Counties in Pennsylvania by employer firms

Allegheny County had the highest employer firms of 67 counties in 2015, at 23,324. Forest County had the lowest, at 84. The median was 1,576 and the figure for Pennsylvania was 206,903. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.

Keep it in a collection in your library.
Highest23,324Allegheny County
Median1,57667 counties
Pennsylvania206,903History

Map of counties, 2015

Adams County: 1,598 countAllegheny County: 23,324 countArmstrong County: 1,082 countBeaver County: 2,668 countBedford County: 843 countBerks County: 6,559 countBlair County: 2,576 countBradford County: 1,095 countBucks County: 14,849 countButler County: 3,881 countCambria County: 2,507 countCameron County: 105 countCarbon County: 949 countCentre County: 2,589 countChester County: 11,051 countClarion County: 772 countClearfield County: 1,576 countClinton County: 662 countColumbia County: 1,184 countCrawford County: 1,645 countCumberland County: 4,508 countDauphin County: 5,089 countDelaware County: 9,906 countElk County: 714 countErie County: 4,574 countFayette County: 2,098 countForest County: 84 countFranklin County: 2,441 countFulton County: 232 countGreene County: 602 countHuntingdon County: 668 countIndiana County: 1,537 countJefferson County: 947 countJuniata County: 391 countLackawanna County: 4,159 countLancaster County: 9,866 countLawrence County: 1,611 countLebanon County: 2,179 countLehigh County: 6,276 countLuzerne County: 5,450 countLycoming County: 2,281 countMcKean County: 814 countMercer County: 2,153 countMifflin County: 796 countMonroe County: 2,635 countMontgomery County: 19,506 countMontour County: 303 countNorthampton County: 4,919 countNorthumberland County: 1,363 countPerry County: 651 countPhiladelphia County: 20,051 countPike County: 737 countPotter County: 313 countSchuylkill County: 2,220 countSnyder County: 746 countSomerset County: 1,433 countSullivan County: 139 countSusquehanna County: 726 countTioga County: 698 countUnion County: 747 countVenango County: 964 countWarren County: 709 countWashington County: 4,028 countWayne County: 1,031 countWestmoreland County: 6,729 countWyoming County: 556 countYork County: 6,485 count
  • Under 700
  • 700 to 800
  • 800 to 1,600
  • 1,600 to 2,600
  • 2,600 to 5,500
  • 5,500 and over
count, 2015. 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, 2015

Allegheny County: 23,324 countAllegheny County23,324Philadelphia County: 20,051 countPhiladelphia County20,051Montgomery County: 19,506 countMontgomery County19,506Bucks County: 14,849 countBucks County14,849Chester County: 11,051 countChester County11,051Delaware County: 9,906 countDelaware County9,906Lancaster County: 9,866 countLancaster County9,866Westmoreland County: 6,729 countWestmoreland County6,729Berks County: 6,559 countBerks County6,559York County: 6,485 countYork County6,485Lehigh County: 6,276 countLehigh County6,276Luzerne County: 5,450 countLuzerne County5,450Dauphin County: 5,089 countDauphin County5,089Northampton County: 4,919 countNorthampton County4,919Erie County: 4,574 countErie County4,574Cumberland County: 4,508 countCumberland County4,508Lackawanna County: 4,159 countLackawanna County4,159Washington County: 4,028 countWashington County4,028Butler County: 3,881 countButler County3,881Beaver County: 2,668 countBeaver County2,668Monroe County: 2,635 countMonroe County2,635Centre County: 2,589 countCentre County2,589Blair County: 2,576 countBlair County2,576Cambria County: 2,507 countCambria County2,507Franklin County: 2,441 countFranklin County2,441Lycoming County: 2,281 countLycoming County2,281Schuylkill County: 2,220 countSchuylkill County2,220Lebanon County: 2,179 countLebanon County2,179Mercer County: 2,153 countMercer County2,153Fayette County: 2,098 countFayette County2,098Crawford County: 1,645 countCrawford County1,645Lawrence County: 1,611 countLawrence County1,611Adams County: 1,598 countAdams County1,598Clearfield County: 1,576 countClearfield County1,576Indiana County: 1,537 countIndiana County1,537Somerset County: 1,433 countSomerset County1,433Northumberland County: 1,363 countNorthumberland County1,363Columbia County: 1,184 countColumbia County1,184Bradford County: 1,095 countBradford County1,095Armstrong County: 1,082 countArmstrong County1,082Allegheny County: 23,324 countAllegheny County23,324Philadelphia County: 20,051 countPhiladelphia County20,051Montgomery County: 19,506 countMontgomery County19,506Bucks County: 14,849 countBucks County14,849Chester County: 11,051 countChester County11,051Delaware County: 9,906 countDelaware County9,906Lancaster County: 9,866 countLancaster County9,866Westmoreland County: 6,729 countWestmoreland County6,729Berks County: 6,559 countBerks County6,559York County: 6,485 countYork County6,485Lehigh County: 6,276 countLehigh County6,276Luzerne County: 5,450 countLuzerne County5,450Dauphin County: 5,089 countDauphin County5,089Northampton County: 4,919 countNorthampton County4,919Erie County: 4,574 countErie County4,574Cumberland County: 4,508 countCumberland County4,508Lackawanna County: 4,159 countLackawanna County4,159Washington County: 4,028 countWashington County4,028Butler County: 3,881 countButler County3,881Beaver County: 2,668 countBeaver County2,668Monroe County: 2,635 countMonroe County2,635Centre County: 2,589 countCentre County2,589Blair County: 2,576 countBlair County2,576Cambria County: 2,507 countCambria County2,507Franklin County: 2,441 countFranklin County2,441Lycoming County: 2,281 countLycoming County2,281Schuylkill County: 2,220 countSchuylkill County2,220Lebanon County: 2,179 countLebanon County2,179Mercer County: 2,153 countMercer County2,153Fayette County: 2,098 countFayette County2,098Crawford County: 1,645 countCrawford County1,645Lawrence County: 1,611 countLawrence County1,611Adams County: 1,598 countAdams County1,598Clearfield County: 1,576 countClearfield County1,576Indiana County: 1,537 countIndiana County1,537Somerset County: 1,433 countSomerset County1,433Northumberland County: 1,363 countNorthumberland County1,363Columbia County: 1,184 countColumbia County1,184Bradford County: 1,095 countBradford County1,095Armstrong County: 1,082 countArmstrong County1,082
count. Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Business Dynamics Statistics: employer firms, all covered industries, nation, states and counties. Retrieved 2026-10-11.

Full ranking

RankCounties2015
count
Change on 2014
1Allegheny County23,324-0.6%
2Philadelphia County20,051+1%
3Montgomery County19,506+0.2%
4Bucks County14,849+0.3%
5Chester County11,051+0.4%
6Delaware County9,906+0.6%
7Lancaster County9,866+1.1%
8Westmoreland County6,729-0.6%
9Berks County6,559+0.5%
10York County6,4850%
11Lehigh County6,276-0.5%
12Luzerne County5,450-0.3%
13Dauphin County5,0890%
14Northampton County4,919-0.1%
15Erie County4,574-0.7%
16Cumberland County4,508+1.2%
17Lackawanna County4,159-1.2%
18Washington County4,028+0.3%
19Butler County3,881+0.5%
20Beaver County2,668-1.3%
21Monroe County2,635-0.2%
22Centre County2,589-0.7%
23Blair County2,576-0.3%
24Cambria County2,507-1.1%
25Franklin County2,441+0.2%
26Lycoming County2,281-1.2%
27Schuylkill County2,220-0.3%
28Lebanon County2,179+0.4%
29Mercer County2,153-0.9%
30Fayette County2,098-0.6%
31Crawford County1,645-2.4%
32Lawrence County1,611-0.6%
33Adams County1,598+2.4%
34Clearfield County1,576+1.3%
35Indiana County1,537-0.5%
36Somerset County1,433+1.5%
37Northumberland County1,363-1.8%
38Columbia County1,184+0.6%
39Bradford County1,095+1.6%
40Armstrong County1,082-0.2%
41Wayne County1,031-0.6%
42Venango County964-0.3%
43Carbon County949-3.4%
44Jefferson County947-0.2%
45Bedford County843+0.6%
46McKean County814-2.2%
47Mifflin County796+0.4%
48Clarion County772+0.3%
49Union County747+0.7%
50Snyder County746-0.8%
51Pike County737-0.3%
52Susquehanna County726+0.6%
53Elk County714-2.2%
54Warren County709-0.8%
55Tioga County698-1.6%
56Huntingdon County668-0.4%
57Clinton County662-0.7%
58Perry County651-0.3%
59Greene County602+1.3%
60Wyoming County556-0.5%
61Juniata County391+0.8%
62Potter County313+3.3%
63Montour County303-1%
64Fulton County232-3.7%
65Sullivan County139+3.7%
66Cameron County105+1.9%
67Forest County840%

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 Pennsylvania by employer firms, 2015) [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 Pennsylvania by employer firms, 2015. 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/pennsylvania-counties?period=2015. 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 Pennsylvania by employer firms, 2015. 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/pennsylvania-counties?period=2015.

Harvard

U.S. Census Bureau (2025) Business Dynamics Statistics: employer firms, all covered industries, nation, states and counties, Counties in Pennsylvania by employer firms, 2015 [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/pennsylvania-counties?period=2015 (Accessed: 11 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{census_counties_in_pennsylvania_by_2015,
  author = {{U.S. Census Bureau}},
  title = {{Business Dynamics Statistics: employer firms, all covered industries, nation, states and counties: Counties in Pennsylvania by employer firms, 2015}},
  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/pennsylvania-counties?period=2015. 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 Pennsylvania by employer firms, 2015
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/pennsylvania-counties?period=2015
Y2  - 2026/10/11
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/employer-firms/pennsylvania-counties?period=2015.
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 Pennsylvania by employer firms using official data, and cite the source.
rank_places {"indicator":"employer_firms","level":"province","within":"Pennsylvania","limit":10}
GET https://invokely.ai/api/v1/rank?indicator=employer_firms&level=province&within=Pennsylvania&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?

Allegheny County, with 23,324 in 2015, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Which county has the lowest employer firms?

Forest County, with 84 in 2015.

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 Pennsylvania: more rankings