Counties in Wisconsin by employer firm births

Milwaukee County had the highest employer firm births of 70 counties in 2017, at 947. Rusk County had the lowest, at 6. The median was 39 and the figure for Wisconsin was 5,920. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.

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Median3970 counties
Wisconsin5,920History

Map of counties, 2017

Adams County: 19 countAshland County: 7 countBarron County: 46 countBayfield County: 19 countBrown County: 254 countBuffalo County: 13 countBurnett County: 14 countCalumet County: 28 countChippewa County: 67 countClark County: 29 countColumbia County: 68 countCrawford County: 8 countDane County: 687 countDodge County: 66 countDoor County: 46 countDouglas County: 40 countDunn County: 39 countEau Claire County: 94 countFlorence County: 7 countFond du Lac County: 61 countForest County: 9 countGrant County: 30 countGreen County: 50 countGreen Lake County: 7 countIowa County: 33 countJackson County: 17 countJefferson County: 95 countJuneau County: 27 countKenosha County: 156 countKewaunee County: 16 countLa Crosse County: 138 countLafayette County: 17 countLanglade County: 27 countLincoln County: 30 countManitowoc County: 55 countMarathon County: 102 countMarinette County: 39 countMarquette County: 12 countMilwaukee County: 947 countMonroe County: 36 countOconto County: 25 countOneida County: 59 countOutagamie County: 208 countOzaukee County: 113 countPepin County: 9 countPierce County: 36 countPolk County: 53 countPortage County: 60 countPrice County: 14 countRacine County: 189 countRichland County: 18 countRock County: 150 countRusk County: 6 countSt. Croix County: 131 countSauk County: 58 countSawyer County: 19 countShawano County: 43 countSheboygan County: 91 countTaylor County: 26 countTrempealeau County: 21 countVernon County: 20 countVilas County: 39 countWalworth County: 146 countWashburn County: 14 countWashington County: 133 countWaukesha County: 543 countWaupaca County: 46 countWaushara County: 25 countWinnebago County: 134 countWood County: 59 count
  • Under 15
  • 15 to 26
  • 26 to 39
  • 39 to 59
  • 59 to 130
  • 130 and over
  • No data
count, 2017. 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, 2017

Milwaukee County: 947 countMilwaukee County947Dane County: 687 countDane County687Waukesha County: 543 countWaukesha County543Brown County: 254 countBrown County254Outagamie County: 208 countOutagamie County208Racine County: 189 countRacine County189Kenosha County: 156 countKenosha County156Rock County: 150 countRock County150Walworth County: 146 countWalworth County146La Crosse County: 138 countLa Crosse County138Winnebago County: 134 countWinnebago County134Washington County: 133 countWashington County133St. Croix County: 131 countSt. Croix County131Ozaukee County: 113 countOzaukee County113Marathon County: 102 countMarathon County102Jefferson County: 95 countJefferson County95Eau Claire County: 94 countEau Claire County94Sheboygan County: 91 countSheboygan County91Columbia County: 68 countColumbia County68Chippewa County: 67 countChippewa County67Dodge County: 66 countDodge County66Fond du Lac County: 61 countFond du Lac County61Portage County: 60 countPortage County60Oneida County: 59 countOneida County59Wood County: 59 countWood County59Sauk County: 58 countSauk County58Manitowoc County: 55 countManitowoc County55Polk County: 53 countPolk County53Green County: 50 countGreen County50Barron County: 46 countBarron County46Door County: 46 countDoor County46Waupaca County: 46 countWaupaca County46Shawano County: 43 countShawano County43Douglas County: 40 countDouglas County40Dunn County: 39 countDunn County39Marinette County: 39 countMarinette County39Vilas County: 39 countVilas County39Monroe County: 36 countMonroe County36Pierce County: 36 countPierce County36Iowa County: 33 countIowa County33Milwaukee County: 947 countMilwaukee County947Dane County: 687 countDane County687Waukesha County: 543 countWaukesha County543Brown County: 254 countBrown County254Outagamie County: 208 countOutagamie County208Racine County: 189 countRacine County189Kenosha County: 156 countKenosha County156Rock County: 150 countRock County150Walworth County: 146 countWalworth County146La Crosse County: 138 countLa Crosse County138Winnebago County: 134 countWinnebago County134Washington County: 133 countWashington County133St. Croix County: 131 countSt. Croix County131Ozaukee County: 113 countOzaukee County113Marathon County: 102 countMarathon County102Jefferson County: 95 countJefferson County95Eau Claire County: 94 countEau Claire County94Sheboygan County: 91 countSheboygan County91Columbia County: 68 countColumbia County68Chippewa County: 67 countChippewa County67Dodge County: 66 countDodge County66Fond du Lac County: 61 countFond du Lac County61Portage County: 60 countPortage County60Oneida County: 59 countOneida County59Wood County: 59 countWood County59Sauk County: 58 countSauk County58Manitowoc County: 55 countManitowoc County55Polk County: 53 countPolk County53Green County: 50 countGreen County50Barron County: 46 countBarron County46Door County: 46 countDoor County46Waupaca County: 46 countWaupaca County46Shawano County: 43 countShawano County43Douglas County: 40 countDouglas County40Dunn County: 39 countDunn County39Marinette County: 39 countMarinette County39Vilas County: 39 countVilas County39Monroe County: 36 countMonroe County36Pierce County: 36 countPierce County36Iowa County: 33 countIowa County33
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

RankCounties2017
count
Change on 2016
1Milwaukee County947+0.3%
2Dane County687-4.6%
3Waukesha County543-2.5%
4Brown County254-3.8%
5Outagamie County208+4%
6Racine County189-2.1%
7Kenosha County156+5.4%
8Rock County150+11.9%
9Walworth County146-2%
10La Crosse County138+24.3%
11Winnebago County134-12.4%
12Washington County133-7.6%
13St. Croix County131+10.1%
14Ozaukee County113-10.3%
15Marathon County102-2.9%
16Jefferson County95+8%
17Eau Claire County94-14.5%
18Sheboygan County91-7.1%
19Columbia County68-10.5%
20Chippewa County67-14.1%
21Dodge County66-2.9%
22Fond du Lac County61-27.4%
23Portage County60-17.8%
24Oneida County59-19.2%
24Wood County59-27.2%
26Sauk County58-31.8%
27Manitowoc County55-12.7%
28Polk County53+1.9%
29Green County50+4.2%
30Barron County46-9.8%
30Door County46+12.2%
30Waupaca County46+27.8%
33Shawano County43+2.4%
34Douglas County400%
35Dunn County39+25.8%
35Marinette County390%
35Vilas County39-11.4%
38Monroe County36-30.8%
38Pierce County36-12.2%
40Iowa County33+17.9%
41Grant County30-44.4%
41Lincoln County30-9.1%
43Clark County29+11.5%
44Calumet County28-41.7%
45Juneau County27+8%
45Langlade County27+80%
47Taylor County26-21.2%
48Oconto County25-19.4%
48Waushara County25+25%
50Trempealeau County21-27.6%
51Vernon County20-4.8%
52Adams County19-5%
52Bayfield County19-13.6%
52Sawyer County19-20.8%
55Richland County18-10%
56Jackson County17-29.2%
56Lafayette County17-10.5%
58Kewaunee County16-11.1%
59Burnett County14-22.2%
59Price County14-36.4%
59Washburn County14-30%
62Buffalo County13-13.3%
63Marquette County12+20%
64Forest County9-30.8%
64Pepin County9+12.5%
66Crawford County8-27.3%
67Ashland County7-65%
67Florence County7+75%
67Green Lake County7-66.7%
70Rusk County6-70%

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. 2 counties with data in other periods have no value for 2017 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 Wisconsin by employer firm births, 2017) [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 Wisconsin by employer firm births, 2017. 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/wisconsin-counties?period=2017. 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 Wisconsin by employer firm births, 2017. 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/wisconsin-counties?period=2017.

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 Wisconsin by employer firm births, 2017 [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/wisconsin-counties?period=2017 (Accessed: 22 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{census_counties_in_wisconsin_by_2017,
  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 Wisconsin by employer firm births, 2017}},
  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/wisconsin-counties?period=2017. 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 Wisconsin by employer firm births, 2017
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/wisconsin-counties?period=2017
Y2  - 2026/10/22
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/employer-firm-births/wisconsin-counties?period=2017.
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 Wisconsin by employer firm births using official data, and cite the source.
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Questions

Which county has the highest employer firm births?

Milwaukee County, with 947 in 2017, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Which county has the lowest employer firm births?

Rusk County, with 6 in 2017.

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. 2 counties have no value for 2017 and are not ranked.

Employer firm births: other rankings

Counties in Wisconsin: more rankings