Counties in South Dakota by employer firm births

Minnehaha County had the highest employer firm births of 61 counties in 1998, at 304. Walworth County had the lowest, at 3. The median was 10 and the figure for South Dakota was 1,504. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.

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Median1061 counties
South Dakota1,504History

Map of counties, 1998

Aurora County: 7 countBeadle County: 31 countBennett County: 3 countBon Homme County: 16 countBrookings County: 57 countBrown County: 80 countBrule County: 15 countButte County: 24 countCampbell County: 4 countCharles Mix County: 15 countClark County: 7 countClay County: 21 countCodington County: 59 countCuster County: 14 countDavison County: 51 countDay County: 10 countDeuel County: 5 countDewey County: 8 countDouglas County: 6 countEdmunds County: 7 countFall River County: 17 countFaulk County: 4 countGrant County: 11 countGregory County: 6 countHaakon County: 5 countHamlin County: 11 countHand County: 10 countHanson County: 7 countHarding County: 3 countHughes County: 37 countHutchinson County: 6 countJackson County: 5 countJerauld County: 5 countJones County: 6 countKingsbury County: 17 countLake County: 19 countLawrence County: 56 countLincoln County: 75 countLyman County: 4 countMcCook County: 4 countMcPherson County: 6 countMarshall County: 11 countMeade County: 57 countMellette County: 4 countMiner County: 7 countMinnehaha County: 304 countMoody County: 13 countOglala Lakota County: 6 countPennington County: 185 countPerkins County: 6 countPotter County: 6 countRoberts County: 10 countSanborn County: 3 countSpink County: 9 countStanley County: 9 countSully County: 4 countTripp County: 12 countTurner County: 22 countUnion County: 27 countWalworth County: 3 countYankton County: 48 count
  • Under 5
  • 5 to 6
  • 6 to 10
  • 10 to 15
  • 15 to 37
  • 37 and over
  • No data
count, 1998. 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.

Top 40 counties, 1998

Minnehaha County: 304 countMinnehaha County304Pennington County: 185 countPennington County185Brown County: 80 countBrown County80Lincoln County: 75 countLincoln County75Codington County: 59 countCodington County59Brookings County: 57 countBrookings County57Meade County: 57 countMeade County57Lawrence County: 56 countLawrence County56Davison County: 51 countDavison County51Yankton County: 48 countYankton County48Hughes County: 37 countHughes County37Beadle County: 31 countBeadle County31Union County: 27 countUnion County27Butte County: 24 countButte County24Turner County: 22 countTurner County22Clay County: 21 countClay County21Lake County: 19 countLake County19Fall River County: 17 countFall River County17Kingsbury County: 17 countKingsbury County17Bon Homme County: 16 countBon Homme County16Brule County: 15 countBrule County15Charles Mix County: 15 countCharles Mix County15Custer County: 14 countCuster County14Moody County: 13 countMoody County13Tripp County: 12 countTripp County12Grant County: 11 countGrant County11Hamlin County: 11 countHamlin County11Marshall County: 11 countMarshall County11Day County: 10 countDay County10Hand County: 10 countHand County10Roberts County: 10 countRoberts County10Spink County: 9 countSpink County9Stanley County: 9 countStanley County9Dewey County: 8 countDewey County8Aurora County: 7 countAurora County7Clark County: 7 countClark County7Edmunds County: 7 countEdmunds County7Hanson County: 7 countHanson County7Miner County: 7 countMiner County7Douglas County: 6 countDouglas County6Minnehaha County: 304 countMinnehaha County304Pennington County: 185 countPennington County185Brown County: 80 countBrown County80Lincoln County: 75 countLincoln County75Codington County: 59 countCodington County59Brookings County: 57 countBrookings County57Meade County: 57 countMeade County57Lawrence County: 56 countLawrence County56Davison County: 51 countDavison County51Yankton County: 48 countYankton County48Hughes County: 37 countHughes County37Beadle County: 31 countBeadle County31Union County: 27 countUnion County27Butte County: 24 countButte County24Turner County: 22 countTurner County22Clay County: 21 countClay County21Lake County: 19 countLake County19Fall River County: 17 countFall River County17Kingsbury County: 17 countKingsbury County17Bon Homme County: 16 countBon Homme County16Brule County: 15 countBrule County15Charles Mix County: 15 countCharles Mix County15Custer County: 14 countCuster County14Moody County: 13 countMoody County13Tripp County: 12 countTripp County12Grant County: 11 countGrant County11Hamlin County: 11 countHamlin County11Marshall County: 11 countMarshall County11Day County: 10 countDay County10Hand County: 10 countHand County10Roberts County: 10 countRoberts County10Spink County: 9 countSpink County9Stanley County: 9 countStanley County9Dewey County: 8 countDewey County8Aurora County: 7 countAurora County7Clark County: 7 countClark County7Edmunds County: 7 countEdmunds County7Hanson County: 7 countHanson County7Miner County: 7 countMiner County7Douglas County: 6 countDouglas 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. 5 counties with data in other periods have no value for 1998 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 Dakota by employer firm births, 1998) [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 Dakota by employer firm births, 1998. 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-dakota-counties?period=1998. 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 Dakota by employer firm births, 1998. 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-dakota-counties?period=1998.

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 Dakota by employer firm births, 1998 [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-dakota-counties?period=1998 (Accessed: 22 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{census_counties_in_south_dakota_1998,
  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 Dakota by employer firm births, 1998}},
  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-dakota-counties?period=1998. 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 Dakota by employer firm births, 1998
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-dakota-counties?period=1998
Y2  - 2026/10/22
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/employer-firm-births/south-dakota-counties?period=1998.
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 Dakota by employer firm births using official data, and cite the source.
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Questions

Which county has the highest employer firm births?

Minnehaha County, with 304 in 1998, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Which county has the lowest employer firm births?

Walworth County, with 3 in 1998.

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. 5 counties have no value for 1998 and are not ranked.

Employer firm births: other rankings

Counties in South Dakota: more rankings