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US States by New Business Applications per 1,000 Residents (2025)

Wyoming had 134.2 EIN-based business applications for every 1,000 residents in 2025, West Virginia 9.3. All 50 states and DC ranked from Census’s Business Formation Statistics.

Business applications per 1,000 residents, 2025, top 12 of 51
Wyoming134.2
Delaware56.7
Florida27.6
Montana26.1
Colorado23.9
Georgia22.5
District of Columbia21.5
Utah20.6
Nevada19.7
New Mexico19.2
Arizona17.8
Washington17.8
Census Business Formation Statistics (not seasonally adjusted) and Vintage 2025 population; our calculation. Bars scale to Wyoming.
Chart: the 12 highest rates of business applications per 1,000 residents among the 50 states and DC in 2025, led by Wyoming at 134.2 and Delaware at 56.7; the full ranking of 51 is in the table.

As of · calendar-year 2025 applications per 1,000 residents, all 50 states and DC12

US States by New Business Applications per 1,000 Residents (2025), as of 2026-10-21
Rank State Region Applications per 1,000 residents (2025) Relative to the highest Business applications (2025, count) High-propensity (2025, count) Population (July 1, 2025) Source
1 Wyoming West 134.2 79,023 20,538 588,753 1, 2
2 Delaware South 56.7 60,132 20,799 1,059,952 1, 2
3 Florida South 27.6 647,734 203,472 23,462,518 1, 2
4 Montana West 26.1 29,887 7,871 1,144,694 1, 2
5 Colorado West 23.9 143,807 42,927 6,012,561 1, 2
6 Georgia South 22.5 254,582 70,295 11,302,748 1, 2
7 District of Columbia South 21.5 14,945 4,392 693,645 1, 2
8 Utah West 20.6 72,787 19,512 3,538,904 1, 2
9 Nevada West 19.7 64,781 17,919 3,282,188 1, 2
10 New Mexico West 19.2 40,758 10,535 2,125,498 1, 2
11 Arizona West 17.8 135,679 37,086 7,623,818 1, 2
11 Washington West 17.8 142,196 32,377 8,001,020 1, 2
11 Mississippi South 17.8 52,467 14,086 2,954,160 1, 2
14 Texas South 17.2 544,146 151,016 31,709,821 1, 2
15 South Carolina South 16.9 94,104 24,702 5,570,274 1, 2
15 New Jersey Northeast 16.9 161,138 47,009 9,548,215 1, 2
17 Idaho West 16.4 33,267 10,366 2,029,733 1, 2
17 Louisiana South 16.4 75,620 19,076 4,618,189 1, 2
19 North Carolina South 16.3 182,653 52,053 11,197,968 1, 2
20 Missouri Midwest 16.2 101,393 25,935 6,270,541 1, 2
20 Maryland South 16.2 101,253 29,503 6,265,347 1, 2
22 Virginia South 15.6 138,762 37,970 8,880,107 1, 2
23 New York Northeast 15.1 301,047 118,749 20,002,427 1, 2
24 Michigan Midwest 15.0 152,060 40,017 10,127,884 1, 2
25 Illinois Midwest 14.9 189,879 58,526 12,719,141 1, 2
26 Oregon West 14.7 62,652 17,540 4,273,586 1, 2
27 Alaska West 14.3 10,531 2,890 737,270 1, 2
28 Ohio Midwest 14.1 168,207 42,861 11,900,510 1, 2
28 Tennessee South 14.1 103,220 30,446 7,315,076 1, 2
28 California West 14.1 553,931 215,288 39,355,309 1, 2
31 Kentucky South 13.9 64,042 15,929 4,606,864 1, 2
32 Oklahoma South 13.8 56,855 16,648 4,123,288 1, 2
33 Hawaii West 13.7 19,558 5,809 1,432,820 1, 2
34 Alabama South 13.6 70,466 18,132 5,193,088 1, 2
35 Connecticut Northeast 13.5 49,834 14,600 3,688,496 1, 2
36 South Dakota Midwest 12.9 12,092 3,633 935,094 1, 2
36 Indiana Midwest 12.9 89,768 26,976 6,973,333 1, 2
38 Arkansas South 12.7 39,512 11,688 3,114,791 1, 2
38 Minnesota Midwest 12.7 73,825 22,393 5,830,405 1, 2
40 Kansas Midwest 12.6 37,534 10,894 2,977,220 1, 2
41 Pennsylvania Northeast 12.3 161,275 46,299 13,059,432 1, 2
42 New Hampshire Northeast 12.0 17,046 5,205 1,415,342 1, 2
42 Wisconsin Midwest 12.0 71,475 19,577 5,972,787 1, 2
44 Vermont Northeast 11.8 7,575 2,530 644,663 1, 2
45 Nebraska Midwest 11.3 22,876 6,695 2,018,006 1, 2
46 North Dakota Midwest 11.1 8,912 2,881 799,358 1, 2
46 Massachusetts Northeast 11.1 79,139 29,263 7,154,084 1, 2
48 Iowa Midwest 10.8 35,038 9,812 3,238,387 1, 2
49 Rhode Island Northeast 10.6 11,800 4,090 1,114,521 1, 2
50 Maine Northeast 10.0 14,186 4,979 1,414,874 1, 2
51 West Virginia South 9.3 16,387 5,053 1,766,147 1, 2

Ranked by business applications per 1,000 residents: the 2025 total of Census’s not-seasonally-adjusted monthly Business Applications series for the state, divided by the state’s July 1, 2025 population estimate and multiplied by 1,000. The annual total is our own addition of the twelve monthly values, which the Bureau publishes monthly, not annually; the 51 state totals add up to the series’ own US figure for 2025, 5,671,836.1 Population is the Vintage 2025 estimate for July 1, 2025.2 Business applications are Census’s filtered count of EIN applications on IRS Form SS-4, not a count of businesses started; “high-propensity” applications are the subset whose form shows traits linked to becoming an employer.34 Counts exclude applications with no state-county geocode, among other filters, and Puerto Rico is left out because the population file used covers states and DC; ties share a rank by the rate rounded to one decimal. The figures are as published October 14, 2026 and can change with the annual revision on November 12, 2026.4

The top 10

#1

Wyoming

134.2 per 1,000

Wyoming’s 79,023 applications against 588,753 residents give the highest rate by a wide margin, about 2.4 times the next state on this list. Census’s data don’t say why, and this post doesn’t offer a reason.12

#2

Delaware

56.7 per 1,000

Delaware logged 60,132 applications for 1,059,952 residents, and a high-propensity count of 20,799.12

#3

Florida

27.6 per 1,000

Florida had 647,734 applications, the most of any state, and ranks third per resident.12

#4

Montana

26.1 per 1,000

Montana’s 29,887 applications over 1,144,694 residents put it fourth.12

#5

Colorado

23.9 per 1,000

Colorado counted 143,807 applications, 42,927 of them high-propensity.12

#6

Georgia

22.5 per 1,000

Georgia counted 254,582 applications, 70,295 of them high-propensity.12

#7

District of Columbia

21.5 per 1,000

The District of Columbia counted 14,945 applications for 693,645 residents. Census counts it with the 50 states in these series.12

#8

Utah

20.6 per 1,000

Utah counted 72,787 applications, 19,512 of them high-propensity.12

#9

Nevada

19.7 per 1,000

Nevada counted 64,781 applications for 3,282,188 residents.12

#10

New Mexico

19.2 per 1,000

New Mexico counted 40,758 applications for 2,125,498 residents.12

Sources

  1. U.S. Census Bureau, Business Formation Statistics, monthly data file (bfs_monthly.csv; not seasonally adjusted, series BA_BA and BA_HBA, 2025), retrieved 2026-10-21.
  2. U.S. Census Bureau, Vintage 2025 State Population Totals (NST-EST2025-ALLDATA), POPESTIMATE2025, retrieved 2026-10-21.
  3. U.S. Census Bureau, Business Formation Statistics: Definitions, retrieved 2026-10-19.
  4. U.S. Census Bureau, Business Formation Statistics: Methodology, and release CB26-163 (October 14, 2026), retrieved 2026-10-19.