Counties in Missouri by business establishments (QCEW), 2025

St. Louis County had the highest business establishments (QCEW) of 115 counties in 2025, at 47,200. Worth County had the lowest, at 66. The median was 590 and the figure for Missouri was 254,399. Source: the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Highest47,200St. Louis County
Lowest66Worth County
Median590115 counties
Missouri254,399History

Top 40 counties, 2025

St. Louis County: 47,200 countSt. Louis County47,200Jackson County: 26,173 countJackson County26,173St. Louis city: 15,936 countSt. Louis city15,936Greene County: 11,442 countGreene County11,442St. Charles County: 11,274 countSt. Charles County11,274Clay County: 6,915 countClay County6,915Boone County: 5,282 countBoone County5,282Jefferson County: 4,731 countJefferson County4,731Jasper County: 3,578 countJasper County3,578Platte County: 3,232 countPlatte County3,232Franklin County: 3,125 countFranklin County3,125Cape Girardeau County: 2,882 countCape Girardeau County2,882Cole County: 2,770 countCole County2,770Buchanan County: 2,731 countBuchanan County2,731Cass County: 2,701 countCass County2,701Christian County: 2,486 countChristian County2,486Taney County: 2,237 countTaney County2,237St. Francois County: 1,939 countSt. Francois County1,939Camden County: 1,777 countCamden County1,777Dunklin County: 1,759 countDunklin County1,759Butler County: 1,566 countButler County1,566Newton County: 1,530 countNewton County1,530Howell County: 1,466 countHowell County1,466Phelps County: 1,384 countPhelps County1,384Pettis County: 1,340 countPettis County1,340Johnson County: 1,328 countJohnson County1,328Scott County: 1,316 countScott County1,316Lincoln County: 1,268 countLincoln County1,268Marion County: 1,025 countMarion County1,025Barry County: 993 countBarry County993Lawrence County: 980 countLawrence County980Callaway County: 970 countCallaway County970Lafayette County: 962 countLafayette County962Pemiscot County: 946 countPemiscot County946New Madrid County: 937 countNew Madrid County937Pulaski County: 928 countPulaski County928Webster County: 928 countWebster County928Stone County: 907 countStone County907Laclede County: 900 countLaclede County900Stoddard County: 884 countStoddard County884
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

RankCounties2025
count
Change on 2024
1St. Louis County47,200+4.3%
2Jackson County26,173+4.3%
3St. Louis city15,936+4%
4Greene County11,442+5%
5St. Charles County11,274+3%
6Clay County6,915+3.8%
7Boone County5,282+2.7%
8Jefferson County4,731+2.9%
9Jasper County3,578+2.2%
10Platte County3,232+4.7%
11Franklin County3,125+3.6%
12Cape Girardeau County2,882+2.1%
13Cole County2,770+10.8%
14Buchanan County2,731+4.1%
15Cass County2,701+6.3%
16Christian County2,486+5%
17Taney County2,237+4.9%
18St. Francois County1,939+4.1%
19Camden County1,777+3.8%
20Dunklin County1,759+4.8%
21Butler County1,566+1.4%
22Newton County1,530+1.5%
23Howell County1,466+6%
24Phelps County1,384+6.5%
25Pettis County1,340+1.1%
26Johnson County1,328+4.6%
27Scott County1,316+0.8%
28Lincoln County1,268+5.3%
29Marion County1,025+4.5%
30Barry County993+4%
31Lawrence County980+2.4%
32Callaway County970+3.6%
33Lafayette County962+2.1%
34Pemiscot County946+3.5%
35New Madrid County937+4.5%
36Pulaski County928+6.8%
36Webster County928+6.1%
38Stone County907+6.6%
39Laclede County900+3.1%
40Stoddard County884+2.1%
41Adair County843+12.7%
42Polk County830+5.1%
43Warren County806+6.1%
44Miller County795+4.7%
45Washington County780+3.4%
46Vernon County746+3%
47Henry County723+2.4%
48Crawford County703+4.6%
49Randolph County682+3.5%
50Ripley County674-1%
50Saline County674+4%
52Morgan County653+3.3%
53Texas County646+5.9%
54Audrain County641+3.1%
55Nodaway County639+2.4%
56Wright County612+6.3%
57Perry County594+2.4%
58Iron County590-1.3%
59Benton County568+2.2%
60Dent County561-0.5%
61Gasconade County547+3.2%
62Pike County514+2%
63Ste. Genevieve County512+2.8%
64Clinton County504+3.9%
65Cooper County498+1.4%
66Andrew County492-0.4%
67Livingston County486+3.4%
68Bates County484+3.9%
68McDonald County484+5.7%
70Ray County465+1.1%
71Dallas County458+6.5%
72Macon County442+1.6%
73Mississippi County425+5.7%
74Cedar County410+3.5%
75Linn County398+1%
76Wayne County391+0.8%
77Moniteau County367+1.1%
78Madison County349+1.5%
79Barton County346+2.4%
80Montgomery County340+2.4%
81Carroll County321+0.6%
82Grundy County290+0.7%
83Daviess County289-1.7%
83Douglas County289+3.6%
85Harrison County283+1.8%
86Osage County279+1.8%
87Ralls County278+2.6%
88DeKalb County277-0.7%
89Oregon County276+4.5%
90Reynolds County274+0.4%
91Ozark County270+7.1%
92Chariton County265-0.4%
93St. Clair County259+8.4%
94Monroe County258-0.8%
95Carter County256+1.6%
96Lewis County255+3.7%
97Bollinger County252+2.4%
98Shannon County246+3.4%
99Gentry County242+4.8%
100Caldwell County240+0.8%
100Howard County240+3.4%
102Atchison County230+4.5%
103Hickory County211+3.9%
104Shelby County210+5%
105Maries County194+7.8%
106Dade County190+5%
107Clark County179+1.7%
107Holt County179-1.1%
109Scotland County153-1.3%
110Sullivan County144-6.5%
111Putnam County140-1.4%
112Mercer County121-0.8%
113Knox County1100%
114Schuyler County101+5.2%
115Worth County66-2.9%

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/2025/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 Missouri by business establishments (QCEW), 2025) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://data.bls.gov/cew/data/api/2025/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 Missouri by business establishments (QCEW), 2025. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 21 Aug. 2026, https://data.bls.gov/cew/data/api/2025/a/industry/10.csv. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/business-establishments/missouri-counties. 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 Missouri by business establishments (QCEW), 2025. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://data.bls.gov/cew/data/api/2025/a/industry/10.csv. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/business-establishments/missouri-counties.

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 Missouri by business establishments (QCEW), 2025 [Dataset]. Available at: https://data.bls.gov/cew/data/api/2025/a/industry/10.csv, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/business-establishments/missouri-counties (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{bureau_counties_in_missouri_by_2025,
  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 Missouri by business establishments (QCEW), 2025}},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://data.bls.gov/cew/data/api/2025/a/industry/10.csv},
  urldate = {2026-10-12},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/business-establishments/missouri-counties. 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/2025/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 Missouri by business establishments (QCEW), 2025
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/08/21
PB  - U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
DB  - Invokely
UR  - https://data.bls.gov/cew/data/api/2025/a/industry/10.csv
L2  - https://invokely.ai/rankings/business-establishments/missouri-counties
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/business-establishments/missouri-counties.
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/2025/a/industry/10.csv. Retrieved 2026-10-12.
ER  - 
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Questions

Which county has the highest business establishments (QCEW)?

St. Louis County, with 47,200 in 2025, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Which county has the lowest business establishments (QCEW)?

Worth County, with 66 in 2025.

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 Missouri: more rankings