Counties in South Carolina by employer firm births

Charleston County had the highest employer firm births of 45 counties in 2015, at 826. Lee County had the lowest, at 6. The median was 42 and the figure for South Carolina was 5,565. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.

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Lowest6Lee County
Median4245 counties
South Carolina5,565History

Map of counties, 2015

Abbeville County: 11 countAiken County: 127 countAllendale County: 7 countAnderson County: 142 countBamberg County: 15 countBarnwell County: 20 countBeaufort County: 342 countBerkeley County: 188 countCalhoun County: 9 countCharleston County: 826 countCherokee County: 35 countChester County: 29 countChesterfield County: 21 countClarendon County: 24 countColleton County: 28 countDarlington County: 39 countDillon County: 16 countDorchester County: 145 countEdgefield County: 13 countFairfield County: 18 countFlorence County: 147 countGeorgetown County: 82 countGreenville County: 689 countGreenwood County: 56 countHampton County: 8 countHorry County: 571 countJasper County: 57 countKershaw County: 56 countLancaster County: 77 countLaurens County: 42 countLee County: 6 countLexington County: 318 countMarion County: 13 countMarlboro County: 12 countNewberry County: 24 countOconee County: 88 countOrangeburg County: 59 countPickens County: 85 countRichland County: 459 countSaluda County: 9 countSpartanburg County: 275 countSumter County: 71 countUnion County: 9 countWilliamsburg County: 21 countYork County: 289 count
  • Under 12
  • 12 to 21
  • 21 to 42
  • 42 to 83
  • 83 to 250
  • 250 and over
  • No data
count, 2015. 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, 2015

Charleston County: 826 countCharleston County826Greenville County: 689 countGreenville County689Horry County: 571 countHorry County571Richland County: 459 countRichland County459Beaufort County: 342 countBeaufort County342Lexington County: 318 countLexington County318York County: 289 countYork County289Spartanburg County: 275 countSpartanburg County275Berkeley County: 188 countBerkeley County188Florence County: 147 countFlorence County147Dorchester County: 145 countDorchester County145Anderson County: 142 countAnderson County142Aiken County: 127 countAiken County127Oconee County: 88 countOconee County88Pickens County: 85 countPickens County85Georgetown County: 82 countGeorgetown County82Lancaster County: 77 countLancaster County77Sumter County: 71 countSumter County71Orangeburg County: 59 countOrangeburg County59Jasper County: 57 countJasper County57Greenwood County: 56 countGreenwood County56Kershaw County: 56 countKershaw County56Laurens County: 42 countLaurens County42Darlington County: 39 countDarlington County39Cherokee County: 35 countCherokee County35Chester County: 29 countChester County29Colleton County: 28 countColleton County28Clarendon County: 24 countClarendon County24Newberry County: 24 countNewberry County24Chesterfield County: 21 countChesterfield County21Williamsburg County: 21 countWilliamsburg County21Barnwell County: 20 countBarnwell County20Fairfield County: 18 countFairfield County18Dillon County: 16 countDillon County16Bamberg County: 15 countBamberg County15Edgefield County: 13 countEdgefield County13Marion County: 13 countMarion County13Marlboro County: 12 countMarlboro County12Abbeville County: 11 countAbbeville County11Calhoun County: 9 countCalhoun County9Saluda County: 9 countSaluda County9Union County: 9 countUnion County9Hampton County: 8 countHampton County8Allendale County: 7 countAllendale County7Lee County: 6 countLee County6Charleston County: 826 countCharleston County826Greenville County: 689 countGreenville County689Horry County: 571 countHorry County571Richland County: 459 countRichland County459Beaufort County: 342 countBeaufort County342Lexington County: 318 countLexington County318York County: 289 countYork County289Spartanburg County: 275 countSpartanburg County275Berkeley County: 188 countBerkeley County188Florence County: 147 countFlorence County147Dorchester County: 145 countDorchester County145Anderson County: 142 countAnderson County142Aiken County: 127 countAiken County127Oconee County: 88 countOconee County88Pickens County: 85 countPickens County85Georgetown County: 82 countGeorgetown County82Lancaster County: 77 countLancaster County77Sumter County: 71 countSumter County71Orangeburg County: 59 countOrangeburg County59Jasper County: 57 countJasper County57Greenwood County: 56 countGreenwood County56Kershaw County: 56 countKershaw County56Laurens County: 42 countLaurens County42Darlington County: 39 countDarlington County39Cherokee County: 35 countCherokee County35Chester County: 29 countChester County29Colleton County: 28 countColleton County28Clarendon County: 24 countClarendon County24Newberry County: 24 countNewberry County24Chesterfield County: 21 countChesterfield County21Williamsburg County: 21 countWilliamsburg County21Barnwell County: 20 countBarnwell County20Fairfield County: 18 countFairfield County18Dillon County: 16 countDillon County16Bamberg County: 15 countBamberg County15Edgefield County: 13 countEdgefield County13Marion County: 13 countMarion County13Marlboro County: 12 countMarlboro County12Abbeville County: 11 countAbbeville County11Calhoun County: 9 countCalhoun County9Saluda County: 9 countSaluda County9Union County: 9 countUnion County9Hampton County: 8 countHampton County8Allendale County: 7 countAllendale County7Lee County: 6 countLee County6
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. 1 counties with data in other periods have no value for 2015 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 South Carolina by employer firm births, 2015) [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 South Carolina by employer firm births, 2015. 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/south-carolina-counties?period=2015. 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 South Carolina by employer firm births, 2015. 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/south-carolina-counties?period=2015.

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 South Carolina by employer firm births, 2015 [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/south-carolina-counties?period=2015 (Accessed: 22 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{census_counties_in_south_carolina_2015,
  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 South Carolina by employer firm births, 2015}},
  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/south-carolina-counties?period=2015. 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 South Carolina by employer firm births, 2015
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/south-carolina-counties?period=2015
Y2  - 2026/10/22
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/employer-firm-births/south-carolina-counties?period=2015.
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 South Carolina by employer firm births using official data, and cite the source.
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Questions

Which county has the highest employer firm births?

Charleston County, with 826 in 2015, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Which county has the lowest employer firm births?

Lee County, with 6 in 2015.

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. 1 counties have no value for 2015 and are not ranked.

Employer firm births: other rankings

Counties in South Carolina: more rankings