star Borough	2,269	-0%
4	Kenai Peninsula Borough	2,145	+3.2%
5	Juneau City and Borough	1,128	+1.7%
6	Ketchikan Gateway Borough	601	+0.2%
7	Kodiak Island Borough	478	-2.8%
8	Chugach Census Area	413	n/a
9	Sitka City and Borough	360	+0.3%
10	Bethel Census Area	349	+2%
11	Nome Census Area	302	-1%
12	Yukon-Koyukuk Census Area	265	+0.8%
13	Prince of Wales-Hyder Census Area	249	+3.8%
14	Southeast Fairbanks Census Area	245	0%
15	North Slope Borough	241	-1.6%
16	Aleutians West Census Area	166	-1.8%
17	Northwest Arctic Borough	162	-1.2%
18	Petersburg Borough	160	-1.2%
19	Dillingham Census Area	159	0%
20	Haines Borough	157	+1.3%
21	Copper River Census Area	145	n/a
22	Denali Borough	143	0%
23	Kusilvak Census Area	138	-0.7%
24	Hoonah-Angoon Census Area	135	0%
25	Bristol Bay Borough	134	+2.3%
26	Lake and Peninsula Borough	122	+1.7%
27	Skagway Municipality	121	-6.9%
28	Aleutians East Borough	102	+4.1%
29	Wrangell City and Borough	91	-3.2%
30	Yakutat City and Borough	45	+9.8%

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/2020/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 Alaska by business establishments (QCEW), 2020) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://data.bls.gov/cew/data/api/2020/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), 2020. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 21 Aug. 2026, https://data.bls.gov/cew/data/api/2020/a/industry/10.csv. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/business-establishments/alaska-counties?period=2020. 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), 2020. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://data.bls.gov/cew/data/api/2020/a/industry/10.csv. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/business-establishments/alaska-counties?period=2020.

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), 2020 [Dataset]. Available at: https://data.bls.gov/cew/data/api/2020/a/industry/10.csv, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/business-establishments/alaska-counties?period=2020 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX

@misc{bureau_counties_in_alaska_by_2020,
  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), 2020}},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://data.bls.gov/cew/data/api/2020/a/industry/10.csv},
  urldate = {2026-10-12},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/business-establishments/alaska-counties?period=2020. 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/2020/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), 2020
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/08/21
PB  - U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
DB  - Invokely
UR  - https://data.bls.gov/cew/data/api/2020/a/industry/10.csv
L2  - https://invokely.ai/rankings/business-establishments/alaska-counties?period=2020
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/business-establishments/alaska-counties?period=2020.
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/2020/a/industry/10.csv. Retrieved 2026-10-12.
ER  -

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Rank Counties in Alaska by business establishments (QCEW) using official data, and cite the source.

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Questions

Which county has the highest business establishments (QCEW)?

Anchorage Municipality, with 8,261 in 2020, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Which county has the lowest business establishments (QCEW)?

Yakutat City and Borough, with 45 in 2020.

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.