Counties in Nebraska by employer firm births

Douglas County had the highest employer firm births of 81 counties in 1996, at 824. McPherson County had the lowest, at 0. The median was 13 and the figure for Nebraska was 2,907. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.

Keep it in a collection in your library.
Highest824Douglas County
Median1381 counties
Nebraska2,907History

Map of counties, 1996

Adams County: 48 countAntelope County: 14 countArthur County: 0 countBanner County: 3 countBoone County: 7 countBox Butte County: 24 countBoyd County: 9 countBrown County: 8 countBuffalo County: 69 countBurt County: 8 countButler County: 11 countCass County: 42 countCedar County: 16 countChase County: 8 countCherry County: 8 countCheyenne County: 23 countClay County: 13 countColfax County: 13 countCuming County: 18 countCuster County: 24 countDakota County: 27 countDawes County: 16 countDawson County: 43 countDeuel County: 6 countDixon County: 9 countDodge County: 48 countDouglas County: 824 countDundy County: 4 countFillmore County: 17 countFranklin County: 6 countFrontier County: 5 countFurnas County: 6 countGage County: 38 countGarden County: 3 countGarfield County: 5 countGosper County: 9 countGreeley County: 8 countHall County: 95 countHamilton County: 20 countHarlan County: 10 countHolt County: 22 countHoward County: 9 countJefferson County: 13 countKearney County: 13 countKeith County: 26 countKimball County: 13 countKnox County: 16 countLancaster County: 394 countLincoln County: 56 countLogan County: 0 countMcPherson County: 0 countMadison County: 75 countMerrick County: 16 countMorrill County: 13 countNance County: 3 countNemaha County: 12 countOtoe County: 24 countPawnee County: 4 countPerkins County: 7 countPhelps County: 8 countPierce County: 16 countPlatte County: 62 countPolk County: 11 countRed Willow County: 16 countRichardson County: 22 countSaline County: 14 countSarpy County: 184 countSaunders County: 44 countScotts Bluff County: 87 countSeward County: 18 countSheridan County: 9 countSherman County: 11 countStanton County: 5 countThayer County: 13 countThomas County: 3 countThurston County: 4 countValley County: 16 countWashington County: 28 countWayne County: 14 countWebster County: 4 countYork County: 20 count
  • Under 5
  • 5 to 9
  • 9 to 13
  • 13 to 18
  • 18 to 41
  • 41 and over
  • No data
count, 1996. 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, 1996

Douglas County: 824 countDouglas County824Lancaster County: 394 countLancaster County394Sarpy County: 184 countSarpy County184Hall County: 95 countHall County95Scotts Bluff County: 87 countScotts Bluff County87Madison County: 75 countMadison County75Buffalo County: 69 countBuffalo County69Platte County: 62 countPlatte County62Lincoln County: 56 countLincoln County56Adams County: 48 countAdams County48Dodge County: 48 countDodge County48Saunders County: 44 countSaunders County44Dawson County: 43 countDawson County43Cass County: 42 countCass County42Gage County: 38 countGage County38Washington County: 28 countWashington County28Dakota County: 27 countDakota County27Keith County: 26 countKeith County26Box Butte County: 24 countBox Butte County24Custer County: 24 countCuster County24Otoe County: 24 countOtoe County24Cheyenne County: 23 countCheyenne County23Holt County: 22 countHolt County22Richardson County: 22 countRichardson County22Hamilton County: 20 countHamilton County20York County: 20 countYork County20Cuming County: 18 countCuming County18Seward County: 18 countSeward County18Fillmore County: 17 countFillmore County17Cedar County: 16 countCedar County16Dawes County: 16 countDawes County16Knox County: 16 countKnox County16Merrick County: 16 countMerrick County16Pierce County: 16 countPierce County16Red Willow County: 16 countRed Willow County16Valley County: 16 countValley County16Antelope County: 14 countAntelope County14Saline County: 14 countSaline County14Wayne County: 14 countWayne County14Clay County: 13 countClay County13Douglas County: 824 countDouglas County824Lancaster County: 394 countLancaster County394Sarpy County: 184 countSarpy County184Hall County: 95 countHall County95Scotts Bluff County: 87 countScotts Bluff County87Madison County: 75 countMadison County75Buffalo County: 69 countBuffalo County69Platte County: 62 countPlatte County62Lincoln County: 56 countLincoln County56Adams County: 48 countAdams County48Dodge County: 48 countDodge County48Saunders County: 44 countSaunders County44Dawson County: 43 countDawson County43Cass County: 42 countCass County42Gage County: 38 countGage County38Washington County: 28 countWashington County28Dakota County: 27 countDakota County27Keith County: 26 countKeith County26Box Butte County: 24 countBox Butte County24Custer County: 24 countCuster County24Otoe County: 24 countOtoe County24Cheyenne County: 23 countCheyenne County23Holt County: 22 countHolt County22Richardson County: 22 countRichardson County22Hamilton County: 20 countHamilton County20York County: 20 countYork County20Cuming County: 18 countCuming County18Seward County: 18 countSeward County18Fillmore County: 17 countFillmore County17Cedar County: 16 countCedar County16Dawes County: 16 countDawes County16Knox County: 16 countKnox County16Merrick County: 16 countMerrick County16Pierce County: 16 countPierce County16Red Willow County: 16 countRed Willow County16Valley County: 16 countValley County16Antelope County: 14 countAntelope County14Saline County: 14 countSaline County14Wayne County: 14 countWayne County14Clay County: 13 countClay County13
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

RankCounties1996
count
Change on 1995
1Douglas County824-0.5%
2Lancaster County394-6.4%
3Sarpy County184+29.6%
4Hall County95-5.9%
5Scotts Bluff County87+20.8%
6Madison County75+8.7%
7Buffalo County69-21.6%
8Platte County62-3.1%
9Lincoln County56-6.7%
10Adams County48+17.1%
10Dodge County48-17.2%
12Saunders County44+63%
13Dawson County43+48.3%
14Cass County42+55.6%
15Gage County38+26.7%
16Washington County28-33.3%
17Dakota County27-15.6%
18Keith County26+23.8%
19Box Butte County24-7.7%
19Custer County24-7.7%
19Otoe County24-17.2%
22Cheyenne County23+9.5%
23Holt County22-21.4%
23Richardson County22-35.3%
25Hamilton County20+33.3%
25York County20-16.7%
27Cuming County18+5.9%
27Seward County18-43.8%
29Fillmore County17+41.7%
30Cedar County16+45.5%
30Dawes County16+6.7%
30Knox County16+128.6%
30Merrick County16-23.8%
30Pierce County16+33.3%
30Red Willow County16+6.7%
30Valley County16+77.8%
37Antelope County14-26.3%
37Saline County14+7.7%
37Wayne County14+27.3%
40Clay County13+160%
40Colfax County13-31.6%
40Jefferson County13-13.3%
40Kearney County13+62.5%
40Kimball County13+62.5%
40Morrill County13+116.7%
40Thayer County13-27.8%
47Nemaha County12+20%
48Butler County11-21.4%
48Polk County11+175%
48Sherman County11+120%
51Harlan County10+42.9%
52Boyd County9+200%
52Dixon County90%
52Gosper County9+80%
52Howard County9-10%
52Sheridan County90%
57Brown County8-27.3%
57Burt County8-50%
57Chase County8-27.3%
57Cherry County8-50%
57Greeley County8n/a
57Phelps County8-57.9%
63Boone County7-46.2%
63Perkins County7+16.7%
65Deuel County6+100%
65Franklin County6-25%
65Furnas County6-40%
68Frontier County5+66.7%
68Garfield County5-44.4%
68Stanton County50%
71Dundy County4-50%
71Pawnee County4-20%
71Thurston County4-20%
71Webster County4-20%
75Banner County3n/a
75Garden County3n/a
75Nance County3-70%
75Thomas County30%
79Arthur County0n/a
79Logan County0n/a
79McPherson 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. 12 counties with data in other periods have no value for 1996 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 Nebraska by employer firm births, 1996) [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 Nebraska by employer firm births, 1996. 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/nebraska-counties?period=1996. 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 Nebraska by employer firm births, 1996. 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/nebraska-counties?period=1996.

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 Nebraska by employer firm births, 1996 [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/nebraska-counties?period=1996 (Accessed: 22 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{census_counties_in_nebraska_by_1996,
  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 Nebraska by employer firm births, 1996}},
  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/nebraska-counties?period=1996. 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 Nebraska by employer firm births, 1996
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/nebraska-counties?period=1996
Y2  - 2026/10/22
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/employer-firm-births/nebraska-counties?period=1996.
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 Nebraska by employer firm births using official data, and cite the source.
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Questions

Which county has the highest employer firm births?

Douglas County, with 824 in 1996, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Which county has the lowest employer firm births?

McPherson County, with 0 in 1996.

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. 12 counties have no value for 1996 and are not ranked.

Employer firm births: other rankings

Counties in Nebraska: more rankings