Counties in Wisconsin by employer firms

Milwaukee County had the highest employer firms of 72 counties in 2019, at 13,740. Menominee County had the lowest, at 19. The median was 791 and the figure for Wisconsin was 97,506. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.

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Highest13,740Milwaukee County
Median79172 counties
Wisconsin97,506History

Map of counties, 2019

Adams County: 330 countAshland County: 407 countBarron County: 1,120 countBayfield County: 356 countBrown County: 4,992 countBuffalo County: 248 countBurnett County: 320 countCalumet County: 769 countChippewa County: 1,275 countClark County: 652 countColumbia County: 1,094 countCrawford County: 303 countDane County: 10,637 countDodge County: 1,431 countDoor County: 1,005 countDouglas County: 833 countDunn County: 746 countEau Claire County: 2,108 countFlorence County: 101 countFond du Lac County: 1,792 countForest County: 184 countGrant County: 973 countGreen County: 831 countGreen Lake County: 379 countIowa County: 479 countIron County: 163 countJackson County: 330 countJefferson County: 1,649 countJuneau County: 455 countKenosha County: 2,657 countKewaunee County: 393 countLa Crosse County: 2,373 countLafayette County: 293 countLanglade County: 477 countLincoln County: 568 countManitowoc County: 1,446 countMarathon County: 2,622 countMarinette County: 858 countMarquette County: 235 countMenominee County: 19 countMilwaukee County: 13,740 countMonroe County: 801 countOconto County: 622 countOneida County: 1,099 countOutagamie County: 3,954 countOzaukee County: 2,308 countPepin County: 187 countPierce County: 644 countPolk County: 926 countPortage County: 1,373 countPrice County: 339 countRacine County: 3,232 countRichland County: 337 countRock County: 2,639 countRusk County: 248 countSt. Croix County: 1,928 countSauk County: 1,447 countSawyer County: 512 countShawano County: 780 countSheboygan County: 2,112 countTaylor County: 408 countTrempealeau County: 544 countVernon County: 491 countVilas County: 777 countWalworth County: 2,271 countWashburn County: 406 countWashington County: 2,736 countWaukesha County: 9,778 countWaupaca County: 972 countWaushara County: 397 countWinnebago County: 2,795 countWood County: 1,450 count
  • Under 300
  • 300 to 500
  • 500 to 800
  • 800 to 1,300
  • 1,300 to 2,300
  • 2,300 and over
count, 2019. 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, 2019

Milwaukee County: 13,740 countMilwaukee County13,740Dane County: 10,637 countDane County10,637Waukesha County: 9,778 countWaukesha County9,778Brown County: 4,992 countBrown County4,992Outagamie County: 3,954 countOutagamie County3,954Racine County: 3,232 countRacine County3,232Winnebago County: 2,795 countWinnebago County2,795Washington County: 2,736 countWashington County2,736Kenosha County: 2,657 countKenosha County2,657Rock County: 2,639 countRock County2,639Marathon County: 2,622 countMarathon County2,622La Crosse County: 2,373 countLa Crosse County2,373Ozaukee County: 2,308 countOzaukee County2,308Walworth County: 2,271 countWalworth County2,271Sheboygan County: 2,112 countSheboygan County2,112Eau Claire County: 2,108 countEau Claire County2,108St. Croix County: 1,928 countSt. Croix County1,928Fond du Lac County: 1,792 countFond du Lac County1,792Jefferson County: 1,649 countJefferson County1,649Wood County: 1,450 countWood County1,450Sauk County: 1,447 countSauk County1,447Manitowoc County: 1,446 countManitowoc County1,446Dodge County: 1,431 countDodge County1,431Portage County: 1,373 countPortage County1,373Chippewa County: 1,275 countChippewa County1,275Barron County: 1,120 countBarron County1,120Oneida County: 1,099 countOneida County1,099Columbia County: 1,094 countColumbia County1,094Door County: 1,005 countDoor County1,005Grant County: 973 countGrant County973Waupaca County: 972 countWaupaca County972Polk County: 926 countPolk County926Marinette County: 858 countMarinette County858Douglas County: 833 countDouglas County833Green County: 831 countGreen County831Monroe County: 801 countMonroe County801Shawano County: 780 countShawano County780Vilas County: 777 countVilas County777Calumet County: 769 countCalumet County769Dunn County: 746 countDunn County746Milwaukee County: 13,740 countMilwaukee County13,740Dane County: 10,637 countDane County10,637Waukesha County: 9,778 countWaukesha County9,778Brown County: 4,992 countBrown County4,992Outagamie County: 3,954 countOutagamie County3,954Racine County: 3,232 countRacine County3,232Winnebago County: 2,795 countWinnebago County2,795Washington County: 2,736 countWashington County2,736Kenosha County: 2,657 countKenosha County2,657Rock County: 2,639 countRock County2,639Marathon County: 2,622 countMarathon County2,622La Crosse County: 2,373 countLa Crosse County2,373Ozaukee County: 2,308 countOzaukee County2,308Walworth County: 2,271 countWalworth County2,271Sheboygan County: 2,112 countSheboygan County2,112Eau Claire County: 2,108 countEau Claire County2,108St. Croix County: 1,928 countSt. Croix County1,928Fond du Lac County: 1,792 countFond du Lac County1,792Jefferson County: 1,649 countJefferson County1,649Wood County: 1,450 countWood County1,450Sauk County: 1,447 countSauk County1,447Manitowoc County: 1,446 countManitowoc County1,446Dodge County: 1,431 countDodge County1,431Portage County: 1,373 countPortage County1,373Chippewa County: 1,275 countChippewa County1,275Barron County: 1,120 countBarron County1,120Oneida County: 1,099 countOneida County1,099Columbia County: 1,094 countColumbia County1,094Door County: 1,005 countDoor County1,005Grant County: 973 countGrant County973Waupaca County: 972 countWaupaca County972Polk County: 926 countPolk County926Marinette County: 858 countMarinette County858Douglas County: 833 countDouglas County833Green County: 831 countGreen County831Monroe County: 801 countMonroe County801Shawano County: 780 countShawano County780Vilas County: 777 countVilas County777Calumet County: 769 countCalumet County769Dunn County: 746 countDunn County746
count. Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Business Dynamics Statistics: employer firms, all covered industries, nation, states and counties. Retrieved 2026-10-11.

Full ranking

RankCounties2019
count
Change on 2018
1Milwaukee County13,740+0.2%
2Dane County10,637+0.5%
3Waukesha County9,778-0.5%
4Brown County4,992-0.4%
5Outagamie County3,954+0.4%
6Racine County3,232+1%
7Winnebago County2,795+2.3%
8Washington County2,736-0.1%
9Kenosha County2,657+1.8%
10Rock County2,639+1.6%
11Marathon County2,622+0.2%
12La Crosse County2,373-0.8%
13Ozaukee County2,308+0.4%
14Walworth County2,271-0.4%
15Sheboygan County2,112+0.4%
16Eau Claire County2,108+0.4%
17St. Croix County1,928+0.4%
18Fond du Lac County1,792+0.3%
19Jefferson County1,649+0.7%
20Wood County1,450-1%
21Sauk County1,447+0.6%
22Manitowoc County1,446-0.1%
23Dodge County1,431-0.2%
24Portage County1,373+0.4%
25Chippewa County1,275-1.2%
26Barron County1,120-0.4%
27Oneida County1,099-2%
28Columbia County1,094-1.7%
29Door County1,005+0.8%
30Grant County973-0.1%
31Waupaca County972-0.2%
32Polk County926-0.2%
33Marinette County858+1.1%
34Douglas County833-1.9%
35Green County831+1.2%
36Monroe County8010%
37Shawano County780+0.1%
38Vilas County777-0.5%
39Calumet County769-0.9%
40Dunn County746+1.4%
41Clark County652-0.6%
42Pierce County644-3%
43Oconto County622+1.6%
44Lincoln County568-0.2%
45Trempealeau County544+0.7%
46Sawyer County512-0.4%
47Vernon County4910%
48Iowa County479-4%
49Langlade County477+1.9%
50Juneau County455+2%
51Taylor County408-1.4%
52Ashland County407-2.4%
53Washburn County406-1%
54Waushara County397+0.5%
55Kewaunee County393+0.8%
56Green Lake County379-2.3%
57Bayfield County356+2.6%
58Price County339-1.5%
59Richland County337-0.9%
60Adams County330-0.6%
60Jackson County330+2.2%
62Burnett County320-3%
63Crawford County3030%
64Lafayette County293+1.7%
65Buffalo County248-0.4%
65Rusk County248+2.1%
67Marquette County235+2.2%
68Pepin County187-2.6%
69Forest County184-0.5%
70Iron County163-0.6%
71Florence County101-1%
72Menominee County19-5%

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. 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 Wisconsin by employer firms, 2019) [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 Wisconsin by employer firms, 2019. 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/wisconsin-counties?period=2019. 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 Wisconsin by employer firms, 2019. 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/wisconsin-counties?period=2019.

Harvard

U.S. Census Bureau (2025) Business Dynamics Statistics: employer firms, all covered industries, nation, states and counties, Counties in Wisconsin by employer firms, 2019 [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/wisconsin-counties?period=2019 (Accessed: 11 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{census_counties_in_wisconsin_by_2019,
  author = {{U.S. Census Bureau}},
  title = {{Business Dynamics Statistics: employer firms, all covered industries, nation, states and counties: Counties in Wisconsin by employer firms, 2019}},
  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/wisconsin-counties?period=2019. 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 Wisconsin by employer firms, 2019
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/wisconsin-counties?period=2019
Y2  - 2026/10/11
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/employer-firms/wisconsin-counties?period=2019.
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?

Milwaukee County, with 13,740 in 2019, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Which county has the lowest employer firms?

Menominee County, with 19 in 2019.

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 Wisconsin: more rankings