Counties in Colorado by employer firm births

Denver County had the highest employer firm births of 61 counties in 2016, at 1,774. Crowley County had the lowest, at 0. The median was 27 and the figure for Colorado was 11,022. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.

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Highest1,774Denver County
Median2761 counties
Colorado11,022History

Map of counties, 2016

Adams County: 712 countAlamosa County: 20 countArapahoe County: 1,296 countArchuleta County: 33 countBaca County: 3 countBoulder County: 836 countBroomfield County: 162 countChaffee County: 52 countCheyenne County: 3 countClear Creek County: 27 countConejos County: 5 countCostilla County: 3 countCrowley County: 0 countCuster County: 7 countDelta County: 45 countDenver County: 1,774 countDolores County: 8 countDouglas County: 702 countEagle County: 186 countElbert County: 43 countEl Paso County: 1,137 countFremont County: 59 countGarfield County: 140 countGilpin County: 10 countGrand County: 56 countGunnison County: 69 countHuerfano County: 14 countJackson County: 3 countJefferson County: 1,137 countKiowa County: 3 countKit Carson County: 11 countLake County: 11 countLa Plata County: 148 countLarimer County: 717 countLas Animas County: 22 countLincoln County: 4 countLogan County: 24 countMesa County: 249 countMineral County: 4 countMoffat County: 19 countMontezuma County: 37 countMontrose County: 73 countMorgan County: 28 countOtero County: 18 countOuray County: 14 countPark County: 24 countPitkin County: 75 countProwers County: 18 countPueblo County: 164 countRio Blanco County: 5 countRio Grande County: 10 countRoutt County: 102 countSaguache County: 8 countSan Juan County: 7 countSan Miguel County: 29 countSedgwick County: 3 countSummit County: 131 countTeller County: 52 countWashington County: 9 countWeld County: 462 countYuma County: 13 count
  • Under 10
  • 10 to 30
  • 30 to 60
  • 60 to 190
  • 190 and over
  • No data
count, 2016. 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, 2016

Denver County: 1,774 countDenver County1,774Arapahoe County: 1,296 countArapahoe County1,296El Paso County: 1,137 countEl Paso County1,137Jefferson County: 1,137 countJefferson County1,137Boulder County: 836 countBoulder County836Larimer County: 717 countLarimer County717Adams County: 712 countAdams County712Douglas County: 702 countDouglas County702Weld County: 462 countWeld County462Mesa County: 249 countMesa County249Eagle County: 186 countEagle County186Pueblo County: 164 countPueblo County164Broomfield County: 162 countBroomfield County162La Plata County: 148 countLa Plata County148Garfield County: 140 countGarfield County140Summit County: 131 countSummit County131Routt County: 102 countRoutt County102Pitkin County: 75 countPitkin County75Montrose County: 73 countMontrose County73Gunnison County: 69 countGunnison County69Fremont County: 59 countFremont County59Grand County: 56 countGrand County56Chaffee County: 52 countChaffee County52Teller County: 52 countTeller County52Delta County: 45 countDelta County45Elbert County: 43 countElbert County43Montezuma County: 37 countMontezuma County37Archuleta County: 33 countArchuleta County33San Miguel County: 29 countSan Miguel County29Morgan County: 28 countMorgan County28Clear Creek County: 27 countClear Creek County27Logan County: 24 countLogan County24Park County: 24 countPark County24Las Animas County: 22 countLas Animas County22Alamosa County: 20 countAlamosa County20Moffat County: 19 countMoffat County19Otero County: 18 countOtero County18Prowers County: 18 countProwers County18Huerfano County: 14 countHuerfano County14Ouray County: 14 countOuray County14Denver County: 1,774 countDenver County1,774Arapahoe County: 1,296 countArapahoe County1,296El Paso County: 1,137 countEl Paso County1,137Jefferson County: 1,137 countJefferson County1,137Boulder County: 836 countBoulder County836Larimer County: 717 countLarimer County717Adams County: 712 countAdams County712Douglas County: 702 countDouglas County702Weld County: 462 countWeld County462Mesa County: 249 countMesa County249Eagle County: 186 countEagle County186Pueblo County: 164 countPueblo County164Broomfield County: 162 countBroomfield County162La Plata County: 148 countLa Plata County148Garfield County: 140 countGarfield County140Summit County: 131 countSummit County131Routt County: 102 countRoutt County102Pitkin County: 75 countPitkin County75Montrose County: 73 countMontrose County73Gunnison County: 69 countGunnison County69Fremont County: 59 countFremont County59Grand County: 56 countGrand County56Chaffee County: 52 countChaffee County52Teller County: 52 countTeller County52Delta County: 45 countDelta County45Elbert County: 43 countElbert County43Montezuma County: 37 countMontezuma County37Archuleta County: 33 countArchuleta County33San Miguel County: 29 countSan Miguel County29Morgan County: 28 countMorgan County28Clear Creek County: 27 countClear Creek County27Logan County: 24 countLogan County24Park County: 24 countPark County24Las Animas County: 22 countLas Animas County22Alamosa County: 20 countAlamosa County20Moffat County: 19 countMoffat County19Otero County: 18 countOtero County18Prowers County: 18 countProwers County18Huerfano County: 14 countHuerfano County14Ouray County: 14 countOuray County14
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

RankCounties2016
count
Change on 2015
1Denver County1,774+4.5%
2Arapahoe County1,296+8.6%
3El Paso County1,137+15.2%
3Jefferson County1,137+7.4%
5Boulder County836+8.3%
6Larimer County717-3.6%
7Adams County712+9.7%
8Douglas County702-1%
9Weld County462+6.2%
10Mesa County249+2%
11Eagle County186-5.6%
12Pueblo County164-5.7%
13Broomfield County162+25.6%
14La Plata County148+8.8%
15Garfield County140-20.5%
16Summit County131+8.3%
17Routt County102+20%
18Pitkin County75-10.7%
19Montrose County73+10.6%
20Gunnison County69+32.7%
21Fremont County59+11.3%
22Grand County56+43.6%
23Chaffee County52-1.9%
23Teller County52+26.8%
25Delta County45-2.2%
26Elbert County43-8.5%
27Montezuma County37+15.6%
28Archuleta County33-2.9%
29San Miguel County29-29.3%
30Morgan County28-22.2%
31Clear Creek County27+3.8%
32Logan County24-22.6%
32Park County24-29.4%
34Las Animas County22-8.3%
35Alamosa County20+5.3%
36Moffat County19-5%
37Otero County18+200%
37Prowers County18+28.6%
39Huerfano County14n/a
39Ouray County14-26.3%
41Yuma County13-7.1%
42Kit Carson County11-42.1%
42Lake County11-15.4%
44Gilpin County10+25%
44Rio Grande County10-37.5%
46Washington County9+28.6%
47Dolores County8+100%
47Saguache County8+60%
49Custer County7-53.3%
49San Juan County7n/a
51Conejos County5-44.4%
51Rio Blanco County5-44.4%
53Lincoln County4-42.9%
53Mineral County40%
55Baca County3-70%
55Cheyenne County3-40%
55Costilla County3n/a
55Jackson County3-25%
55Kiowa County3n/a
55Sedgwick County3-25%
61Crowley County0n/a

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. 3 counties with data in other periods have no value for 2016 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 Colorado by employer firm births, 2016) [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 Colorado by employer firm births, 2016. 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/colorado-counties?period=2016. 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 Colorado by employer firm births, 2016. 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/colorado-counties?period=2016.

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 Colorado by employer firm births, 2016 [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/colorado-counties?period=2016 (Accessed: 22 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{census_counties_in_colorado_by_2016,
  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 Colorado by employer firm births, 2016}},
  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/colorado-counties?period=2016. 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 Colorado by employer firm births, 2016
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/colorado-counties?period=2016
Y2  - 2026/10/22
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/employer-firm-births/colorado-counties?period=2016.
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?

Denver County, with 1,774 in 2016, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Which county has the lowest employer firm births?

Crowley County, with 0 in 2016.

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. 3 counties have no value for 2016 and are not ranked.

Employer firm births: other rankings

Counties in Colorado: more rankings