Counties in Arkansas by employer firm births

Pulaski County had the highest employer firm births of 73 counties in 2017, at 556. Lee County had the lowest, at 0. The median was 16 and the figure for Arkansas was 3,216. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.

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Highest556Pulaski County
Lowest0Lee County
Median1673 counties
Arkansas3,216History

Map of counties, 2017

Arkansas County: 24 countAshley County: 12 countBaxter County: 47 countBenton County: 397 countBoone County: 33 countBradley County: 10 countCarroll County: 31 countChicot County: 10 countClark County: 31 countClay County: 11 countCleburne County: 39 countCleveland County: 5 countColumbia County: 13 countConway County: 19 countCraighead County: 134 countCrawford County: 49 countCrittenden County: 40 countCross County: 18 countDallas County: 5 countDesha County: 19 countDrew County: 16 countFaulkner County: 139 countFranklin County: 16 countFulton County: 4 countGarland County: 143 countGrant County: 17 countGreene County: 32 countHempstead County: 16 countHot Spring County: 19 countHoward County: 9 countIndependence County: 31 countIzard County: 12 countJackson County: 16 countJefferson County: 57 countJohnson County: 18 countLafayette County: 4 countLawrence County: 11 countLee County: 0 countLincoln County: 8 countLittle River County: 9 countLogan County: 20 countLonoke County: 52 countMadison County: 14 countMarion County: 9 countMiller County: 45 countMississippi County: 25 countMonroe County: 8 countMontgomery County: 5 countNewton County: 3 countOuachita County: 11 countPerry County: 3 countPhillips County: 11 countPike County: 11 countPoinsett County: 13 countPolk County: 19 countPope County: 67 countPrairie County: 6 countPulaski County: 556 countRandolph County: 14 countSt. Francis County: 18 countSaline County: 131 countScott County: 4 countSearcy County: 5 countSebastian County: 141 countSevier County: 10 countSharp County: 15 countStone County: 9 countUnion County: 39 countVan Buren County: 15 countWashington County: 333 countWhite County: 83 countWoodruff County: 5 countYell County: 11 count
  • Under 8
  • 8 to 11
  • 11 to 16
  • 16 to 24
  • 24 to 49
  • 49 and over
  • No data
count, 2017. 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, 2017

Pulaski County: 556 countPulaski County556Benton County: 397 countBenton County397Washington County: 333 countWashington County333Garland County: 143 countGarland County143Sebastian County: 141 countSebastian County141Faulkner County: 139 countFaulkner County139Craighead County: 134 countCraighead County134Saline County: 131 countSaline County131White County: 83 countWhite County83Pope County: 67 countPope County67Jefferson County: 57 countJefferson County57Lonoke County: 52 countLonoke County52Crawford County: 49 countCrawford County49Baxter County: 47 countBaxter County47Miller County: 45 countMiller County45Crittenden County: 40 countCrittenden County40Cleburne County: 39 countCleburne County39Union County: 39 countUnion County39Boone County: 33 countBoone County33Greene County: 32 countGreene County32Carroll County: 31 countCarroll County31Clark County: 31 countClark County31Independence County: 31 countIndependence County31Mississippi County: 25 countMississippi County25Arkansas County: 24 countArkansas County24Logan County: 20 countLogan County20Conway County: 19 countConway County19Desha County: 19 countDesha County19Hot Spring County: 19 countHot Spring County19Polk County: 19 countPolk County19Cross County: 18 countCross County18Johnson County: 18 countJohnson County18St. Francis County: 18 countSt. Francis County18Grant County: 17 countGrant County17Drew County: 16 countDrew County16Franklin County: 16 countFranklin County16Hempstead County: 16 countHempstead County16Jackson County: 16 countJackson County16Sharp County: 15 countSharp County15Van Buren County: 15 countVan Buren County15Pulaski County: 556 countPulaski County556Benton County: 397 countBenton County397Washington County: 333 countWashington County333Garland County: 143 countGarland County143Sebastian County: 141 countSebastian County141Faulkner County: 139 countFaulkner County139Craighead County: 134 countCraighead County134Saline County: 131 countSaline County131White County: 83 countWhite County83Pope County: 67 countPope County67Jefferson County: 57 countJefferson County57Lonoke County: 52 countLonoke County52Crawford County: 49 countCrawford County49Baxter County: 47 countBaxter County47Miller County: 45 countMiller County45Crittenden County: 40 countCrittenden County40Cleburne County: 39 countCleburne County39Union County: 39 countUnion County39Boone County: 33 countBoone County33Greene County: 32 countGreene County32Carroll County: 31 countCarroll County31Clark County: 31 countClark County31Independence County: 31 countIndependence County31Mississippi County: 25 countMississippi County25Arkansas County: 24 countArkansas County24Logan County: 20 countLogan County20Conway County: 19 countConway County19Desha County: 19 countDesha County19Hot Spring County: 19 countHot Spring County19Polk County: 19 countPolk County19Cross County: 18 countCross County18Johnson County: 18 countJohnson County18St. Francis County: 18 countSt. Francis County18Grant County: 17 countGrant County17Drew County: 16 countDrew County16Franklin County: 16 countFranklin County16Hempstead County: 16 countHempstead County16Jackson County: 16 countJackson County16Sharp County: 15 countSharp County15Van Buren County: 15 countVan Buren County15
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
1Pulaski County556-7.3%
2Benton County397+9.4%
3Washington County333+4.1%
4Garland County143-14.9%
5Sebastian County141+5.2%
6Faulkner County139-11.5%
7Craighead County134-6.9%
8Saline County131+1.6%
9White County830%
10Pope County67-18.3%
11Jefferson County57+21.3%
12Lonoke County52-31.6%
13Crawford County49-23.4%
14Baxter County47-6%
15Miller County45+9.8%
16Crittenden County40+37.9%
17Cleburne County39+34.5%
17Union County39+34.5%
19Boone County33-32.7%
20Greene County32-17.9%
21Carroll County31-27.9%
21Clark County31+10.7%
21Independence County31-41.5%
24Mississippi County25-26.5%
25Arkansas County24+60%
26Logan County20+33.3%
27Conway County19+18.8%
27Desha County19+111.1%
27Hot Spring County19-36.7%
27Polk County19+35.7%
31Cross County18+38.5%
31Johnson County18-10%
31St. Francis County18+50%
34Grant County17+112.5%
35Drew County16-11.1%
35Franklin County16+6.7%
35Hempstead County16-11.1%
35Jackson County16+77.8%
39Sharp County15-31.8%
39Van Buren County15-6.3%
41Madison County14+27.3%
41Randolph County14-12.5%
43Columbia County13+30%
43Poinsett County13-40.9%
45Ashley County12-29.4%
45Izard County12+20%
47Clay County11+57.1%
47Lawrence County11-31.3%
47Ouachita County11-15.4%
47Phillips County11-47.6%
47Pike County110%
47Yell County11-35.3%
53Bradley County10-28.6%
53Chicot County10n/a
53Sevier County10-23.1%
56Howard County9+12.5%
56Little River County9+12.5%
56Marion County9-25%
56Stone County9-25%
60Lincoln County8-27.3%
60Monroe County8+100%
62Prairie County6-14.3%
63Cleveland County50%
63Dallas County5-16.7%
63Montgomery County5+66.7%
63Searcy County5-37.5%
63Woodruff County50%
68Fulton County4-55.6%
68Lafayette County4+33.3%
68Scott County4-33.3%
71Newton County3-50%
71Perry County3-40%
73Lee 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. 2 counties with data in other periods have no value for 2017 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 Arkansas 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 Arkansas 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/arkansas-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 Arkansas 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/arkansas-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 Arkansas 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/arkansas-counties?period=2017 (Accessed: 22 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{census_counties_in_arkansas_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 Arkansas 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/arkansas-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 Arkansas 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/arkansas-counties?period=2017
Y2  - 2026/10/22
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/employer-firm-births/arkansas-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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Rank Counties in Arkansas by employer firm births using official data, and cite the source.
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Questions

Which county has the highest employer firm births?

Pulaski County, with 556 in 2017, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Which county has the lowest employer firm births?

Lee 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. 2 counties have no value for 2017 and are not ranked.

Employer firm births: other rankings

Counties in Arkansas: more rankings