Counties in South Carolina by employer firm births

Charleston County had the highest employer firm births of 46 counties in 2022, at 1,052. Allendale County had the lowest, at 4. The median was 44 and the figure for South Carolina was 7,685. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.

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Highest1,052Charleston County
Median4446 counties
South Carolina7,685History

Map of counties, 2022

Abbeville County: 24 countAiken County: 155 countAllendale County: 4 countAnderson County: 298 countBamberg County: 9 countBarnwell County: 19 countBeaufort County: 425 countBerkeley County: 324 countCalhoun County: 16 countCharleston County: 1,052 countCherokee County: 40 countChester County: 28 countChesterfield County: 23 countClarendon County: 25 countColleton County: 43 countDarlington County: 44 countDillon County: 29 countDorchester County: 231 countEdgefield County: 20 countFairfield County: 17 countFlorence County: 144 countGeorgetown County: 112 countGreenville County: 1,034 countGreenwood County: 57 countHampton County: 10 countHorry County: 741 countJasper County: 61 countKershaw County: 72 countLancaster County: 122 countLaurens County: 43 countLee County: 11 countLexington County: 466 countMcCormick County: 10 countMarion County: 20 countMarlboro County: 14 countNewberry County: 35 countOconee County: 99 countOrangeburg County: 65 countPickens County: 141 countRichland County: 549 countSaluda County: 13 countSpartanburg County: 454 countSumter County: 96 countUnion County: 17 countWilliamsburg County: 23 countYork County: 480 count
  • Under 20
  • 20 to 40
  • 40 to 110
  • 110 to 370
  • 370 and over
count, 2022. 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, 2022

Charleston County: 1,052 countCharleston County1,052Greenville County: 1,034 countGreenville County1,034Horry County: 741 countHorry County741Richland County: 549 countRichland County549York County: 480 countYork County480Lexington County: 466 countLexington County466Spartanburg County: 454 countSpartanburg County454Beaufort County: 425 countBeaufort County425Berkeley County: 324 countBerkeley County324Anderson County: 298 countAnderson County298Dorchester County: 231 countDorchester County231Aiken County: 155 countAiken County155Florence County: 144 countFlorence County144Pickens County: 141 countPickens County141Lancaster County: 122 countLancaster County122Georgetown County: 112 countGeorgetown County112Oconee County: 99 countOconee County99Sumter County: 96 countSumter County96Kershaw County: 72 countKershaw County72Orangeburg County: 65 countOrangeburg County65Jasper County: 61 countJasper County61Greenwood County: 57 countGreenwood County57Darlington County: 44 countDarlington County44Colleton County: 43 countColleton County43Laurens County: 43 countLaurens County43Cherokee County: 40 countCherokee County40Newberry County: 35 countNewberry County35Dillon County: 29 countDillon County29Chester County: 28 countChester County28Clarendon County: 25 countClarendon County25Abbeville County: 24 countAbbeville County24Chesterfield County: 23 countChesterfield County23Williamsburg County: 23 countWilliamsburg County23Edgefield County: 20 countEdgefield County20Marion County: 20 countMarion County20Barnwell County: 19 countBarnwell County19Fairfield County: 17 countFairfield County17Union County: 17 countUnion County17Calhoun County: 16 countCalhoun County16Marlboro County: 14 countMarlboro County14Saluda County: 13 countSaluda County13Lee County: 11 countLee County11Hampton County: 10 countHampton County10McCormick County: 10 countMcCormick County10Bamberg County: 9 countBamberg County9Allendale County: 4 countAllendale County4Charleston County: 1,052 countCharleston County1,052Greenville County: 1,034 countGreenville County1,034Horry County: 741 countHorry County741Richland County: 549 countRichland County549York County: 480 countYork County480Lexington County: 466 countLexington County466Spartanburg County: 454 countSpartanburg County454Beaufort County: 425 countBeaufort County425Berkeley County: 324 countBerkeley County324Anderson County: 298 countAnderson County298Dorchester County: 231 countDorchester County231Aiken County: 155 countAiken County155Florence County: 144 countFlorence County144Pickens County: 141 countPickens County141Lancaster County: 122 countLancaster County122Georgetown County: 112 countGeorgetown County112Oconee County: 99 countOconee County99Sumter County: 96 countSumter County96Kershaw County: 72 countKershaw County72Orangeburg County: 65 countOrangeburg County65Jasper County: 61 countJasper County61Greenwood County: 57 countGreenwood County57Darlington County: 44 countDarlington County44Colleton County: 43 countColleton County43Laurens County: 43 countLaurens County43Cherokee County: 40 countCherokee County40Newberry County: 35 countNewberry County35Dillon County: 29 countDillon County29Chester County: 28 countChester County28Clarendon County: 25 countClarendon County25Abbeville County: 24 countAbbeville County24Chesterfield County: 23 countChesterfield County23Williamsburg County: 23 countWilliamsburg County23Edgefield County: 20 countEdgefield County20Marion County: 20 countMarion County20Barnwell County: 19 countBarnwell County19Fairfield County: 17 countFairfield County17Union County: 17 countUnion County17Calhoun County: 16 countCalhoun County16Marlboro County: 14 countMarlboro County14Saluda County: 13 countSaluda County13Lee County: 11 countLee County11Hampton County: 10 countHampton County10McCormick County: 10 countMcCormick County10Bamberg County: 9 countBamberg County9Allendale County: 4 countAllendale County4
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

RankCounties2022
count
Change on 2021
1Charleston County1,052+12.4%
2Greenville County1,034+8.3%
3Horry County741+14%
4Richland County549+2%
5York County480+11.9%
6Lexington County466+10.7%
7Spartanburg County454+14.4%
8Beaufort County425+20.1%
9Berkeley County324+0.9%
10Anderson County298+33%
11Dorchester County231+3.6%
12Aiken County155+6.2%
13Florence County144-24.6%
14Pickens County141+23.7%
15Lancaster County122+0.8%
16Georgetown County112+8.7%
17Oconee County99-5.7%
18Sumter County96-11.1%
19Kershaw County720%
20Orangeburg County65-3%
21Jasper County61-4.7%
22Greenwood County57-1.7%
23Darlington County440%
24Colleton County43+2.4%
24Laurens County43-18.9%
26Cherokee County40-2.4%
27Newberry County35-5.4%
28Dillon County29+11.5%
29Chester County28+47.4%
30Clarendon County250%
31Abbeville County24+26.3%
32Chesterfield County23-17.9%
32Williamsburg County23-23.3%
34Edgefield County20+5.3%
34Marion County20-16.7%
36Barnwell County19+58.3%
37Fairfield County17+6.3%
37Union County17-15%
39Calhoun County16+33.3%
40Marlboro County14+55.6%
41Saluda County13+18.2%
42Lee County11-21.4%
43Hampton County10-44.4%
43McCormick County10+100%
45Bamberg County9+12.5%
46Allendale County4-20%

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, 2022) [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, 2022. 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=2022. 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, 2022. 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=2022.

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, 2022 [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=2022 (Accessed: 22 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{census_counties_in_south_carolina_2022,
  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, 2022}},
  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=2022. 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, 2022
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=2022
Y2  - 2026/10/22
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/employer-firm-births/south-carolina-counties?period=2022.
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?

Charleston County, with 1,052 in 2022, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Which county has the lowest employer firm births?

Allendale County, with 4 in 2022.

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