Business Formation in America: 45 Business Formation Statistics, Trends, and Data Points for 2026
Based on 52 verified statistics from 12 sources. Every figure is attributed to a primary or credible source with its year and geography stated.
This research briefing compiles verified business formation statistics for the United States using primary federal data: the U.S. Census Bureau Business Formation Statistics (BFS), the Bureau of Labor Statistics Business Employment Dynamics (BED), and the U.S. Small Business Administration Office of Advocacy. It covers national and state-level new business applications, trends since 2019, high-propensity applications, formation by sector, and survival rates. Every figure carries a year, a geography, and a source, and we include an original 50-state ranking built directly from Census BFS data.
Executive Summary
- U.S. business applications reached 5,671,836 in 2025, a new annual record and a 49 percent increase over the 3,498,990 filed in 2019 (Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Business Formation Statistics, via FRED).
- Annual applications first crossed 5 million in 2021 (5,390,816) and have stayed above that level every year since, versus roughly 3.5 million per year before the pandemic (Source: U.S. Census Bureau, BFS, 2019-2025).
- High-propensity business applications, those most likely to become employers, totaled 1,715,458 in 2024, up 30 percent from 1,316,191 in 2019 (Source: U.S. Census Bureau, BFS, via FRED).
- Seasonally adjusted business applications were 523,971 in May 2026, up 3.7 percent from April 2026 (Source: U.S. Census Bureau, BFS, released June 10, 2026).
- Florida (634,356), California (517,133), and Texas (490,959) filed the most business applications of any state in 2024 (Source: U.S. Census Bureau, BFS, via FRED).
- By our per-capita ranking, Wyoming led the nation in 2024 with 109.8 applications per 1,000 residents, followed by Delaware at 56.6, far above the national rate (CO Consulting calculation from Census BFS and Census population estimates).
- The five-year survival rate for new employer establishments averaged 49.2 percent over 1994-2021, and the ten-year rate was 33.8 percent (Source: SBA Office of Advocacy, 2024).
- There were 34,752,434 small businesses in the United States, 99.9 percent of all firms, as of the 2024 SBA Office of Advocacy report (Source: SBA Office of Advocacy, 2024).
Key Findings
- U.S. business applications totaled 5,671,836 in 2025, the highest annual count on record (Source: U.S. Census Bureau, BFS, via FRED).
- Applications were 5,224,176 in 2024, down 4.5 percent from the prior peak of 5,469,302 in 2023 before rebounding in 2025 (Source: U.S. Census Bureau, BFS, via FRED).
- Annual applications jumped 24.5 percent from 2019 (3,498,990) to 2020 (4,356,498) and then 23.7 percent to 2021 (5,390,816) (Source: U.S. Census Bureau, BFS, via FRED).
- High-propensity applications peaked at 1,848,540 in 2023 and were 1,708,842 in 2025 (Source: U.S. Census Bureau, BFS, via FRED).
- Seasonally adjusted monthly applications ran between roughly 425,000 and 465,000 through 2024 and rose above 490,000 per month through 2025 and early 2026 (Source: U.S. Census Bureau, BFS, via FRED).
- Projected business formations within four quarters were 29,493 in May 2026, seasonally adjusted, up 3.3 percent from April 2026 (Source: U.S. Census Bureau, BFS, released June 10, 2026).
- Wyoming applications grew 227.7 percent from 2019 to 2024, the largest increase of any state (CO Consulting calculation from Census BFS).
- Delaware applications grew 129.7 percent and New Mexico 98.6 percent from 2019 to 2024 (CO Consulting calculation from Census BFS).
- Retail trade added about 674,000 applications and professional, scientific, and technical services about 377,000 from 2005, the two largest absolute sector gains (Source: SSTI analysis of Census BFS, 2005-2023).
- In 2022, about 1.4 million business establishments opened for the first time and about 1.2 million closed permanently (Source: SBA Office of Advocacy, 2024).
- Startups made up 15.7 percent of business establishments in 2022, up from 12.5 percent in 2019 (Source: SBA Office of Advocacy, 2024).
- 34.7 percent of business establishments born in 2013 were still operating in 2023, a ten-year survival rate (Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, BED, 2024).
- The two-year survival rate for new employer establishments averaged 67.9 percent over 1994-2021 (Source: SBA Office of Advocacy, 2024).
- Small businesses accounted for 43.5 percent of U.S. GDP and 61.1 percent of net new job creation since 1995 (Source: SBA Office of Advocacy, 2024).
National Trend in Business Applications Since 2019
The defining shift in U.S. business formation is a step-change that began in 2020 and has held. Annual application counts moved from roughly 3.5 million before the pandemic to above 5 million afterward, and the level has not reverted.
U.S. business applications totaled 3,498,990 in 2019 (Source: U.S. Census Bureau, BFS, via FRED). Applications rose to 4,356,498 in 2020 and 5,390,816 in 2021 (Source: U.S. Census Bureau, BFS, via FRED). After dipping to 5,062,563 in 2022, the count set a then-record 5,469,302 in 2023 (Source: U.S. Census Bureau, BFS, via FRED). Applications eased to 5,224,176 in 2024 before reaching a new record 5,671,836 in 2025 (Source: U.S. Census Bureau, BFS, via FRED). The 2025 total is 62.1 percent above the 2019 level. The most recent monthly reading, May 2026, showed 523,971 seasonally adjusted applications, up 3.7 percent from April 2026 (Source: U.S. Census Bureau, BFS, released June 10, 2026). The trend means new business filing in America has settled at a structurally higher level than in the 2010s, though the high-propensity subset has been flatter, which matters for actual employer creation.
| Year | Business applications (BA) | High-propensity (HBA) | HBA share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | 3,498,990 | 1,316,191 | 37.6% |
| 2020 | 4,356,498 | 1,518,956 | 34.9% |
| 2021 | 5,390,816 | 1,841,954 | 34.2% |
| 2022 | 5,062,563 | 1,722,399 | 34.0% |
| 2023 | 5,469,302 | 1,848,540 | 33.8% |
| 2024 | 5,224,176 | 1,715,458 | 32.8% |
| 2025 | 5,671,836 | 1,708,842 | 30.1% |
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Business Formation Statistics, not seasonally adjusted annual totals via FRED, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. HBA share is a CO Consulting calculation (HBA divided by BA). The falling HBA share is a key limitation discussed in the methodology below.
High-Propensity Applications: Where the Real Employers Come From
Total applications include many filings that never become payroll businesses. The Census Bureau flags a subset, high-propensity business applications, that are more likely to hire employees, based on legal form, hiring indicators, planned wages, and industry code.
High-propensity applications were 1,316,191 in 2019 and peaked at 1,848,540 in 2023 (Source: U.S. Census Bureau, BFS, via FRED). The 2025 figure was 1,708,842, still 29.8 percent above 2019 but below the 2023 peak (Source: U.S. Census Bureau, BFS, via FRED). The high-propensity share of all applications fell from 37.6 percent in 2019 to 30.1 percent in 2025 (CO Consulting calculation from Census BFS). Seasonally adjusted, high-propensity applications ran near 140,000 to 149,000 per month across 2024 through early 2026 (Source: U.S. Census Bureau, BFS, via FRED). This divergence means the headline boom in total applications overstates the growth in likely employers, a point analysts at the Economic Innovation Group have emphasized.
Business Formation by State
Formation is concentrated in large states by raw count but looks very different per capita. Sun Belt and Mountain West states dominate both the per-capita and the growth rankings.
Florida filed 634,356 applications in 2024, the most of any state, followed by California at 517,133 and Texas at 490,959 (Source: U.S. Census Bureau, BFS, via FRED). New York (291,884) and Georgia (243,084) round out the top five by raw count (Source: U.S. Census Bureau, BFS, via FRED). On growth, Wyoming applications rose 227.7 percent from 2019 to 2024, Delaware 129.7 percent, and New Mexico 98.6 percent (CO Consulting calculation from Census BFS). The state sum of 5,224,176 for 2024 exactly matches the national total, confirming the data is internally consistent. Wyoming and Delaware figures are inflated by their roles as low-cost legal domicile states, where many filers do not operate locally, a caveat we flag below.
| Rank | State | Applications 2024 | Per 1,000 residents | Growth 2019-2024 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Wyoming | 64,444 | 109.8 | +227.7% |
| 2 | Delaware | 59,463 | 56.6 | +129.7% |
| 3 | Florida | 634,356 | 27.3 | +61.8% |
| 4 | Montana | 26,939 | 23.7 | +90.4% |
| 5 | Colorado | 130,718 | 21.8 | +51.2% |
| 6 | Georgia | 243,084 | 21.7 | +41.2% |
| 7 | Utah | 68,471 | 19.5 | +37.9% |
| 8 | Nevada | 62,655 | 19.3 | +47.7% |
| 9 | New Mexico | 34,673 | 16.3 | +98.6% |
| 10 | New Jersey | 153,020 | 16.1 | +36.2% |
Sources: applications from U.S. Census Bureau, BFS (not seasonally adjusted annual totals) via FRED; population from U.S. Census Bureau Vintage 2024 state population estimates (July 1, 2024) via FRED state population series. Per-1,000 and growth figures are CO Consulting calculations.
Business Formation by Sector
Sector composition explains why total applications rose faster than likely-employer applications. The fastest-growing sectors since 2019 also tend to have lower rates of becoming payroll businesses.
Retail trade added the largest absolute number of applications, about 674,000, since 2005, and professional, scientific, and technical services added about 377,000 (Source: SSTI analysis of Census BFS, 2005-2023). Relative to 2019, applications by 2023 rose 66 percent in accommodation and food services, 55 percent in retail trade, and 45 percent in health care and social assistance (Source: Economic Innovation Group analysis of Census BFS, 2023). The high-propensity share differs sharply by sector: it is near 70 percent in health care and social assistance but about 23 percent in retail trade and about 28 percent in professional services as of 2023 (Source: SSTI analysis of Census BFS, 2023). The overall high-propensity share fell from 58 percent in 2005 to 32 percent in 2023, a 26 percentage-point drop (Source: SSTI analysis of Census BFS, 2005-2023). This composition shift toward retail and personal-services filings, many of them nonemployer ventures, is the main reason the application boom is not fully matched by employer creation.
Business Survival Rates
Forming a business and keeping it alive are different things. The BLS Business Employment Dynamics program and the SBA Office of Advocacy track survival of new employer establishments over time.
Over 1994-2021, an average of 67.9 percent of new employer establishments survived at least two years (Source: SBA Office of Advocacy, 2024). The five-year survival rate over the same period averaged 49.2 percent, the ten-year rate 33.8 percent, and the fifteen-year rate 25.6 percent (Source: SBA Office of Advocacy, 2024). Survival improves with age: among establishments that reach five years, 69.5 percent reach ten years (Source: SBA Office of Advocacy, 2024). For a specific cohort, 34.7 percent of establishments born in 2013 were still operating in 2023 (Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, BED, 2024). The pattern means roughly half of new employers survive five years and only about a third survive ten, so the record application counts should be read alongside attrition that thins each cohort substantially.
| Years since opening | Survival rate |
|---|---|
| 2 years | 67.9% |
| 5 years | 49.2% |
| 10 years | 33.8% |
| 15 years | 25.6% |
Source: U.S. SBA Office of Advocacy, Frequently Asked Questions About Small Business, 2024, drawing on BLS Business Employment Dynamics data.
Original Synthesis
1. CO Consulting Per-Capita Formation Ranking (2024). We ranked all 50 states and DC by business applications per 1,000 residents. Formula: state applications in 2024 (Census BFS, not seasonally adjusted annual total) divided by July 1, 2024 resident population (Census Vintage 2024 estimates), times 1,000. Wyoming led at 109.8 per 1,000 and Delaware followed at 56.6, both far above the implied national rate of about 15.4 per 1,000 (5,224,176 applications over a 340.1 million population). Inputs: Census BFS via FRED; Census population estimates via FRED. Limitation: Wyoming and Delaware host large numbers of out-of-state legal entities, so their per-capita figures overstate local economic activity. The ranking measures filing intensity, not operating businesses.
2. Formation Growth Index, 2019 to 2024. We computed percent change in state applications from 2019 to 2024 to find where formation accelerated most. Formula: (2024 applications minus 2019 applications) divided by 2019 applications. Wyoming (+227.7 percent), Delaware (+129.7 percent), New Mexico (+98.6 percent), Montana (+90.4 percent), and Indiana (+68.0 percent) topped the list. Inputs: Census BFS via FRED. Limitation: small-base states can show large percentages; the same domicile caveat applies to Wyoming and Delaware. We report growth alongside per-capita level so readers can separate base effects.
3. High-Propensity Conversion Gap. We tracked the high-propensity share of all applications as a proxy for how much of the formation boom is likely to produce employers. The share fell from 37.6 percent in 2019 to 30.1 percent in 2025 (HBA divided by BA, both from Census BFS). Over the same window total applications grew 62.1 percent but high-propensity applications grew only 29.8 percent. Inputs: Census BFS annual BA and HBA via FRED. Limitation: the high-propensity flag is a Census model, not an outcome; some flagged applications never hire and some unflagged ones do. The gap is directional evidence, not a precise forecast of jobs.
Charts to build
- U.S. business applications, 2019-2025 (line or column). Data: annual BA totals. Source: Census BFS via FRED. Insight: the post-2020 step-change to above 5 million and the 2025 record. Citation-worthy because it shows a durable structural shift, not a one-year spike.
- Total vs high-propensity applications, 2019-2025 (dual line). Data: BA and HBA annual totals. Source: Census BFS via FRED. Insight: the widening gap between total filings and likely employers. Citation-worthy because it corrects a common misreading of the headline boom.
- Applications per 1,000 residents by state, 2024 (map or bar). Data: state BA over state population. Source: Census BFS and Census population estimates. Insight: Wyoming and Delaware outliers; Sun Belt strength. Citation-worthy as an original state comparison.
- Survival curve for new employer establishments (line). Data: 2-, 5-, 10-, 15-year survival rates. Source: SBA Office of Advocacy and BLS BED. Insight: roughly half survive five years, a third survive ten. Citation-worthy for any startup-risk story.
- Sector growth in applications, 2019-2023 (bar). Data: percent change by sector. Source: EIG and SSTI analyses of Census BFS. Insight: accommodation, retail, and health care led. Citation-worthy for sector-specific coverage.
Inline rendered chart, U.S. business applications by year (each bar scaled to the 2025 record):
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Business Formation Statistics, via FRED.
Methodology
Source selection prioritized primary federal data. National and state application counts come from the U.S. Census Bureau Business Formation Statistics, retrieved as not-seasonally-adjusted annual totals and seasonally-adjusted monthly series through the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis (FRED), which republishes the Census BFS series without alteration. Survival rates come from the SBA Office of Advocacy 2024 FAQ, which draws on BLS Business Employment Dynamics, supplemented by a BLS Economics Daily cohort figure. Sector figures come from SSTI and Economic Innovation Group analyses that explicitly tabulate Census BFS data. We excluded press-release framing that bundled multi-year cumulative totals for rhetorical effect, and excluded commercial-site estimates we could not trace to a primary table. Where 2024 dipped below 2023 and then 2025 set a record, we report all three years rather than cherry-picking. Our derived state rankings divide Census BFS counts by Census population estimates for the same vintage; the 50-state plus DC sum reconciles exactly to the published national total. Annual totals here are sums of monthly not-seasonally-adjusted values and may differ by rounding from any Census-published annual aggregate. Date of last update: June 29, 2026, reflecting the BFS release for May 2026 dated June 10, 2026.
Source Quality
Tier 1 (primary, government): U.S. Census Bureau Business Formation Statistics; U.S. Census Bureau population estimates; U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Business Employment Dynamics; SBA Office of Advocacy; Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis (FRED, as a faithful redistributor of Census series).
Tier 2 (credible research and analysis of primary data): Economic Innovation Group; SSTI (State Science and Technology Institute), both tabulating Census BFS directly.
Tier 3 (reputable journalism and expert commentary): none relied on for numeric claims in this asset; all figures trace to Tier 1 or Tier 2.
Most Quotable Statistics
- U.S. business applications hit a record 5,671,836 in 2025, up 62 percent from 2019 (Census BFS).
- Wyoming led the nation with 109.8 business applications per 1,000 residents in 2024 (CO Consulting calculation from Census BFS).
- Only 49.2 percent of new employer establishments survive five years, on average over 1994-2021 (SBA Office of Advocacy).
- The high-propensity share of applications fell from 37.6 percent in 2019 to 30.1 percent in 2025 (Census BFS).
- About 1.4 million establishments opened and 1.2 million closed permanently in 2022 (SBA Office of Advocacy).
Data Limitations
A business application is an EIN application, not a confirmed operating business, so counts overstate actual launches. The high-propensity flag is a predictive Census classification, not an observed outcome. State counts are inflated for Wyoming and Delaware by out-of-state legal domiciling. Survival data covers employer establishments only and lags by up to a year. Annual totals computed as sums of monthly NSA values may differ slightly from Census-published annual aggregates due to rounding and revision. Sector growth figures from EIG and SSTI use 2023 as the latest year; sector-level 2024-2025 detail was not independently verified here.
Recommended Dataset Fields
For a downloadable CSV: state_name, state_fips, year, business_applications, high_propensity_applications, hba_share, population, applications_per_1000, applications_growth_vs_2019, two_year_survival_rate, five_year_survival_rate, source_url, last_updated.
Press Summary
New business formation in the United States has settled at a permanently higher level than before the pandemic. Americans filed a record 5,671,836 business applications in 2025, up 62 percent from 3,498,990 in 2019, according to U.S. Census Bureau Business Formation Statistics. Florida, California, and Texas filed the most applications in 2024, but on a per-capita basis Wyoming led with 109.8 applications per 1,000 residents, followed by Delaware, both boosted by their roles as legal domicile states. The boom is uneven beneath the surface: the share of applications likely to become employers fell from 37.6 percent in 2019 to 30.1 percent in 2025, as filings concentrated in retail and personal-services categories. Survival remains hard, with only about 49 percent of new employer establishments lasting five years and roughly a third lasting ten, per the SBA Office of Advocacy and BLS. The data points to a high-volume, high-attrition formation environment that rewards careful market and location choices.
Suggested Headlines
- America Set a New Business Formation Record in 2025: 5.67 Million Applications
- Where New Businesses Are Growing Fastest: A 50-State Formation Ranking
- Wyoming Leads the Nation in Business Applications Per Capita. Here Is Why That Is Misleading.
- The Hidden Gap in the Startup Boom: Fewer Filings Are Becoming Employers
- Half of New Employers Do Not Survive Five Years: What the Federal Data Shows
FAQ
How many new business applications were filed in the U.S. in 2025? 5,671,836, a record annual total (Source: U.S. Census Bureau, BFS, via FRED).
How does that compare to before the pandemic? It is 62.1 percent above the 3,498,990 applications filed in 2019 (Source: U.S. Census Bureau, BFS, via FRED).
Which state has the most business applications? Florida, with 634,356 in 2024, ahead of California (517,133) and Texas (490,959) (Source: U.S. Census Bureau, BFS, via FRED).
Which state has the most applications per capita? Wyoming, at 109.8 applications per 1,000 residents in 2024 (CO Consulting calculation from Census BFS and Census population estimates).
Which state grew fastest since 2019? Wyoming, with applications up 227.7 percent from 2019 to 2024 (CO Consulting calculation from Census BFS).
What are high-propensity business applications? A Census subset of applications most likely to become payroll businesses, based on legal form, hiring indicators, planned wages, and industry; they totaled 1,715,458 in 2024 (Source: U.S. Census Bureau, BFS).
What share of new businesses survive five years? About 49.2 percent of new employer establishments, averaged over 1994-2021 (Source: SBA Office of Advocacy, 2024).
What share survive ten years? About 33.8 percent on average over 1994-2021, and 34.7 percent for the specific 2013 cohort measured to 2023 (Sources: SBA Office of Advocacy, 2024; U.S. BLS, BED, 2024).
Which sectors are driving formation growth? Retail trade added about 674,000 applications and professional services about 377,000 since 2005, while accommodation and food services applications rose 66 percent from 2019 to 2023 (Sources: SSTI and EIG analyses of Census BFS).
How many small businesses are there in the U.S.? 34,752,434, or 99.9 percent of all firms, per the 2024 SBA Office of Advocacy report (Source: SBA Office of Advocacy, 2024).
For research-led help turning formation and market data into a growth strategy, see CO Consulting. If a deeper custom analysis would be useful, you can book a consultation.
CO Consulting. "Business Formation in America: 45 Business Formation Statistics, Trends, and Data Points for 2026" christopholivierconsulting.com, 2026. https://christopholivierconsulting.com/business-formation-statistics/