Counties in Alabama by employer firms

Jefferson County had the highest employer firms of 67 counties in 2016, at 11,918. Coosa County had the lowest, at 90. The median was 551 and the figure for Alabama was 68,087. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.

Keep it in a collection in your library.
Highest11,918Jefferson County
Lowest90Coosa County
Median55167 counties
Alabama68,087History

Map of counties, 2016

Autauga County: 658 countBaldwin County: 4,146 countBarbour County: 383 countBibb County: 251 countBlount County: 602 countBullock County: 99 countButler County: 366 countCalhoun County: 1,849 countChambers County: 504 countCherokee County: 322 countChilton County: 676 countChoctaw County: 225 countClarke County: 495 countClay County: 172 countCleburne County: 149 countCoffee County: 835 countColbert County: 1,011 countConecuh County: 172 countCoosa County: 90 countCovington County: 707 countCrenshaw County: 185 countCullman County: 1,460 countDale County: 633 countDallas County: 641 countDeKalb County: 917 countElmore County: 1,034 countEscambia County: 608 countEtowah County: 1,662 countFayette County: 253 countFranklin County: 438 countGeneva County: 351 countGreene County: 100 countHale County: 147 countHenry County: 254 countHouston County: 2,214 countJackson County: 744 countJefferson County: 11,918 countLamar County: 214 countLauderdale County: 1,656 countLawrence County: 353 countLee County: 2,177 countLimestone County: 1,210 countLowndes County: 92 countMacon County: 216 countMadison County: 6,265 countMarengo County: 407 countMarion County: 453 countMarshall County: 1,471 countMobile County: 6,467 countMonroe County: 345 countMontgomery County: 4,208 countMorgan County: 2,136 countPerry County: 106 countPickens County: 219 countPike County: 551 countRandolph County: 297 countRussell County: 649 countSt. Clair County: 1,132 countShelby County: 4,190 countSumter County: 162 countTalladega County: 981 countTallapoosa County: 630 countTuscaloosa County: 3,348 countWalker County: 1,010 countWashington County: 162 countWilcox County: 146 countWinston County: 359 count
  • Under 200
  • 200 to 300
  • 300 to 600
  • 600 to 800
  • 800 to 1,700
  • 1,700 and over
count, 2016. Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Business Dynamics Statistics: employer firms, all covered industries, nation, states and counties. Boundaries: U.S. Census Bureau cartographic boundary files.

Top 40 counties, 2016

Jefferson County: 11,918 countJefferson County11,918Mobile County: 6,467 countMobile County6,467Madison County: 6,265 countMadison County6,265Montgomery County: 4,208 countMontgomery County4,208Shelby County: 4,190 countShelby County4,190Baldwin County: 4,146 countBaldwin County4,146Tuscaloosa County: 3,348 countTuscaloosa County3,348Houston County: 2,214 countHouston County2,214Lee County: 2,177 countLee County2,177Morgan County: 2,136 countMorgan County2,136Calhoun County: 1,849 countCalhoun County1,849Etowah County: 1,662 countEtowah County1,662Lauderdale County: 1,656 countLauderdale County1,656Marshall County: 1,471 countMarshall County1,471Cullman County: 1,460 countCullman County1,460Limestone County: 1,210 countLimestone County1,210St. Clair County: 1,132 countSt. Clair County1,132Elmore County: 1,034 countElmore County1,034Colbert County: 1,011 countColbert County1,011Walker County: 1,010 countWalker County1,010Talladega County: 981 countTalladega County981DeKalb County: 917 countDeKalb County917Coffee County: 835 countCoffee County835Jackson County: 744 countJackson County744Covington County: 707 countCovington County707Chilton County: 676 countChilton County676Autauga County: 658 countAutauga County658Russell County: 649 countRussell County649Dallas County: 641 countDallas County641Dale County: 633 countDale County633Tallapoosa County: 630 countTallapoosa County630Escambia County: 608 countEscambia County608Blount County: 602 countBlount County602Pike County: 551 countPike County551Chambers County: 504 countChambers County504Clarke County: 495 countClarke County495Marion County: 453 countMarion County453Franklin County: 438 countFranklin County438Marengo County: 407 countMarengo County407Barbour County: 383 countBarbour County383Jefferson County: 11,918 countJefferson County11,918Mobile County: 6,467 countMobile County6,467Madison County: 6,265 countMadison County6,265Montgomery County: 4,208 countMontgomery County4,208Shelby County: 4,190 countShelby County4,190Baldwin County: 4,146 countBaldwin County4,146Tuscaloosa County: 3,348 countTuscaloosa County3,348Houston County: 2,214 countHouston County2,214Lee County: 2,177 countLee County2,177Morgan County: 2,136 countMorgan County2,136Calhoun County: 1,849 countCalhoun County1,849Etowah County: 1,662 countEtowah County1,662Lauderdale County: 1,656 countLauderdale County1,656Marshall County: 1,471 countMarshall County1,471Cullman County: 1,460 countCullman County1,460Limestone County: 1,210 countLimestone County1,210St. Clair County: 1,132 countSt. Clair County1,132Elmore County: 1,034 countElmore County1,034Colbert County: 1,011 countColbert County1,011Walker County: 1,010 countWalker County1,010Talladega County: 981 countTalladega County981DeKalb County: 917 countDeKalb County917Coffee County: 835 countCoffee County835Jackson County: 744 countJackson County744Covington County: 707 countCovington County707Chilton County: 676 countChilton County676Autauga County: 658 countAutauga County658Russell County: 649 countRussell County649Dallas County: 641 countDallas County641Dale County: 633 countDale County633Tallapoosa County: 630 countTallapoosa County630Escambia County: 608 countEscambia County608Blount County: 602 countBlount County602Pike County: 551 countPike County551Chambers County: 504 countChambers County504Clarke County: 495 countClarke County495Marion County: 453 countMarion County453Franklin County: 438 countFranklin County438Marengo County: 407 countMarengo County407Barbour County: 383 countBarbour County383
count. Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Business Dynamics Statistics: employer firms, all covered industries, nation, states and counties. Retrieved 2026-10-11.

Full ranking

RankCounties2016
count
Change on 2015
1Jefferson County11,918+0.4%
2Mobile County6,467+1.7%
3Madison County6,265+1.8%
4Montgomery County4,208+0.5%
5Shelby County4,190+2.8%
6Baldwin County4,146+2.2%
7Tuscaloosa County3,348+1%
8Houston County2,214+0.9%
9Lee County2,177+2.7%
10Morgan County2,136+0.2%
11Calhoun County1,849+0.4%
12Etowah County1,662+1.2%
13Lauderdale County1,656+1.3%
14Marshall County1,471+2.2%
15Cullman County1,460+0.3%
16Limestone County1,210+4.2%
17St. Clair County1,132+1%
18Elmore County1,034+0.5%
19Colbert County1,011+0.6%
20Walker County1,010-1.3%
21Talladega County981+1%
22DeKalb County917+1.7%
23Coffee County835+0.4%
24Jackson County744+0.7%
25Covington County707-1.8%
26Chilton County6760%
27Autauga County658+0.3%
28Russell County6490%
29Dallas County6410%
30Dale County633+0.5%
31Tallapoosa County630+1.9%
32Escambia County608+0.3%
33Blount County602+1.2%
34Pike County551+0.9%
35Chambers County504+0.2%
36Clarke County495-0.6%
37Marion County453-0.2%
38Franklin County438-2%
39Marengo County407+1.2%
40Barbour County3830%
41Butler County366-0.5%
42Winston County3590%
43Lawrence County353+1.1%
44Geneva County351+1.2%
45Monroe County3450%
46Cherokee County322+3.5%
47Randolph County2970%
48Henry County254+1.6%
49Fayette County253-0.8%
50Bibb County251+1.2%
51Choctaw County225+1.8%
52Pickens County2190%
53Macon County2160%
54Lamar County2140%
55Crenshaw County185+1.6%
56Clay County172+3.6%
56Conecuh County172-1.7%
58Sumter County162-4.1%
58Washington County162+3.8%
60Cleburne County149+2.1%
61Hale County147-5.2%
62Wilcox County1460%
63Perry County106-1.9%
64Greene County100+8.7%
65Bullock County99+3.1%
66Lowndes County920%
67Coosa County90+5.9%

Other periods

About this ranking

Number of firms in the private nonfarm sectors covered by the US Census Bureau Business Dynamics Statistics. Establishments under common ownership form one firm.

Excludes nonemployer businesses. Differs from active_companies, the INE DIRCE count, which includes businesses without employees.

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: employer firms, all covered industries, nation, states and counties. https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/bds/tables/time-series/2023/bds2023_st_cty.csv. Retrieved 2026-10-11.

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: employer firms, all covered industries, nation, states and counties (Counties in Alabama by employer firms, 2016) [Data set]. Retrieved October 11, 2026, from https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/bds/tables/time-series/2023/bds2023_st_cty.csv

MLA 9

Business Dynamics Statistics: employer firms, all covered industries, nation, states and counties, Counties in Alabama by employer firms, 2016. U.S. Census Bureau, 25 Sept. 2025, https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/bds/tables/time-series/2023/bds2023_st_cty.csv. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/employer-firms/alabama-counties?period=2016. Accessed 11 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

U.S. Census Bureau. 2025. Business Dynamics Statistics: employer firms, all covered industries, nation, states and counties. Counties in Alabama by employer firms, 2016. Dataset. Accessed October 11, 2026. https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/bds/tables/time-series/2023/bds2023_st_cty.csv. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/employer-firms/alabama-counties?period=2016.

Harvard

U.S. Census Bureau (2025) Business Dynamics Statistics: employer firms, all covered industries, nation, states and counties, Counties in Alabama by employer firms, 2016 [Dataset]. Available at: https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/bds/tables/time-series/2023/bds2023_st_cty.csv, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/employer-firms/alabama-counties?period=2016 (Accessed: 11 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{census_counties_in_alabama_by_2016,
  author = {{U.S. Census Bureau}},
  title = {{Business Dynamics Statistics: employer firms, all covered industries, nation, states and counties: Counties in Alabama by employer firms, 2016}},
  year = {2025},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/bds/tables/time-series/2023/bds2023_st_cty.csv},
  urldate = {2026-10-11},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/employer-firms/alabama-counties?period=2016. Publisher attribution: U.S. Census Bureau. Business Dynamics Statistics: employer firms, all covered industries, nation, states and counties. https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/bds/tables/time-series/2023/bds2023\_st\_cty.csv. Retrieved 2026-10-11.},
}
RIS
TY  - DATA
AU  - U.S. Census Bureau
TI  - Business Dynamics Statistics: employer firms, all covered industries, nation, states and counties: Counties in Alabama by employer firms, 2016
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.csv
L2  - https://invokely.ai/rankings/employer-firms/alabama-counties?period=2016
Y2  - 2026/10/11
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/employer-firms/alabama-counties?period=2016.
N1  - Publisher attribution: U.S. Census Bureau. Business Dynamics Statistics: employer firms, all covered industries, nation, states and counties. https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/bds/tables/time-series/2023/bds2023_st_cty.csv. Retrieved 2026-10-11.
ER  - 
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Questions

Which county has the highest employer firms?

Jefferson County, with 11,918 in 2016, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Which county has the lowest employer firms?

Coosa County, with 90 in 2016.

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: employer firms, all covered industries, nation, states and counties. Retrieved 2026-10-11.

Employer firms: other rankings

Counties in Alabama: more rankings