Counties in Oregon by employer firm births, 2023

Multnomah County had the highest employer firm births of 36 counties in 2023, at 1,629. Wheeler County had the lowest, at 4. The median was 76 and the figure for Oregon was 7,399. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.

Highest1,629Multnomah County

Lowest4Wheeler County

Median7636 counties

Oregon7,399History

Map of counties, 2023

Under 10
10 to 40
40 to 80
80 to 120
120 to 430
430 and over

count, 2023. 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, 2023

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	2023 count	Change on 2022
1	Multnomah County	1,629	-6.7%
2	Washington County	889	-9.9%
3	Clackamas County	843	+8.4%
4	Deschutes County	635	-6.8%
5	Marion County	586	-1.8%
6	Lane County	541	+0.9%
7	Jackson County	402	-6.5%
8	Linn County	178	+9.9%
9	Yamhill County	169	-12.9%
10	Douglas County	168	-5.1%
11	Benton County	130	+20.4%
12	Josephine County	127	-9.9%
13	Polk County	114	-2.6%
14	Clatsop County	106	+24.7%
15	Coos County	98	-7.5%
16	Klamath County	95	-11.2%
17	Umatilla County	93	+31%
18	Lincoln County	85	-29.2%
19	Hood River County	67	0%
20	Crook County	63	+46.5%
21	Columbia County	58	-3.3%
22	Tillamook County	47	-19%
23	Curry County	43	-4.4%
24	Wasco County	42	-14.3%
25	Jefferson County	39	+34.5%
26	Baker County	36	+44%
27	Malheur County	32	-5.9%
28	Union County	26	-27.8%
29	Wallowa County	21	+23.5%
30	Morrow County	14	+27.3%
31	Harney County	13	-7.1%
32	Lake County	9	-18.2%
33	Grant County	8	-11.1%
34	Gilliam County	5	n/a
35	Sherman County	4	n/a
35	Wheeler County	4	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. 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 Oregon by employer firm births, 2023) [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 Oregon by employer firm births, 2023. 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/oregon-counties. 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 Oregon by employer firm births, 2023. 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/oregon-counties.

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 Oregon by employer firm births, 2023 [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/oregon-counties (Accessed: 22 October 2026).

BibTeX

@misc{census_counties_in_oregon_by_2023,
  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 Oregon by employer firm births, 2023}},
  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/oregon-counties. 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 Oregon by employer firm births, 2023
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/oregon-counties
Y2  - 2026/10/22
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/employer-firm-births/oregon-counties.
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?

Multnomah County, with 1,629 in 2023, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Which county has the lowest employer firm births?

Wheeler County, with 4 in 2023.

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.