Orange County is the fifth biggest county in the U.S. by number of businesses, according to a Census Bureau report released Monday.
The report showed Los Angeles County leading the nation with 235,085 businesses, followed by Cook County, Ill., with 127,727, New York County with 103,313, Harris County, Texas, with 85,528, and Orange County with 83,164.
San Diego is No. 7 with 72,564 businesses.
New York led the nation with the highest average payroll per employee at $73,032 a year. OC’s average payroll of $40,367 beat L.A.’s $38,715.
OC counted 1.4 million workers with an annual payroll of $57 billion, versus L.A.’s 3.8 million workers earning $148 billion.
Riverside County’s 453,568 workers earned an average of $28,809 a year, the lowest salary of the top 50 counties surveyed.
The Census study looked at businesses in more than 1,000 industries in more than 3,100 counties. It used 2003 data.
Businesses and planners use the data to study economic activity and analyze economic changes.
