Counties in South Carolina by employer firm births

Charleston County had the highest employer firm births of 46 counties in 2018, at 919. Allendale County had the lowest, at 5. The median was 39 and the figure for South Carolina was 6,170. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.

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Median3946 counties
South Carolina6,170History

Map of counties, 2018

Abbeville County: 17 countAiken County: 126 countAllendale County: 5 countAnderson County: 188 countBamberg County: 8 countBarnwell County: 13 countBeaufort County: 331 countBerkeley County: 214 countCalhoun County: 9 countCharleston County: 919 countCherokee County: 36 countChester County: 27 countChesterfield County: 21 countClarendon County: 27 countColleton County: 36 countDarlington County: 37 countDillon County: 26 countDorchester County: 154 countEdgefield County: 14 countFairfield County: 9 countFlorence County: 128 countGeorgetown County: 83 countGreenville County: 848 countGreenwood County: 55 countHampton County: 13 countHorry County: 633 countJasper County: 47 countKershaw County: 57 countLancaster County: 78 countLaurens County: 38 countLee County: 8 countLexington County: 375 countMcCormick County: 6 countMarion County: 17 countMarlboro County: 14 countNewberry County: 40 countOconee County: 95 countOrangeburg County: 65 countPickens County: 138 countRichland County: 406 countSaluda County: 12 countSpartanburg County: 329 countSumter County: 67 countUnion County: 19 countWilliamsburg County: 15 countYork County: 385 count
  • Under 13
  • 13 to 21
  • 21 to 39
  • 39 to 83
  • 83 to 270
  • 270 and over
count, 2018. 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, 2018

Charleston County: 919 countCharleston County919Greenville County: 848 countGreenville County848Horry County: 633 countHorry County633Richland County: 406 countRichland County406York County: 385 countYork County385Lexington County: 375 countLexington County375Beaufort County: 331 countBeaufort County331Spartanburg County: 329 countSpartanburg County329Berkeley County: 214 countBerkeley County214Anderson County: 188 countAnderson County188Dorchester County: 154 countDorchester County154Pickens County: 138 countPickens County138Florence County: 128 countFlorence County128Aiken County: 126 countAiken County126Oconee County: 95 countOconee County95Georgetown County: 83 countGeorgetown County83Lancaster County: 78 countLancaster County78Sumter County: 67 countSumter County67Orangeburg County: 65 countOrangeburg County65Kershaw County: 57 countKershaw County57Greenwood County: 55 countGreenwood County55Jasper County: 47 countJasper County47Newberry County: 40 countNewberry County40Laurens County: 38 countLaurens County38Darlington County: 37 countDarlington County37Cherokee County: 36 countCherokee County36Colleton County: 36 countColleton County36Chester County: 27 countChester County27Clarendon County: 27 countClarendon County27Dillon County: 26 countDillon County26Chesterfield County: 21 countChesterfield County21Union County: 19 countUnion County19Abbeville County: 17 countAbbeville County17Marion County: 17 countMarion County17Williamsburg County: 15 countWilliamsburg County15Edgefield County: 14 countEdgefield County14Marlboro County: 14 countMarlboro County14Barnwell County: 13 countBarnwell County13Hampton County: 13 countHampton County13Saluda County: 12 countSaluda County12Calhoun County: 9 countCalhoun County9Fairfield County: 9 countFairfield County9Bamberg County: 8 countBamberg County8Lee County: 8 countLee County8McCormick County: 6 countMcCormick County6Allendale County: 5 countAllendale County5Charleston County: 919 countCharleston County919Greenville County: 848 countGreenville County848Horry County: 633 countHorry County633Richland County: 406 countRichland County406York County: 385 countYork County385Lexington County: 375 countLexington County375Beaufort County: 331 countBeaufort County331Spartanburg County: 329 countSpartanburg County329Berkeley County: 214 countBerkeley County214Anderson County: 188 countAnderson County188Dorchester County: 154 countDorchester County154Pickens County: 138 countPickens County138Florence County: 128 countFlorence County128Aiken County: 126 countAiken County126Oconee County: 95 countOconee County95Georgetown County: 83 countGeorgetown County83Lancaster County: 78 countLancaster County78Sumter County: 67 countSumter County67Orangeburg County: 65 countOrangeburg County65Kershaw County: 57 countKershaw County57Greenwood County: 55 countGreenwood County55Jasper County: 47 countJasper County47Newberry County: 40 countNewberry County40Laurens County: 38 countLaurens County38Darlington County: 37 countDarlington County37Cherokee County: 36 countCherokee County36Colleton County: 36 countColleton County36Chester County: 27 countChester County27Clarendon County: 27 countClarendon County27Dillon County: 26 countDillon County26Chesterfield County: 21 countChesterfield County21Union County: 19 countUnion County19Abbeville County: 17 countAbbeville County17Marion County: 17 countMarion County17Williamsburg County: 15 countWilliamsburg County15Edgefield County: 14 countEdgefield County14Marlboro County: 14 countMarlboro County14Barnwell County: 13 countBarnwell County13Hampton County: 13 countHampton County13Saluda County: 12 countSaluda County12Calhoun County: 9 countCalhoun County9Fairfield County: 9 countFairfield County9Bamberg County: 8 countBamberg County8Lee County: 8 countLee County8McCormick County: 6 countMcCormick County6Allendale County: 5 countAllendale County5
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. 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, 2018) [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, 2018. 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=2018. 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, 2018. 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=2018.

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, 2018 [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=2018 (Accessed: 22 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{census_counties_in_south_carolina_2018,
  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, 2018}},
  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=2018. 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, 2018
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=2018
Y2  - 2026/10/22
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/employer-firm-births/south-carolina-counties?period=2018.
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 919 in 2018, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Which county has the lowest employer firm births?

Allendale County, with 5 in 2018.

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 South Carolina: more rankings