Data / Rankings / Employer firm births / US states

US states by employer firm births

California had the highest employer firm births of 51 states in 2015, at 57,849. Vermont had the lowest, at 855. The median was 4,894 and the figure for the United States was 421,155. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.

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Highest57,849California
Lowest855Vermont
Median4,89451 states
United States421,155History

Map of states, 2015

Alabama: 4,369 countAlaska: 985 countArizona: 8,076 countArkansas: 3,066 countCalifornia: 57,849 countColorado: 10,469 countConnecticut: 3,825 countDelaware: 1,234 countDistrict of Columbia: 1,110 countFlorida: 39,027 countGeorgia: 13,224 countHawaii: 1,502 countIdaho: 2,630 countIllinois: 15,676 countIndiana: 6,085 countIowa: 3,235 countKansas: 3,292 countKentucky: 4,128 countLouisiana: 4,894 countMaine: 1,816 countMaryland: 6,644 countMassachusetts: 8,056 countMichigan: 10,449 countMinnesota: 6,610 countMississippi: 2,658 countMissouri: 10,258 countMontana: 1,965 countNebraska: 2,393 countNevada: 4,600 countNew Hampshire: 1,629 countNew Jersey: 12,690 countNew Mexico: 2,077 countNew York: 33,694 countNorth Carolina: 11,644 countNorth Dakota: 1,432 countOhio: 9,862 countOklahoma: 4,786 countOregon: 6,312 countPennsylvania: 12,544 countRhode Island: 1,343 countSouth Carolina: 5,565 countSouth Dakota: 1,311 countTennessee: 6,466 countTexas: 35,485 countUtah: 4,926 countVermont: 855 countVirginia: 10,095 countWashington: 10,928 countWest Virginia: 1,368 countWisconsin: 5,812 countWyoming: 1,183 count
  • Under 1,500
  • 1,500 to 2,900
  • 2,900 to 4,900
  • 4,900 to 7,100
  • 7,100 to 11K
  • 11K and over
count, 2015. 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, 2015

California: 57,849 countCalifornia57,849Florida: 39,027 countFlorida39,027Texas: 35,485 countTexas35,485New York: 33,694 countNew York33,694Illinois: 15,676 countIllinois15,676Georgia: 13,224 countGeorgia13,224New Jersey: 12,690 countNew Jersey12,690Pennsylvania: 12,544 countPennsylvania12,544North Carolina: 11,644 countNorth Carolina11,644Washington: 10,928 countWashington10,928Colorado: 10,469 countColorado10,469Michigan: 10,449 countMichigan10,449Missouri: 10,258 countMissouri10,258Virginia: 10,095 countVirginia10,095Ohio: 9,862 countOhio9,862Arizona: 8,076 countArizona8,076Massachusetts: 8,056 countMassachusetts8,056Maryland: 6,644 countMaryland6,644Minnesota: 6,610 countMinnesota6,610Tennessee: 6,466 countTennessee6,466Oregon: 6,312 countOregon6,312Indiana: 6,085 countIndiana6,085Wisconsin: 5,812 countWisconsin5,812South Carolina: 5,565 countSouth Carolina5,565Utah: 4,926 countUtah4,926Louisiana: 4,894 countLouisiana4,894Oklahoma: 4,786 countOklahoma4,786Nevada: 4,600 countNevada4,600Alabama: 4,369 countAlabama4,369Kentucky: 4,128 countKentucky4,128Connecticut: 3,825 countConnecticut3,825Kansas: 3,292 countKansas3,292Iowa: 3,235 countIowa3,235Arkansas: 3,066 countArkansas3,066Mississippi: 2,658 countMississippi2,658Idaho: 2,630 countIdaho2,630Nebraska: 2,393 countNebraska2,393New Mexico: 2,077 countNew Mexico2,077Montana: 1,965 countMontana1,965Maine: 1,816 countMaine1,816New Hampshire: 1,629 countNew Hampshire1,629Hawaii: 1,502 countHawaii1,502North Dakota: 1,432 countNorth Dakota1,432West Virginia: 1,368 countWest Virginia1,368Rhode Island: 1,343 countRhode Island1,343South Dakota: 1,311 countSouth Dakota1,311Delaware: 1,234 countDelaware1,234Wyoming: 1,183 countWyoming1,183District of Columbia: 1,110 countDistrict of Columbia1,110Alaska: 985 countAlaska985Vermont: 855 countVermont855California: 57,849 countCalifornia57,849Florida: 39,027 countFlorida39,027Texas: 35,485 countTexas35,485New York: 33,694 countNew York33,694Illinois: 15,676 countIllinois15,676Georgia: 13,224 countGeorgia13,224New Jersey: 12,690 countNew Jersey12,690Pennsylvania: 12,544 countPennsylvania12,544North Carolina: 11,644 countNorth Carolina11,644Washington: 10,928 countWashington10,928Colorado: 10,469 countColorado10,469Michigan: 10,449 countMichigan10,449Missouri: 10,258 countMissouri10,258Virginia: 10,095 countVirginia10,095Ohio: 9,862 countOhio9,862Arizona: 8,076 countArizona8,076Massachusetts: 8,056 countMassachusetts8,056Maryland: 6,644 countMaryland6,644Minnesota: 6,610 countMinnesota6,610Tennessee: 6,466 countTennessee6,466Oregon: 6,312 countOregon6,312Indiana: 6,085 countIndiana6,085Wisconsin: 5,812 countWisconsin5,812South Carolina: 5,565 countSouth Carolina5,565Utah: 4,926 countUtah4,926Louisiana: 4,894 countLouisiana4,894Oklahoma: 4,786 countOklahoma4,786Nevada: 4,600 countNevada4,600Alabama: 4,369 countAlabama4,369Kentucky: 4,128 countKentucky4,128Connecticut: 3,825 countConnecticut3,825Kansas: 3,292 countKansas3,292Iowa: 3,235 countIowa3,235Arkansas: 3,066 countArkansas3,066Mississippi: 2,658 countMississippi2,658Idaho: 2,630 countIdaho2,630Nebraska: 2,393 countNebraska2,393New Mexico: 2,077 countNew Mexico2,077Montana: 1,965 countMontana1,965Maine: 1,816 countMaine1,816New Hampshire: 1,629 countNew Hampshire1,629Hawaii: 1,502 countHawaii1,502North Dakota: 1,432 countNorth Dakota1,432West Virginia: 1,368 countWest Virginia1,368Rhode Island: 1,343 countRhode Island1,343South Dakota: 1,311 countSouth Dakota1,311Delaware: 1,234 countDelaware1,234Wyoming: 1,183 countWyoming1,183District of Columbia: 1,110 countDistrict of Columbia1,110Alaska: 985 countAlaska985Vermont: 855 countVermont855
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

RankStates2015
count		Change on 2014
1California57,849+2.4%
2Florida39,027+5.2%
3Texas35,485+3.1%
4New York33,694-1.1%
5Illinois15,676+2.8%
6Georgia13,224+4.8%
7New Jersey12,690-2.8%
8Pennsylvania12,544-0.8%
9North Carolina11,644+3%
10Washington10,928+5.8%
11Colorado10,469+5.9%
12Michigan10,449+5.2%
13Missouri10,258+2.7%
14Virginia10,095+3.2%
15Ohio9,862+1.8%
16Arizona8,076+3.1%
17Massachusetts8,056-0.9%
18Maryland6,644-0.3%
19Minnesota6,610+1.9%
20Tennessee6,466+4.4%
21Oregon6,312+3.5%
22Indiana6,085+0.8%
23Wisconsin5,812+2.7%
24South Carolina5,565+5.8%
25Utah4,926+2.9%
26Louisiana4,894+0.7%
27Oklahoma4,786-0.6%
28Nevada4,600+1.8%
29Alabama4,369+1.8%
30Kentucky4,128-12.4%
31Connecticut3,825-2.3%
32Kansas3,292-1.6%
33Iowa3,235+5.6%
34Arkansas3,066+1.6%
35Mississippi2,658+1.8%
36Idaho2,630+1.3%
37Nebraska2,393+1.4%
38New Mexico2,077+3.3%
39Montana1,965+5.4%
40Maine1,816+0.9%
41New Hampshire1,629+1.5%
42Hawaii1,502+3.7%
43North Dakota1,432-0.5%
44West Virginia1,368+7%
45Rhode Island1,343+7.3%
46South Dakota1,311+7.2%
47Delaware1,234+1.9%
48Wyoming1,183+17%
49District of Columbia1,110+6.5%
50Alaska985+2.2%
51Vermont855-6%

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, 2015) [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, 2015. 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=2015. 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, 2015. 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=2015.

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, 2015 [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=2015 (Accessed: 22 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{census_us_states_by_employer_2015,
  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, 2015}},
  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=2015. 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, 2015
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=2015
Y2  - 2026/10/22
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/employer-firm-births/us-states?period=2015.
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 57,849 in 2015, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Which state has the lowest employer firm births?

Vermont, with 855 in 2015.

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