Counties in Nebraska by employer firm births

Douglas County had the highest employer firm births of 84 counties in 1998, at 780. McPherson County had the lowest, at 0. The median was 13 and the figure for Nebraska was 2,824. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.

Keep it in a collection in your library.
Highest780Douglas County
Median1384 counties
Nebraska2,824History

Map of counties, 1998

Adams County: 52 countAntelope County: 20 countBanner County: 0 countBlaine County: 0 countBoone County: 12 countBox Butte County: 20 countBoyd County: 3 countBrown County: 10 countBuffalo County: 69 countBurt County: 14 countButler County: 17 countCass County: 47 countCedar County: 20 countChase County: 6 countCherry County: 13 countCheyenne County: 10 countClay County: 11 countColfax County: 18 countCuming County: 20 countCuster County: 21 countDakota County: 35 countDawes County: 19 countDawson County: 31 countDeuel County: 5 countDixon County: 7 countDodge County: 50 countDouglas County: 780 countDundy County: 3 countFillmore County: 11 countFranklin County: 6 countFrontier County: 6 countFurnas County: 10 countGage County: 30 countGarden County: 5 countGarfield County: 3 countGosper County: 3 countGrant County: 4 countGreeley County: 7 countHall County: 86 countHamilton County: 17 countHarlan County: 5 countHolt County: 21 countHoward County: 9 countJefferson County: 12 countJohnson County: 9 countKearney County: 19 countKeith County: 23 countKimball County: 8 countKnox County: 14 countLancaster County: 408 countLincoln County: 44 countLoup County: 0 countMcPherson County: 0 countMadison County: 75 countMerrick County: 16 countMorrill County: 6 countNance County: 8 countNemaha County: 8 countNuckolls County: 7 countOtoe County: 36 countPawnee County: 5 countPerkins County: 8 countPhelps County: 13 countPierce County: 16 countPlatte County: 45 countPolk County: 8 countRed Willow County: 19 countRichardson County: 18 countSaline County: 14 countSarpy County: 159 countSaunders County: 33 countScotts Bluff County: 84 countSeward County: 23 countSheridan County: 9 countSherman County: 3 countStanton County: 8 countThayer County: 8 countThomas County: 3 countThurston County: 11 countValley County: 11 countWashington County: 45 countWayne County: 20 countWebster County: 5 countYork County: 19 count
  • Under 5
  • 5 to 8
  • 8 to 13
  • 13 to 19
  • 19 to 35
  • 35 and over
  • No data
count, 1998. 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, 1998

Douglas County: 780 countDouglas County780Lancaster County: 408 countLancaster County408Sarpy County: 159 countSarpy County159Hall County: 86 countHall County86Scotts Bluff County: 84 countScotts Bluff County84Madison County: 75 countMadison County75Buffalo County: 69 countBuffalo County69Adams County: 52 countAdams County52Dodge County: 50 countDodge County50Cass County: 47 countCass County47Platte County: 45 countPlatte County45Washington County: 45 countWashington County45Lincoln County: 44 countLincoln County44Otoe County: 36 countOtoe County36Dakota County: 35 countDakota County35Saunders County: 33 countSaunders County33Dawson County: 31 countDawson County31Gage County: 30 countGage County30Keith County: 23 countKeith County23Seward County: 23 countSeward County23Custer County: 21 countCuster County21Holt County: 21 countHolt County21Antelope County: 20 countAntelope County20Box Butte County: 20 countBox Butte County20Cedar County: 20 countCedar County20Cuming County: 20 countCuming County20Wayne County: 20 countWayne County20Dawes County: 19 countDawes County19Kearney County: 19 countKearney County19Red Willow County: 19 countRed Willow County19York County: 19 countYork County19Colfax County: 18 countColfax County18Richardson County: 18 countRichardson County18Butler County: 17 countButler County17Hamilton County: 17 countHamilton County17Merrick County: 16 countMerrick County16Pierce County: 16 countPierce County16Burt County: 14 countBurt County14Knox County: 14 countKnox County14Saline County: 14 countSaline County14Douglas County: 780 countDouglas County780Lancaster County: 408 countLancaster County408Sarpy County: 159 countSarpy County159Hall County: 86 countHall County86Scotts Bluff County: 84 countScotts Bluff County84Madison County: 75 countMadison County75Buffalo County: 69 countBuffalo County69Adams County: 52 countAdams County52Dodge County: 50 countDodge County50Cass County: 47 countCass County47Platte County: 45 countPlatte County45Washington County: 45 countWashington County45Lincoln County: 44 countLincoln County44Otoe County: 36 countOtoe County36Dakota County: 35 countDakota County35Saunders County: 33 countSaunders County33Dawson County: 31 countDawson County31Gage County: 30 countGage County30Keith County: 23 countKeith County23Seward County: 23 countSeward County23Custer County: 21 countCuster County21Holt County: 21 countHolt County21Antelope County: 20 countAntelope County20Box Butte County: 20 countBox Butte County20Cedar County: 20 countCedar County20Cuming County: 20 countCuming County20Wayne County: 20 countWayne County20Dawes County: 19 countDawes County19Kearney County: 19 countKearney County19Red Willow County: 19 countRed Willow County19York County: 19 countYork County19Colfax County: 18 countColfax County18Richardson County: 18 countRichardson County18Butler County: 17 countButler County17Hamilton County: 17 countHamilton County17Merrick County: 16 countMerrick County16Pierce County: 16 countPierce County16Burt County: 14 countBurt County14Knox County: 14 countKnox County14Saline County: 14 countSaline 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

RankCounties1998
count
Change on 1997
1Douglas County780-11.4%
2Lancaster County408+1.2%
3Sarpy County159-10.2%
4Hall County86-9.5%
5Scotts Bluff County84+25.4%
6Madison County75-13.8%
7Buffalo County69-12.7%
8Adams County52+20.9%
9Dodge County50-15.3%
10Cass County47+38.2%
11Platte County45-18.2%
11Washington County45+25%
13Lincoln County44-18.5%
14Otoe County36+50%
15Dakota County35+40%
16Saunders County33-17.5%
17Dawson County31-16.2%
18Gage County30-41.2%
19Keith County23-4.2%
19Seward County23-23.3%
21Custer County21+133.3%
21Holt County210%
23Antelope County20+33.3%
23Box Butte County20-31%
23Cedar County20+17.6%
23Cuming County20-20%
23Wayne County20+17.6%
28Dawes County19-9.5%
28Kearney County19+35.7%
28Red Willow County19-24%
28York County19-42.4%
32Colfax County18-5.3%
32Richardson County180%
34Butler County17+88.9%
34Hamilton County17+6.3%
36Merrick County16+6.7%
36Pierce County16+33.3%
38Burt County14-6.7%
38Knox County14+40%
38Saline County14-33.3%
41Cherry County13+18.2%
41Phelps County13-40.9%
43Boone County12-25%
43Jefferson County12+200%
45Clay County11-21.4%
45Fillmore County11+22.2%
45Thurston County11+83.3%
45Valley County110%
49Brown County10-9.1%
49Cheyenne County10-56.5%
49Furnas County100%
52Howard County9+200%
52Johnson County9-18.2%
52Sheridan County9-43.8%
55Kimball County8-20%
55Nance County8-11.1%
55Nemaha County8-20%
55Perkins County8+166.7%
55Polk County8-11.1%
55Stanton County8-42.9%
55Thayer County8+100%
62Dixon County7-36.4%
62Greeley County7+16.7%
62Nuckolls County7-46.2%
65Chase County6+100%
65Franklin County6+20%
65Frontier County6-25%
65Morrill County6-53.8%
69Deuel County5n/a
69Garden County5+25%
69Harlan County5-37.5%
69Pawnee County5+66.7%
69Webster County5+25%
74Grant County4n/a
75Boyd County3n/a
75Dundy County3-25%
75Garfield County3-70%
75Gosper County30%
75Sherman County3-40%
75Thomas County3n/a
81Banner County0n/a
81Blaine County0n/a
81Loup County0n/a
81McPherson 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. 9 counties with data in other periods have no value for 1998 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, 1998) [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, 1998. 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=1998. 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, 1998. 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=1998.

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, 1998 [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=1998 (Accessed: 22 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{census_counties_in_nebraska_by_1998,
  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, 1998}},
  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=1998. 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, 1998
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=1998
Y2  - 2026/10/22
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/employer-firm-births/nebraska-counties?period=1998.
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 780 in 1998, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Which county has the lowest employer firm births?

McPherson County, with 0 in 1998.

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. 9 counties have no value for 1998 and are not ranked.

Employer firm births: other rankings

Counties in Nebraska: more rankings