Employer firm births in Rhode Island

Employer firm births in Rhode Island was 1,563 in 2023, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. That is down 6.9% from 2022. That is the 46th highest of 51 states in 2023.

2023, count1,563

Change on 2022-6.9%

Rank46th of 51US states ranked

Series high2,5681988

Series low1,1932010

Employer firm births in Rhode Island, 1978 to 2023

count. Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Business Dynamics Statistics by firm age: employer firms of age zero, all covered industries, nation, states and counties from 1978. Retrieved 2026-10-22, published 2025-09-25.

All 46 values

Period	count
2023	1,563
2022	1,678
2021	1,426
2020	1,417
2019	1,429
2018	1,373
2017	1,326
2016	1,442
2015	1,343
2014	1,252
2013	1,259
2012	1,303
2011	1,229
2010	1,193
2009	1,198
2008	1,558
2007	1,702
2006	1,916
2005	1,889
2004	2,022
2003	1,774
2002	1,631
2001	1,506
2000	1,574
1999	1,595
1998	1,798
1997	1,845
1996	1,857
1995	1,756
1994	1,850
1993	1,757
1992	1,624
1991	1,688
1990	2,069
1989	2,368
1988	2,568
1987	2,531
1986	2,289
1985	2,081
1984	2,035
1983	1,687
1982	1,492
1981	1,561
1980	1,669
1979	1,843
1978	1,827

Compared with United States

Place	2023
Rhode Island	1,563
United States	508,777

Rhode Island compared with nearby places

Under 1,900
1,900 to 3,800
3,800 to 5,800
5,800 to 8,500
8,500 to 14K
14K and over

Employer firm births, 2023, count. Rhode Island is outlined. Same source and period for every area shown. Source: U.S. Census Bureau. Boundaries: U.S. Census Bureau cartographic boundary files.

Rankings

US states by employer firm births 51 places

Definition

New employer firms: firms of age zero in March of the year, meaning that every establishment of the firm had its first employees during the previous twelve months. United States: Census Bureau Business Dynamics Statistics, which calls these firms startups.

A firm counts only when it has employees, so a business without staff is not a birth, and a new branch, merger or change of ownership of an existing firm is not a birth either. Not the same as business_applications (requests for an employer number) or enterprise_births (European business demography). The year is the twelve months to March: 2023 compares March 2022 with March 2023.

Report a problem with this figure

How to cite

U.S. Census Bureau. Business Dynamics Statistics by firm age: employer firms of age zero, all covered industries, nation, states and counties from 1978. https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/bds/tables/time-series/2023/bds2023_st_fa.csv. Retrieved 2026-10-22.

Citation styles

The publisher is the author. Invokely is named only as the place the figures were read, where a style asks for it.

APA 7

U.S. Census Bureau. (2025). Business Dynamics Statistics by firm age: employer firms of age zero, all covered industries, nation, states and counties from 1978 (Employer firm births, Rhode Island, 1978 to 2023) [Data set]. Retrieved October 22, 2026, from https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/bds/tables/time-series/2023/bds2023_st_fa.csv

MLA 9

Business Dynamics Statistics by firm age: employer firms of age zero, all covered industries, nation, states and counties from 1978, Employer firm births, Rhode Island, 1978 to 2023. U.S. Census Bureau, 25 Sept. 2025, https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/bds/tables/time-series/2023/bds2023_st_fa.csv. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/en/employer-firm-births/rhode-island. Accessed 22 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

U.S. Census Bureau. 2025. Business Dynamics Statistics by firm age: employer firms of age zero, all covered industries, nation, states and counties from 1978. Employer firm births, Rhode Island, 1978 to 2023. Dataset. Accessed October 22, 2026. https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/bds/tables/time-series/2023/bds2023_st_fa.csv. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/en/employer-firm-births/rhode-island.

Harvard

U.S. Census Bureau (2025) Business Dynamics Statistics by firm age: employer firms of age zero, all covered industries, nation, states and counties from 1978, Employer firm births, Rhode Island, 1978 to 2023 [Dataset]. Available at: https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/bds/tables/time-series/2023/bds2023_st_fa.csv, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/en/employer-firm-births/rhode-island (Accessed: 22 October 2026).

BibTeX

@misc{census_employer_firm_births_rhode_2023,
  author = {{U.S. Census Bureau}},
  title = {{Business Dynamics Statistics by firm age: employer firms of age zero, all covered industries, nation, states and counties from 1978: Employer firm births, Rhode Island, 1978 to 2023}},
  year = {2025},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/bds/tables/time-series/2023/bds2023_st_fa.csv},
  urldate = {2026-10-22},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/en/employer-firm-births/rhode-island. Publisher attribution: U.S. Census Bureau. Business Dynamics Statistics by firm age: employer firms of age zero, all covered industries, nation, states and counties from 1978. https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/bds/tables/time-series/2023/bds2023\_st\_fa.csv. Retrieved 2026-10-22.},
}

RIS

TY  - DATA
AU  - U.S. Census Bureau
TI  - Business Dynamics Statistics by firm age: employer firms of age zero, all covered industries, nation, states and counties from 1978: Employer firm births, Rhode Island, 1978 to 2023
PY  - 2025
DA  - 2025/09/25
PB  - U.S. Census Bureau
DB  - Invokely
UR  - https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/bds/tables/time-series/2023/bds2023_st_fa.csv
L2  - https://invokely.ai/en/employer-firm-births/rhode-island
Y2  - 2026/10/22
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/en/employer-firm-births/rhode-island.
N1  - Publisher attribution: U.S. Census Bureau. Business Dynamics Statistics by firm age: employer firms of age zero, all covered industries, nation, states and counties from 1978. https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/bds/tables/time-series/2023/bds2023_st_fa.csv. Retrieved 2026-10-22.
ER  -

Embed this chart

Paste this code into a web page or a blog post. The chart shows the latest figures as they are published, with the source and a link back to this page.

Embed code

<iframe src="https://invokely.ai/embed/employer-firm-births/rhode-island" width="760" height="440" title="Employer firm births, Rhode Island, chart from Invokely" loading="lazy" style="border:0;width:100%;max-width:760px" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin"></iframe>

Sites that read oEmbed links, such as WordPress, can show the chart when you paste the link to this page.

Use this data in your AI agent

Invokely serves this figure to AI assistants through MCP and to code through a REST API, with the source and citation attached. Ask your assistant:

What is the latest employer firm births in Rhode Island? Cite the source.

get_value {"indicator":"employer_firm_births","place":"us-state-44"}
GET https://invokely.ai/api/v1/value?indicator=employer_firm_births&place=us-state-44

Connect Claude, ChatGPT or Cursor in one step. The trial answers 25 calls a day without an account.

Questions

What is the employer firm births in Rhode Island?

Employer firm births in Rhode Island was 1,563 in 2023, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. That is down 6.9% from 2022. That is the 46th highest of 51 states in 2023.

Where does this figure come from?

U.S. Census Bureau. Business Dynamics Statistics by firm age: employer firms of age zero, all covered industries, nation, states and counties from 1978. Retrieved by Invokely on 2026-10-22.

What was the highest employer firm births in Rhode Island?

2,568 in 1988, the highest value since 1978 in this series.

Employer firm births elsewhere in United States

Related statistics for Rhode Island

All statistics for Rhode Island | Rhode Island in figures