Counties in West Virginia by establishment entry rate, 2023
Clay County had the highest establishment entry rate of 54 counties in 2023, at 18.543%. Braxton County had the lowest, at 5.53%. The median was 9.418% and the figure for West Virginia was 9.167%. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.
Map of counties, 2023
- Under 7.5
- 7.5 to 8.1
- 8.1 to 9.4
- 9.4 to 10
- 10 to 12
- 12 and over
- No data
All counties, 2023
Full ranking
| Rank | Counties | 2023 (%) | Change on 2022 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Clay County | 18.543 | +3.73 pts |
| 2 | Barbour County | 13.725 | +2.08 pts |
| 3 | Upshur County | 13.416 | +0.65 pts |
| 4 | Tyler County | 13.274 | +5.38 pts |
| 5 | Pocahontas County | 12.935 | +0.08 pts |
| 6 | Taylor County | 12.339 | +5.12 pts |
| 7 | Wyoming County | 12.326 | +4.31 pts |
| 8 | Logan County | 12.234 | +4.22 pts |
| 9 | Berkeley County | 12.22 | +0.56 pts |
| 10 | Jefferson County | 11.819 | +0.62 pts |
| 11 | McDowell County | 11.609 | -0.06 pts |
| 12 | Mingo County | 11.309 | -0.61 pts |
| 13 | Preston County | 11.015 | +2.38 pts |
| 14 | Pendleton County | 10.938 | -3.35 pts |
| 15 | Mercer County | 10.902 | +3.1 pts |
| 16 | Lewis County | 10.893 | -2.01 pts |
| 17 | Roane County | 10.825 | -0.6 pts |
| 18 | Tucker County | 10.596 | -1.44 pts |
| 19 | Calhoun County | 10.39 | -5.61 pts |
| 20 | Morgan County | 10.096 | +2.27 pts |
| 21 | Lincoln County | 10.063 | -2.6 pts |
| 22 | Raleigh County | 9.952 | +1.5 pts |
| 23 | Monongalia County | 9.638 | -0.74 pts |
| 24 | Boone County | 9.589 | +4.47 pts |
| 25 | Greenbrier County | 9.524 | -0.27 pts |
| 26 | Putnam County | 9.507 | -0.94 pts |
| 27 | Fayette County | 9.46 | -0.58 pts |
| 28 | Mineral County | 9.375 | +1.41 pts |
| 29 | Pleasants County | 9.244 | +3.46 pts |
| 30 | Wetzel County | 9.18 | +2.96 pts |
| 31 | Grant County | 8.734 | -1.53 pts |
| 32 | Gilmer County | 8.696 | +1.09 pts |
| 33 | Hardy County | 8.614 | -3.54 pts |
| 34 | Randolph County | 8.489 | +0.57 pts |
| 35 | Wayne County | 8.244 | +1.22 pts |
| 36 | Monroe County | 8.163 | -3.6 pts |
| 37 | Marion County | 8.066 | -0.95 pts |
| 38 | Kanawha County | 8.04 | -0.02 pts |
| 39 | Jackson County | 8.018 | -3.13 pts |
| 40 | Brooke County | 7.712 | -2.3 pts |
| 41 | Harrison County | 7.711 | -2.58 pts |
| 42 | Wood County | 7.669 | -0.41 pts |
| 43 | Cabell County | 7.53 | +0.49 pts |
| 44 | Webster County | 7.477 | -0.07 pts |
| 45 | Ohio County | 7.465 | +1.44 pts |
| 46 | Doddridge County | 7.407 | +0.21 pts |
| 47 | Mason County | 7.321 | -1.05 pts |
| 48 | Summers County | 7.051 | -1.15 pts |
| 49 | Nicholas County | 6.924 | -2.13 pts |
| 50 | Hampshire County | 6.593 | -4.66 pts |
| 51 | Ritchie County | 6.509 | 0 pts |
| 52 | Marshall County | 6.328 | -3 pts |
| 53 | Hancock County | 6.061 | -1.69 pts |
| 54 | Braxton County | 5.53 | -0.34 pts |
Other periods
About this ranking
Establishments that opened during the year (employees in March of the year and none a year earlier), as a percentage of the average number of establishments in the two years. United States: Census Bureau Business Dynamics Statistics.
An establishment is a single physical location, so a new branch of an existing firm counts as an entry: this is not the rate of new firms. Not comparable with enterprise_birth_rate, which counts new enterprises in Europe. The year is the twelve months to March: 2023 compares March 2022 with March 2023.
Every value in the ranking comes from the same publisher and the same period, so the counties are compared on one definition. 1 counties with data in other periods have no value for 2023 and are left out rather than filled from another source. Equal values share a rank.
How to cite
U.S. Census Bureau. Business Dynamics Statistics: establishment entry rate, all covered industries, nation and states from 1978, counties from 2010. https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/bds/tables/time-series/2023/bds2023_st_cty.csv. Retrieved 2026-10-12.Citation styles
APA 7
U.S. Census Bureau. (2025). Business Dynamics Statistics: establishment entry rate, all covered industries, nation and states from 1978, counties from 2010 (Counties in West Virginia by establishment entry rate, 2023) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/bds/tables/time-series/2023/bds2023_st_cty.csv
MLA 9
Business Dynamics Statistics: establishment entry rate, all covered industries, nation and states from 1978, counties from 2010, Counties in West Virginia by establishment entry rate, 2023. 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/establishment-entry-rate/west-virginia-counties. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.
Chicago (author-date)
U.S. Census Bureau. 2025. Business Dynamics Statistics: establishment entry rate, all covered industries, nation and states from 1978, counties from 2010. Counties in West Virginia by establishment entry rate, 2023. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/bds/tables/time-series/2023/bds2023_st_cty.csv. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/establishment-entry-rate/west-virginia-counties.
Harvard
U.S. Census Bureau (2025) Business Dynamics Statistics: establishment entry rate, all covered industries, nation and states from 1978, counties from 2010, Counties in West Virginia by establishment entry rate, 2023 [Dataset]. Available at: https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/bds/tables/time-series/2023/bds2023_st_cty.csv, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/establishment-entry-rate/west-virginia-counties (Accessed: 12 October 2026).
BibTeX
@misc{census_counties_in_west_virginia_2023,
author = {{U.S. Census Bureau}},
title = {{Business Dynamics Statistics: establishment entry rate, all covered industries, nation and states from 1978, counties from 2010: Counties in West Virginia by establishment entry rate, 2023}},
year = {2025},
howpublished = {Data set},
url = {https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/bds/tables/time-series/2023/bds2023_st_cty.csv},
urldate = {2026-10-12},
note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/establishment-entry-rate/west-virginia-counties. Publisher attribution: U.S. Census Bureau. Business Dynamics Statistics: establishment entry rate, all covered industries, nation and states from 1978, counties from 2010. https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/bds/tables/time-series/2023/bds2023\_st\_cty.csv. Retrieved 2026-10-12.},
}
RIS
TY - DATA
AU - U.S. Census Bureau
TI - Business Dynamics Statistics: establishment entry rate, all covered industries, nation and states from 1978, counties from 2010: Counties in West Virginia by establishment entry rate, 2023
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/establishment-entry-rate/west-virginia-counties
Y2 - 2026/10/12
N1 - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/establishment-entry-rate/west-virginia-counties.
N1 - Publisher attribution: U.S. Census Bureau. Business Dynamics Statistics: establishment entry rate, all covered industries, nation and states from 1978, counties from 2010. https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/bds/tables/time-series/2023/bds2023_st_cty.csv. Retrieved 2026-10-12.
ER -
Use this data in your AI agent
Invokely serves this figure to AI assistants through MCP and to code through a REST API, with the source and citation attached. Ask your assistant:
Rank Counties in West Virginia by establishment entry rate using official data, and cite the source.
rank_places {"indicator":"establishment_entry_rate","level":"province","within":"West Virginia","limit":10}
GET https://invokely.ai/api/v1/rank?indicator=establishment_entry_rate&level=province&within=West%20Virginia&limit=10Questions
Which county has the highest establishment entry rate?
Clay County, with 18.543% in 2023, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
Which county has the lowest establishment entry rate?
Braxton County, with 5.53% in 2023.
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: establishment entry rate, all covered industries, nation and states from 1978, counties from 2010. Retrieved 2026-10-12. 1 counties have no value for 2023 and are not ranked.