Counties in Nebraska by employer firm births

Douglas County had the highest employer firm births of 82 counties in 2004, at 811. Hooker County had the lowest, at 0. The median was 11 and the figure for Nebraska was 2,796. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.

Highest811Douglas County

Lowest0Hooker County

Median1182 counties

Nebraska2,796History

Map of counties, 2004

Under 4
4 to 6
6 to 11
11 to 18
18 to 31
31 and over
No data

count, 2004. 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, 2004

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

Rank	Counties	2004 count	Change on 2003
1	Douglas County	811	+5.6%
2	Lancaster County	477	+14.9%
3	Sarpy County	208	+13.7%
4	Hall County	101	+11%
5	Buffalo County	92	+53.3%
6	Scotts Bluff County	64	-13.5%
7	Madison County	59	+1.7%
8	Washington County	48	+45.5%
9	Lincoln County	46	-16.4%
10	Adams County	45	-10%
11	Platte County	39	-9.3%
12	Dodge County	32	-23.8%
12	Otoe County	32	+23.1%
14	Seward County	31	+29.2%
15	Saunders County	30	-3.2%
16	Holt County	29	+31.8%
17	Gage County	26	-27.8%
18	Dawson County	25	+4.2%
19	Custer County	24	+41.2%
20	Cass County	22	-50%
21	Dakota County	21	+23.5%
21	Phelps County	21	-16%
23	Cheyenne County	20	-16.7%
23	York County	20	-9.1%
25	Box Butte County	19	-13.6%
25	Keith County	19	+11.8%
25	Thayer County	19	+111.1%
28	Dawes County	18	0%
29	Pierce County	16	+33.3%
29	Red Willow County	16	+23.1%
31	Antelope County	14	+7.7%
31	Cedar County	14	+16.7%
31	Kearney County	14	-12.5%
34	Chase County	13	+225%
34	Colfax County	13	+8.3%
34	Sheridan County	13	+44.4%
37	Cherry County	12	+50%
37	Nemaha County	12	-20%
39	Hamilton County	11	-42.1%
39	Harlan County	11	+37.5%
39	Richardson County	11	+22.2%
42	Butler County	10	+11.1%
42	Cuming County	10	-9.1%
42	Jefferson County	10	-23.1%
42	Kimball County	10	+11.1%
42	Valley County	10	+66.7%
47	Howard County	9	-10%
47	Merrick County	9	-25%
47	Saline County	9	-47.1%
50	Johnson County	8	0%
50	Perkins County	8	+33.3%
50	Polk County	8	+14.3%
50	Wayne County	8	-27.3%
54	Brown County	7	-12.5%
55	Fillmore County	6	+100%
55	Gosper County	6	n/a
55	Nuckolls County	6	-33.3%
55	Thurston County	6	-25%
59	Clay County	5	-58.3%
59	Dixon County	5	-50%
59	Franklin County	5	n/a
59	Hitchcock County	5	+25%
59	Knox County	5	-64.3%
59	Morrill County	5	0%
59	Stanton County	5	-61.5%
66	Boone County	4	-55.6%
66	Boyd County	4	n/a
66	Burt County	4	-60%
66	Greeley County	4	+33.3%
66	Nance County	4	+33.3%
66	Pawnee County	4	n/a
66	Rock County	4	+33.3%
73	Dundy County	3	-25%
73	Frontier County	3	n/a
73	Furnas County	3	-78.6%
73	Sherman County	3	-57.1%
73	Webster County	3	-25%
78	Arthur County	0	n/a
78	Blaine County	0	n/a
78	Deuel County	0	-100%
78	Hayes County	0	n/a
78	Hooker County	0	n/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. 11 counties with data in other periods have no value for 2004 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, 2004) [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, 2004. 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=2004. 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, 2004. 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=2004.

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, 2004 [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=2004 (Accessed: 22 October 2026).

BibTeX

@misc{census_counties_in_nebraska_by_2004,
  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, 2004}},
  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=2004. 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, 2004
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=2004
Y2  - 2026/10/22
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/employer-firm-births/nebraska-counties?period=2004.
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?

Douglas County, with 811 in 2004, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Which county has the lowest employer firm births?

Hooker County, with 0 in 2004.

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. 11 counties have no value for 2004 and are not ranked.