Counties in Minnesota by employer firms

Hennepin County had the highest employer firms of 87 counties in 2020, at 27,635. Red Lake County had the lowest, at 78. The median was 475 and the figure for Minnesota was 101,637. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.

Keep it in a collection in your library.
Highest27,635Hennepin County
Median47587 counties
Minnesota101,637History

Map of counties, 2020

Aitkin County: 328 countAnoka County: 5,970 countBecker County: 753 countBeltrami County: 957 countBenton County: 747 countBig Stone County: 150 countBlue Earth County: 1,587 countBrown County: 633 countCarlton County: 531 countCarver County: 1,955 countCass County: 644 countChippewa County: 329 countChisago County: 1,004 countClay County: 1,049 countClearwater County: 162 countCook County: 215 countCottonwood County: 277 countCrow Wing County: 1,748 countDakota County: 7,596 countDodge County: 326 countDouglas County: 1,153 countFaribault County: 334 countFillmore County: 452 countFreeborn County: 648 countGoodhue County: 1,020 countGrant County: 170 countHennepin County: 27,635 countHouston County: 332 countHubbard County: 474 countIsanti County: 769 countItasca County: 935 countJackson County: 239 countKanabec County: 252 countKandiyohi County: 1,061 countKittson County: 115 countKoochiching County: 320 countLac qui Parle County: 171 countLake County: 259 countLake of the Woods County: 135 countLe Sueur County: 550 countLincoln County: 165 countLyon County: 622 countMcLeod County: 776 countMahnomen County: 92 countMarshall County: 204 countMartin County: 481 countMeeker County: 475 countMille Lacs County: 557 countMorrison County: 736 countMower County: 667 countMurray County: 236 countNicollet County: 557 countNobles County: 482 countNorman County: 155 countOlmsted County: 2,780 countOtter Tail County: 1,348 countPennington County: 311 countPine County: 488 countPipestone County: 290 countPolk County: 573 countPope County: 282 countRamsey County: 9,768 countRed Lake County: 78 countRedwood County: 431 countRenville County: 373 countRice County: 1,213 countRock County: 230 countRoseau County: 333 countSt. Louis County: 3,921 countScott County: 2,730 countSherburne County: 1,723 countSibley County: 282 countStearns County: 3,511 countSteele County: 810 countStevens County: 251 countSwift County: 267 countTodd County: 456 countTraverse County: 96 countWabasha County: 456 countWadena County: 330 countWaseca County: 376 countWashington County: 4,514 countWatonwan County: 257 countWilkin County: 127 countWinona County: 918 countWright County: 2,748 countYellow Medicine County: 267 count
  • Under 200
  • 200 to 300
  • 300 to 500
  • 500 to 700
  • 700 to 1,300
  • 1,300 and over
count, 2020. 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, 2020

Hennepin County: 27,635 countHennepin County27,635Ramsey County: 9,768 countRamsey County9,768Dakota County: 7,596 countDakota County7,596Anoka County: 5,970 countAnoka County5,970Washington County: 4,514 countWashington County4,514St. Louis County: 3,921 countSt. Louis County3,921Stearns County: 3,511 countStearns County3,511Olmsted County: 2,780 countOlmsted County2,780Wright County: 2,748 countWright County2,748Scott County: 2,730 countScott County2,730Carver County: 1,955 countCarver County1,955Crow Wing County: 1,748 countCrow Wing County1,748Sherburne County: 1,723 countSherburne County1,723Blue Earth County: 1,587 countBlue Earth County1,587Otter Tail County: 1,348 countOtter Tail County1,348Rice County: 1,213 countRice County1,213Douglas County: 1,153 countDouglas County1,153Kandiyohi County: 1,061 countKandiyohi County1,061Clay County: 1,049 countClay County1,049Goodhue County: 1,020 countGoodhue County1,020Chisago County: 1,004 countChisago County1,004Beltrami County: 957 countBeltrami County957Itasca County: 935 countItasca County935Winona County: 918 countWinona County918Steele County: 810 countSteele County810McLeod County: 776 countMcLeod County776Isanti County: 769 countIsanti County769Becker County: 753 countBecker County753Benton County: 747 countBenton County747Morrison County: 736 countMorrison County736Mower County: 667 countMower County667Freeborn County: 648 countFreeborn County648Cass County: 644 countCass County644Brown County: 633 countBrown County633Lyon County: 622 countLyon County622Polk County: 573 countPolk County573Mille Lacs County: 557 countMille Lacs County557Nicollet County: 557 countNicollet County557Le Sueur County: 550 countLe Sueur County550Carlton County: 531 countCarlton County531Hennepin County: 27,635 countHennepin County27,635Ramsey County: 9,768 countRamsey County9,768Dakota County: 7,596 countDakota County7,596Anoka County: 5,970 countAnoka County5,970Washington County: 4,514 countWashington County4,514St. Louis County: 3,921 countSt. Louis County3,921Stearns County: 3,511 countStearns County3,511Olmsted County: 2,780 countOlmsted County2,780Wright County: 2,748 countWright County2,748Scott County: 2,730 countScott County2,730Carver County: 1,955 countCarver County1,955Crow Wing County: 1,748 countCrow Wing County1,748Sherburne County: 1,723 countSherburne County1,723Blue Earth County: 1,587 countBlue Earth County1,587Otter Tail County: 1,348 countOtter Tail County1,348Rice County: 1,213 countRice County1,213Douglas County: 1,153 countDouglas County1,153Kandiyohi County: 1,061 countKandiyohi County1,061Clay County: 1,049 countClay County1,049Goodhue County: 1,020 countGoodhue County1,020Chisago County: 1,004 countChisago County1,004Beltrami County: 957 countBeltrami County957Itasca County: 935 countItasca County935Winona County: 918 countWinona County918Steele County: 810 countSteele County810McLeod County: 776 countMcLeod County776Isanti County: 769 countIsanti County769Becker County: 753 countBecker County753Benton County: 747 countBenton County747Morrison County: 736 countMorrison County736Mower County: 667 countMower County667Freeborn County: 648 countFreeborn County648Cass County: 644 countCass County644Brown County: 633 countBrown County633Lyon County: 622 countLyon County622Polk County: 573 countPolk County573Mille Lacs County: 557 countMille Lacs County557Nicollet County: 557 countNicollet County557Le Sueur County: 550 countLe Sueur County550Carlton County: 531 countCarlton County531
count. Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Business Dynamics Statistics: employer firms, all covered industries, nation, states and counties. Retrieved 2026-10-11.

Full ranking

RankCounties2020
count
Change on 2019
1Hennepin County27,635-0.3%
2Ramsey County9,768+0.1%
3Dakota County7,596-0.5%
4Anoka County5,970+0.5%
5Washington County4,514+1.3%
6St. Louis County3,921-1.1%
7Stearns County3,511-0.2%
8Olmsted County2,780+1.5%
9Wright County2,748+0.8%
10Scott County2,730+0.2%
11Carver County1,955-0.6%
12Crow Wing County1,748+0.2%
13Sherburne County1,723+0.3%
14Blue Earth County1,587-0.3%
15Otter Tail County1,348-0.1%
16Rice County1,213-1.8%
17Douglas County1,153-0.5%
18Kandiyohi County1,061-2.6%
19Clay County1,049-1.3%
20Goodhue County1,020-1.1%
21Chisago County1,004+1.3%
22Beltrami County957-0.8%
23Itasca County935-0.6%
24Winona County918-0.5%
25Steele County810-0.5%
26McLeod County776-2.4%
27Isanti County769+1.6%
28Becker County753+0.9%
29Benton County747+1.1%
30Morrison County736+0.5%
31Mower County667+0.2%
32Freeborn County648-0.8%
33Cass County644-0.9%
34Brown County633-0.2%
35Lyon County622+0.2%
36Polk County573-0.7%
37Mille Lacs County557-1.9%
37Nicollet County557+1.6%
39Le Sueur County550-0.5%
40Carlton County531-2%
41Pine County488-2.8%
42Nobles County482-1.2%
43Martin County481-1%
44Meeker County475+1.1%
45Hubbard County474-2.3%
46Todd County456+0.7%
46Wabasha County456+0.4%
48Fillmore County452-2.2%
49Redwood County431-2.5%
50Waseca County376-1.6%
51Renville County373-3.6%
52Faribault County334-0.6%
53Roseau County333+0.3%
54Houston County332+2.5%
55Wadena County330-2.7%
56Chippewa County329-3.5%
57Aitkin County328+0.3%
58Dodge County326-1.8%
59Koochiching County320-3%
60Pennington County3110%
61Pipestone County290-0.3%
62Pope County282+2.2%
62Sibley County282-1.7%
64Cottonwood County277-3.8%
65Swift County267-0.4%
65Yellow Medicine County267-2.2%
67Lake County259+0.8%
68Watonwan County257-1.2%
69Kanabec County252-4.5%
70Stevens County2510%
71Jackson County239-2%
72Murray County2360%
73Rock County230-1.7%
74Cook County215-9.3%
75Marshall County204+3.6%
76Lac qui Parle County171-1.7%
77Grant County170+3.7%
78Lincoln County165-5.7%
79Clearwater County162-8.5%
80Norman County155+0.6%
81Big Stone County1500%
82Lake of the Woods County135-2.9%
83Wilkin County127+3.3%
84Kittson County115-1.7%
85Traverse County96-1%
86Mahnomen County92-4.2%
87Red Lake County780%

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 Minnesota by employer firms, 2020) [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 Minnesota by employer firms, 2020. 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/minnesota-counties?period=2020. 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 Minnesota by employer firms, 2020. 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/minnesota-counties?period=2020.

Harvard

U.S. Census Bureau (2025) Business Dynamics Statistics: employer firms, all covered industries, nation, states and counties, Counties in Minnesota by employer firms, 2020 [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/minnesota-counties?period=2020 (Accessed: 11 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{census_counties_in_minnesota_by_2020,
  author = {{U.S. Census Bureau}},
  title = {{Business Dynamics Statistics: employer firms, all covered industries, nation, states and counties: Counties in Minnesota by employer firms, 2020}},
  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/minnesota-counties?period=2020. 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 Minnesota by employer firms, 2020
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/minnesota-counties?period=2020
Y2  - 2026/10/11
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/employer-firms/minnesota-counties?period=2020.
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?

Hennepin County, with 27,635 in 2020, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Which county has the lowest employer firms?

Red Lake County, with 78 in 2020.

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 Minnesota: more rankings