Counties in South Dakota by employer firm births

Minnehaha County had the highest employer firm births of 63 counties in 2005, at 300. Todd County had the lowest, at 0. The median was 9 and the figure for South Dakota was 1,545. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.

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Median963 counties
South Dakota1,545History

Map of counties, 2005

Aurora County: 3 countBeadle County: 27 countBennett County: 7 countBon Homme County: 5 countBrookings County: 40 countBrown County: 64 countBrule County: 10 countBuffalo County: 0 countButte County: 29 countCampbell County: 7 countCharles Mix County: 14 countClark County: 7 countClay County: 27 countCodington County: 54 countCorson County: 3 countCuster County: 25 countDavison County: 33 countDay County: 16 countDeuel County: 11 countDewey County: 7 countDouglas County: 7 countEdmunds County: 13 countFall River County: 14 countFaulk County: 4 countGrant County: 17 countGregory County: 5 countHaakon County: 4 countHamlin County: 12 countHand County: 8 countHughes County: 36 countHutchinson County: 7 countHyde County: 5 countJackson County: 5 countJerauld County: 6 countJones County: 3 countKingsbury County: 9 countLake County: 29 countLawrence County: 89 countLincoln County: 83 countLyman County: 4 countMcCook County: 7 countMcPherson County: 3 countMarshall County: 8 countMeade County: 68 countMellette County: 0 countMiner County: 3 countMinnehaha County: 300 countMoody County: 9 countOglala Lakota County: 6 countPennington County: 217 countPerkins County: 8 countPotter County: 4 countRoberts County: 12 countSanborn County: 3 countSpink County: 9 countStanley County: 10 countSully County: 3 countTodd County: 0 countTripp County: 11 countTurner County: 17 countUnion County: 40 countWalworth County: 12 countYankton County: 46 count
  • Under 4
  • 4 to 7
  • 7 to 9
  • 9 to 14
  • 14 to 35
  • 35 and over
  • No data
count, 2005. 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, 2005

Minnehaha County: 300 countMinnehaha County300Pennington County: 217 countPennington County217Lawrence County: 89 countLawrence County89Lincoln County: 83 countLincoln County83Meade County: 68 countMeade County68Brown County: 64 countBrown County64Codington County: 54 countCodington County54Yankton County: 46 countYankton County46Brookings County: 40 countBrookings County40Union County: 40 countUnion County40Hughes County: 36 countHughes County36Davison County: 33 countDavison County33Butte County: 29 countButte County29Lake County: 29 countLake County29Beadle County: 27 countBeadle County27Clay County: 27 countClay County27Custer County: 25 countCuster County25Grant County: 17 countGrant County17Turner County: 17 countTurner County17Day County: 16 countDay County16Charles Mix County: 14 countCharles Mix County14Fall River County: 14 countFall River County14Edmunds County: 13 countEdmunds County13Hamlin County: 12 countHamlin County12Roberts County: 12 countRoberts County12Walworth County: 12 countWalworth County12Deuel County: 11 countDeuel County11Tripp County: 11 countTripp County11Brule County: 10 countBrule County10Stanley County: 10 countStanley County10Kingsbury County: 9 countKingsbury County9Moody County: 9 countMoody County9Spink County: 9 countSpink County9Hand County: 8 countHand County8Marshall County: 8 countMarshall County8Perkins County: 8 countPerkins County8Bennett County: 7 countBennett County7Campbell County: 7 countCampbell County7Clark County: 7 countClark County7Dewey County: 7 countDewey County7Minnehaha County: 300 countMinnehaha County300Pennington County: 217 countPennington County217Lawrence County: 89 countLawrence County89Lincoln County: 83 countLincoln County83Meade County: 68 countMeade County68Brown County: 64 countBrown County64Codington County: 54 countCodington County54Yankton County: 46 countYankton County46Brookings County: 40 countBrookings County40Union County: 40 countUnion County40Hughes County: 36 countHughes County36Davison County: 33 countDavison County33Butte County: 29 countButte County29Lake County: 29 countLake County29Beadle County: 27 countBeadle County27Clay County: 27 countClay County27Custer County: 25 countCuster County25Grant County: 17 countGrant County17Turner County: 17 countTurner County17Day County: 16 countDay County16Charles Mix County: 14 countCharles Mix County14Fall River County: 14 countFall River County14Edmunds County: 13 countEdmunds County13Hamlin County: 12 countHamlin County12Roberts County: 12 countRoberts County12Walworth County: 12 countWalworth County12Deuel County: 11 countDeuel County11Tripp County: 11 countTripp County11Brule County: 10 countBrule County10Stanley County: 10 countStanley County10Kingsbury County: 9 countKingsbury County9Moody County: 9 countMoody County9Spink County: 9 countSpink County9Hand County: 8 countHand County8Marshall County: 8 countMarshall County8Perkins County: 8 countPerkins County8Bennett County: 7 countBennett County7Campbell County: 7 countCampbell County7Clark County: 7 countClark County7Dewey County: 7 countDewey 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. 3 counties with data in other periods have no value for 2005 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, 2005) [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, 2005. 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=2005. 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, 2005. 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=2005.

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, 2005 [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=2005 (Accessed: 22 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{census_counties_in_south_dakota_2005,
  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, 2005}},
  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=2005. 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, 2005
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=2005
Y2  - 2026/10/22
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/employer-firm-births/south-dakota-counties?period=2005.
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?

Minnehaha County, with 300 in 2005, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Which county has the lowest employer firm births?

Todd County, with 0 in 2005.

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. 3 counties have no value for 2005 and are not ranked.

Employer firm births: other rankings

Counties in South Dakota: more rankings