Counties in Pennsylvania by employer firm births, 2023

Philadelphia County had the highest employer firm births of 67 counties in 2023, at 1,766. Forest County had the lowest, at 3. The median was 73 and the figure for Pennsylvania was 14,288. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.

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Median7367 counties
Pennsylvania14,288History

Map of counties, 2023

Adams County: 112 countAllegheny County: 1,544 countArmstrong County: 56 countBeaver County: 125 countBedford County: 34 countBerks County: 401 countBlair County: 118 countBradford County: 51 countBucks County: 1,041 countButler County: 230 countCambria County: 88 countCameron County: 6 countCarbon County: 60 countCentre County: 147 countChester County: 741 countClarion County: 30 countClearfield County: 62 countClinton County: 31 countColumbia County: 66 countCrawford County: 79 countCumberland County: 319 countDauphin County: 351 countDelaware County: 687 countElk County: 26 countErie County: 184 countFayette County: 88 countForest County: 3 countFranklin County: 124 countFulton County: 13 countGreene County: 35 countHuntingdon County: 31 countIndiana County: 73 countJefferson County: 45 countJuniata County: 26 countLackawanna County: 177 countLancaster County: 675 countLawrence County: 67 countLebanon County: 141 countLehigh County: 372 countLuzerne County: 338 countLycoming County: 99 countMcKean County: 32 countMercer County: 96 countMifflin County: 43 countMonroe County: 183 countMontgomery County: 1,314 countMontour County: 15 countNorthampton County: 310 countNorthumberland County: 60 countPerry County: 33 countPhiladelphia County: 1,766 countPike County: 68 countPotter County: 11 countSchuylkill County: 95 countSnyder County: 40 countSomerset County: 73 countSullivan County: 7 countSusquehanna County: 45 countTioga County: 34 countUnion County: 47 countVenango County: 36 countWarren County: 19 countWashington County: 257 countWayne County: 59 countWestmoreland County: 327 countWyoming County: 24 countYork County: 427 count
  • Under 30
  • 30 to 50
  • 50 to 70
  • 70 to 130
  • 130 to 340
  • 340 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.

Top 40 counties, 2023

Philadelphia County: 1,766 countPhiladelphia County1,766Allegheny County: 1,544 countAllegheny County1,544Montgomery County: 1,314 countMontgomery County1,314Bucks County: 1,041 countBucks County1,041Chester County: 741 countChester County741Delaware County: 687 countDelaware County687Lancaster County: 675 countLancaster County675York County: 427 countYork County427Berks County: 401 countBerks County401Lehigh County: 372 countLehigh County372Dauphin County: 351 countDauphin County351Luzerne County: 338 countLuzerne County338Westmoreland County: 327 countWestmoreland County327Cumberland County: 319 countCumberland County319Northampton County: 310 countNorthampton County310Washington County: 257 countWashington County257Butler County: 230 countButler County230Erie County: 184 countErie County184Monroe County: 183 countMonroe County183Lackawanna County: 177 countLackawanna County177Centre County: 147 countCentre County147Lebanon County: 141 countLebanon County141Beaver County: 125 countBeaver County125Franklin County: 124 countFranklin County124Blair County: 118 countBlair County118Adams County: 112 countAdams County112Lycoming County: 99 countLycoming County99Mercer County: 96 countMercer County96Schuylkill County: 95 countSchuylkill County95Cambria County: 88 countCambria County88Fayette County: 88 countFayette County88Crawford County: 79 countCrawford County79Indiana County: 73 countIndiana County73Somerset County: 73 countSomerset County73Pike County: 68 countPike County68Lawrence County: 67 countLawrence County67Columbia County: 66 countColumbia County66Clearfield County: 62 countClearfield County62Carbon County: 60 countCarbon County60Northumberland County: 60 countNorthumberland County60Philadelphia County: 1,766 countPhiladelphia County1,766Allegheny County: 1,544 countAllegheny County1,544Montgomery County: 1,314 countMontgomery County1,314Bucks County: 1,041 countBucks County1,041Chester County: 741 countChester County741Delaware County: 687 countDelaware County687Lancaster County: 675 countLancaster County675York County: 427 countYork County427Berks County: 401 countBerks County401Lehigh County: 372 countLehigh County372Dauphin County: 351 countDauphin County351Luzerne County: 338 countLuzerne County338Westmoreland County: 327 countWestmoreland County327Cumberland County: 319 countCumberland County319Northampton County: 310 countNorthampton County310Washington County: 257 countWashington County257Butler County: 230 countButler County230Erie County: 184 countErie County184Monroe County: 183 countMonroe County183Lackawanna County: 177 countLackawanna County177Centre County: 147 countCentre County147Lebanon County: 141 countLebanon County141Beaver County: 125 countBeaver County125Franklin County: 124 countFranklin County124Blair County: 118 countBlair County118Adams County: 112 countAdams County112Lycoming County: 99 countLycoming County99Mercer County: 96 countMercer County96Schuylkill County: 95 countSchuylkill County95Cambria County: 88 countCambria County88Fayette County: 88 countFayette County88Crawford County: 79 countCrawford County79Indiana County: 73 countIndiana County73Somerset County: 73 countSomerset County73Pike County: 68 countPike County68Lawrence County: 67 countLawrence County67Columbia County: 66 countColumbia County66Clearfield County: 62 countClearfield County62Carbon County: 60 countCarbon County60Northumberland County: 60 countNorthumberland County60
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

RankCounties2023
count
Change on 2022
1Philadelphia County1,766-15.2%
2Allegheny County1,544-0.5%
3Montgomery County1,314-6.3%
4Bucks County1,041-7.3%
5Chester County741-5.2%
6Delaware County687-10.7%
7Lancaster County675-2.5%
8York County427+8.4%
9Berks County401+3.4%
10Lehigh County372-18.2%
11Dauphin County351+5.4%
12Luzerne County338+7%
13Westmoreland County327-6%
14Cumberland County319-2.7%
15Northampton County310-10.4%
16Washington County257+0.8%
17Butler County230+9.5%
18Erie County184-28.7%
19Monroe County183-9.4%
20Lackawanna County177-24.7%
21Centre County1470%
22Lebanon County141+14.6%
23Beaver County125-25.1%
24Franklin County124-8.1%
25Blair County118+32.6%
26Adams County112+17.9%
27Lycoming County99+11.2%
28Mercer County96+15.7%
29Schuylkill County95-13.6%
30Cambria County88-17.8%
30Fayette County88-24.1%
32Crawford County79+6.8%
33Indiana County73-19.8%
33Somerset County73+10.6%
35Pike County68-9.3%
36Lawrence County67+6.3%
37Columbia County66-1.5%
38Clearfield County62-11.4%
39Carbon County60-23.1%
39Northumberland County60+1.7%
41Wayne County59-32.2%
42Armstrong County56-8.2%
43Bradford County51-12.1%
44Union County470%
45Jefferson County45-30.8%
45Susquehanna County45+12.5%
47Mifflin County43+30.3%
48Snyder County40-7%
49Venango County36-32.1%
50Greene County35+12.9%
51Bedford County34-22.7%
51Tioga County34+17.2%
53Perry County33-19.5%
54McKean County32-22%
55Clinton County31+24%
55Huntingdon County31-11.4%
57Clarion County30-23.1%
58Elk County26-21.2%
58Juniata County26+36.8%
60Wyoming County24-20%
61Warren County19-13.6%
62Montour County15+7.1%
63Fulton County130%
64Potter County11+10%
65Sullivan County70%
66Cameron County60%
67Forest County30%

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 Pennsylvania 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 Pennsylvania 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/pennsylvania-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 Pennsylvania 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/pennsylvania-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 Pennsylvania 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/pennsylvania-counties (Accessed: 22 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{census_counties_in_pennsylvania_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 Pennsylvania 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/pennsylvania-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 Pennsylvania 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/pennsylvania-counties
Y2  - 2026/10/22
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/employer-firm-births/pennsylvania-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?

Philadelphia County, with 1,766 in 2023, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Which county has the lowest employer firm births?

Forest County, with 3 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.

Employer firm births: other rankings

Counties in Pennsylvania: more rankings