There were 1,630 business licenses issued in Berks County in 2021 in Pennsylvania, according to the Pennsylvania Department of State.
This is a 17.9 percent increase over the previous year when there were 1,383 licenses issued.
Pennsylvania suffered a surge of unemployment and business closures due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The average annual unemployment rate in the state more than doubled in 2020 to 9.1 percent. This was the highest annual unemployment rate in Pennsylvania since 2003.
Comparison of business licenses issued by County and Year
| County | Issued in 2021 | Issued in 2020 | Percentage change (%) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Adams | 505 | 421 | 20% |
| Allegheny | 10,351 | 9,144 | 13.2% |
| Armstrong | 282 | 205 | 37.6% |
| Beaver | 804 | 662 | 21.5% |
| Bedford | 103 | 64 | 60.9% |
| Berks | 1,630 | 1,383 | 17.9% |
| Blair | 524 | 463 | 13.2% |
| Bradford | 183 | 167 | 9.6% |
| Bucks | 4,474 | 3,806 | 17.6% |
| Butler | 521 | 437 | 19.2% |
| Cambria | 481 | 381 | 26.2% |
| Cameron | 16 | 21 | -23.8% |
| Carbon | 432 | 302 | 43% |
| Centre | 850 | 725 | 17.2% |
| Chester | 4,138 | 3,508 | 18% |
| Clarion | 84 | 63 | 33.3% |
| Clearfield | 182 | 155 | 17.4% |
| Clinton | 187 | 139 | 34.5% |
| Columbia | 300 | 286 | 4.9% |
| Crawford | 406 | 281 | 44.5% |
| Cumberland | 2,139 | 1,644 | 30.1% |
| Dauphin | 2,782 | 2,335 | 19.1% |
| Delaware | 4,367 | 3,945 | 10.7% |
| Elk | 103 | 56 | 83.9% |
| Erie | 1,460 | 1,153 | 26.6% |
| Fayette | 410 | 400 | 2.5% |
| Forest | 9 | 21 | -57.1% |
| Franklin | 797 | 740 | 7.7% |
| Fulton | 24 | 29 | -17.2% |
| Greene | 129 | 98 | 31.6% |
| Huntingdon | 189 | 145 | 30.3% |
| Indiana | 174 | 142 | 22.5% |
| Jefferson | 253 | 194 | 30.4% |
| Juniata | 104 | 81 | 28.4% |
| Lackawanna | 1,344 | 1,076 | 24.9% |
| Lancaster | 2,169 | 1,832 | 18.4% |
| Lawrence | 478 | 443 | 7.9% |
| Lebanon | 235 | 199 | 18.1% |
| Lehigh | 3,251 | 2,618 | 24.2% |
| Luzerne | 1,329 | 1,080 | 23.1% |
| Lycoming | 520 | 455 | 14.3% |
| Mckean | 71 | 45 | 57.8% |
| Mercer | 413 | 406 | 1.7% |
| Mifflin | 183 | 180 | 1.7% |
| Monroe | 1,235 | 944 | 30.8% |
| Montgomery | 6,525 | 5,853 | 11.5% |
| Montour | 102 | 97 | 5.2% |
| Northampton | 1,525 | 1,324 | 15.2% |
| Northumberland | 283 | 236 | 19.9% |
| Perry | 182 | 155 | 17.4% |
| Philadelphia | 27,938 | 23,822 | 17.3% |
| Pike | 140 | 116 | 20.7% |
| Potter | 64 | 63 | 1.6% |
| Schuylkill | 534 | 457 | 16.8% |
| Snyder | 178 | 166 | 7.2% |
| Somerset | 151 | 137 | 10.2% |
| Sullivan | 32 | 16 | 100% |
| Susquehanna | 157 | 116 | 35.3% |
| Tioga | 149 | 110 | 35.5% |
| Union | 201 | 188 | 6.9% |
| Venango | 139 | 109 | 27.5% |
| Warren | 63 | 57 | 10.5% |
| Washington | 936 | 807 | 16% |
| Wayne | 296 | 232 | 27.6% |
| Westmoreland | 1,725 | 1,464 | 17.8% |
| Wyoming | 51 | 30 | 70% |
| York | 2,531 | 2,158 | 17.3% |
