Counties in Alabama by employer firm births, 2023

Jefferson County had the highest employer firm births of 65 counties in 2023, at 887. Perry County had the lowest, at 6. The median was 29 and the figure for Alabama was 5,688. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.

Keep it in a collection in your library.
Median2965 counties
Alabama5,688History

Map of counties, 2023

Autauga County: 49 countBaldwin County: 439 countBarbour County: 17 countBibb County: 16 countBlount County: 55 countBullock County: 8 countButler County: 20 countCalhoun County: 98 countChambers County: 23 countCherokee County: 23 countChilton County: 39 countChoctaw County: 10 countClarke County: 24 countClay County: 14 countCleburne County: 13 countCoffee County: 61 countColbert County: 71 countConecuh County: 11 countCovington County: 46 countCrenshaw County: 7 countCullman County: 107 countDale County: 41 countDallas County: 17 countDeKalb County: 57 countElmore County: 71 countEscambia County: 33 countEtowah County: 95 countFayette County: 13 countFranklin County: 29 countGeneva County: 29 countGreene County: 7 countHale County: 10 countHenry County: 14 countHouston County: 136 countJackson County: 55 countJefferson County: 887 countLamar County: 14 countLauderdale County: 115 countLawrence County: 18 countLee County: 220 countLimestone County: 103 countMacon County: 14 countMadison County: 554 countMarengo County: 22 countMarion County: 29 countMarshall County: 135 countMobile County: 443 countMonroe County: 22 countMontgomery County: 287 countMorgan County: 126 countPerry County: 6 countPickens County: 8 countPike County: 22 countRandolph County: 25 countRussell County: 45 countSt. Clair County: 101 countShelby County: 334 countSumter County: 15 countTalladega County: 46 countTallapoosa County: 48 countTuscaloosa County: 214 countWalker County: 54 countWashington County: 14 countWilcox County: 8 countWinston County: 20 count
  • Under 14
  • 14 to 20
  • 20 to 29
  • 29 to 55
  • 55 to 120
  • 120 and over
  • No data
count, 2023. Hatched areas have no value for this period. Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Business Dynamics Statistics by firm age: employer firms of age zero, all covered industries, nation, states and counties from 1978. Boundaries: U.S. Census Bureau cartographic boundary files.

Top 40 counties, 2023

Jefferson County: 887 countJefferson County887Madison County: 554 countMadison County554Mobile County: 443 countMobile County443Baldwin County: 439 countBaldwin County439Shelby County: 334 countShelby County334Montgomery County: 287 countMontgomery County287Lee County: 220 countLee County220Tuscaloosa County: 214 countTuscaloosa County214Houston County: 136 countHouston County136Marshall County: 135 countMarshall County135Morgan County: 126 countMorgan County126Lauderdale County: 115 countLauderdale County115Cullman County: 107 countCullman County107Limestone County: 103 countLimestone County103St. Clair County: 101 countSt. Clair County101Calhoun County: 98 countCalhoun County98Etowah County: 95 countEtowah County95Colbert County: 71 countColbert County71Elmore County: 71 countElmore County71Coffee County: 61 countCoffee County61DeKalb County: 57 countDeKalb County57Blount County: 55 countBlount County55Jackson County: 55 countJackson County55Walker County: 54 countWalker County54Autauga County: 49 countAutauga County49Tallapoosa County: 48 countTallapoosa County48Covington County: 46 countCovington County46Talladega County: 46 countTalladega County46Russell County: 45 countRussell County45Dale County: 41 countDale County41Chilton County: 39 countChilton County39Escambia County: 33 countEscambia County33Franklin County: 29 countFranklin County29Geneva County: 29 countGeneva County29Marion County: 29 countMarion County29Randolph County: 25 countRandolph County25Clarke County: 24 countClarke County24Chambers County: 23 countChambers County23Cherokee County: 23 countCherokee County23Marengo County: 22 countMarengo County22Jefferson County: 887 countJefferson County887Madison County: 554 countMadison County554Mobile County: 443 countMobile County443Baldwin County: 439 countBaldwin County439Shelby County: 334 countShelby County334Montgomery County: 287 countMontgomery County287Lee County: 220 countLee County220Tuscaloosa County: 214 countTuscaloosa County214Houston County: 136 countHouston County136Marshall County: 135 countMarshall County135Morgan County: 126 countMorgan County126Lauderdale County: 115 countLauderdale County115Cullman County: 107 countCullman County107Limestone County: 103 countLimestone County103St. Clair County: 101 countSt. Clair County101Calhoun County: 98 countCalhoun County98Etowah County: 95 countEtowah County95Colbert County: 71 countColbert County71Elmore County: 71 countElmore County71Coffee County: 61 countCoffee County61DeKalb County: 57 countDeKalb County57Blount County: 55 countBlount County55Jackson County: 55 countJackson County55Walker County: 54 countWalker County54Autauga County: 49 countAutauga County49Tallapoosa County: 48 countTallapoosa County48Covington County: 46 countCovington County46Talladega County: 46 countTalladega County46Russell County: 45 countRussell County45Dale County: 41 countDale County41Chilton County: 39 countChilton County39Escambia County: 33 countEscambia County33Franklin County: 29 countFranklin County29Geneva County: 29 countGeneva County29Marion County: 29 countMarion County29Randolph County: 25 countRandolph County25Clarke County: 24 countClarke County24Chambers County: 23 countChambers County23Cherokee County: 23 countCherokee County23Marengo County: 22 countMarengo County22
count. Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Business Dynamics Statistics by firm age: employer firms of age zero, all covered industries, nation, states and counties from 1978. Retrieved 2026-10-22.

Full ranking

RankCounties2023
count
Change on 2022
1Jefferson County887+3.4%
2Madison County554+2.4%
3Mobile County443-2.9%
4Baldwin County439-11.8%
5Shelby County334-3.7%
6Montgomery County287+23.2%
7Lee County220-10.9%
8Tuscaloosa County214-10.5%
9Houston County136-5.6%
10Marshall County135+28.6%
11Morgan County126-12.5%
12Lauderdale County115+3.6%
13Cullman County107-13%
14Limestone County103-8.8%
15St. Clair County101-9.8%
16Calhoun County98+7.7%
17Etowah County95+6.7%
18Colbert County71+6%
18Elmore County71-1.4%
20Coffee County61+15.1%
21DeKalb County57+7.5%
22Blount County55-12.7%
22Jackson County55+10%
24Walker County54+22.7%
25Autauga County49-3.9%
26Tallapoosa County48+17.1%
27Covington County46+17.9%
27Talladega County46-6.1%
29Russell County45-54.1%
30Dale County41+7.9%
31Chilton County39-9.3%
32Escambia County33-10.8%
33Franklin County29+16%
33Geneva County29-12.1%
33Marion County29+45%
36Randolph County25+8.7%
37Clarke County24-35.1%
38Chambers County23-68.5%
38Cherokee County23+130%
40Marengo County22+100%
40Monroe County22+15.8%
40Pike County22-26.7%
43Butler County20+11.1%
43Winston County20+11.1%
45Lawrence County18-25%
46Barbour County17-19%
46Dallas County17-29.2%
48Bibb County160%
49Sumter County15+114.3%
50Clay County14+133.3%
50Henry County14+16.7%
50Lamar County14+7.7%
50Macon County14-33.3%
50Washington County14+75%
55Cleburne County13-18.8%
55Fayette County13+30%
57Conecuh County11-21.4%
58Choctaw County10-16.7%
58Hale County10-9.1%
60Bullock County8+14.3%
60Pickens County8-33.3%
60Wilcox County8+33.3%
63Crenshaw County7-30%
63Greene County7+133.3%
65Perry County6+50%

Other periods

About this ranking

New employer firms: firms of age zero in March of the year, meaning that every establishment of the firm had its first employees during the previous twelve months. United States: Census Bureau Business Dynamics Statistics, which calls these firms startups.

A firm counts only when it has employees, so a business without staff is not a birth, and a new branch, merger or change of ownership of an existing firm is not a birth either. Not the same as business_applications (requests for an employer number) or enterprise_births (European business demography). The year is the twelve months to March: 2023 compares March 2022 with March 2023.

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 2023 and are left out rather than filled from another source. Equal values share a rank.

How to cite

U.S. Census Bureau. Business Dynamics Statistics by firm age: employer firms of age zero, all covered industries, nation, states and counties from 1978. https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/bds/tables/time-series/2023/bds2023_st_cty_fac.csv. Retrieved 2026-10-22.

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. Census Bureau. (2025). Business Dynamics Statistics by firm age: employer firms of age zero, all covered industries, nation, states and counties from 1978 (Counties in Alabama by employer firm births, 2023) [Data set]. Retrieved October 22, 2026, from https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/bds/tables/time-series/2023/bds2023_st_cty_fac.csv

MLA 9

Business Dynamics Statistics by firm age: employer firms of age zero, all covered industries, nation, states and counties from 1978, Counties in Alabama by employer firm births, 2023. U.S. Census Bureau, 25 Sept. 2025, https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/bds/tables/time-series/2023/bds2023_st_cty_fac.csv. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/employer-firm-births/alabama-counties. Accessed 22 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

U.S. Census Bureau. 2025. Business Dynamics Statistics by firm age: employer firms of age zero, all covered industries, nation, states and counties from 1978. Counties in Alabama by employer firm births, 2023. Dataset. Accessed October 22, 2026. https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/bds/tables/time-series/2023/bds2023_st_cty_fac.csv. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/employer-firm-births/alabama-counties.

Harvard

U.S. Census Bureau (2025) Business Dynamics Statistics by firm age: employer firms of age zero, all covered industries, nation, states and counties from 1978, Counties in Alabama by employer firm births, 2023 [Dataset]. Available at: https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/bds/tables/time-series/2023/bds2023_st_cty_fac.csv, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/employer-firm-births/alabama-counties (Accessed: 22 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{census_counties_in_alabama_by_2023,
  author = {{U.S. Census Bureau}},
  title = {{Business Dynamics Statistics by firm age: employer firms of age zero, all covered industries, nation, states and counties from 1978: Counties in Alabama by employer firm births, 2023}},
  year = {2025},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/bds/tables/time-series/2023/bds2023_st_cty_fac.csv},
  urldate = {2026-10-22},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/employer-firm-births/alabama-counties. Publisher attribution: U.S. Census Bureau. Business Dynamics Statistics by firm age: employer firms of age zero, all covered industries, nation, states and counties from 1978. https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/bds/tables/time-series/2023/bds2023\_st\_cty\_fac.csv. Retrieved 2026-10-22.},
}
RIS
TY  - DATA
AU  - U.S. Census Bureau
TI  - Business Dynamics Statistics by firm age: employer firms of age zero, all covered industries, nation, states and counties from 1978: Counties in Alabama by employer firm births, 2023
PY  - 2025
DA  - 2025/09/25
PB  - U.S. Census Bureau
DB  - Invokely
UR  - https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/bds/tables/time-series/2023/bds2023_st_cty_fac.csv
L2  - https://invokely.ai/rankings/employer-firm-births/alabama-counties
Y2  - 2026/10/22
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/employer-firm-births/alabama-counties.
N1  - Publisher attribution: U.S. Census Bureau. Business Dynamics Statistics by firm age: employer firms of age zero, all covered industries, nation, states and counties from 1978. https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/bds/tables/time-series/2023/bds2023_st_cty_fac.csv. Retrieved 2026-10-22.
ER  - 
Embed this chart

Paste this code into a web page or a blog post. The chart shows the latest figures as they are published, with the source and a link back to this page.

Sites that read oEmbed links, such as WordPress, can show the chart when you paste the link to this page.

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 Alabama by employer firm births using official data, and cite the source.
rank_places {"indicator":"employer_firm_births","level":"province","within":"Alabama","limit":10}
GET https://invokely.ai/api/v1/rank?indicator=employer_firm_births&level=province&within=Alabama&limit=10

Connect Claude, ChatGPT or Cursor in one step. The trial answers 25 calls a day without an account.

Questions

Which county has the highest employer firm births?

Jefferson County, with 887 in 2023, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Which county has the lowest employer firm births?

Perry County, with 6 in 2023.

Where does this ranking come from?

Every value comes from one source and one period, so the places are comparable: U.S. Census Bureau, Business Dynamics Statistics by firm age: employer firms of age zero, all covered industries, nation, states and counties from 1978. Retrieved 2026-10-22. 2 counties have no value for 2023 and are not ranked.

Employer firm births: other rankings

Counties in Alabama: more rankings