Counties in North Dakota by employer firm births

Cass County had the highest employer firm births of 51 counties in 2004, at 279. Billings County had the lowest, at 0. The median was 10 and the figure for North Dakota was 1,114. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.

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Highest279Cass County
Median1051 counties
North Dakota1,114History

Map of counties, 2004

Adams County: 5 countBarnes County: 21 countBenson County: 11 countBillings County: 0 countBottineau County: 18 countBowman County: 5 countBurke County: 9 countBurleigh County: 130 countCass County: 279 countCavalier County: 14 countDickey County: 10 countDivide County: 8 countDunn County: 4 countEddy County: 3 countEmmons County: 4 countFoster County: 3 countGolden Valley County: 3 countGrand Forks County: 73 countGrant County: 4 countGriggs County: 5 countHettinger County: 3 countKidder County: 3 countLaMoure County: 14 countLogan County: 4 countMcHenry County: 12 countMcIntosh County: 4 countMcKenzie County: 11 countMcLean County: 20 countMercer County: 9 countMorton County: 38 countMountrail County: 12 countNelson County: 8 countOliver County: 5 countPembina County: 17 countPierce County: 7 countRamsey County: 23 countRansom County: 10 countRenville County: 6 countRichland County: 24 countRolette County: 13 countSargent County: 8 countSheridan County: 5 countStark County: 42 countSteele County: 5 countStutsman County: 30 countTowner County: 5 countTraill County: 13 countWalsh County: 14 countWard County: 81 countWells County: 11 countWilliams County: 46 count
  • Under 4
  • 4 to 5
  • 5 to 10
  • 10 to 13
  • 13 to 24
  • 24 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.

All counties, 2004

Cass County: 279 countCass County279Burleigh County: 130 countBurleigh County130Ward County: 81 countWard County81Grand Forks County: 73 countGrand Forks County73Williams County: 46 countWilliams County46Stark County: 42 countStark County42Morton County: 38 countMorton County38Stutsman County: 30 countStutsman County30Richland County: 24 countRichland County24Ramsey County: 23 countRamsey County23Barnes County: 21 countBarnes County21McLean County: 20 countMcLean County20Bottineau County: 18 countBottineau County18Pembina County: 17 countPembina County17Cavalier County: 14 countCavalier County14LaMoure County: 14 countLaMoure County14Walsh County: 14 countWalsh County14Rolette County: 13 countRolette County13Traill County: 13 countTraill County13McHenry County: 12 countMcHenry County12Mountrail County: 12 countMountrail County12Benson County: 11 countBenson County11McKenzie County: 11 countMcKenzie County11Wells County: 11 countWells County11Dickey County: 10 countDickey County10Ransom County: 10 countRansom County10Burke County: 9 countBurke County9Mercer County: 9 countMercer County9Divide County: 8 countDivide County8Nelson County: 8 countNelson County8Sargent County: 8 countSargent County8Pierce County: 7 countPierce County7Renville County: 6 countRenville County6Adams County: 5 countAdams County5Bowman County: 5 countBowman County5Griggs County: 5 countGriggs County5Oliver County: 5 countOliver County5Sheridan County: 5 countSheridan County5Steele County: 5 countSteele County5Towner County: 5 countTowner County5Dunn County: 4 countDunn County4Emmons County: 4 countEmmons County4Grant County: 4 countGrant County4Logan County: 4 countLogan County4McIntosh County: 4 countMcIntosh County4Eddy County: 3 countEddy County3Foster County: 3 countFoster County3Golden Valley County: 3 countGolden Valley County3Hettinger County: 3 countHettinger County3Kidder County: 3 countKidder County3Billings County: 0 countBillings County0Cass County: 279 countCass County279Burleigh County: 130 countBurleigh County130Ward County: 81 countWard County81Grand Forks County: 73 countGrand Forks County73Williams County: 46 countWilliams County46Stark County: 42 countStark County42Morton County: 38 countMorton County38Stutsman County: 30 countStutsman County30Richland County: 24 countRichland County24Ramsey County: 23 countRamsey County23Barnes County: 21 countBarnes County21McLean County: 20 countMcLean County20Bottineau County: 18 countBottineau County18Pembina County: 17 countPembina County17Cavalier County: 14 countCavalier County14LaMoure County: 14 countLaMoure County14Walsh County: 14 countWalsh County14Rolette County: 13 countRolette County13Traill County: 13 countTraill County13McHenry County: 12 countMcHenry County12Mountrail County: 12 countMountrail County12Benson County: 11 countBenson County11McKenzie County: 11 countMcKenzie County11Wells County: 11 countWells County11Dickey County: 10 countDickey County10Ransom County: 10 countRansom County10Burke County: 9 countBurke County9Mercer County: 9 countMercer County9Divide County: 8 countDivide County8Nelson County: 8 countNelson County8Sargent County: 8 countSargent County8Pierce County: 7 countPierce County7Renville County: 6 countRenville County6Adams County: 5 countAdams County5Bowman County: 5 countBowman County5Griggs County: 5 countGriggs County5Oliver County: 5 countOliver County5Sheridan County: 5 countSheridan County5Steele County: 5 countSteele County5Towner County: 5 countTowner County5Dunn County: 4 countDunn County4Emmons County: 4 countEmmons County4Grant County: 4 countGrant County4Logan County: 4 countLogan County4McIntosh County: 4 countMcIntosh County4Eddy County: 3 countEddy County3Foster County: 3 countFoster County3Golden Valley County: 3 countGolden Valley County3Hettinger County: 3 countHettinger County3Kidder County: 3 countKidder County3Billings County: 0 countBillings 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. 2 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 North Dakota 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 North Dakota 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/north-dakota-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 North Dakota 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/north-dakota-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 North Dakota 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/north-dakota-counties?period=2004 (Accessed: 22 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{census_counties_in_north_dakota_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 North Dakota 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/north-dakota-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 North Dakota 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/north-dakota-counties?period=2004
Y2  - 2026/10/22
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/employer-firm-births/north-dakota-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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Rank Counties in North Dakota by employer firm births using official data, and cite the source.
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Questions

Which county has the highest employer firm births?

Cass County, with 279 in 2004, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Which county has the lowest employer firm births?

Billings 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. 2 counties have no value for 2004 and are not ranked.

Employer firm births: other rankings

Counties in North Dakota: more rankings