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Americans filed 6,141,390 new business applications in the twelve months from Aug-2025 through Jul-2026 — a +15.9% change from the prior twelve months. This page tracks the U.S. Census Bureau’s Business Formation Statistics by state, refreshed as each monthly release posts.
Fastest-Growing States (Year over Year)
| State | Apps, last 12 mo | 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% |
The Wyoming and Delaware Asterisk
Wyoming shows 145 business applications per 1,000 residents — roughly ten times the typical state. That is not a small-business boom in Cheyenne: Wyoming and Delaware court non-resident LLC formations through registered-agent firms, so their filing counts reflect national demand for their legal frameworks, not local economic activity. Any per-capita ranking that doesn’t adjust for this — including several widely-cited ones — is measuring the artifact, not the economy. Our Best States index caps this factor before scoring.
All States: Applications, Per-Capita Rate, and Trend
| State | Apps, last 12 mo | 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 intent; funding measures follow-through. For how much the SBA actually lends state by state — approval counts, average loan size, per-capita rates, and real charge-off rates computed from the agency’s loan-level FOIA files — see our SBA loan statistics. And every one of these applications started with a name check: our secretary of state business search directory links each state’s official registry.
How many of these new businesses will still exist in five years? About half — our business survival rates by state page computes the actual 1-, 5-, and 10-year rates from BLS cohort data.
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.
Which state has the most new business applications per capita?
Wyoming (145 per 1,000 residents) and Delaware lead on paper, but both are inflated by non-resident LLC filings through registered agents. Among states where filings reflect local activity, Florida leads at 30.3 per 1,000 residents.
How often is this page updated?
The Census Bureau releases Business Formation Statistics monthly; we refresh this page as new months post. Data currently runs through the end of the window shown above.
Sources
| Data | Source | Vintage |
|---|---|---|
| Establishments, employment, payroll by industry and state | U.S. Census Bureau, County Business Patterns | 2023 |
| Business applications by state | U.S. Census Bureau, Business Formation Statistics | Aug-2025 through Jul-2026 |
| State population | U.S. Census Bureau, Population Estimates (NST-EST2024) | 2024 |