Counties in New Jersey by business establishments (QCEW)

Bergen County had the highest business establishments (QCEW) of 21 counties in 2021, at 34,357. Salem County had the lowest, at 1,384. The median was 11,636 and the figure for New Jersey was 296,815. Source: the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Highest34,357Bergen County

Lowest1,384Salem County

Median11,63621 counties

New Jersey296,815History

Map of counties, 2021

Under 3,900
3,900 to 10K
10K to 14K
14K to 17K
17K 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	Bergen County	34,357	+2%
2	Middlesex County	23,678	+3.2%
3	Essex County	22,160	+4%
4	Monmouth County	20,853	+1.9%
5	Morris County	17,467	+1.5%
6	Hudson County	17,236	+5.8%
7	Union County	15,480	+3.2%
8	Ocean County	14,445	+4%
9	Passaic County	13,599	+4.4%
10	Camden County	13,000	+3.7%
11	Burlington County	11,636	+2.7%
12	Mercer County	11,534	+1%
13	Somerset County	10,438	+1%
14	Atlantic County	6,833	+1.8%
15	Gloucester County	6,823	+3.3%
16	Hunterdon County	4,025	-0.5%
17	Cape May County	3,928	+1.1%
18	Sussex County	3,451	+0.3%
19	Cumberland County	3,389	+3%
20	Warren County	2,761	+1%
21	Salem County	1,384	+1.6%

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 New Jersey 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 New Jersey 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/new-jersey-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 New Jersey 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/new-jersey-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 New Jersey 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/new-jersey-counties?period=2021 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX

@misc{bureau_counties_in_new_jersey_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 New Jersey 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/new-jersey-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 New Jersey 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/new-jersey-counties?period=2021
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/business-establishments/new-jersey-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 New Jersey by business establishments (QCEW) using official data, and cite the source.

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Questions

Which county has the highest business establishments (QCEW)?

Bergen County, with 34,357 in 2021, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Which county has the lowest business establishments (QCEW)?

Salem County, with 1,384 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.