Counties in Alaska by business establishments (QCEW)

Anchorage Municipality had the highest business establishments (QCEW) of 30 counties in 2021, at 8,412. Yakutat City and Borough had the lowest, at 48. The median was 200 and the figure for Alaska was 23,491. Source: the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Highest8,412Anchorage Municipality

Lowest48Yakutat City and Borough

Median20030 counties

Alaska23,491History

Map of counties, 2021

Under 130
130 to 150
150 to 200
200 to 310
310 to 690
690 and over

count, 2021. 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, 2021

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	2021 count	Change on 2020
1	Anchorage Municipality	8,412	+1.8%
2	Matanuska-Susitna Borough	2,512	+5.9%
3	Fairbanks North Star Borough	2,321	+2.3%
4	Kenai Peninsula Borough	2,240	+4.4%
5	Juneau City and Borough	1,141	+1.2%
6	Ketchikan Gateway Borough	598	-0.5%
7	Kodiak Island Borough	471	-1.5%
8	Chugach Census Area	413	0%
9	Sitka City and Borough	372	+3.3%
10	Bethel Census Area	341	-2.3%
11	Nome Census Area	299	-1%
12	Yukon-Koyukuk Census Area	262	-1.1%
13	Prince of Wales-Hyder Census Area	253	+1.6%
14	Southeast Fairbanks Census Area	250	+2%
15	North Slope Borough	239	-0.8%
16	Aleutians West Census Area	161	-3%
17	Northwest Arctic Borough	160	-1.2%
17	Petersburg Borough	160	0%
19	Dillingham Census Area	158	-0.6%
20	Copper River Census Area	154	+6.2%
21	Haines Borough	152	-3.2%
22	Denali Borough	146	+2.1%
23	Hoonah-Angoon Census Area	140	+3.7%
24	Kusilvak Census Area	137	-0.7%
25	Bristol Bay Borough	132	-1.5%
26	Lake and Peninsula Borough	120	-1.6%
27	Skagway Municipality	113	-6.6%
28	Aleutians East Borough	103	+1%
29	Wrangell City and Borough	97	+6.6%
30	Yakutat City and Borough	48	+6.7%

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/2021/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), 2021) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://data.bls.gov/cew/data/api/2021/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), 2021. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 21 Aug. 2026, https://data.bls.gov/cew/data/api/2021/a/industry/10.csv. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/business-establishments/alaska-counties?period=2021. 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), 2021. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://data.bls.gov/cew/data/api/2021/a/industry/10.csv. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/business-establishments/alaska-counties?period=2021.

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), 2021 [Dataset]. Available at: https://data.bls.gov/cew/data/api/2021/a/industry/10.csv, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/business-establishments/alaska-counties?period=2021 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX

@misc{bureau_counties_in_alaska_by_2021,
  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), 2021}},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://data.bls.gov/cew/data/api/2021/a/industry/10.csv},
  urldate = {2026-10-12},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/business-establishments/alaska-counties?period=2021. 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/2021/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), 2021
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/08/21
PB  - U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
DB  - Invokely
UR  - https://data.bls.gov/cew/data/api/2021/a/industry/10.csv
L2  - https://invokely.ai/rankings/business-establishments/alaska-counties?period=2021
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/business-establishments/alaska-counties?period=2021.
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/2021/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 8,412 in 2021, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Which county has the lowest business establishments (QCEW)?

Yakutat City and Borough, with 48 in 2021.

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.