# Counties in North Carolina by employer firms, 2023

All 100 values come from U.S. Census Bureau for 2023, so the places are comparable.

- Indicator id: `employer_firms`
- Unit: count
- Definition: Number of firms in the private nonfarm sectors covered by the US Census Bureau Business Dynamics Statistics. Establishments under common ownership form one firm.
- Source: 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)
- Publisher page: https://invokely.ai/en/publishers/us-census-bureau
- Retrieved: 2026-10-11
- Citation: 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.
- Web page: https://invokely.ai/rankings/employer-firms/north-carolina-counties

| Rank | Place | count |
|---:|---|---:|
| 1 | Mecklenburg County | 25,664 |
| 2 | Wake County | 24,400 |
| 3 | Guilford County | 10,846 |
| 4 | Buncombe County | 7,580 |
| 5 | Forsyth County | 6,886 |
| 6 | New Hanover County | 6,818 |
| 7 | Durham County | 6,287 |
| 8 | Union County | 4,645 |
| 9 | Cumberland County | 4,361 |
| 10 | Iredell County | 4,279 |
| 11 | Cabarrus County | 4,081 |
| 12 | Gaston County | 3,555 |
| 13 | Catawba County | 3,535 |
| 14 | Johnston County | 3,321 |
| 15 | Pitt County | 3,044 |
| 16 | Orange County | 2,887 |
| 17 | Alamance County | 2,880 |
| 18 | Henderson County | 2,510 |
| 19 | Davidson County | 2,431 |
| 20 | Brunswick County | 2,393 |
| 21 | Rowan County | 2,373 |
| 22 | Onslow County | 2,371 |
| 23 | Randolph County | 2,228 |
| 24 | Moore County | 2,042 |
| 25 | Carteret County | 1,820 |
| 26 | Craven County | 1,780 |
| 27 | Wayne County | 1,761 |
| 28 | Nash County | 1,708 |
| 29 | Lincoln County | 1,686 |
| 30 | Cleveland County | 1,633 |
| 31 | Dare County | 1,589 |
| 32 | Harnett County | 1,559 |
| 33 | Watauga County | 1,469 |
| 34 | Wilson County | 1,455 |
| 35 | Robeson County | 1,360 |
| 36 | Surry County | 1,348 |
| 37 | Rockingham County | 1,346 |
| 38 | Chatham County | 1,344 |
| 39 | Burke County | 1,284 |
| 40 | Haywood County | 1,239 |
| 41 | Lee County | 1,214 |
| 42 | Stanly County | 1,189 |
| 43 | Pender County | 1,188 |
| 44 | Caldwell County | 1,180 |
| 45 | Rutherford County | 1,077 |
| 46 | Macon County | 1,062 |
| 47 | Franklin County | 1,009 |
| 48 | Lenoir County | 1,001 |
| 49 | Wilkes County | 959 |
| 50 | Jackson County | 940 |
| 51 | Beaufort County | 934 |
| 52 | Transylvania County | 852 |
| 53 | Sampson County | 832 |
| 54 | Granville County | 792 |
| 55 | Columbus County | 789 |
| 56 | Pasquotank County | 769 |
| 57 | Davie County | 756 |
| 58 | Vance County | 743 |
| 59 | Halifax County | 711 |
| 60 | McDowell County | 704 |
| 61 | Duplin County | 698 |
| 62 | Richmond County | 687 |
| 63 | Person County | 607 |
| 64 | Currituck County | 594 |
| 65 | Edgecombe County | 572 |
| 66 | Cherokee County | 561 |
| 67 | Stokes County | 558 |
| 68 | Yadkin County | 547 |
| 69 | Alexander County | 509 |
| 70 | Scotland County | 492 |
| 71 | Ashe County | 479 |
| 72 | Bladen County | 456 |
| 73 | Polk County | 444 |
| 74 | Avery County | 432 |
| 75 | Hoke County | 423 |
| 76 | Montgomery County | 421 |
| 77 | Martin County | 373 |
| 78 | Hertford County | 346 |
| 79 | Madison County | 342 |
| 80 | Anson County | 332 |
| 81 | Yancey County | 319 |
| 82 | Swain County | 317 |
| 83 | Chowan County | 301 |
| 84 | Mitchell County | 299 |
| 85 | Warren County | 265 |
| 86 | Bertie County | 243 |
| 87 | Greene County | 242 |
| 88 | Alleghany County | 222 |
| 89 | Clay County | 220 |
| 89 | Pamlico County | 220 |
| 91 | Caswell County | 211 |
| 92 | Washington County | 203 |
| 93 | Northampton County | 201 |
| 94 | Perquimans County | 157 |
| 95 | Graham County | 140 |
| 96 | Hyde County | 128 |
| 97 | Jones County | 110 |
| 98 | Camden County | 106 |
| 98 | Gates County | 106 |
| 100 | Tyrrell County | 67 |