Counties in Pennsylvania by employer firm births

Philadelphia County had the highest employer firm births of 67 counties in 2017, at 1,853. Cameron County had the lowest, at 3. The median was 56 and the figure for Pennsylvania was 13,015. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.

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Median5667 counties
Pennsylvania13,015History

Map of counties, 2017

Adams County: 89 countAllegheny County: 1,341 countArmstrong County: 50 countBeaver County: 99 countBedford County: 47 countBerks County: 359 countBlair County: 98 countBradford County: 49 countBucks County: 958 countButler County: 184 countCambria County: 82 countCameron County: 3 countCarbon County: 49 countCentre County: 135 countChester County: 700 countClarion County: 32 countClearfield County: 69 countClinton County: 33 countColumbia County: 39 countCrawford County: 74 countCumberland County: 257 countDauphin County: 293 countDelaware County: 658 countElk County: 30 countErie County: 215 countFayette County: 89 countForest County: 4 countFranklin County: 105 countFulton County: 9 countGreene County: 22 countHuntingdon County: 28 countIndiana County: 56 countJefferson County: 37 countJuniata County: 18 countLackawanna County: 183 countLancaster County: 614 countLawrence County: 53 countLebanon County: 101 countLehigh County: 400 countLuzerne County: 265 countLycoming County: 85 countMcKean County: 27 countMercer County: 85 countMifflin County: 25 countMonroe County: 177 countMontgomery County: 1,185 countMontour County: 14 countNorthampton County: 288 countNorthumberland County: 54 countPerry County: 34 countPhiladelphia County: 1,853 countPike County: 50 countPotter County: 11 countSchuylkill County: 76 countSnyder County: 41 countSomerset County: 56 countSullivan County: 10 countSusquehanna County: 38 countTioga County: 33 countUnion County: 45 countVenango County: 27 countWarren County: 26 countWashington County: 229 countWayne County: 53 countWestmoreland County: 286 countWyoming County: 23 countYork County: 310 count
  • Under 30
  • 30 to 40
  • 40 to 60
  • 60 to 100
  • 100 to 290
  • 290 and over
count, 2017. 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, 2017

Philadelphia County: 1,853 countPhiladelphia County1,853Allegheny County: 1,341 countAllegheny County1,341Montgomery County: 1,185 countMontgomery County1,185Bucks County: 958 countBucks County958Chester County: 700 countChester County700Delaware County: 658 countDelaware County658Lancaster County: 614 countLancaster County614Lehigh County: 400 countLehigh County400Berks County: 359 countBerks County359York County: 310 countYork County310Dauphin County: 293 countDauphin County293Northampton County: 288 countNorthampton County288Westmoreland County: 286 countWestmoreland County286Luzerne County: 265 countLuzerne County265Cumberland County: 257 countCumberland County257Washington County: 229 countWashington County229Erie County: 215 countErie County215Butler County: 184 countButler County184Lackawanna County: 183 countLackawanna County183Monroe County: 177 countMonroe County177Centre County: 135 countCentre County135Franklin County: 105 countFranklin County105Lebanon County: 101 countLebanon County101Beaver County: 99 countBeaver County99Blair County: 98 countBlair County98Adams County: 89 countAdams County89Fayette County: 89 countFayette County89Lycoming County: 85 countLycoming County85Mercer County: 85 countMercer County85Cambria County: 82 countCambria County82Schuylkill County: 76 countSchuylkill County76Crawford County: 74 countCrawford County74Clearfield County: 69 countClearfield County69Indiana County: 56 countIndiana County56Somerset County: 56 countSomerset County56Northumberland County: 54 countNorthumberland County54Lawrence County: 53 countLawrence County53Wayne County: 53 countWayne County53Armstrong County: 50 countArmstrong County50Pike County: 50 countPike County50Philadelphia County: 1,853 countPhiladelphia County1,853Allegheny County: 1,341 countAllegheny County1,341Montgomery County: 1,185 countMontgomery County1,185Bucks County: 958 countBucks County958Chester County: 700 countChester County700Delaware County: 658 countDelaware County658Lancaster County: 614 countLancaster County614Lehigh County: 400 countLehigh County400Berks County: 359 countBerks County359York County: 310 countYork County310Dauphin County: 293 countDauphin County293Northampton County: 288 countNorthampton County288Westmoreland County: 286 countWestmoreland County286Luzerne County: 265 countLuzerne County265Cumberland County: 257 countCumberland County257Washington County: 229 countWashington County229Erie County: 215 countErie County215Butler County: 184 countButler County184Lackawanna County: 183 countLackawanna County183Monroe County: 177 countMonroe County177Centre County: 135 countCentre County135Franklin County: 105 countFranklin County105Lebanon County: 101 countLebanon County101Beaver County: 99 countBeaver County99Blair County: 98 countBlair County98Adams County: 89 countAdams County89Fayette County: 89 countFayette County89Lycoming County: 85 countLycoming County85Mercer County: 85 countMercer County85Cambria County: 82 countCambria County82Schuylkill County: 76 countSchuylkill County76Crawford County: 74 countCrawford County74Clearfield County: 69 countClearfield County69Indiana County: 56 countIndiana County56Somerset County: 56 countSomerset County56Northumberland County: 54 countNorthumberland County54Lawrence County: 53 countLawrence County53Wayne County: 53 countWayne County53Armstrong County: 50 countArmstrong County50Pike County: 50 countPike County50
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

RankCounties2017
count
Change on 2016
1Philadelphia County1,853+3.6%
2Allegheny County1,341-6.4%
3Montgomery County1,185-2.9%
4Bucks County958-5.9%
5Chester County700-6%
6Delaware County658+5.1%
7Lancaster County614-0.6%
8Lehigh County400-0.7%
9Berks County359-6.8%
10York County310-12.2%
11Dauphin County293+4.3%
12Northampton County2880%
13Westmoreland County286-9.2%
14Luzerne County265-4.3%
15Cumberland County257-7.2%
16Washington County229+0.9%
17Erie County215+16.2%
18Butler County184-9.4%
19Lackawanna County183-9.9%
20Monroe County177-1.1%
21Centre County135-22%
22Franklin County105-10.3%
23Lebanon County101-12.9%
24Beaver County99-17.5%
25Blair County98-8.4%
26Adams County89+50.8%
26Fayette County89-8.2%
28Lycoming County85-6.6%
28Mercer County85+9%
30Cambria County82-6.8%
31Schuylkill County76-12.6%
32Crawford County74+23.3%
33Clearfield County69+38%
34Indiana County56-16.4%
34Somerset County56-17.6%
36Northumberland County54-19.4%
37Lawrence County53-11.7%
37Wayne County53-3.6%
39Armstrong County50-10.7%
39Pike County50-16.7%
41Bradford County49-7.5%
41Carbon County49-5.8%
43Bedford County47-2.1%
44Union County45+9.8%
45Snyder County41+57.7%
46Columbia County39-23.5%
47Susquehanna County38-20.8%
48Jefferson County370%
49Perry County34+25.9%
50Clinton County33+10%
50Tioga County33+3.1%
52Clarion County32+28%
53Elk County30-16.7%
54Huntingdon County280%
55McKean County27-20.6%
55Venango County27-3.6%
57Warren County26+23.8%
58Mifflin County25-43.2%
59Wyoming County23-25.8%
60Greene County22-12%
61Juniata County18-28%
62Montour County14+7.7%
63Potter County11+22.2%
64Sullivan County10+100%
65Fulton County9-18.2%
66Forest County4+33.3%
67Cameron County3n/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 Pennsylvania by employer firm births, 2017) [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, 2017. 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?period=2017. 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, 2017. 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?period=2017.

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, 2017 [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?period=2017 (Accessed: 22 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{census_counties_in_pennsylvania_by_2017,
  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, 2017}},
  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?period=2017. 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, 2017
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?period=2017
Y2  - 2026/10/22
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/employer-firm-births/pennsylvania-counties?period=2017.
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 1,853 in 2017, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Which county has the lowest employer firm births?

Cameron County, with 3 in 2017.

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