Counties in Colorado by employer firms

Denver County had the highest employer firms of 64 counties in 2016, at 18,407. Crowley County had the lowest, at 30. The median was 386 and the figure for Colorado was 115,786. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.

Keep it in a collection in your library.
Highest18,407Denver County
Median38664 counties
Colorado115,786History

Map of counties, 2016

Adams County: 7,195 countAlamosa County: 415 countArapahoe County: 13,617 countArchuleta County: 416 countBaca County: 66 countBent County: 51 countBoulder County: 9,480 countBroomfield County: 1,686 countChaffee County: 761 countCheyenne County: 52 countClear Creek County: 272 countConejos County: 99 countCostilla County: 37 countCrowley County: 30 countCuster County: 117 countDelta County: 674 countDenver County: 18,407 countDolores County: 42 countDouglas County: 6,526 countEagle County: 2,510 countElbert County: 503 countEl Paso County: 12,199 countFremont County: 758 countGarfield County: 1,891 countGilpin County: 107 countGrand County: 731 countGunnison County: 881 countHinsdale County: 50 countHuerfano County: 132 countJackson County: 65 countJefferson County: 12,902 countKiowa County: 32 countKit Carson County: 233 countLake County: 179 countLa Plata County: 1,960 countLarimer County: 8,251 countLas Animas County: 334 countLincoln County: 116 countLogan County: 511 countMesa County: 3,592 countMineral County: 57 countMoffat County: 346 countMontezuma County: 663 countMontrose County: 1,073 countMorgan County: 576 countOtero County: 356 countOuray County: 214 countPark County: 347 countPhillips County: 112 countPitkin County: 1,155 countProwers County: 301 countPueblo County: 2,503 countRio Blanco County: 186 countRio Grande County: 281 countRoutt County: 1,338 countSaguache County: 104 countSan Juan County: 47 countSan Miguel County: 485 countSedgwick County: 65 countSummit County: 1,593 countTeller County: 585 countWashington County: 101 countWeld County: 4,904 countYuma County: 289 count
  • Under 100
  • 100 to 200
  • 200 to 400
  • 400 to 800
  • 800 to 2,500
  • 2,500 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

Denver County: 18,407 countDenver County18,407Arapahoe County: 13,617 countArapahoe County13,617Jefferson County: 12,902 countJefferson County12,902El Paso County: 12,199 countEl Paso County12,199Boulder County: 9,480 countBoulder County9,480Larimer County: 8,251 countLarimer County8,251Adams County: 7,195 countAdams County7,195Douglas County: 6,526 countDouglas County6,526Weld County: 4,904 countWeld County4,904Mesa County: 3,592 countMesa County3,592Eagle County: 2,510 countEagle County2,510Pueblo County: 2,503 countPueblo County2,503La Plata County: 1,960 countLa Plata County1,960Garfield County: 1,891 countGarfield County1,891Broomfield County: 1,686 countBroomfield County1,686Summit County: 1,593 countSummit County1,593Routt County: 1,338 countRoutt County1,338Pitkin County: 1,155 countPitkin County1,155Montrose County: 1,073 countMontrose County1,073Gunnison County: 881 countGunnison County881Chaffee County: 761 countChaffee County761Fremont County: 758 countFremont County758Grand County: 731 countGrand County731Delta County: 674 countDelta County674Montezuma County: 663 countMontezuma County663Teller County: 585 countTeller County585Morgan County: 576 countMorgan County576Logan County: 511 countLogan County511Elbert County: 503 countElbert County503San Miguel County: 485 countSan Miguel County485Archuleta County: 416 countArchuleta County416Alamosa County: 415 countAlamosa County415Otero County: 356 countOtero County356Park County: 347 countPark County347Moffat County: 346 countMoffat County346Las Animas County: 334 countLas Animas County334Prowers County: 301 countProwers County301Yuma County: 289 countYuma County289Rio Grande County: 281 countRio Grande County281Clear Creek County: 272 countClear Creek County272Denver County: 18,407 countDenver County18,407Arapahoe County: 13,617 countArapahoe County13,617Jefferson County: 12,902 countJefferson County12,902El Paso County: 12,199 countEl Paso County12,199Boulder County: 9,480 countBoulder County9,480Larimer County: 8,251 countLarimer County8,251Adams County: 7,195 countAdams County7,195Douglas County: 6,526 countDouglas County6,526Weld County: 4,904 countWeld County4,904Mesa County: 3,592 countMesa County3,592Eagle County: 2,510 countEagle County2,510Pueblo County: 2,503 countPueblo County2,503La Plata County: 1,960 countLa Plata County1,960Garfield County: 1,891 countGarfield County1,891Broomfield County: 1,686 countBroomfield County1,686Summit County: 1,593 countSummit County1,593Routt County: 1,338 countRoutt County1,338Pitkin County: 1,155 countPitkin County1,155Montrose County: 1,073 countMontrose County1,073Gunnison County: 881 countGunnison County881Chaffee County: 761 countChaffee County761Fremont County: 758 countFremont County758Grand County: 731 countGrand County731Delta County: 674 countDelta County674Montezuma County: 663 countMontezuma County663Teller County: 585 countTeller County585Morgan County: 576 countMorgan County576Logan County: 511 countLogan County511Elbert County: 503 countElbert County503San Miguel County: 485 countSan Miguel County485Archuleta County: 416 countArchuleta County416Alamosa County: 415 countAlamosa County415Otero County: 356 countOtero County356Park County: 347 countPark County347Moffat County: 346 countMoffat County346Las Animas County: 334 countLas Animas County334Prowers County: 301 countProwers County301Yuma County: 289 countYuma County289Rio Grande County: 281 countRio Grande County281Clear Creek County: 272 countClear Creek County272
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
1Denver County18,407+3%
2Arapahoe County13,617+2.4%
3Jefferson County12,902+1.8%
4El Paso County12,199+2.6%
5Boulder County9,480+2.4%
6Larimer County8,251+2.7%
7Adams County7,195+3.8%
8Douglas County6,526+3.4%
9Weld County4,904+2.5%
10Mesa County3,592-0.8%
11Eagle County2,510+2%
12Pueblo County2,503+1.6%
13La Plata County1,960+1.2%
14Garfield County1,891-1%
15Broomfield County1,686+4.7%
16Summit County1,593+2.9%
17Routt County1,338+2.8%
18Pitkin County1,155-0.3%
19Montrose County1,073+0.5%
20Gunnison County881+5%
21Chaffee County761+2.6%
22Fremont County758+4.8%
23Grand County731+2%
24Delta County674-1.3%
25Montezuma County663+0.8%
26Teller County585+3.2%
27Morgan County576-1.5%
28Logan County511-0.8%
29Elbert County503+1.2%
30San Miguel County485+0.8%
31Archuleta County416+3%
32Alamosa County415-0.5%
33Otero County356-0.3%
34Park County347+0.6%
35Moffat County346-2.5%
36Las Animas County334+3.4%
37Prowers County301-1%
38Yuma County289+2.8%
39Rio Grande County281-0.4%
40Clear Creek County272+5%
41Kit Carson County233-1.3%
42Ouray County214-1.4%
43Rio Blanco County186-4.1%
44Lake County179+4.1%
45Huerfano County132+7.3%
46Custer County117-5.6%
47Lincoln County116+0.9%
48Phillips County112-5.1%
49Gilpin County107-2.7%
50Saguache County104+3%
51Washington County101+4.1%
52Conejos County99+6.5%
53Baca County66-7%
54Jackson County65+1.6%
54Sedgwick County65-3%
56Mineral County57+14%
57Cheyenne County52-5.5%
58Bent County51-7.3%
59Hinsdale County50-12.3%
60San Juan County47+9.3%
61Dolores County42+13.5%
62Costilla County37+2.8%
63Kiowa County32+3.2%
64Crowley County30-6.3%

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 Colorado 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 Colorado 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/colorado-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 Colorado 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/colorado-counties?period=2016.

Harvard

U.S. Census Bureau (2025) Business Dynamics Statistics: employer firms, all covered industries, nation, states and counties, Counties in Colorado 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/colorado-counties?period=2016 (Accessed: 11 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{census_counties_in_colorado_by_2016,
  author = {{U.S. Census Bureau}},
  title = {{Business Dynamics Statistics: employer firms, all covered industries, nation, states and counties: Counties in Colorado 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/colorado-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 Colorado 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/colorado-counties?period=2016
Y2  - 2026/10/11
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/employer-firms/colorado-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  - 
Embed this chart

Paste this code into a web page or a blog post. The chart shows the latest figures as they are published, with the source and a link back to this page.

Sites that read oEmbed links, such as WordPress, can show the chart when you paste the link to this page.

Use this data in your AI agent

Invokely serves this figure to AI assistants through MCP and to code through a REST API, with the source and citation attached. Ask your assistant:

Rank Counties in Colorado by employer firms using official data, and cite the source.
rank_places {"indicator":"employer_firms","level":"province","within":"Colorado","limit":10}
GET https://invokely.ai/api/v1/rank?indicator=employer_firms&level=province&within=Colorado&limit=10

Connect Claude, ChatGPT or Cursor in one step. The trial answers 25 calls a day without an account.

Questions

Which county has the highest employer firms?

Denver County, with 18,407 in 2016, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Which county has the lowest employer firms?

Crowley County, with 30 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 Colorado: more rankings