US states by employer firms

Name: US states by employer firms, 2016
Creator: U.S. Census Bureau
License: Public domain (US federal government work, citation requested)

California had the highest employer firms of 51 states in 2016, at 644,397. Alaska had the lowest, at 14,020. The median was 68,087 and the figure for the United States was 5.21 million. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.

Highest644,397California

Lowest14,020Alaska

Median68,08751 states

United States5,212,130History

All states, 2016

CSV Chart (SVG)

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

Full ranking

Rank	States	2016 count	Change on 2015
1	California	644,397	+1.8%
2	New York	403,160	+1.1%
3	Texas	388,412	+1.5%
4	Florida	385,850	+2.5%
5	Illinois	221,163	+0.7%
6	Pennsylvania	208,189	+0.6%
7	New Jersey	171,728	+0.8%
8	Ohio	166,653	0%
9	Georgia	155,311	+1.9%
10	North Carolina	154,855	+2%
11	Michigan	153,350	+0.9%
12	Virginia	135,895	+0.9%
13	Washington	132,184	+1.8%
14	Massachusetts	125,922	+1.7%
15	Colorado	115,786	+2.3%
16	Missouri	109,729	+2%
17	Minnesota	102,226	+0.8%
18	Indiana	98,232	+0.5%
19	Wisconsin	97,694	+1.1%
20	Maryland	97,125	+1.1%
21	Arizona	92,782	+2%
22	Tennessee	89,915	+1%
23	Oregon	82,660	+2.1%
24	Louisiana	73,800	-0.1%
25	South Carolina	73,329	+1.9%
26	Alabama	68,087	+1%
27	Oklahoma	65,600	-0.5%
28	Connecticut	64,459	+1.1%
29	Kentucky	62,215	+0.1%
30	Iowa	55,944	+0.4%
31	Utah	54,480	+2.2%
32	Kansas	52,638	+0.4%
33	Arkansas	45,694	+0.7%
34	Nevada	44,730	+2.6%
35	Mississippi	40,941	0%
36	Nebraska	38,547	+1.2%
37	Idaho	33,503	+2.2%
38	New Mexico	31,023	-0.4%
39	Maine	29,104	+2.4%
40	New Hampshire	27,713	+1.3%
41	Montana	27,697	+0.7%
42	West Virginia	24,944	-1.2%
43	Hawaii	22,961	+1%
44	Rhode Island	21,516	+1.6%
45	South Dakota	19,770	+0.9%
46	North Dakota	17,724	-1.2%
47	Delaware	17,490	+2%
48	District of Columbia	16,455	+1.6%
49	Vermont	15,989	0%
50	Wyoming	15,586	-1.3%
51	Alaska	14,020	+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 644,397 in 2016, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Which state has the lowest employer firms?

Alaska, with 14,020 in 2016.

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.