Data / Rankings / Employer firm births / US states

US states by employer firm births, 2023

California had the highest employer firm births of 51 states in 2023, at 70,055. Vermont had the lowest, at 1,068. The median was 5,829 and the figure for the United States was 508,777. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.

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Highest70,055California
Lowest1,068Vermont
Median5,82951 states
United States508,777History

Map of states, 2023

Alabama: 5,688 countAlaska: 1,222 countArizona: 11,411 countArkansas: 3,866 countCalifornia: 70,055 countColorado: 11,839 countConnecticut: 4,349 countDelaware: 2,248 countDistrict of Columbia: 1,129 countFlorida: 51,518 countGeorgia: 17,841 countHawaii: 1,736 countIdaho: 4,074 countIllinois: 16,056 countIndiana: 8,106 countIowa: 3,717 countKansas: 3,975 countKentucky: 4,803 countLouisiana: 5,480 countMaine: 2,288 countMaryland: 7,811 countMassachusetts: 9,985 countMichigan: 11,814 countMinnesota: 7,296 countMississippi: 3,132 countMissouri: 8,453 countMontana: 2,708 countNebraska: 2,871 countNevada: 5,829 countNew Hampshire: 2,040 countNew Jersey: 14,547 countNew Mexico: 2,617 countNew York: 33,208 countNorth Carolina: 16,322 countNorth Dakota: 1,287 countOhio: 11,994 countOklahoma: 5,463 countOregon: 7,399 countPennsylvania: 14,288 countRhode Island: 1,563 countSouth Carolina: 7,641 countSouth Dakota: 1,605 countTennessee: 8,740 countTexas: 47,108 countUtah: 7,199 countVermont: 1,068 countVirginia: 11,835 countWashington: 12,280 countWest Virginia: 1,532 countWisconsin: 6,856 countWyoming: 1,808 count
  • 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
count, 2023. 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. Boundaries: U.S. Census Bureau cartographic boundary files.

All states, 2023

California: 70,055 countCalifornia70,055Florida: 51,518 countFlorida51,518Texas: 47,108 countTexas47,108New York: 33,208 countNew York33,208Georgia: 17,841 countGeorgia17,841North Carolina: 16,322 countNorth Carolina16,322Illinois: 16,056 countIllinois16,056New Jersey: 14,547 countNew Jersey14,547Pennsylvania: 14,288 countPennsylvania14,288Washington: 12,280 countWashington12,280Ohio: 11,994 countOhio11,994Colorado: 11,839 countColorado11,839Virginia: 11,835 countVirginia11,835Michigan: 11,814 countMichigan11,814Arizona: 11,411 countArizona11,411Massachusetts: 9,985 countMassachusetts9,985Tennessee: 8,740 countTennessee8,740Missouri: 8,453 countMissouri8,453Indiana: 8,106 countIndiana8,106Maryland: 7,811 countMaryland7,811South Carolina: 7,641 countSouth Carolina7,641Oregon: 7,399 countOregon7,399Minnesota: 7,296 countMinnesota7,296Utah: 7,199 countUtah7,199Wisconsin: 6,856 countWisconsin6,856Nevada: 5,829 countNevada5,829Alabama: 5,688 countAlabama5,688Louisiana: 5,480 countLouisiana5,480Oklahoma: 5,463 countOklahoma5,463Kentucky: 4,803 countKentucky4,803Connecticut: 4,349 countConnecticut4,349Idaho: 4,074 countIdaho4,074Kansas: 3,975 countKansas3,975Arkansas: 3,866 countArkansas3,866Iowa: 3,717 countIowa3,717Mississippi: 3,132 countMississippi3,132Nebraska: 2,871 countNebraska2,871Montana: 2,708 countMontana2,708New Mexico: 2,617 countNew Mexico2,617Maine: 2,288 countMaine2,288Delaware: 2,248 countDelaware2,248New Hampshire: 2,040 countNew Hampshire2,040Wyoming: 1,808 countWyoming1,808Hawaii: 1,736 countHawaii1,736South Dakota: 1,605 countSouth Dakota1,605Rhode Island: 1,563 countRhode Island1,563West Virginia: 1,532 countWest Virginia1,532North Dakota: 1,287 countNorth Dakota1,287Alaska: 1,222 countAlaska1,222District of Columbia: 1,129 countDistrict of Columbia1,129Vermont: 1,068 countVermont1,068California: 70,055 countCalifornia70,055Florida: 51,518 countFlorida51,518Texas: 47,108 countTexas47,108New York: 33,208 countNew York33,208Georgia: 17,841 countGeorgia17,841North Carolina: 16,322 countNorth Carolina16,322Illinois: 16,056 countIllinois16,056New Jersey: 14,547 countNew Jersey14,547Pennsylvania: 14,288 countPennsylvania14,288Washington: 12,280 countWashington12,280Ohio: 11,994 countOhio11,994Colorado: 11,839 countColorado11,839Virginia: 11,835 countVirginia11,835Michigan: 11,814 countMichigan11,814Arizona: 11,411 countArizona11,411Massachusetts: 9,985 countMassachusetts9,985Tennessee: 8,740 countTennessee8,740Missouri: 8,453 countMissouri8,453Indiana: 8,106 countIndiana8,106Maryland: 7,811 countMaryland7,811South Carolina: 7,641 countSouth Carolina7,641Oregon: 7,399 countOregon7,399Minnesota: 7,296 countMinnesota7,296Utah: 7,199 countUtah7,199Wisconsin: 6,856 countWisconsin6,856Nevada: 5,829 countNevada5,829Alabama: 5,688 countAlabama5,688Louisiana: 5,480 countLouisiana5,480Oklahoma: 5,463 countOklahoma5,463Kentucky: 4,803 countKentucky4,803Connecticut: 4,349 countConnecticut4,349Idaho: 4,074 countIdaho4,074Kansas: 3,975 countKansas3,975Arkansas: 3,866 countArkansas3,866Iowa: 3,717 countIowa3,717Mississippi: 3,132 countMississippi3,132Nebraska: 2,871 countNebraska2,871Montana: 2,708 countMontana2,708New Mexico: 2,617 countNew Mexico2,617Maine: 2,288 countMaine2,288Delaware: 2,248 countDelaware2,248New Hampshire: 2,040 countNew Hampshire2,040Wyoming: 1,808 countWyoming1,808Hawaii: 1,736 countHawaii1,736South Dakota: 1,605 countSouth Dakota1,605Rhode Island: 1,563 countRhode Island1,563West Virginia: 1,532 countWest Virginia1,532North Dakota: 1,287 countNorth Dakota1,287Alaska: 1,222 countAlaska1,222District of Columbia: 1,129 countDistrict of Columbia1,129Vermont: 1,068 countVermont1,068
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.

Full ranking

RankStates2023
count		Change on 2022
1California70,055-6.1%
2Florida51,518+0.1%
3Texas47,108-0.9%
4New York33,208+0.7%
5Georgia17,841-4.2%
6North Carolina16,322-1.7%
7Illinois16,056-5.6%
8New Jersey14,547-2.3%
9Pennsylvania14,288-6.3%
10Washington12,280-6.2%
11Ohio11,994-1.8%
12Colorado11,839-4.2%
13Virginia11,835-3.3%
14Michigan11,814-1.3%
15Arizona11,411-1.7%
16Massachusetts9,985-1.9%
17Tennessee8,740-0.3%
18Missouri8,453-4.5%
19Indiana8,106-0%
20Maryland7,811-2.4%
21South Carolina7,641-0.6%
22Oregon7,399-3%
23Minnesota7,296-3.4%
24Utah7,199-3.5%
25Wisconsin6,856-0%
26Nevada5,829-6.1%
27Alabama5,688-2.2%
28Louisiana5,480-4%
29Oklahoma5,463+3.4%
30Kentucky4,803+4.8%
31Connecticut4,349-5%
32Idaho4,074-7.5%
33Kansas3,975+5.1%
34Arkansas3,866+2.7%
35Iowa3,717-1.5%
36Mississippi3,132+0.1%
37Nebraska2,871+1.5%
38Montana2,708-0.9%
39New Mexico2,617+7.3%
40Maine2,288-4.3%
41Delaware2,248+4.3%
42New Hampshire2,040-6.3%
43Wyoming1,808+11.6%
44Hawaii1,736-1.9%
45South Dakota1,605-0.1%
46Rhode Island1,563-6.9%
47West Virginia1,532-1.9%
48North Dakota1,287+5.8%
49Alaska1,222+3.4%
50District of Columbia1,129-14.3%
51Vermont1,068-0.6%

Other periods

About this ranking

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.

Every value in the ranking comes from the same publisher and the same period, so the states are compared on one definition. Equal values share a rank.

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 (US states by employer firm births, 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, US states by employer firm births, 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/rankings/employer-firm-births/us-states. 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. US states by employer firm births, 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/rankings/employer-firm-births/us-states.

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, US states by employer firm births, 2023 [Dataset]. Available at: https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/bds/tables/time-series/2023/bds2023_st_fa.csv, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/employer-firm-births/us-states (Accessed: 22 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{census_us_states_by_employer_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: US states by employer firm births, 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/rankings/employer-firm-births/us-states. 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: US states by employer firm births, 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/rankings/employer-firm-births/us-states
Y2  - 2026/10/22
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/employer-firm-births/us-states.
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  -
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Questions

Which state has the highest employer firm births?

California, with 70,055 in 2023, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Which state has the lowest employer firm births?

Vermont, with 1,068 in 2023.

Where does this ranking come from?

Every value comes from one source and one period, so the places are comparable: 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.

Employer firm births: other rankings

US states: more rankings