Counties in Pennsylvania by employer firms

Allegheny County had the highest employer firms of 67 counties in 2017, at 23,273. Forest County had the lowest, at 80. The median was 1,539 and the figure for Pennsylvania was 207,435. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.

Keep it in a collection in your library.
Highest23,273Allegheny County
Median1,53967 counties
Pennsylvania207,435History

Map of counties, 2017

Adams County: 1,605 countAllegheny County: 23,273 countArmstrong County: 1,060 countBeaver County: 2,637 countBedford County: 861 countBerks County: 6,582 countBlair County: 2,521 countBradford County: 1,071 countBucks County: 15,058 countButler County: 3,838 countCambria County: 2,387 countCameron County: 102 countCarbon County: 952 countCentre County: 2,632 countChester County: 11,220 countClarion County: 761 countClearfield County: 1,539 countClinton County: 668 countColumbia County: 1,173 countCrawford County: 1,644 countCumberland County: 4,616 countDauphin County: 5,129 countDelaware County: 10,018 countElk County: 729 countErie County: 4,538 countFayette County: 2,062 countForest County: 80 countFranklin County: 2,458 countFulton County: 234 countGreene County: 570 countHuntingdon County: 665 countIndiana County: 1,468 countJefferson County: 935 countJuniata County: 416 countLackawanna County: 4,034 countLancaster County: 10,188 countLawrence County: 1,549 countLebanon County: 2,188 countLehigh County: 6,413 countLuzerne County: 5,356 countLycoming County: 2,171 countMcKean County: 764 countMercer County: 2,125 countMifflin County: 796 countMonroe County: 2,648 countMontgomery County: 19,608 countMontour County: 289 countNorthampton County: 5,030 countNorthumberland County: 1,366 countPerry County: 651 countPhiladelphia County: 20,699 countPike County: 766 countPotter County: 309 countSchuylkill County: 2,148 countSnyder County: 756 countSomerset County: 1,410 countSullivan County: 138 countSusquehanna County: 718 countTioga County: 677 countUnion County: 767 countVenango County: 930 countWarren County: 682 countWashington County: 4,055 countWayne County: 1,034 countWestmoreland County: 6,593 countWyoming County: 535 countYork County: 6,416 count
  • Under 700
  • 700 to 900
  • 900 to 1,500
  • 1,500 to 2,500
  • 2,500 to 5,400
  • 5,400 and over
count, 2017. 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, 2017

Allegheny County: 23,273 countAllegheny County23,273Philadelphia County: 20,699 countPhiladelphia County20,699Montgomery County: 19,608 countMontgomery County19,608Bucks County: 15,058 countBucks County15,058Chester County: 11,220 countChester County11,220Lancaster County: 10,188 countLancaster County10,188Delaware County: 10,018 countDelaware County10,018Westmoreland County: 6,593 countWestmoreland County6,593Berks County: 6,582 countBerks County6,582York County: 6,416 countYork County6,416Lehigh County: 6,413 countLehigh County6,413Luzerne County: 5,356 countLuzerne County5,356Dauphin County: 5,129 countDauphin County5,129Northampton County: 5,030 countNorthampton County5,030Cumberland County: 4,616 countCumberland County4,616Erie County: 4,538 countErie County4,538Washington County: 4,055 countWashington County4,055Lackawanna County: 4,034 countLackawanna County4,034Butler County: 3,838 countButler County3,838Monroe County: 2,648 countMonroe County2,648Beaver County: 2,637 countBeaver County2,637Centre County: 2,632 countCentre County2,632Blair County: 2,521 countBlair County2,521Franklin County: 2,458 countFranklin County2,458Cambria County: 2,387 countCambria County2,387Lebanon County: 2,188 countLebanon County2,188Lycoming County: 2,171 countLycoming County2,171Schuylkill County: 2,148 countSchuylkill County2,148Mercer County: 2,125 countMercer County2,125Fayette County: 2,062 countFayette County2,062Crawford County: 1,644 countCrawford County1,644Adams County: 1,605 countAdams County1,605Lawrence County: 1,549 countLawrence County1,549Clearfield County: 1,539 countClearfield County1,539Indiana County: 1,468 countIndiana County1,468Somerset County: 1,410 countSomerset County1,410Northumberland County: 1,366 countNorthumberland County1,366Columbia County: 1,173 countColumbia County1,173Bradford County: 1,071 countBradford County1,071Armstrong County: 1,060 countArmstrong County1,060Allegheny County: 23,273 countAllegheny County23,273Philadelphia County: 20,699 countPhiladelphia County20,699Montgomery County: 19,608 countMontgomery County19,608Bucks County: 15,058 countBucks County15,058Chester County: 11,220 countChester County11,220Lancaster County: 10,188 countLancaster County10,188Delaware County: 10,018 countDelaware County10,018Westmoreland County: 6,593 countWestmoreland County6,593Berks County: 6,582 countBerks County6,582York County: 6,416 countYork County6,416Lehigh County: 6,413 countLehigh County6,413Luzerne County: 5,356 countLuzerne County5,356Dauphin County: 5,129 countDauphin County5,129Northampton County: 5,030 countNorthampton County5,030Cumberland County: 4,616 countCumberland County4,616Erie County: 4,538 countErie County4,538Washington County: 4,055 countWashington County4,055Lackawanna County: 4,034 countLackawanna County4,034Butler County: 3,838 countButler County3,838Monroe County: 2,648 countMonroe County2,648Beaver County: 2,637 countBeaver County2,637Centre County: 2,632 countCentre County2,632Blair County: 2,521 countBlair County2,521Franklin County: 2,458 countFranklin County2,458Cambria County: 2,387 countCambria County2,387Lebanon County: 2,188 countLebanon County2,188Lycoming County: 2,171 countLycoming County2,171Schuylkill County: 2,148 countSchuylkill County2,148Mercer County: 2,125 countMercer County2,125Fayette County: 2,062 countFayette County2,062Crawford County: 1,644 countCrawford County1,644Adams County: 1,605 countAdams County1,605Lawrence County: 1,549 countLawrence County1,549Clearfield County: 1,539 countClearfield County1,539Indiana County: 1,468 countIndiana County1,468Somerset County: 1,410 countSomerset County1,410Northumberland County: 1,366 countNorthumberland County1,366Columbia County: 1,173 countColumbia County1,173Bradford County: 1,071 countBradford County1,071Armstrong County: 1,060 countArmstrong County1,060
count. Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Business Dynamics Statistics: employer firms, all covered industries, nation, states and counties. Retrieved 2026-10-11.

Full ranking

RankCounties2017
count
Change on 2016
1Allegheny County23,273-0.7%
2Philadelphia County20,699+1.6%
3Montgomery County19,608-0.4%
4Bucks County15,058-0.2%
5Chester County11,220+0.5%
6Lancaster County10,188+0.7%
7Delaware County10,018+0.2%
8Westmoreland County6,593-1.7%
9Berks County6,582-0.5%
10York County6,416-0.7%
11Lehigh County6,413+0.7%
12Luzerne County5,356-2.2%
13Dauphin County5,129+0.3%
14Northampton County5,030+0.3%
15Cumberland County4,616+0.7%
16Erie County4,538-0.8%
17Washington County4,055-0.5%
18Lackawanna County4,034-2.3%
19Butler County3,838-1.2%
20Monroe County2,648-0.2%
21Beaver County2,637-0.1%
22Centre County2,632-0.6%
23Blair County2,521-1.2%
24Franklin County2,458-1.2%
25Cambria County2,387-2.4%
26Lebanon County2,188-1.4%
27Lycoming County2,171-1.6%
28Schuylkill County2,148-1.2%
29Mercer County2,125-0.8%
30Fayette County2,062-1.2%
31Crawford County1,644+1%
32Adams County1,605+1.1%
33Lawrence County1,549-1.7%
34Clearfield County1,539-1.2%
35Indiana County1,468-2.9%
36Somerset County1,410-1.5%
37Northumberland County1,366-0.4%
38Columbia County1,173-0.3%
39Bradford County1,071-0.8%
40Armstrong County1,060-2.3%
41Wayne County1,034+0.1%
42Carbon County952-1.7%
43Jefferson County935-1.1%
44Venango County930-1.9%
45Bedford County861+0.6%
46Mifflin County796-2.1%
47Union County767-0.1%
48Pike County766-0.1%
49McKean County764-4.9%
50Clarion County761-0.8%
51Snyder County756+2.7%
52Elk County729-1.1%
53Susquehanna County718-1.5%
54Warren County682-2.6%
55Tioga County677-2.7%
56Clinton County668+0.9%
57Huntingdon County665+0.8%
58Perry County651+0.2%
59Greene County570-4.2%
60Wyoming County535-1.7%
61Juniata County416+2.7%
62Potter County309-2.5%
63Montour County289-2.7%
64Fulton County234-2.1%
65Sullivan County138-1.4%
66Cameron County1020%
67Forest County80-4.8%

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, 2017) [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, 2017. 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=2017. 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, 2017. 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=2017.

Harvard

U.S. Census Bureau (2025) Business Dynamics Statistics: employer firms, all covered industries, nation, states and counties, Counties in Pennsylvania by employer firms, 2017 [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=2017 (Accessed: 11 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{census_counties_in_pennsylvania_by_2017,
  author = {{U.S. Census Bureau}},
  title = {{Business Dynamics Statistics: employer firms, all covered industries, nation, states and counties: Counties in Pennsylvania by employer firms, 2017}},
  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=2017. 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, 2017
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=2017
Y2  - 2026/10/11
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/employer-firms/pennsylvania-counties?period=2017.
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?

Allegheny County, with 23,273 in 2017, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Which county has the lowest employer firms?

Forest County, with 80 in 2017.

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