US states by employer firms

Name: US states by employer firms, 2018
Creator: U.S. Census Bureau
License: Public domain (US federal government work, citation requested)

California had the highest employer firms of 51 states in 2018, at 661,397. Alaska had the lowest, at 14,056. The median was 68,246 and the figure for the United States was 5.28 million. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.

Highest661,397California

Lowest14,056Alaska

Median68,24651 states

United States5,281,916History

All states, 2018

CSV Chart (SVG)

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

Full ranking

Rank	States	2018 count	Change on 2017
1	California	661,397	+1.4%
2	New York	403,743	0%
3	Texas	399,487	+1.5%
4	Florida	399,390	+1.8%
5	Illinois	220,582	-0.2%
6	Pennsylvania	207,343	-0%
7	New Jersey	171,446	-0%
8	Ohio	164,861	-0.4%
9	North Carolina	159,822	+1.5%
10	Georgia	159,736	+1.3%
11	Michigan	153,477	+0.2%
12	Virginia	137,321	+0.4%
13	Washington	136,529	+1.8%
14	Massachusetts	127,075	+0.4%
15	Colorado	120,242	+1.9%
16	Missouri	104,019	-5.3%
17	Minnesota	102,100	-0.4%
18	Indiana	99,077	+0.4%
19	Wisconsin	97,541	+0.1%
20	Maryland	97,538	+0.3%
21	Arizona	95,957	+1.7%
22	Tennessee	91,351	+0.8%
23	Oregon	85,154	+1.7%
24	South Carolina	75,658	+1.7%
25	Louisiana	73,602	+0.1%
26	Alabama	68,246	-0%
27	Oklahoma	65,459	+0.1%
28	Connecticut	63,159	-0.7%
29	Kentucky	60,781	-1.6%
30	Utah	57,464	+3.1%
31	Iowa	56,278	+0.7%
32	Kansas	52,070	-0.4%
33	Nevada	46,563	+2.7%
34	Arkansas	45,933	+0.2%
35	Mississippi	40,797	-0.1%
36	Nebraska	38,710	-0.2%
37	Idaho	35,359	+3.7%
38	New Mexico	30,878	-0.2%
39	Maine	29,334	+0.6%
40	Montana	28,105	+1.1%
41	New Hampshire	27,692	+0.4%
42	West Virginia	24,131	-1.7%
43	Hawaii	23,159	+0.6%
44	Rhode Island	21,512	-0.2%
45	South Dakota	19,883	+0.4%
46	Delaware	17,775	+1.3%
47	North Dakota	17,411	-0.5%
48	District of Columbia	16,795	+1.4%
49	Vermont	15,850	-0.5%
50	Wyoming	15,738	+1.2%
51	Alaska	14,056	+0.5%

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 661,397 in 2018, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Which state has the lowest employer firms?

Alaska, with 14,056 in 2018.

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.