Counties in Arkansas by employer firm births

Pulaski County had the highest employer firm births of 74 counties in 2021, at 666. Cleveland County had the lowest, at 0. The median was 15 and the figure for Arkansas was 3,652. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.

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Highest666Pulaski County
Median1574 counties
Arkansas3,652History

Map of counties, 2021

Arkansas County: 22 countAshley County: 14 countBaxter County: 74 countBenton County: 502 countBoone County: 41 countBradley County: 7 countCalhoun County: 5 countCarroll County: 42 countChicot County: 7 countClark County: 29 countClay County: 11 countCleburne County: 34 countCleveland County: 0 countColumbia County: 15 countConway County: 15 countCraighead County: 143 countCrawford County: 53 countCrittenden County: 41 countCross County: 20 countDallas County: 7 countDesha County: 10 countDrew County: 26 countFaulkner County: 196 countFranklin County: 11 countFulton County: 10 countGarland County: 165 countGrant County: 13 countGreene County: 35 countHempstead County: 13 countHot Spring County: 28 countHoward County: 12 countIndependence County: 36 countIzard County: 11 countJackson County: 11 countJefferson County: 39 countJohnson County: 23 countLafayette County: 6 countLawrence County: 12 countLee County: 8 countLincoln County: 13 countLittle River County: 7 countLogan County: 17 countLonoke County: 68 countMadison County: 15 countMarion County: 18 countMiller County: 31 countMississippi County: 26 countMonroe County: 13 countMontgomery County: 7 countNevada County: 8 countNewton County: 7 countOuachita County: 17 countPerry County: 13 countPhillips County: 11 countPike County: 10 countPoinsett County: 15 countPolk County: 19 countPope County: 66 countPrairie County: 5 countPulaski County: 666 countRandolph County: 13 countSt. Francis County: 14 countSaline County: 135 countScott County: 3 countSearcy County: 6 countSebastian County: 149 countSevier County: 12 countSharp County: 16 countStone County: 14 countUnion County: 37 countVan Buren County: 16 countWashington County: 361 countWhite County: 78 countYell County: 18 count
  • Under 8
  • 8 to 12
  • 12 to 15
  • 15 to 26
  • 26 to 51
  • 51 and over
  • No data
count, 2021. 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, 2021

Pulaski County: 666 countPulaski County666Benton County: 502 countBenton County502Washington County: 361 countWashington County361Faulkner County: 196 countFaulkner County196Garland County: 165 countGarland County165Sebastian County: 149 countSebastian County149Craighead County: 143 countCraighead County143Saline County: 135 countSaline County135White County: 78 countWhite County78Baxter County: 74 countBaxter County74Lonoke County: 68 countLonoke County68Pope County: 66 countPope County66Crawford County: 53 countCrawford County53Carroll County: 42 countCarroll County42Boone County: 41 countBoone County41Crittenden County: 41 countCrittenden County41Jefferson County: 39 countJefferson County39Union County: 37 countUnion County37Independence County: 36 countIndependence County36Greene County: 35 countGreene County35Cleburne County: 34 countCleburne County34Miller County: 31 countMiller County31Clark County: 29 countClark County29Hot Spring County: 28 countHot Spring County28Drew County: 26 countDrew County26Mississippi County: 26 countMississippi County26Johnson County: 23 countJohnson County23Arkansas County: 22 countArkansas County22Cross County: 20 countCross County20Polk County: 19 countPolk County19Marion County: 18 countMarion County18Yell County: 18 countYell County18Logan County: 17 countLogan County17Ouachita County: 17 countOuachita County17Sharp County: 16 countSharp County16Van Buren County: 16 countVan Buren County16Columbia County: 15 countColumbia County15Conway County: 15 countConway County15Madison County: 15 countMadison County15Poinsett County: 15 countPoinsett County15Pulaski County: 666 countPulaski County666Benton County: 502 countBenton County502Washington County: 361 countWashington County361Faulkner County: 196 countFaulkner County196Garland County: 165 countGarland County165Sebastian County: 149 countSebastian County149Craighead County: 143 countCraighead County143Saline County: 135 countSaline County135White County: 78 countWhite County78Baxter County: 74 countBaxter County74Lonoke County: 68 countLonoke County68Pope County: 66 countPope County66Crawford County: 53 countCrawford County53Carroll County: 42 countCarroll County42Boone County: 41 countBoone County41Crittenden County: 41 countCrittenden County41Jefferson County: 39 countJefferson County39Union County: 37 countUnion County37Independence County: 36 countIndependence County36Greene County: 35 countGreene County35Cleburne County: 34 countCleburne County34Miller County: 31 countMiller County31Clark County: 29 countClark County29Hot Spring County: 28 countHot Spring County28Drew County: 26 countDrew County26Mississippi County: 26 countMississippi County26Johnson County: 23 countJohnson County23Arkansas County: 22 countArkansas County22Cross County: 20 countCross County20Polk County: 19 countPolk County19Marion County: 18 countMarion County18Yell County: 18 countYell County18Logan County: 17 countLogan County17Ouachita County: 17 countOuachita County17Sharp County: 16 countSharp County16Van Buren County: 16 countVan Buren County16Columbia County: 15 countColumbia County15Conway County: 15 countConway County15Madison County: 15 countMadison County15Poinsett County: 15 countPoinsett 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

RankCounties2021
count
Change on 2020
1Pulaski County666+21.1%
2Benton County502+5.5%
3Washington County361+4.6%
4Faulkner County196+33.3%
5Garland County165+26%
6Sebastian County149+0.7%
7Craighead County143+10%
8Saline County135-14%
9White County78-10.3%
10Baxter County74+45.1%
11Lonoke County68+6.3%
12Pope County66+1.5%
13Crawford County53+1.9%
14Carroll County42-8.7%
15Boone County41+17.1%
15Crittenden County41+5.1%
17Jefferson County39-30.4%
18Union County37+8.8%
19Independence County36+12.5%
20Greene County35-12.5%
21Cleburne County34+17.2%
22Miller County31-24.4%
23Clark County29+16%
24Hot Spring County28+21.7%
25Drew County26+18.2%
25Mississippi County26-7.1%
27Johnson County23+187.5%
28Arkansas County22+83.3%
29Cross County20-16.7%
30Polk County19+18.8%
31Marion County18+28.6%
31Yell County18+12.5%
33Logan County17+13.3%
33Ouachita County17-41.4%
35Sharp County16+23.1%
35Van Buren County16+60%
37Columbia County15-28.6%
37Conway County15-25%
37Madison County15+15.4%
37Poinsett County150%
41Ashley County14+7.7%
41St. Francis County14-44%
41Stone County14-17.6%
44Grant County13-7.1%
44Hempstead County130%
44Lincoln County13+44.4%
44Monroe County13+116.7%
44Perry County13+85.7%
44Randolph County13-31.6%
50Howard County12+9.1%
50Lawrence County120%
50Sevier County12+140%
53Clay County11+22.2%
53Franklin County11-21.4%
53Izard County11+57.1%
53Jackson County110%
53Phillips County11+83.3%
58Desha County10+42.9%
58Fulton County100%
58Pike County10-23.1%
61Lee County8n/a
61Nevada County8+60%
63Bradley County7-46.2%
63Chicot County70%
63Dallas County7+133.3%
63Little River County7-36.4%
63Montgomery County7+133.3%
63Newton County7+133.3%
69Lafayette County6+50%
69Searcy County6+100%
71Calhoun County5+25%
71Prairie County5-16.7%
73Scott County3-62.5%
74Cleveland 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. 1 counties with data in other periods have no value for 2021 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, 2021) [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, 2021. 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=2021. 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, 2021. 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=2021.

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, 2021 [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=2021 (Accessed: 22 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{census_counties_in_arkansas_by_2021,
  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, 2021}},
  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=2021. 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, 2021
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=2021
Y2  - 2026/10/22
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/employer-firm-births/arkansas-counties?period=2021.
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 666 in 2021, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Which county has the lowest employer firm births?

Cleveland County, with 0 in 2021.

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 2021 and are not ranked.

Employer firm births: other rankings

Counties in Arkansas: more rankings