Counties in Alabama by employer firm births

Jefferson County had the highest employer firm births of 65 counties in 2012, at 777. Greene County had the lowest, at 3. The median was 26 and the figure for Alabama was 4,519. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.

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Median2665 counties
Alabama4,519History

Map of counties, 2012

Autauga County: 34 countBaldwin County: 277 countBarbour County: 12 countBibb County: 12 countBlount County: 28 countButler County: 20 countCalhoun County: 80 countChambers County: 24 countCherokee County: 20 countChilton County: 24 countChoctaw County: 19 countClarke County: 21 countClay County: 3 countCleburne County: 12 countCoffee County: 36 countColbert County: 38 countConecuh County: 13 countCoosa County: 9 countCovington County: 41 countCrenshaw County: 6 countCullman County: 97 countDale County: 31 countDallas County: 37 countDeKalb County: 51 countElmore County: 69 countEscambia County: 37 countEtowah County: 82 countFayette County: 11 countFranklin County: 25 countGeneva County: 28 countGreene County: 3 countHale County: 9 countHenry County: 14 countHouston County: 127 countJackson County: 35 countJefferson County: 777 countLamar County: 14 countLauderdale County: 98 countLawrence County: 14 countLee County: 141 countLimestone County: 73 countMacon County: 13 countMadison County: 389 countMarengo County: 22 countMarion County: 23 countMarshall County: 55 countMobile County: 359 countMonroe County: 13 countMontgomery County: 232 countMorgan County: 117 countPerry County: 10 countPickens County: 15 countPike County: 25 countRandolph County: 19 countRussell County: 45 countSt. Clair County: 79 countShelby County: 264 countSumter County: 15 countTalladega County: 48 countTallapoosa County: 26 countTuscaloosa County: 178 countWalker County: 52 countWashington County: 8 countWilcox County: 11 countWinston County: 26 count
  • Under 12
  • 12 to 19
  • 19 to 26
  • 26 to 44
  • 44 to 97
  • 97 and over
  • No data
count, 2012. 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, 2012

Jefferson County: 777 countJefferson County777Madison County: 389 countMadison County389Mobile County: 359 countMobile County359Baldwin County: 277 countBaldwin County277Shelby County: 264 countShelby County264Montgomery County: 232 countMontgomery County232Tuscaloosa County: 178 countTuscaloosa County178Lee County: 141 countLee County141Houston County: 127 countHouston County127Morgan County: 117 countMorgan County117Lauderdale County: 98 countLauderdale County98Cullman County: 97 countCullman County97Etowah County: 82 countEtowah County82Calhoun County: 80 countCalhoun County80St. Clair County: 79 countSt. Clair County79Limestone County: 73 countLimestone County73Elmore County: 69 countElmore County69Marshall County: 55 countMarshall County55Walker County: 52 countWalker County52DeKalb County: 51 countDeKalb County51Talladega County: 48 countTalladega County48Russell County: 45 countRussell County45Covington County: 41 countCovington County41Colbert County: 38 countColbert County38Dallas County: 37 countDallas County37Escambia County: 37 countEscambia County37Coffee County: 36 countCoffee County36Jackson County: 35 countJackson County35Autauga County: 34 countAutauga County34Dale County: 31 countDale County31Blount County: 28 countBlount County28Geneva County: 28 countGeneva County28Tallapoosa County: 26 countTallapoosa County26Winston County: 26 countWinston County26Franklin County: 25 countFranklin County25Pike County: 25 countPike County25Chambers County: 24 countChambers County24Chilton County: 24 countChilton County24Marion County: 23 countMarion County23Marengo County: 22 countMarengo County22Jefferson County: 777 countJefferson County777Madison County: 389 countMadison County389Mobile County: 359 countMobile County359Baldwin County: 277 countBaldwin County277Shelby County: 264 countShelby County264Montgomery County: 232 countMontgomery County232Tuscaloosa County: 178 countTuscaloosa County178Lee County: 141 countLee County141Houston County: 127 countHouston County127Morgan County: 117 countMorgan County117Lauderdale County: 98 countLauderdale County98Cullman County: 97 countCullman County97Etowah County: 82 countEtowah County82Calhoun County: 80 countCalhoun County80St. Clair County: 79 countSt. Clair County79Limestone County: 73 countLimestone County73Elmore County: 69 countElmore County69Marshall County: 55 countMarshall County55Walker County: 52 countWalker County52DeKalb County: 51 countDeKalb County51Talladega County: 48 countTalladega County48Russell County: 45 countRussell County45Covington County: 41 countCovington County41Colbert County: 38 countColbert County38Dallas County: 37 countDallas County37Escambia County: 37 countEscambia County37Coffee County: 36 countCoffee County36Jackson County: 35 countJackson County35Autauga County: 34 countAutauga County34Dale County: 31 countDale County31Blount County: 28 countBlount County28Geneva County: 28 countGeneva County28Tallapoosa County: 26 countTallapoosa County26Winston County: 26 countWinston County26Franklin County: 25 countFranklin County25Pike County: 25 countPike County25Chambers County: 24 countChambers County24Chilton County: 24 countChilton County24Marion County: 23 countMarion 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

RankCounties2012
count
Change on 2011
1Jefferson County777+2.4%
2Madison County389+3.2%
3Mobile County359+4.4%
4Baldwin County277-5.5%
5Shelby County264-1.9%
6Montgomery County232+10%
7Tuscaloosa County178+2.9%
8Lee County141+16.5%
9Houston County127+10.4%
10Morgan County117+1.7%
11Lauderdale County98+25.6%
12Cullman County97+29.3%
13Etowah County82+10.8%
14Calhoun County80-3.6%
15St. Clair County79+3.9%
16Limestone County73-5.2%
17Elmore County69+15%
18Marshall County55-31.3%
19Walker County52-17.5%
20DeKalb County51+24.4%
21Talladega County48+4.3%
22Russell County45+9.8%
23Covington County41+24.2%
24Colbert County38-28.3%
25Dallas County37+48%
25Escambia County37+12.1%
27Coffee County360%
28Jackson County35-2.8%
29Autauga County340%
30Dale County31-3.1%
31Blount County28-28.2%
31Geneva County28+40%
33Tallapoosa County26-23.5%
33Winston County26-18.8%
35Franklin County25+150%
35Pike County25-7.4%
37Chambers County24+26.3%
37Chilton County24-36.8%
39Marion County230%
40Marengo County22+4.8%
41Clarke County21-27.6%
42Butler County200%
42Cherokee County20-4.8%
44Choctaw County19+58.3%
44Randolph County19-9.5%
46Pickens County15-6.3%
46Sumter County15+114.3%
48Henry County14+40%
48Lamar County14+27.3%
48Lawrence County14-26.3%
51Conecuh County13+30%
51Macon County13+30%
51Monroe County13+8.3%
54Barbour County12-42.9%
54Bibb County12+20%
54Cleburne County12+50%
57Fayette County11-31.3%
57Wilcox County11+120%
59Perry County10-16.7%
60Coosa County9+50%
60Hale County9+28.6%
62Washington County8-38.5%
63Crenshaw County6-66.7%
64Clay County3-72.7%
64Greene County3-50%

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 2012 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, 2012) [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, 2012. 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?period=2012. 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, 2012. 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?period=2012.

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, 2012 [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?period=2012 (Accessed: 22 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{census_counties_in_alabama_by_2012,
  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, 2012}},
  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?period=2012. 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, 2012
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?period=2012
Y2  - 2026/10/22
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/employer-firm-births/alabama-counties?period=2012.
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  - 
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Questions

Which county has the highest employer firm births?

Jefferson County, with 777 in 2012, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Which county has the lowest employer firm births?

Greene County, with 3 in 2012.

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 2012 and are not ranked.

Employer firm births: other rankings

Counties in Alabama: more rankings