Data / Rankings / Employer firm births / US states

US states by employer firm births

California had the highest employer firm births of 51 states in 2014, at 56,514. Vermont had the lowest, at 910. The median was 4,814 and the figure for the United States was 411,948. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.

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Highest56,514California
Lowest910Vermont
Median4,81451 states
United States411,948History

Map of states, 2014

Alabama: 4,293 countAlaska: 964 countArizona: 7,833 countArkansas: 3,018 countCalifornia: 56,514 countColorado: 9,883 countConnecticut: 3,915 countDelaware: 1,211 countDistrict of Columbia: 1,042 countFlorida: 37,082 countGeorgia: 12,615 countHawaii: 1,448 countIdaho: 2,595 countIllinois: 15,250 countIndiana: 6,038 countIowa: 3,063 countKansas: 3,344 countKentucky: 4,714 countLouisiana: 4,862 countMaine: 1,799 countMaryland: 6,665 countMassachusetts: 8,130 countMichigan: 9,934 countMinnesota: 6,489 countMississippi: 2,612 countMissouri: 9,993 countMontana: 1,865 countNebraska: 2,359 countNevada: 4,520 countNew Hampshire: 1,605 countNew Jersey: 13,058 countNew Mexico: 2,010 countNew York: 34,072 countNorth Carolina: 11,300 countNorth Dakota: 1,439 countOhio: 9,688 countOklahoma: 4,814 countOregon: 6,101 countPennsylvania: 12,643 countRhode Island: 1,252 countSouth Carolina: 5,258 countSouth Dakota: 1,223 countTennessee: 6,196 countTexas: 34,408 countUtah: 4,787 countVermont: 910 countVirginia: 9,780 countWashington: 10,328 countWest Virginia: 1,278 countWisconsin: 5,659 countWyoming: 1,011 count
  • Under 1,400
  • 1,400 to 2,900
  • 2,900 to 4,800
  • 4,800 to 7,100
  • 7,100 to 11K
  • 11K and over
count, 2014. 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, 2014

California: 56,514 countCalifornia56,514Florida: 37,082 countFlorida37,082Texas: 34,408 countTexas34,408New York: 34,072 countNew York34,072Illinois: 15,250 countIllinois15,250New Jersey: 13,058 countNew Jersey13,058Pennsylvania: 12,643 countPennsylvania12,643Georgia: 12,615 countGeorgia12,615North Carolina: 11,300 countNorth Carolina11,300Washington: 10,328 countWashington10,328Missouri: 9,993 countMissouri9,993Michigan: 9,934 countMichigan9,934Colorado: 9,883 countColorado9,883Virginia: 9,780 countVirginia9,780Ohio: 9,688 countOhio9,688Massachusetts: 8,130 countMassachusetts8,130Arizona: 7,833 countArizona7,833Maryland: 6,665 countMaryland6,665Minnesota: 6,489 countMinnesota6,489Tennessee: 6,196 countTennessee6,196Oregon: 6,101 countOregon6,101Indiana: 6,038 countIndiana6,038Wisconsin: 5,659 countWisconsin5,659South Carolina: 5,258 countSouth Carolina5,258Louisiana: 4,862 countLouisiana4,862Oklahoma: 4,814 countOklahoma4,814Utah: 4,787 countUtah4,787Kentucky: 4,714 countKentucky4,714Nevada: 4,520 countNevada4,520Alabama: 4,293 countAlabama4,293Connecticut: 3,915 countConnecticut3,915Kansas: 3,344 countKansas3,344Iowa: 3,063 countIowa3,063Arkansas: 3,018 countArkansas3,018Mississippi: 2,612 countMississippi2,612Idaho: 2,595 countIdaho2,595Nebraska: 2,359 countNebraska2,359New Mexico: 2,010 countNew Mexico2,010Montana: 1,865 countMontana1,865Maine: 1,799 countMaine1,799New Hampshire: 1,605 countNew Hampshire1,605Hawaii: 1,448 countHawaii1,448North Dakota: 1,439 countNorth Dakota1,439West Virginia: 1,278 countWest Virginia1,278Rhode Island: 1,252 countRhode Island1,252South Dakota: 1,223 countSouth Dakota1,223Delaware: 1,211 countDelaware1,211District of Columbia: 1,042 countDistrict of Columbia1,042Wyoming: 1,011 countWyoming1,011Alaska: 964 countAlaska964Vermont: 910 countVermont910California: 56,514 countCalifornia56,514Florida: 37,082 countFlorida37,082Texas: 34,408 countTexas34,408New York: 34,072 countNew York34,072Illinois: 15,250 countIllinois15,250New Jersey: 13,058 countNew Jersey13,058Pennsylvania: 12,643 countPennsylvania12,643Georgia: 12,615 countGeorgia12,615North Carolina: 11,300 countNorth Carolina11,300Washington: 10,328 countWashington10,328Missouri: 9,993 countMissouri9,993Michigan: 9,934 countMichigan9,934Colorado: 9,883 countColorado9,883Virginia: 9,780 countVirginia9,780Ohio: 9,688 countOhio9,688Massachusetts: 8,130 countMassachusetts8,130Arizona: 7,833 countArizona7,833Maryland: 6,665 countMaryland6,665Minnesota: 6,489 countMinnesota6,489Tennessee: 6,196 countTennessee6,196Oregon: 6,101 countOregon6,101Indiana: 6,038 countIndiana6,038Wisconsin: 5,659 countWisconsin5,659South Carolina: 5,258 countSouth Carolina5,258Louisiana: 4,862 countLouisiana4,862Oklahoma: 4,814 countOklahoma4,814Utah: 4,787 countUtah4,787Kentucky: 4,714 countKentucky4,714Nevada: 4,520 countNevada4,520Alabama: 4,293 countAlabama4,293Connecticut: 3,915 countConnecticut3,915Kansas: 3,344 countKansas3,344Iowa: 3,063 countIowa3,063Arkansas: 3,018 countArkansas3,018Mississippi: 2,612 countMississippi2,612Idaho: 2,595 countIdaho2,595Nebraska: 2,359 countNebraska2,359New Mexico: 2,010 countNew Mexico2,010Montana: 1,865 countMontana1,865Maine: 1,799 countMaine1,799New Hampshire: 1,605 countNew Hampshire1,605Hawaii: 1,448 countHawaii1,448North Dakota: 1,439 countNorth Dakota1,439West Virginia: 1,278 countWest Virginia1,278Rhode Island: 1,252 countRhode Island1,252South Dakota: 1,223 countSouth Dakota1,223Delaware: 1,211 countDelaware1,211District of Columbia: 1,042 countDistrict of Columbia1,042Wyoming: 1,011 countWyoming1,011Alaska: 964 countAlaska964Vermont: 910 countVermont910
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

RankStates2014
count		Change on 2013
1California56,514+5.5%
2Florida37,082+0.7%
3Texas34,408+2.3%
4New York34,072+0.5%
5Illinois15,250-3%
6New Jersey13,058-0.3%
7Pennsylvania12,643+0.1%
8Georgia12,615+1%
9North Carolina11,300+1.6%
10Washington10,328+3.4%
11Missouri9,993+10.1%
12Michigan9,934-0.3%
13Colorado9,883+4.6%
14Virginia9,780+0.7%
15Ohio9,688-2.5%
16Massachusetts8,130+0.3%
17Arizona7,833+0.7%
18Maryland6,665+2.2%
19Minnesota6,489+3.7%
20Tennessee6,196-2.7%
21Oregon6,101+5.9%
22Indiana6,038-2.3%
23Wisconsin5,659+2.1%
24South Carolina5,258+5.4%
25Louisiana4,862-1.9%
26Oklahoma4,8140%
27Utah4,787+2.2%
28Kentucky4,714+7.6%
29Nevada4,520+5.3%
30Alabama4,293-2.5%
31Connecticut3,915-5.1%
32Kansas3,344+3.6%
33Iowa3,063-0.7%
34Arkansas3,018-5.7%
35Mississippi2,612+0.3%
36Idaho2,595+10.2%
37Nebraska2,359+3.1%
38New Mexico2,010-5.1%
39Montana1,865-0.1%
40Maine1,799+6.1%
41New Hampshire1,605+0.5%
42Hawaii1,448+4.4%
43North Dakota1,439-3.9%
44West Virginia1,278-2.1%
45Rhode Island1,252-0.6%
46South Dakota1,223+1.2%
47Delaware1,211+6.1%
48District of Columbia1,042-0.3%
49Wyoming1,011-7.7%
50Alaska964+0.1%
51Vermont910+9.2%

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, 2014) [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, 2014. 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?period=2014. 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, 2014. 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?period=2014.

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, 2014 [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?period=2014 (Accessed: 22 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{census_us_states_by_employer_2014,
  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, 2014}},
  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?period=2014. 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, 2014
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?period=2014
Y2  - 2026/10/22
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/employer-firm-births/us-states?period=2014.
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 56,514 in 2014, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Which state has the lowest employer firm births?

Vermont, with 910 in 2014.

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