Data / Rankings / Employer firm births / US states

US states by employer firm births

California had the highest employer firm births of 51 states in 2020, at 69,797. Vermont had the lowest, at 904. The median was 4,981 and the figure for the United States was 455,725. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.

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Highest69,797California
Lowest904Vermont
Median4,98151 states
United States455,725History

Map of states, 2020

Alabama: 4,621 countAlaska: 1,018 countArizona: 9,272 countArkansas: 3,361 countCalifornia: 69,797 countColorado: 11,380 countConnecticut: 3,999 countDelaware: 2,204 countDistrict of Columbia: 1,171 countFlorida: 42,833 countGeorgia: 15,220 countHawaii: 1,564 countIdaho: 3,659 countIllinois: 15,272 countIndiana: 6,583 countIowa: 3,481 countKansas: 3,312 countKentucky: 3,963 countLouisiana: 4,847 countMaine: 2,046 countMaryland: 7,032 countMassachusetts: 9,081 countMichigan: 10,484 countMinnesota: 6,659 countMississippi: 2,734 countMissouri: 8,036 countMontana: 2,312 countNebraska: 2,496 countNevada: 4,946 countNew Hampshire: 1,817 countNew Jersey: 12,844 countNew Mexico: 2,122 countNew York: 32,021 countNorth Carolina: 13,736 countNorth Dakota: 1,078 countOhio: 10,347 countOklahoma: 4,981 countOregon: 6,886 countPennsylvania: 13,495 countRhode Island: 1,417 countSouth Carolina: 6,305 countSouth Dakota: 1,340 countTennessee: 7,419 countTexas: 39,999 countUtah: 6,133 countVermont: 904 countVirginia: 10,553 countWashington: 11,561 countWest Virginia: 1,247 countWisconsin: 5,931 countWyoming: 1,440 count
  • Under 1,600
  • 1,600 to 3,300
  • 3,300 to 5,000
  • 5,000 to 7,600
  • 7,600 to 12K
  • 12K and over
count, 2020. 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, 2020

California: 69,797 countCalifornia69,797Florida: 42,833 countFlorida42,833Texas: 39,999 countTexas39,999New York: 32,021 countNew York32,021Illinois: 15,272 countIllinois15,272Georgia: 15,220 countGeorgia15,220North Carolina: 13,736 countNorth Carolina13,736Pennsylvania: 13,495 countPennsylvania13,495New Jersey: 12,844 countNew Jersey12,844Washington: 11,561 countWashington11,561Colorado: 11,380 countColorado11,380Virginia: 10,553 countVirginia10,553Michigan: 10,484 countMichigan10,484Ohio: 10,347 countOhio10,347Arizona: 9,272 countArizona9,272Massachusetts: 9,081 countMassachusetts9,081Missouri: 8,036 countMissouri8,036Tennessee: 7,419 countTennessee7,419Maryland: 7,032 countMaryland7,032Oregon: 6,886 countOregon6,886Minnesota: 6,659 countMinnesota6,659Indiana: 6,583 countIndiana6,583South Carolina: 6,305 countSouth Carolina6,305Utah: 6,133 countUtah6,133Wisconsin: 5,931 countWisconsin5,931Oklahoma: 4,981 countOklahoma4,981Nevada: 4,946 countNevada4,946Louisiana: 4,847 countLouisiana4,847Alabama: 4,621 countAlabama4,621Connecticut: 3,999 countConnecticut3,999Kentucky: 3,963 countKentucky3,963Idaho: 3,659 countIdaho3,659Iowa: 3,481 countIowa3,481Arkansas: 3,361 countArkansas3,361Kansas: 3,312 countKansas3,312Mississippi: 2,734 countMississippi2,734Nebraska: 2,496 countNebraska2,496Montana: 2,312 countMontana2,312Delaware: 2,204 countDelaware2,204New Mexico: 2,122 countNew Mexico2,122Maine: 2,046 countMaine2,046New Hampshire: 1,817 countNew Hampshire1,817Hawaii: 1,564 countHawaii1,564Wyoming: 1,440 countWyoming1,440Rhode Island: 1,417 countRhode Island1,417South Dakota: 1,340 countSouth Dakota1,340West Virginia: 1,247 countWest Virginia1,247District of Columbia: 1,171 countDistrict of Columbia1,171North Dakota: 1,078 countNorth Dakota1,078Alaska: 1,018 countAlaska1,018Vermont: 904 countVermont904California: 69,797 countCalifornia69,797Florida: 42,833 countFlorida42,833Texas: 39,999 countTexas39,999New York: 32,021 countNew York32,021Illinois: 15,272 countIllinois15,272Georgia: 15,220 countGeorgia15,220North Carolina: 13,736 countNorth Carolina13,736Pennsylvania: 13,495 countPennsylvania13,495New Jersey: 12,844 countNew Jersey12,844Washington: 11,561 countWashington11,561Colorado: 11,380 countColorado11,380Virginia: 10,553 countVirginia10,553Michigan: 10,484 countMichigan10,484Ohio: 10,347 countOhio10,347Arizona: 9,272 countArizona9,272Massachusetts: 9,081 countMassachusetts9,081Missouri: 8,036 countMissouri8,036Tennessee: 7,419 countTennessee7,419Maryland: 7,032 countMaryland7,032Oregon: 6,886 countOregon6,886Minnesota: 6,659 countMinnesota6,659Indiana: 6,583 countIndiana6,583South Carolina: 6,305 countSouth Carolina6,305Utah: 6,133 countUtah6,133Wisconsin: 5,931 countWisconsin5,931Oklahoma: 4,981 countOklahoma4,981Nevada: 4,946 countNevada4,946Louisiana: 4,847 countLouisiana4,847Alabama: 4,621 countAlabama4,621Connecticut: 3,999 countConnecticut3,999Kentucky: 3,963 countKentucky3,963Idaho: 3,659 countIdaho3,659Iowa: 3,481 countIowa3,481Arkansas: 3,361 countArkansas3,361Kansas: 3,312 countKansas3,312Mississippi: 2,734 countMississippi2,734Nebraska: 2,496 countNebraska2,496Montana: 2,312 countMontana2,312Delaware: 2,204 countDelaware2,204New Mexico: 2,122 countNew Mexico2,122Maine: 2,046 countMaine2,046New Hampshire: 1,817 countNew Hampshire1,817Hawaii: 1,564 countHawaii1,564Wyoming: 1,440 countWyoming1,440Rhode Island: 1,417 countRhode Island1,417South Dakota: 1,340 countSouth Dakota1,340West Virginia: 1,247 countWest Virginia1,247District of Columbia: 1,171 countDistrict of Columbia1,171North Dakota: 1,078 countNorth Dakota1,078Alaska: 1,018 countAlaska1,018Vermont: 904 countVermont904
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

RankStates2020
count		Change on 2019
1California69,797+8.2%
2Florida42,8330%
3Texas39,999-0.2%
4New York32,021-3%
5Illinois15,272-2.7%
6Georgia15,220+2.3%
7North Carolina13,736+2%
8Pennsylvania13,495-0.2%
9New Jersey12,844-4.1%
10Washington11,561-3.5%
11Colorado11,380-1.7%
12Virginia10,553-0.9%
13Michigan10,484+2.7%
14Ohio10,347-1%
15Arizona9,272+2.2%
16Massachusetts9,081+0.7%
17Missouri8,036-11%
18Tennessee7,419+4.6%
19Maryland7,032+0.7%
20Oregon6,886-2.7%
21Minnesota6,659+0.7%
22Indiana6,583+1.7%
23South Carolina6,305-0.2%
24Utah6,133+2.4%
25Wisconsin5,931-1.3%
26Oklahoma4,981-0.3%
27Nevada4,946-0.9%
28Louisiana4,847-6.2%
29Alabama4,621-3.6%
30Connecticut3,999-1.4%
31Kentucky3,963-6.2%
32Idaho3,6590%
33Iowa3,481+1.8%
34Arkansas3,361+1.2%
35Kansas3,312-2.6%
36Mississippi2,734+2.2%
37Nebraska2,496+5.4%
38Montana2,312+7.6%
39Delaware2,204+49.5%
40New Mexico2,122-2.2%
41Maine2,046+2.9%
42New Hampshire1,817-2.4%
43Hawaii1,564-5.8%
44Wyoming1,440+13.2%
45Rhode Island1,417-0.8%
46South Dakota1,340+4.4%
47West Virginia1,247-10.4%
48District of Columbia1,171-1.3%
49North Dakota1,078-1.7%
50Alaska1,018+6.5%
51Vermont904+4.3%

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, 2020) [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, 2020. 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=2020. 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, 2020. 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=2020.

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, 2020 [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=2020 (Accessed: 22 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{census_us_states_by_employer_2020,
  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, 2020}},
  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=2020. 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, 2020
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=2020
Y2  - 2026/10/22
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/employer-firm-births/us-states?period=2020.
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 69,797 in 2020, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Which state has the lowest employer firm births?

Vermont, with 904 in 2020.

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