Counties in Montana by employer firm births

Gallatin County had the highest employer firm births of 48 counties in 2017, at 358. Prairie County had the lowest, at 0. The median was 10 and the figure for Montana was 1,993. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.

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Highest358Gallatin County
Median1048 counties
Montana1,993History

Map of counties, 2017

Beaverhead County: 22 countBig Horn County: 4 countBlaine County: 4 countBroadwater County: 9 countCarbon County: 19 countCascade County: 99 countChouteau County: 7 countCuster County: 16 countDawson County: 12 countDeer Lodge County: 11 countFallon County: 6 countFergus County: 22 countFlathead County: 251 countGallatin County: 358 countGarfield County: 3 countGlacier County: 8 countGolden Valley County: 0 countGranite County: 8 countHill County: 15 countJefferson County: 14 countLake County: 42 countLewis and Clark County: 136 countLincoln County: 31 countMcCone County: 3 countMadison County: 26 countMeagher County: 6 countMineral County: 6 countMissoula County: 273 countMusselshell County: 5 countPark County: 42 countPhillips County: 5 countPondera County: 7 countPowell County: 10 countPrairie County: 0 countRavalli County: 85 countRichland County: 34 countRoosevelt County: 9 countRosebud County: 9 countSanders County: 22 countSheridan County: 6 countSilver Bow County: 46 countStillwater County: 8 countSweet Grass County: 3 countTeton County: 12 countToole County: 5 countValley County: 9 countWheatland County: 4 countYellowstone County: 254 count
  • Under 5
  • 5 to 7
  • 7 to 10
  • 10 to 20
  • 20 to 43
  • 43 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.

All counties, 2017

Gallatin County: 358 countGallatin County358Missoula County: 273 countMissoula County273Yellowstone County: 254 countYellowstone County254Flathead County: 251 countFlathead County251Lewis and Clark County: 136 countLewis and Clark County136Cascade County: 99 countCascade County99Ravalli County: 85 countRavalli County85Silver Bow County: 46 countSilver Bow County46Lake County: 42 countLake County42Park County: 42 countPark County42Richland County: 34 countRichland County34Lincoln County: 31 countLincoln County31Madison County: 26 countMadison County26Beaverhead County: 22 countBeaverhead County22Fergus County: 22 countFergus County22Sanders County: 22 countSanders County22Carbon County: 19 countCarbon County19Custer County: 16 countCuster County16Hill County: 15 countHill County15Jefferson County: 14 countJefferson County14Dawson County: 12 countDawson County12Teton County: 12 countTeton County12Deer Lodge County: 11 countDeer Lodge County11Powell County: 10 countPowell County10Broadwater County: 9 countBroadwater County9Roosevelt County: 9 countRoosevelt County9Rosebud County: 9 countRosebud County9Valley County: 9 countValley County9Glacier County: 8 countGlacier County8Granite County: 8 countGranite County8Stillwater County: 8 countStillwater County8Chouteau County: 7 countChouteau County7Pondera County: 7 countPondera County7Fallon County: 6 countFallon County6Meagher County: 6 countMeagher County6Mineral County: 6 countMineral County6Sheridan County: 6 countSheridan County6Musselshell County: 5 countMusselshell County5Phillips County: 5 countPhillips County5Toole County: 5 countToole County5Big Horn County: 4 countBig Horn County4Blaine County: 4 countBlaine County4Wheatland County: 4 countWheatland County4Garfield County: 3 countGarfield County3McCone County: 3 countMcCone County3Sweet Grass County: 3 countSweet Grass County3Golden Valley County: 0 countGolden Valley County0Prairie County: 0 countPrairie County0Gallatin County: 358 countGallatin County358Missoula County: 273 countMissoula County273Yellowstone County: 254 countYellowstone County254Flathead County: 251 countFlathead County251Lewis and Clark County: 136 countLewis and Clark County136Cascade County: 99 countCascade County99Ravalli County: 85 countRavalli County85Silver Bow County: 46 countSilver Bow County46Lake County: 42 countLake County42Park County: 42 countPark County42Richland County: 34 countRichland County34Lincoln County: 31 countLincoln County31Madison County: 26 countMadison County26Beaverhead County: 22 countBeaverhead County22Fergus County: 22 countFergus County22Sanders County: 22 countSanders County22Carbon County: 19 countCarbon County19Custer County: 16 countCuster County16Hill County: 15 countHill County15Jefferson County: 14 countJefferson County14Dawson County: 12 countDawson County12Teton County: 12 countTeton County12Deer Lodge County: 11 countDeer Lodge County11Powell County: 10 countPowell County10Broadwater County: 9 countBroadwater County9Roosevelt County: 9 countRoosevelt County9Rosebud County: 9 countRosebud County9Valley County: 9 countValley County9Glacier County: 8 countGlacier County8Granite County: 8 countGranite County8Stillwater County: 8 countStillwater County8Chouteau County: 7 countChouteau County7Pondera County: 7 countPondera County7Fallon County: 6 countFallon County6Meagher County: 6 countMeagher County6Mineral County: 6 countMineral County6Sheridan County: 6 countSheridan County6Musselshell County: 5 countMusselshell County5Phillips County: 5 countPhillips County5Toole County: 5 countToole County5Big Horn County: 4 countBig Horn County4Blaine County: 4 countBlaine County4Wheatland County: 4 countWheatland County4Garfield County: 3 countGarfield County3McCone County: 3 countMcCone County3Sweet Grass County: 3 countSweet Grass County3Golden Valley County: 0 countGolden Valley County0Prairie County: 0 countPrairie County0
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

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. 8 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 Montana 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 Montana 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/montana-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 Montana 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/montana-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 Montana 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/montana-counties?period=2017 (Accessed: 22 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{census_counties_in_montana_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 Montana 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/montana-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 Montana 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/montana-counties?period=2017
Y2  - 2026/10/22
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/employer-firm-births/montana-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?

Gallatin County, with 358 in 2017, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Which county has the lowest employer firm births?

Prairie 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. 8 counties have no value for 2017 and are not ranked.

Employer firm births: other rankings

Counties in Montana: more rankings