US states by employer firms

Name: US states by employer firms, 2021
Creator: U.S. Census Bureau
License: Public domain (US federal government work, citation requested)

California had the highest employer firms of 51 states in 2021, at 683,804. Alaska had the lowest, at 14,451. The median was 69,639 and the figure for the United States was 5.39 million. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.

Highest683,804California

Lowest14,451Alaska

Median69,63951 states

United States5,391,471History

All states, 2021

CSV Chart (SVG)

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

Full ranking

Rank	States	2021 count	Change on 2020
1	California	683,804	-0.2%
2	Florida	432,492	+5.1%
3	Texas	423,884	+2.9%
4	New York	385,880	-3%
5	Illinois	218,884	+0.2%
6	Pennsylvania	205,854	-0.9%
7	Georgia	171,781	+5%
8	New Jersey	168,318	-1.6%
9	North Carolina	168,067	+2.7%
10	Ohio	165,071	+1%
11	Michigan	150,656	-0.7%
12	Virginia	140,614	+1.5%
13	Washington	139,124	+1.2%
14	Massachusetts	125,892	-1.6%
15	Colorado	125,816	+2.9%
16	Missouri	104,163	+1%
17	Minnesota	102,744	+1.1%
18	Arizona	102,450	+3.7%
19	Indiana	99,916	+1.2%
20	Maryland	98,103	+0.5%
21	Wisconsin	96,988	-0%
22	Tennessee	94,549	+2.2%
23	Oregon	85,959	+0.1%
24	South Carolina	79,716	+3.2%
25	Louisiana	73,917	+1%
26	Alabama	69,639	+1.9%
27	Oklahoma	65,996	+1%
28	Utah	63,978	+6.1%
29	Connecticut	62,037	-0.7%
30	Kentucky	60,398	-0.1%
31	Iowa	56,287	+0.6%
32	Kansas	52,077	+1.3%
33	Nevada	50,104	+3.8%
34	Arkansas	46,777	+1.5%
35	Mississippi	40,955	+1.4%
36	Nebraska	39,533	+2.2%
37	Idaho	39,362	+4.7%
38	New Mexico	30,460	-1.1%
39	Maine	29,881	+1.1%
40	Montana	29,594	+3%
41	New Hampshire	27,883	+0.1%
42	West Virginia	23,145	-1.3%
43	Hawaii	22,130	-3.9%
44	Rhode Island	21,364	-1.1%
45	South Dakota	20,411	+1.9%
46	Delaware	19,621	+3.5%
47	North Dakota	17,594	+0.5%
48	District of Columbia	16,841	-0.4%
49	Wyoming	16,517	+2.9%
50	Vermont	15,323	-1.5%
51	Alaska	14,451	+2.4%

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 683,804 in 2021, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Which state has the lowest employer firms?

Alaska, with 14,451 in 2021.

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.