Counties in Alabama by employer firm births

Jefferson County had the highest employer firm births of 67 counties in 2017, at 739. Coosa County had the lowest, at 0. The median was 27 and the figure for Alabama was 4,655. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.

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Median2767 counties
Alabama4,655History

Map of counties, 2017

Autauga County: 31 countBaldwin County: 348 countBarbour County: 14 countBibb County: 12 countBlount County: 41 countBullock County: 4 countButler County: 15 countCalhoun County: 86 countChambers County: 28 countCherokee County: 16 countChilton County: 35 countChoctaw County: 6 countClarke County: 20 countClay County: 6 countCleburne County: 8 countCoffee County: 48 countColbert County: 49 countConecuh County: 9 countCoosa County: 0 countCovington County: 30 countCrenshaw County: 10 countCullman County: 94 countDale County: 26 countDallas County: 27 countDeKalb County: 63 countElmore County: 57 countEscambia County: 37 countEtowah County: 70 countFayette County: 16 countFranklin County: 23 countGeneva County: 16 countGreene County: 4 countHale County: 4 countHenry County: 12 countHouston County: 110 countJackson County: 34 countJefferson County: 739 countLamar County: 11 countLauderdale County: 86 countLawrence County: 18 countLee County: 145 countLimestone County: 83 countLowndes County: 4 countMacon County: 7 countMadison County: 436 countMarengo County: 27 countMarion County: 24 countMarshall County: 77 countMobile County: 390 countMonroe County: 15 countMontgomery County: 236 countMorgan County: 117 countPerry County: 6 countPickens County: 11 countPike County: 20 countRandolph County: 13 countRussell County: 31 countSt. Clair County: 65 countShelby County: 313 countSumter County: 9 countTalladega County: 60 countTallapoosa County: 37 countTuscaloosa County: 199 countWalker County: 58 countWashington County: 12 countWilcox County: 3 countWinston County: 23 count
  • Under 9
  • 9 to 15
  • 15 to 27
  • 27 to 48
  • 48 to 86
  • 86 and over
count, 2017. 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, 2017

Jefferson County: 739 countJefferson County739Madison County: 436 countMadison County436Mobile County: 390 countMobile County390Baldwin County: 348 countBaldwin County348Shelby County: 313 countShelby County313Montgomery County: 236 countMontgomery County236Tuscaloosa County: 199 countTuscaloosa County199Lee County: 145 countLee County145Morgan County: 117 countMorgan County117Houston County: 110 countHouston County110Cullman County: 94 countCullman County94Calhoun County: 86 countCalhoun County86Lauderdale County: 86 countLauderdale County86Limestone County: 83 countLimestone County83Marshall County: 77 countMarshall County77Etowah County: 70 countEtowah County70St. Clair County: 65 countSt. Clair County65DeKalb County: 63 countDeKalb County63Talladega County: 60 countTalladega County60Walker County: 58 countWalker County58Elmore County: 57 countElmore County57Colbert County: 49 countColbert County49Coffee County: 48 countCoffee County48Blount County: 41 countBlount County41Escambia County: 37 countEscambia County37Tallapoosa County: 37 countTallapoosa County37Chilton County: 35 countChilton County35Jackson County: 34 countJackson County34Autauga County: 31 countAutauga County31Russell County: 31 countRussell County31Covington County: 30 countCovington County30Chambers County: 28 countChambers County28Dallas County: 27 countDallas County27Marengo County: 27 countMarengo County27Dale County: 26 countDale County26Marion County: 24 countMarion County24Franklin County: 23 countFranklin County23Winston County: 23 countWinston County23Clarke County: 20 countClarke County20Pike County: 20 countPike County20Jefferson County: 739 countJefferson County739Madison County: 436 countMadison County436Mobile County: 390 countMobile County390Baldwin County: 348 countBaldwin County348Shelby County: 313 countShelby County313Montgomery County: 236 countMontgomery County236Tuscaloosa County: 199 countTuscaloosa County199Lee County: 145 countLee County145Morgan County: 117 countMorgan County117Houston County: 110 countHouston County110Cullman County: 94 countCullman County94Calhoun County: 86 countCalhoun County86Lauderdale County: 86 countLauderdale County86Limestone County: 83 countLimestone County83Marshall County: 77 countMarshall County77Etowah County: 70 countEtowah County70St. Clair County: 65 countSt. Clair County65DeKalb County: 63 countDeKalb County63Talladega County: 60 countTalladega County60Walker County: 58 countWalker County58Elmore County: 57 countElmore County57Colbert County: 49 countColbert County49Coffee County: 48 countCoffee County48Blount County: 41 countBlount County41Escambia County: 37 countEscambia County37Tallapoosa County: 37 countTallapoosa County37Chilton County: 35 countChilton County35Jackson County: 34 countJackson County34Autauga County: 31 countAutauga County31Russell County: 31 countRussell County31Covington County: 30 countCovington County30Chambers County: 28 countChambers County28Dallas County: 27 countDallas County27Marengo County: 27 countMarengo County27Dale County: 26 countDale County26Marion County: 24 countMarion County24Franklin County: 23 countFranklin County23Winston County: 23 countWinston County23Clarke County: 20 countClarke County20Pike County: 20 countPike County20
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

RankCounties2017
count
Change on 2016
1Jefferson County739-1.5%
2Madison County436+4.8%
3Mobile County390-3.5%
4Baldwin County348+3.3%
5Shelby County313-1.6%
6Montgomery County236-3.3%
7Tuscaloosa County199+8.7%
8Lee County145-16.7%
9Morgan County117+11.4%
10Houston County110-12.7%
11Cullman County94+25.3%
12Calhoun County86-18.1%
12Lauderdale County86-7.5%
14Limestone County83-12.6%
15Marshall County77+1.3%
16Etowah County70-22.2%
17St. Clair County65-20.7%
18DeKalb County63+31.3%
19Talladega County60+39.5%
20Walker County58+9.4%
21Elmore County57-17.4%
22Colbert County49-3.9%
23Coffee County48+41.2%
24Blount County41-4.7%
25Escambia County37+32.1%
25Tallapoosa County37+12.1%
27Chilton County35-10.3%
28Jackson County34-10.5%
29Autauga County31-8.8%
29Russell County31+6.9%
31Covington County30+30.4%
32Chambers County28-24.3%
33Dallas County27+28.6%
33Marengo County27+42.1%
35Dale County26-21.2%
36Marion County24+33.3%
37Franklin County23+43.8%
37Winston County23+9.5%
39Clarke County20+5.3%
39Pike County20-25.9%
41Lawrence County18+12.5%
42Cherokee County16-15.8%
42Fayette County16+60%
42Geneva County16-40.7%
45Butler County15+25%
45Monroe County15+15.4%
47Barbour County14-17.6%
48Randolph County13-7.1%
49Bibb County12+20%
49Henry County12-45.5%
49Washington County12-14.3%
52Lamar County11+120%
52Pickens County11+22.2%
54Crenshaw County10-9.1%
55Conecuh County9+12.5%
55Sumter County9+28.6%
57Cleburne County8-20%
58Macon County7-53.3%
59Choctaw County6-53.8%
59Clay County6-25%
59Perry County6+100%
62Bullock County4-20%
62Greene County4-33.3%
62Hale County4-33.3%
62Lowndes County4n/a
66Wilcox County3-75%
67Coosa County0-100%

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. 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, 2017) [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, 2017. 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=2017. 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, 2017. 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=2017.

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, 2017 [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=2017 (Accessed: 22 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{census_counties_in_alabama_by_2017,
  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, 2017}},
  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=2017. 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, 2017
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=2017
Y2  - 2026/10/22
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/employer-firm-births/alabama-counties?period=2017.
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 739 in 2017, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Which county has the lowest employer firm births?

Coosa County, with 0 in 2017.

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.

Employer firm births: other rankings

Counties in Alabama: more rankings