Counties in Oregon by employer firms

Multnomah County had the highest employer firms of 36 counties in 2020, at 20,599. Wheeler County had the lowest, at 25. The median was 1,037 and the figure for Oregon was 85,853. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.

Keep it in a collection in your library.
Highest20,599Multnomah County
Median1,03736 counties
Oregon85,853History

Map of counties, 2020

Baker County: 438 countBenton County: 1,804 countClackamas County: 9,746 countClatsop County: 1,268 countColumbia County: 809 countCoos County: 1,292 countCrook County: 494 countCurry County: 573 countDeschutes County: 6,321 countDouglas County: 2,091 countGilliam County: 54 countGrant County: 181 countHarney County: 179 countHood River County: 835 countJackson County: 5,063 countJefferson County: 378 countJosephine County: 1,668 countKlamath County: 1,238 countLake County: 166 countLane County: 7,852 countLincoln County: 1,317 countLinn County: 2,274 countMalheur County: 597 countMarion County: 6,740 countMorrow County: 149 countMultnomah County: 20,599 countPolk County: 1,239 countSherman County: 44 countTillamook County: 623 countUmatilla County: 1,281 countUnion County: 651 countWallowa County: 298 countWasco County: 602 countWashington County: 12,011 countWheeler County: 25 countYamhill County: 2,200 count
  • Under 200
  • 200 to 600
  • 600 to 1,000
  • 1,000 to 1,400
  • 1,400 to 5,300
  • 5,300 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.

All counties, 2020

Multnomah County: 20,599 countMultnomah County20,599Washington County: 12,011 countWashington County12,011Clackamas County: 9,746 countClackamas County9,746Lane County: 7,852 countLane County7,852Marion County: 6,740 countMarion County6,740Deschutes County: 6,321 countDeschutes County6,321Jackson County: 5,063 countJackson County5,063Linn County: 2,274 countLinn County2,274Yamhill County: 2,200 countYamhill County2,200Douglas County: 2,091 countDouglas County2,091Benton County: 1,804 countBenton County1,804Josephine County: 1,668 countJosephine County1,668Lincoln County: 1,317 countLincoln County1,317Coos County: 1,292 countCoos County1,292Umatilla County: 1,281 countUmatilla County1,281Clatsop County: 1,268 countClatsop County1,268Polk County: 1,239 countPolk County1,239Klamath County: 1,238 countKlamath County1,238Hood River County: 835 countHood River County835Columbia County: 809 countColumbia County809Union County: 651 countUnion County651Tillamook County: 623 countTillamook County623Wasco County: 602 countWasco County602Malheur County: 597 countMalheur County597Curry County: 573 countCurry County573Crook County: 494 countCrook County494Baker County: 438 countBaker County438Jefferson County: 378 countJefferson County378Wallowa County: 298 countWallowa County298Grant County: 181 countGrant County181Harney County: 179 countHarney County179Lake County: 166 countLake County166Morrow County: 149 countMorrow County149Gilliam County: 54 countGilliam County54Sherman County: 44 countSherman County44Wheeler County: 25 countWheeler County25Multnomah County: 20,599 countMultnomah County20,599Washington County: 12,011 countWashington County12,011Clackamas County: 9,746 countClackamas County9,746Lane County: 7,852 countLane County7,852Marion County: 6,740 countMarion County6,740Deschutes County: 6,321 countDeschutes County6,321Jackson County: 5,063 countJackson County5,063Linn County: 2,274 countLinn County2,274Yamhill County: 2,200 countYamhill County2,200Douglas County: 2,091 countDouglas County2,091Benton County: 1,804 countBenton County1,804Josephine County: 1,668 countJosephine County1,668Lincoln County: 1,317 countLincoln County1,317Coos County: 1,292 countCoos County1,292Umatilla County: 1,281 countUmatilla County1,281Clatsop County: 1,268 countClatsop County1,268Polk County: 1,239 countPolk County1,239Klamath County: 1,238 countKlamath County1,238Hood River County: 835 countHood River County835Columbia County: 809 countColumbia County809Union County: 651 countUnion County651Tillamook County: 623 countTillamook County623Wasco County: 602 countWasco County602Malheur County: 597 countMalheur County597Curry County: 573 countCurry County573Crook County: 494 countCrook County494Baker County: 438 countBaker County438Jefferson County: 378 countJefferson County378Wallowa County: 298 countWallowa County298Grant County: 181 countGrant County181Harney County: 179 countHarney County179Lake County: 166 countLake County166Morrow County: 149 countMorrow County149Gilliam County: 54 countGilliam County54Sherman County: 44 countSherman County44Wheeler County: 25 countWheeler County25
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
1Multnomah County20,599+0.2%
2Washington County12,011+0.4%
3Clackamas County9,746-0.1%
4Lane County7,852-0.1%
5Marion County6,740+1.1%
6Deschutes County6,321+2%
7Jackson County5,063+0.7%
8Linn County2,274+1.4%
9Yamhill County2,200-0.4%
10Douglas County2,091+0.7%
11Benton County1,804-0.1%
12Josephine County1,668+0.9%
13Lincoln County1,317-1.5%
14Coos County1,292-0.5%
15Umatilla County1,281-0.2%
16Clatsop County1,268-1.4%
17Polk County1,239+0.7%
18Klamath County1,238-2.7%
19Hood River County835-1.9%
20Columbia County809-0.2%
21Union County651+0.5%
22Tillamook County623-3.6%
23Wasco County602+2.7%
24Malheur County5970%
25Curry County573-1.9%
26Crook County494+0.2%
27Baker County438-1.8%
28Jefferson County378+2.7%
29Wallowa County298+3.1%
30Grant County1810%
31Harney County179+1.1%
32Lake County166-2.9%
33Morrow County149+9.6%
34Gilliam County54-1.8%
35Sherman County440%
36Wheeler County25-7.4%

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 Oregon 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 Oregon 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/oregon-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 Oregon 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/oregon-counties?period=2020.

Harvard

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

BibTeX
@misc{census_counties_in_oregon_by_2020,
  author = {{U.S. Census Bureau}},
  title = {{Business Dynamics Statistics: employer firms, all covered industries, nation, states and counties: Counties in Oregon 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/oregon-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 Oregon 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/oregon-counties?period=2020
Y2  - 2026/10/11
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/employer-firms/oregon-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  - 
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 Oregon by employer firms using official data, and cite the source.
rank_places {"indicator":"employer_firms","level":"province","within":"Oregon","limit":10}
GET https://invokely.ai/api/v1/rank?indicator=employer_firms&level=province&within=Oregon&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?

Multnomah County, with 20,599 in 2020, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Which county has the lowest employer firms?

Wheeler County, with 25 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 Oregon: more rankings