# Counties in North Carolina by employer firm births, 2023

All 99 values come from U.S. Census Bureau for 2023, so the places are comparable. 1 counties have no value for that period and are not ranked.

- Indicator id: `employer_firm_births`
- Unit: count
- Definition: 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.
- 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 (https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/bds/tables/time-series/2023/bds2023_st_cty_fac.csv)
- Publisher page: https://invokely.ai/en/publishers/us-census-bureau
- Retrieved: 2026-10-22
- Citation: 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.
- Web page: https://invokely.ai/rankings/employer-firm-births/north-carolina-counties

| Rank | Place | count |
|---:|---|---:|
| 1 | Mecklenburg County | 2,544 |
| 2 | Wake County | 2,389 |
| 3 | Guilford County | 830 |
| 4 | Buncombe County | 640 |
| 5 | New Hanover County | 582 |
| 6 | Forsyth County | 554 |
| 7 | Durham County | 530 |
| 8 | Union County | 486 |
| 9 | Cabarrus County | 390 |
| 10 | Iredell County | 373 |
| 11 | Cumberland County | 339 |
| 12 | Johnston County | 326 |
| 13 | Gaston County | 265 |
| 14 | Brunswick County | 256 |
| 15 | Orange County | 236 |
| 16 | Catawba County | 229 |
| 17 | Pitt County | 217 |
| 18 | Alamance County | 214 |
| 19 | Onslow County | 210 |
| 20 | Henderson County | 199 |
| 21 | Davidson County | 169 |
| 22 | Moore County | 164 |
| 23 | Randolph County | 161 |
| 24 | Rowan County | 158 |
| 25 | Lincoln County | 141 |
| 26 | Pender County | 140 |
| 27 | Carteret County | 128 |
| 28 | Nash County | 124 |
| 29 | Craven County | 122 |
| 29 | Harnett County | 122 |
| 31 | Chatham County | 116 |
| 32 | Dare County | 114 |
| 33 | Wayne County | 113 |
| 34 | Rockingham County | 97 |
| 35 | Haywood County | 94 |
| 36 | Franklin County | 93 |
| 36 | Watauga County | 93 |
| 38 | Cleveland County | 89 |
| 39 | Stanly County | 88 |
| 40 | Surry County | 87 |
| 41 | Burke County | 85 |
| 41 | Wilson County | 85 |
| 43 | Caldwell County | 79 |
| 44 | Robeson County | 76 |
| 45 | Lee County | 73 |
| 46 | Transylvania County | 71 |
| 47 | Beaufort County | 70 |
| 47 | Lenoir County | 70 |
| 49 | Rutherford County | 64 |
| 50 | Macon County | 63 |
| 51 | Wilkes County | 62 |
| 52 | Granville County | 57 |
| 52 | Jackson County | 57 |
| 54 | Sampson County | 55 |
| 55 | Pasquotank County | 54 |
| 56 | Columbus County | 49 |
| 57 | Davie County | 48 |
| 58 | Halifax County | 46 |
| 59 | Currituck County | 44 |
| 60 | Cherokee County | 43 |
| 60 | Duplin County | 43 |
| 60 | Person County | 43 |
| 63 | Ashe County | 42 |
| 63 | McDowell County | 42 |
| 65 | Polk County | 41 |
| 66 | Richmond County | 40 |
| 67 | Yadkin County | 39 |
| 68 | Vance County | 38 |
| 69 | Stokes County | 35 |
| 70 | Yancey County | 34 |
| 71 | Montgomery County | 33 |
| 72 | Edgecombe County | 32 |
| 72 | Madison County | 32 |
| 74 | Alexander County | 29 |
| 74 | Hoke County | 29 |
| 76 | Avery County | 26 |
| 77 | Bladen County | 24 |
| 77 | Scotland County | 24 |
| 79 | Martin County | 21 |
| 80 | Chowan County | 20 |
| 80 | Greene County | 20 |
| 82 | Swain County | 19 |
| 83 | Mitchell County | 18 |
| 84 | Warren County | 17 |
| 85 | Pamlico County | 16 |
| 86 | Alleghany County | 15 |
| 87 | Clay County | 14 |
| 88 | Anson County | 13 |
| 88 | Graham County | 13 |
| 88 | Hertford County | 13 |
| 88 | Northampton County | 13 |
| 92 | Bertie County | 12 |
| 93 | Perquimans County | 11 |
| 94 | Caswell County | 9 |
| 95 | Washington County | 8 |
| 96 | Camden County | 7 |
| 96 | Jones County | 7 |
| 98 | Hyde County | 5 |
| 99 | Gates County | 3 |