US states by employer firms

Name: US states by employer firms, 2015
Creator: U.S. Census Bureau
License: Public domain (US federal government work, citation requested)

California had the highest employer firms of 51 states in 2015, at 633,030. Alaska had the lowest, at 13,916. The median was 67,442 and the figure for the United States was 5.15 million. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.

Highest633,030California

Lowest13,916Alaska

Median67,44251 states

United States5,146,908History

All states, 2015

CSV Chart (SVG)

count. Source: U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved 2026-10-10.

Full ranking

Rank	States	2015 count	Change on 2014
1	California	633,030	+1.6%
2	New York	398,948	+0.4%
3	Texas	382,583	+1.7%
4	Florida	376,405	+2.2%
5	Illinois	219,596	+0.7%
6	Pennsylvania	206,903	-0.1%
7	New Jersey	170,445	-0.4%
8	Ohio	166,588	-0.1%
9	Georgia	152,389	+1.4%
10	Michigan	151,922	+0.5%
11	North Carolina	151,782	+1.2%
12	Virginia	134,648	+0.8%
13	Washington	129,906	+1.8%
14	Massachusetts	123,787	+0.4%
15	Colorado	113,172	+2%
16	Missouri	107,538	+2.1%
17	Minnesota	101,394	+0.6%
18	Indiana	97,712	+0.3%
19	Wisconsin	96,669	+0.5%
20	Maryland	96,099	+0.2%
21	Arizona	90,991	+1.4%
22	Tennessee	88,986	+0.4%
23	Oregon	80,950	+2%
24	Louisiana	73,905	-0.2%
25	South Carolina	71,951	+1.3%
26	Alabama	67,442	-0.1%
27	Oklahoma	65,933	+0.1%
28	Connecticut	63,778	-0.4%
29	Kentucky	62,175	0%
30	Iowa	55,742	+0.4%
31	Utah	53,294	+2.3%
32	Kansas	52,426	0%
33	Arkansas	45,388	-0.1%
34	Nevada	43,591	+2.6%
35	Mississippi	40,925	-0.4%
36	Nebraska	38,089	+0.8%
37	Idaho	32,794	+1.8%
38	New Mexico	31,150	-0.4%
39	Maine	28,416	+0.7%
40	Montana	27,498	+1.4%
41	New Hampshire	27,350	0%
42	West Virginia	25,256	-1%
43	Hawaii	22,743	+0.2%
44	Rhode Island	21,182	+1%
45	South Dakota	19,596	+1.2%
46	North Dakota	17,934	+1.3%
47	Delaware	17,146	+1%
48	District of Columbia	16,197	+1.4%
49	Vermont	15,982	+0.4%
50	Wyoming	15,785	+1.6%
51	Alaska	13,916	+0.7%

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 and other activities outside the BDS scope. A firm operating in several states or counties is counted in each area, so geographic counts cannot be added to reproduce the national total. This differs from the INE DIRCE active-company count, which includes businesses without employees. Past values can be revised.

Every value in the ranking comes from the same publisher and the same period, so the states 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.csv. Retrieved 2026-10-10.

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Questions

Which state has the highest employer firms?

California, with 633,030 in 2015, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Which state has the lowest employer firms?

Alaska, with 13,916 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 2026-10-10.