Editorial corrections verified September 15, 2026. Fixed edition: business applications Aug-2025 through Jul-2026; population 2024. Realized employer-formation columns use calendar year 2022.
Americans filed 6,141,390 business applications in the twelve months from Aug-2025 through Jul-2026 — a +15.9% change from the prior twelve months (Aug-2024 through Jul-2025). These are U.S. Census Bureau Business Formation Statistics (non-seasonally-adjusted BA): EIN filings for a business purpose. They are not completed employer formations and are not interchangeable with state LLC registrations.
This page is a fixed edition for that window. Census posts new months on a monthly schedule; later months are not shown here until an explicit refresh recalculates the twelve-month totals. The editorial correction date does not mean the data window advanced.
Fastest-Growing States (Year over Year)
| State | Apps, Aug-2025 through Jul-2026 | YoY change |
|---|---|---|
| Kentucky | 76,291 | +38.5% |
| Alaska | 12,703 | +32.3% |
| Missouri | 115,274 | +32.1% |
| Mississippi | 61,494 | +30.7% |
| Kansas | 42,807 | +30.5% |
Extreme Per-Capita Rates (Wyoming and Delaware)
Wyoming shows 145 business applications per 1,000 residents — roughly ten times a typical state rate. Delaware is also an extreme outlier on a per-capita basis. Business Formation Statistics counts applications, not local employer births or state LLC registrations. Extreme per-capita rates can reflect application patterns that are not local economic activity; the series used on this page does not by itself prove a single cause. Our Best States index caps extreme application rates before scoring and still shows the raw numbers in its tables.
All States: Applications, Per-Capita Rate, and Trend
| State | Apps, Aug-2025 through Jul-2026 | Per 1,000 residents | YoY |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wyoming | 85,212 | 145.0 | +20.2% |
| Delaware | 61,046 | 58.0 | +3.0% |
| Florida | 709,158 | 30.3 | +13.9% |
| Montana | 32,253 | 28.4 | +15.5% |
| Colorado | 163,722 | 27.5 | +18.7% |
| Georgia | 277,705 | 24.8 | +15.3% |
| Utah | 83,442 | 23.8 | +27.7% |
| District of Columbia | 15,780 | 22.5 | +10.6% |
| Nevada | 69,034 | 21.1 | +9.8% |
| Mississippi | 61,494 | 20.9 | +30.7% |
| New Mexico | 43,699 | 20.5 | +21.2% |
| Arizona | 154,366 | 20.4 | +24.8% |
| Texas | 587,453 | 18.8 | +18.3% |
| South Carolina | 102,396 | 18.7 | +18.3% |
| Missouri | 115,274 | 18.5 | +32.1% |
| Idaho | 36,436 | 18.2 | +13.6% |
| New Jersey | 173,163 | 18.2 | +11.9% |
| North Carolina | 198,245 | 17.9 | +20.2% |
| Louisiana | 81,556 | 17.7 | +22.4% |
| Maryland | 108,517 | 17.3 | +12.7% |
| Alaska | 12,703 | 17.2 | +32.3% |
| Oklahoma | 69,235 | 16.9 | +28.6% |
| Virginia | 149,096 | 16.9 | +16.7% |
| Kentucky | 76,291 | 16.6 | +38.5% |
| Michigan | 167,308 | 16.5 | +24.0% |
| New York | 320,898 | 16.2 | +10.6% |
| Tennessee | 114,989 | 15.9 | +25.6% |
| Illinois | 198,362 | 15.6 | +14.5% |
| Ohio | 183,897 | 15.5 | +22.7% |
| California | 603,909 | 15.3 | +13.6% |
| Alabama | 77,265 | 15.0 | +24.0% |
| Oregon | 63,499 | 14.9 | -3.4% |
| Connecticut | 54,517 | 14.8 | +15.6% |
| Washington | 117,106 | 14.7 | -19.6% |
| Arkansas | 45,187 | 14.6 | +23.9% |
| Kansas | 42,807 | 14.4 | +30.5% |
| South Dakota | 13,221 | 14.3 | +14.9% |
| Indiana | 98,265 | 14.2 | +12.0% |
| New Hampshire | 19,691 | 14.0 | +23.1% |
| Wisconsin | 79,523 | 13.3 | +27.8% |
| Minnesota | 76,661 | 13.2 | +13.1% |
| Hawaii | 18,591 | 12.9 | -0.7% |
| Pennsylvania | 167,561 | 12.8 | +13.1% |
| Vermont | 8,303 | 12.8 | +13.4% |
| North Dakota | 9,691 | 12.2 | +13.3% |
| Nebraska | 24,261 | 12.1 | +17.2% |
| Massachusetts | 84,897 | 11.9 | +12.0% |
| Iowa | 37,729 | 11.6 | +15.2% |
| Rhode Island | 12,592 | 11.3 | +13.0% |
| Maine | 15,057 | 10.7 | +5.6% |
| West Virginia | 18,327 | 10.4 | +18.3% |
Applications measure filing intent; lending and survival measure later outcomes. For SBA loan activity by state, see SBA loan statistics. For jobs supported per dollar and lender concentration in site service industries, see SBA jobs and lender concentration by industry. For ABS survey rates of applying for and receiving credit among employer firms, see small employer credit access. For Census ABS women-, minority-, and veteran-owned employer shares by state and sector, see employer ownership demographics. For name searches, see the secretary of state business search directory. For how employer cohorts fare over time, see business survival rates by state.
How Many Applications Become Employer Businesses?
Every number above counts applications — requests for an Employer Identification Number for a business purpose. Most never become a business with paid employees. Applications are not completed employer formations and are not interchangeable with state LLC registrations.
Nationally, 5.9% of the 5,062,563 applications filed in 2022 became employer businesses within four quarters — 296,531 of them. The typical one took 1.42 quarters, about 4 months, from filing to payroll.
A second signal for the same application window used above: the share of applications Census classifies as high-propensity — those whose characteristics on IRS Form SS-4 (a corporate entity, a stated hiring plan, a planned first-wages date, or an industry that reliably hires) predict they will become employers. Across the U.S. that is 28.2% of applications in Aug-2025 through Jul-2026.
Maine converts applications into employer businesses at the highest rate (11.3%), followed by South Dakota and North Dakota. At the other end sit Wyoming (3.0%) and the District of Columbia (3.2%).
Wyoming and Delaware — the two jurisdictions whose per-capita application counts lead the table above — rank 1 and 4 from the bottom on 2022 conversion, at 3.0% and 3.6%. Low conversion alongside extreme application rates is consistent with applications that do not become local employer payrolls; the series used here still do not prove a single causal mechanism.
| State | High-propensity share (Aug-2025 through Jul-2026) | Became employers within 4 quarters (2022) | Formations (2022) | Avg quarters to formation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | 24.2% | 5.0% | 3,583 | 1.27 |
| Alaska | 25.3% | 9.6% | 814 | 1.41 |
| Arizona | 24.7% | 5.5% | 6,335 | 1.46 |
| Arkansas | 27.1% | 6.1% | 2,292 | 1.31 |
| California | 35.9% | 9.0% | 43,666 | 1.39 |
| Colorado | 26.0% | 5.6% | 6,454 | 1.38 |
| Connecticut | 27.3% | 5.3% | 2,355 | 1.44 |
| Delaware | 34.9% | 3.6% | 1,645 | 1.45 |
| District of Columbia | 27.5% | 3.2% | 457 | 1.55 |
| Florida | 28.4% | 4.3% | 26,453 | 1.52 |
| Georgia | 25.2% | 3.7% | 10,228 | 1.46 |
| Hawaii | 29.4% | 4.8% | 887 | 1.48 |
| Idaho | 29.3% | 9.0% | 2,675 | 1.40 |
| Illinois | 28.8% | 5.5% | 9,272 | 1.46 |
| Indiana | 27.3% | 5.7% | 4,767 | 1.41 |
| Iowa | 27.0% | 7.8% | 2,338 | 1.33 |
| Kansas | 27.3% | 8.1% | 2,509 | 1.31 |
| Kentucky | 22.7% | 6.2% | 2,874 | 1.40 |
| Louisiana | 24.0% | 3.7% | 3,013 | 1.41 |
| Maine | 33.4% | 11.3% | 1,468 | 1.24 |
| Maryland | 27.8% | 3.9% | 3,849 | 1.56 |
| Massachusetts | 34.9% | 8.8% | 6,231 | 1.35 |
| Michigan | 24.8% | 4.9% | 6,763 | 1.43 |
| Minnesota | 27.2% | 6.8% | 4,181 | 1.46 |
| Mississippi | 23.8% | 3.4% | 1,902 | 1.34 |
| Missouri | 23.5% | 6.4% | 5,226 | 1.21 |
| Montana | 26.5% | 8.2% | 1,703 | 1.33 |
| Nebraska | 28.1% | 8.9% | 1,825 | 1.37 |
| Nevada | 26.1% | 5.8% | 3,603 | 1.43 |
| New Hampshire | 28.2% | 8.5% | 1,192 | 1.32 |
| New Jersey | 27.2% | 5.2% | 7,944 | 1.49 |
| New Mexico | 26.5% | 5.5% | 1,496 | 1.40 |
| New York | 37.5% | 6.4% | 18,950 | 1.48 |
| North Carolina | 26.7% | 5.6% | 9,264 | 1.40 |
| North Dakota | 30.6% | 9.9% | 793 | 1.33 |
| Ohio | 23.9% | 4.7% | 6,602 | 1.42 |
| Oklahoma | 29.8% | 5.7% | 3,157 | 1.34 |
| Oregon | 28.4% | 9.0% | 4,451 | 1.40 |
| Pennsylvania | 27.8% | 5.6% | 7,733 | 1.49 |
| Rhode Island | 31.4% | 9.4% | 1,023 | 1.28 |
| South Carolina | 24.7% | 4.8% | 4,393 | 1.45 |
| South Dakota | 27.5% | 10.4% | 1,091 | 1.19 |
| Tennessee | 27.0% | 5.9% | 5,408 | 1.32 |
| Texas | 26.1% | 6.0% | 28,048 | 1.40 |
| Utah | 25.2% | 6.9% | 4,498 | 1.42 |
| Vermont | 31.2% | 8.9% | 651 | 1.24 |
| Virginia | 26.1% | 5.1% | 6,368 | 1.48 |
| Washington | 28.3% | 8.7% | 7,775 | 1.41 |
| West Virginia | 29.5% | 6.5% | 894 | 1.34 |
| Wisconsin | 25.1% | 6.3% | 4,077 | 1.37 |
| Wyoming | 24.2% | 3.0% | 1,355 | 1.44 |
Two different clocks, deliberately: the high-propensity share covers Aug-2025 through Jul-2026 (ending Jul-2026), while the formation and duration columns are calendar year 2022. The Census Bureau can only count a formation once payroll records confirm it, so that series ends with the latest administrative payroll data available for a verified count. This page does not substitute the Bureau’s projected series.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many new businesses were started in the US in the last year?
Americans filed 6,141,390 business applications in the twelve months from Aug-2025 through Jul-2026, a +15.9% change from the prior twelve months, according to Census Bureau Business Formation Statistics. These are applications (EIN filings for a business purpose), not a count of completed employer formations or LLC registrations.
Which state has the most new business applications per capita?
Wyoming (145 per 1,000 residents) and Delaware lead on paper. Among other jurisdictions in this table, Florida is highest at 30.3 per 1,000 residents. Extreme values can reflect application patterns that are not local employer activity; BFS applications are not state LLC registration counts.
How often is this page updated?
This page is a fixed edition for Aug-2025 through Jul-2026. Census releases Business Formation Statistics monthly; a newer month (including any month after this window) is not incorporated until an explicit refresh recalculates the twelve-month totals. The editorial correction date (September 15, 2026) is not a claim that the window advanced.
For a separate labor-market view — whether service payroll hiring moves with state unemployment — see unemployment vs service hiring by state. For whether personal-income growth lines up with application growth (BEA SAINC1 × Census BFS), see personal income vs business formation.
For employer establishment openings, closings, and job churn by state and service sector (BLS BED flows, not applications), see service business openings, closings, and churn.
Applications are not employer births. For Census BDS age-0 firm entry rates and the share of jobs in firms age ≤5 by state, see young-firm job share and firm entry by state.
After formation, staffing conditions differ by state — see JOLTS openings, hires, and quits by state for total nonfarm labor-market tightness.
Sources
| Data | Source | Vintage |
|---|---|---|
| Business applications by state (BA) | U.S. Census Bureau, Business Formation Statistics | Aug-2025 through Jul-2026 |
| High-propensity applications (HBA) | U.S. Census Bureau, Business Formation Statistics | Aug-2025 through Jul-2026 |
| Employer formations within four quarters (BF4Q) and average duration (DUR4Q) | U.S. Census Bureau, Business Formation Statistics | 2022 |
| State population | U.S. Census Bureau, Population Estimates (NST-EST2024) | 2024 |