Counties in South Dakota by employer firm births

Minnehaha County had the highest employer firm births of 62 counties in 2002, at 301. Ziebach County had the lowest, at 0. The median was 10 and the figure for South Dakota was 1,494. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.

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Median1062 counties
South Dakota1,494History

Map of counties, 2002

Aurora County: 5 countBeadle County: 24 countBennett County: 7 countBon Homme County: 10 countBrookings County: 54 countBrown County: 68 countBrule County: 11 countBuffalo County: 0 countButte County: 23 countCharles Mix County: 11 countClark County: 11 countClay County: 20 countCodington County: 63 countCorson County: 4 countCuster County: 17 countDavison County: 46 countDay County: 13 countDeuel County: 7 countDewey County: 7 countDouglas County: 6 countEdmunds County: 5 countFall River County: 14 countFaulk County: 4 countGrant County: 7 countGregory County: 13 countHaakon County: 7 countHamlin County: 5 countHand County: 3 countHanson County: 4 countHughes County: 28 countHutchinson County: 12 countJerauld County: 4 countJones County: 3 countKingsbury County: 13 countLake County: 19 countLawrence County: 58 countLincoln County: 74 countLyman County: 3 countMcCook County: 10 countMcPherson County: 5 countMarshall County: 8 countMeade County: 67 countMellette County: 3 countMiner County: 3 countMinnehaha County: 301 countMoody County: 8 countOglala Lakota County: 4 countPennington County: 233 countPerkins County: 13 countPotter County: 5 countRoberts County: 10 countSanborn County: 5 countSpink County: 10 countStanley County: 5 countSully County: 3 countTodd County: 5 countTripp County: 11 countTurner County: 21 countUnion County: 26 countWalworth County: 16 countYankton County: 37 countZiebach County: 0 count
  • Under 4
  • 4 to 5
  • 5 to 10
  • 10 to 13
  • 13 to 28
  • 28 and over
  • No data
count, 2002. 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, 2002

Minnehaha County: 301 countMinnehaha County301Pennington County: 233 countPennington County233Lincoln County: 74 countLincoln County74Brown County: 68 countBrown County68Meade County: 67 countMeade County67Codington County: 63 countCodington County63Lawrence County: 58 countLawrence County58Brookings County: 54 countBrookings County54Davison County: 46 countDavison County46Yankton County: 37 countYankton County37Hughes County: 28 countHughes County28Union County: 26 countUnion County26Beadle County: 24 countBeadle County24Butte County: 23 countButte County23Turner County: 21 countTurner County21Clay County: 20 countClay County20Lake County: 19 countLake County19Custer County: 17 countCuster County17Walworth County: 16 countWalworth County16Fall River County: 14 countFall River County14Day County: 13 countDay County13Gregory County: 13 countGregory County13Kingsbury County: 13 countKingsbury County13Perkins County: 13 countPerkins County13Hutchinson County: 12 countHutchinson County12Brule County: 11 countBrule County11Charles Mix County: 11 countCharles Mix County11Clark County: 11 countClark County11Tripp County: 11 countTripp County11Bon Homme County: 10 countBon Homme County10McCook County: 10 countMcCook County10Roberts County: 10 countRoberts County10Spink County: 10 countSpink County10Marshall County: 8 countMarshall County8Moody County: 8 countMoody County8Bennett County: 7 countBennett County7Deuel County: 7 countDeuel County7Dewey County: 7 countDewey County7Grant County: 7 countGrant County7Haakon County: 7 countHaakon County7Minnehaha County: 301 countMinnehaha County301Pennington County: 233 countPennington County233Lincoln County: 74 countLincoln County74Brown County: 68 countBrown County68Meade County: 67 countMeade County67Codington County: 63 countCodington County63Lawrence County: 58 countLawrence County58Brookings County: 54 countBrookings County54Davison County: 46 countDavison County46Yankton County: 37 countYankton County37Hughes County: 28 countHughes County28Union County: 26 countUnion County26Beadle County: 24 countBeadle County24Butte County: 23 countButte County23Turner County: 21 countTurner County21Clay County: 20 countClay County20Lake County: 19 countLake County19Custer County: 17 countCuster County17Walworth County: 16 countWalworth County16Fall River County: 14 countFall River County14Day County: 13 countDay County13Gregory County: 13 countGregory County13Kingsbury County: 13 countKingsbury County13Perkins County: 13 countPerkins County13Hutchinson County: 12 countHutchinson County12Brule County: 11 countBrule County11Charles Mix County: 11 countCharles Mix County11Clark County: 11 countClark County11Tripp County: 11 countTripp County11Bon Homme County: 10 countBon Homme County10McCook County: 10 countMcCook County10Roberts County: 10 countRoberts County10Spink County: 10 countSpink County10Marshall County: 8 countMarshall County8Moody County: 8 countMoody County8Bennett County: 7 countBennett County7Deuel County: 7 countDeuel County7Dewey County: 7 countDewey County7Grant County: 7 countGrant County7Haakon County: 7 countHaakon County7
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. 4 counties with data in other periods have no value for 2002 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, 2002) [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, 2002. 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=2002. 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, 2002. 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=2002.

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, 2002 [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=2002 (Accessed: 22 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{census_counties_in_south_dakota_2002,
  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, 2002}},
  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=2002. 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, 2002
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=2002
Y2  - 2026/10/22
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/employer-firm-births/south-dakota-counties?period=2002.
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 301 in 2002, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Which county has the lowest employer firm births?

Ziebach County, with 0 in 2002.

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. 4 counties have no value for 2002 and are not ranked.

Employer firm births: other rankings

Counties in South Dakota: more rankings