Counties in Alabama by employer firm births

Jefferson County had the highest employer firm births of 66 counties in 2018, at 734. Lowndes County had the lowest, at 3. The median was 30 and the figure for Alabama was 4,564. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.

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Median3066 counties
Alabama4,564History

Map of counties, 2018

Autauga County: 39 countBaldwin County: 352 countBarbour County: 19 countBibb County: 11 countBlount County: 33 countBullock County: 5 countButler County: 16 countCalhoun County: 85 countChambers County: 20 countCherokee County: 6 countChilton County: 36 countChoctaw County: 13 countClarke County: 21 countClay County: 5 countCleburne County: 9 countCoffee County: 48 countColbert County: 54 countConecuh County: 9 countCoosa County: 4 countCovington County: 33 countCrenshaw County: 5 countCullman County: 74 countDale County: 31 countDallas County: 24 countDeKalb County: 47 countElmore County: 64 countEscambia County: 35 countEtowah County: 76 countFayette County: 14 countFranklin County: 19 countGeneva County: 20 countHale County: 6 countHenry County: 12 countHouston County: 94 countJackson County: 38 countJefferson County: 734 countLamar County: 13 countLauderdale County: 84 countLawrence County: 20 countLee County: 171 countLimestone County: 61 countLowndes County: 3 countMacon County: 10 countMadison County: 404 countMarengo County: 23 countMarion County: 30 countMarshall County: 89 countMobile County: 402 countMonroe County: 11 countMontgomery County: 221 countMorgan County: 120 countPerry County: 6 countPickens County: 5 countPike County: 30 countRandolph County: 13 countRussell County: 35 countSt. Clair County: 65 countShelby County: 291 countSumter County: 5 countTalladega County: 50 countTallapoosa County: 35 countTuscaloosa County: 168 countWalker County: 64 countWashington County: 6 countWilcox County: 6 countWinston County: 20 count
  • Under 6
  • 6 to 15
  • 15 to 30
  • 30 to 47
  • 47 to 86
  • 86 and over
  • No data
count, 2018. 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, 2018

Jefferson County: 734 countJefferson County734Madison County: 404 countMadison County404Mobile County: 402 countMobile County402Baldwin County: 352 countBaldwin County352Shelby County: 291 countShelby County291Montgomery County: 221 countMontgomery County221Lee County: 171 countLee County171Tuscaloosa County: 168 countTuscaloosa County168Morgan County: 120 countMorgan County120Houston County: 94 countHouston County94Marshall County: 89 countMarshall County89Calhoun County: 85 countCalhoun County85Lauderdale County: 84 countLauderdale County84Etowah County: 76 countEtowah County76Cullman County: 74 countCullman County74St. Clair County: 65 countSt. Clair County65Elmore County: 64 countElmore County64Walker County: 64 countWalker County64Limestone County: 61 countLimestone County61Colbert County: 54 countColbert County54Talladega County: 50 countTalladega County50Coffee County: 48 countCoffee County48DeKalb County: 47 countDeKalb County47Autauga County: 39 countAutauga County39Jackson County: 38 countJackson County38Chilton County: 36 countChilton County36Escambia County: 35 countEscambia County35Russell County: 35 countRussell County35Tallapoosa County: 35 countTallapoosa County35Blount County: 33 countBlount County33Covington County: 33 countCovington County33Dale County: 31 countDale County31Marion County: 30 countMarion County30Pike County: 30 countPike County30Dallas County: 24 countDallas County24Marengo County: 23 countMarengo County23Clarke County: 21 countClarke County21Chambers County: 20 countChambers County20Geneva County: 20 countGeneva County20Lawrence County: 20 countLawrence County20Jefferson County: 734 countJefferson County734Madison County: 404 countMadison County404Mobile County: 402 countMobile County402Baldwin County: 352 countBaldwin County352Shelby County: 291 countShelby County291Montgomery County: 221 countMontgomery County221Lee County: 171 countLee County171Tuscaloosa County: 168 countTuscaloosa County168Morgan County: 120 countMorgan County120Houston County: 94 countHouston County94Marshall County: 89 countMarshall County89Calhoun County: 85 countCalhoun County85Lauderdale County: 84 countLauderdale County84Etowah County: 76 countEtowah County76Cullman County: 74 countCullman County74St. Clair County: 65 countSt. Clair County65Elmore County: 64 countElmore County64Walker County: 64 countWalker County64Limestone County: 61 countLimestone County61Colbert County: 54 countColbert County54Talladega County: 50 countTalladega County50Coffee County: 48 countCoffee County48DeKalb County: 47 countDeKalb County47Autauga County: 39 countAutauga County39Jackson County: 38 countJackson County38Chilton County: 36 countChilton County36Escambia County: 35 countEscambia County35Russell County: 35 countRussell County35Tallapoosa County: 35 countTallapoosa County35Blount County: 33 countBlount County33Covington County: 33 countCovington County33Dale County: 31 countDale County31Marion County: 30 countMarion County30Pike County: 30 countPike County30Dallas County: 24 countDallas County24Marengo County: 23 countMarengo County23Clarke County: 21 countClarke County21Chambers County: 20 countChambers County20Geneva County: 20 countGeneva County20Lawrence County: 20 countLawrence 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

RankCounties2018
count
Change on 2017
1Jefferson County734-0.7%
2Madison County404-7.3%
3Mobile County402+3.1%
4Baldwin County352+1.1%
5Shelby County291-7%
6Montgomery County221-6.4%
7Lee County171+17.9%
8Tuscaloosa County168-15.6%
9Morgan County120+2.6%
10Houston County94-14.5%
11Marshall County89+15.6%
12Calhoun County85-1.2%
13Lauderdale County84-2.3%
14Etowah County76+8.6%
15Cullman County74-21.3%
16St. Clair County650%
17Elmore County64+12.3%
17Walker County64+10.3%
19Limestone County61-26.5%
20Colbert County54+10.2%
21Talladega County50-16.7%
22Coffee County480%
23DeKalb County47-25.4%
24Autauga County39+25.8%
25Jackson County38+11.8%
26Chilton County36+2.9%
27Escambia County35-5.4%
27Russell County35+12.9%
27Tallapoosa County35-5.4%
30Blount County33-19.5%
30Covington County33+10%
32Dale County31+19.2%
33Marion County30+25%
33Pike County30+50%
35Dallas County24-11.1%
36Marengo County23-14.8%
37Clarke County21+5%
38Chambers County20-28.6%
38Geneva County20+25%
38Lawrence County20+11.1%
38Winston County20-13%
42Barbour County19+35.7%
42Franklin County19-17.4%
44Butler County16+6.7%
45Fayette County14-12.5%
46Choctaw County13+116.7%
46Lamar County13+18.2%
46Randolph County130%
49Henry County120%
50Bibb County11-8.3%
50Monroe County11-26.7%
52Macon County10+42.9%
53Cleburne County9+12.5%
53Conecuh County90%
55Cherokee County6-62.5%
55Hale County6+50%
55Perry County60%
55Washington County6-50%
55Wilcox County6+100%
60Bullock County5+25%
60Clay County5-16.7%
60Crenshaw County5-50%
60Pickens County5-54.5%
60Sumter County5-44.4%
65Coosa County4n/a
66Lowndes County3-25%

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. 1 counties with data in other periods have no value for 2018 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, 2018) [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, 2018. 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=2018. 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, 2018. 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=2018.

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, 2018 [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=2018 (Accessed: 22 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{census_counties_in_alabama_by_2018,
  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, 2018}},
  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=2018. 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, 2018
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=2018
Y2  - 2026/10/22
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/employer-firm-births/alabama-counties?period=2018.
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 734 in 2018, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Which county has the lowest employer firm births?

Lowndes County, with 3 in 2018.

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. 1 counties have no value for 2018 and are not ranked.

Employer firm births: other rankings

Counties in Alabama: more rankings