Data / Rankings / Establishment entry rate / US states

US states by establishment entry rate

Nevada had the highest establishment entry rate of 51 states in 2015, at 12.89%. West Virginia had the lowest, at 7.562%. The median was 9.187% and the figure for the United States was 10.025%. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.

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Highest12.89Nevada
Lowest7.562West Virginia
Median9.18751 states
United States10.025History

Map of states, 2015

Alabama: 8.491 %Alaska: 9.867 %Arizona: 11.035 %Arkansas: 8.52 %California: 11.244 %Colorado: 11.994 %Connecticut: 8.506 %Delaware: 9.99 %District of Columbia: 10.64 %Florida: 12.704 %Georgia: 10.837 %Hawaii: 8.422 %Idaho: 10.746 %Illinois: 9.518 %Indiana: 8.677 %Iowa: 7.743 %Kansas: 8.45 %Kentucky: 8.638 %Louisiana: 8.613 %Maine: 9.031 %Maryland: 9.181 %Massachusetts: 8.756 %Michigan: 9.15 %Minnesota: 8.948 %Mississippi: 7.838 %Missouri: 11.045 %Montana: 9.933 %Nebraska: 8.55 %Nevada: 12.89 %New Hampshire: 8.33 %New Jersey: 9.761 %New Mexico: 9.121 %New York: 10.336 %North Carolina: 9.648 %North Dakota: 9.996 %Ohio: 8.325 %Oklahoma: 9.196 %Oregon: 10.339 %Pennsylvania: 8.184 %Rhode Island: 9.172 %South Carolina: 9.708 %South Dakota: 8.79 %Tennessee: 9.187 %Texas: 10.758 %Utah: 12.187 %Vermont: 7.902 %Virginia: 9.518 %Washington: 10.864 %West Virginia: 7.562 %Wisconsin: 8.077 %Wyoming: 9.877 %
  • Under 8.4
  • 8.4 to 8.7
  • 8.7 to 9.2
  • 9.2 to 9.9
  • 9.9 to 11
  • 11 and over
%, 2015. Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Business Dynamics Statistics: establishment entry rate, all covered industries, nation and states from 1978, counties from 2010. Boundaries: U.S. Census Bureau cartographic boundary files.

All states, 2015

Nevada: 12.89 %Nevada12.89Florida: 12.704 %Florida12.704Utah: 12.187 %Utah12.187Colorado: 11.994 %Colorado11.994California: 11.244 %California11.244Missouri: 11.045 %Missouri11.045Arizona: 11.035 %Arizona11.035Washington: 10.864 %Washington10.864Georgia: 10.837 %Georgia10.837Texas: 10.758 %Texas10.758Idaho: 10.746 %Idaho10.746District of Columbia: 10.64 %District of Columbia10.64Oregon: 10.339 %Oregon10.339New York: 10.336 %New York10.336North Dakota: 9.996 %North Dakota9.996Delaware: 9.99 %Delaware9.99Montana: 9.933 %Montana9.933Wyoming: 9.877 %Wyoming9.877Alaska: 9.867 %Alaska9.867New Jersey: 9.761 %New Jersey9.761South Carolina: 9.708 %South Carolina9.708North Carolina: 9.648 %North Carolina9.648Illinois: 9.518 %Illinois9.518Virginia: 9.518 %Virginia9.518Oklahoma: 9.196 %Oklahoma9.196Tennessee: 9.187 %Tennessee9.187Maryland: 9.181 %Maryland9.181Rhode Island: 9.172 %Rhode Island9.172Michigan: 9.15 %Michigan9.15New Mexico: 9.121 %New Mexico9.121Maine: 9.031 %Maine9.031Minnesota: 8.948 %Minnesota8.948South Dakota: 8.79 %South Dakota8.79Massachusetts: 8.756 %Massachusetts8.756Indiana: 8.677 %Indiana8.677Kentucky: 8.638 %Kentucky8.638Louisiana: 8.613 %Louisiana8.613Nebraska: 8.55 %Nebraska8.55Arkansas: 8.52 %Arkansas8.52Connecticut: 8.506 %Connecticut8.506Alabama: 8.491 %Alabama8.491Kansas: 8.45 %Kansas8.45Hawaii: 8.422 %Hawaii8.422New Hampshire: 8.33 %New Hampshire8.33Ohio: 8.325 %Ohio8.325Pennsylvania: 8.184 %Pennsylvania8.184Wisconsin: 8.077 %Wisconsin8.077Vermont: 7.902 %Vermont7.902Mississippi: 7.838 %Mississippi7.838Iowa: 7.743 %Iowa7.743West Virginia: 7.562 %West Virginia7.562Nevada: 12.89 %Nevada12.89Florida: 12.704 %Florida12.704Utah: 12.187 %Utah12.187Colorado: 11.994 %Colorado11.994California: 11.244 %California11.244Missouri: 11.045 %Missouri11.045Arizona: 11.035 %Arizona11.035Washington: 10.864 %Washington10.864Georgia: 10.837 %Georgia10.837Texas: 10.758 %Texas10.758Idaho: 10.746 %Idaho10.746District of Columbia: 10.64 %District of Columbia10.64Oregon: 10.339 %Oregon10.339New York: 10.336 %New York10.336North Dakota: 9.996 %North Dakota9.996Delaware: 9.99 %Delaware9.99Montana: 9.933 %Montana9.933Wyoming: 9.877 %Wyoming9.877Alaska: 9.867 %Alaska9.867New Jersey: 9.761 %New Jersey9.761South Carolina: 9.708 %South Carolina9.708North Carolina: 9.648 %North Carolina9.648Illinois: 9.518 %Illinois9.518Virginia: 9.518 %Virginia9.518Oklahoma: 9.196 %Oklahoma9.196Tennessee: 9.187 %Tennessee9.187Maryland: 9.181 %Maryland9.181Rhode Island: 9.172 %Rhode Island9.172Michigan: 9.15 %Michigan9.15New Mexico: 9.121 %New Mexico9.121Maine: 9.031 %Maine9.031Minnesota: 8.948 %Minnesota8.948South Dakota: 8.79 %South Dakota8.79Massachusetts: 8.756 %Massachusetts8.756Indiana: 8.677 %Indiana8.677Kentucky: 8.638 %Kentucky8.638Louisiana: 8.613 %Louisiana8.613Nebraska: 8.55 %Nebraska8.55Arkansas: 8.52 %Arkansas8.52Connecticut: 8.506 %Connecticut8.506Alabama: 8.491 %Alabama8.491Kansas: 8.45 %Kansas8.45Hawaii: 8.422 %Hawaii8.422New Hampshire: 8.33 %New Hampshire8.33Ohio: 8.325 %Ohio8.325Pennsylvania: 8.184 %Pennsylvania8.184Wisconsin: 8.077 %Wisconsin8.077Vermont: 7.902 %Vermont7.902Mississippi: 7.838 %Mississippi7.838Iowa: 7.743 %Iowa7.743West Virginia: 7.562 %West Virginia7.562
%. Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Business Dynamics Statistics: establishment entry rate, all covered industries, nation and states from 1978, counties from 2010. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Full ranking

RankStates2015 (%)Change on 2014
1Nevada12.89-0.02 pts
2Florida12.704+0.2 pts
3Utah12.187+0.14 pts
4Colorado11.994+0.21 pts
5California11.244-0.04 pts
6Missouri11.045+0.15 pts
7Arizona11.035-0.18 pts
8Washington10.864+0.42 pts
9Georgia10.837+0.11 pts
10Texas10.758-0.12 pts
11Idaho10.746-0.21 pts
12District of Columbia10.64+0.91 pts
13Oregon10.339+0.29 pts
14New York10.336-0.17 pts
15North Dakota9.996-0.48 pts
16Delaware9.99+0.55 pts
17Montana9.933+0.14 pts
18Wyoming9.877+0.54 pts
19Alaska9.867-0.13 pts
20New Jersey9.761-0.28 pts
21South Carolina9.708+0.47 pts
22North Carolina9.648+0.24 pts
23Illinois9.518+0.14 pts
23Virginia9.518+0.1 pts
25Oklahoma9.196+0.19 pts
26Tennessee9.187+0.26 pts
27Maryland9.181-0.37 pts
28Rhode Island9.172+0.36 pts
29Michigan9.15+0.7 pts
30New Mexico9.121+0.41 pts
31Maine9.031-0 pts
32Minnesota8.948+0.06 pts
33South Dakota8.79+0.8 pts
34Massachusetts8.756+0.1 pts
35Indiana8.677+0.64 pts
36Kentucky8.638-0.62 pts
37Louisiana8.613+0.15 pts
38Nebraska8.55+0.29 pts
39Arkansas8.52+0.36 pts
40Connecticut8.506-0.02 pts
41Alabama8.491+0.38 pts
42Kansas8.45+0.02 pts
43Hawaii8.422-0.06 pts
44New Hampshire8.33-0.22 pts
45Ohio8.325+0.5 pts
46Pennsylvania8.184+0.17 pts
47Wisconsin8.077+0.3 pts
48Vermont7.902-0.15 pts
49Mississippi7.838-0.2 pts
50Iowa7.743+0.58 pts
51West Virginia7.562+0.6 pts

Other periods

About this ranking

Establishments that opened during the year (employees in March of the year and none a year earlier), as a percentage of the average number of establishments in the two years. United States: Census Bureau Business Dynamics Statistics.

An establishment is a single physical location, so a new branch of an existing firm counts as an entry: this is not the rate of new firms. Not comparable with enterprise_birth_rate, which counts new enterprises in Europe. 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: establishment entry rate, all covered industries, nation and states from 1978, counties from 2010. https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/bds/tables/time-series/2023/bds2023_st.csv. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

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: establishment entry rate, all covered industries, nation and states from 1978, counties from 2010 (US states by establishment entry rate, 2015) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/bds/tables/time-series/2023/bds2023_st.csv

MLA 9

Business Dynamics Statistics: establishment entry rate, all covered industries, nation and states from 1978, counties from 2010, US states by establishment entry rate, 2015. U.S. Census Bureau, 25 Sept. 2025, https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/bds/tables/time-series/2023/bds2023_st.csv. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/establishment-entry-rate/us-states?period=2015. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

U.S. Census Bureau. 2025. Business Dynamics Statistics: establishment entry rate, all covered industries, nation and states from 1978, counties from 2010. US states by establishment entry rate, 2015. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/bds/tables/time-series/2023/bds2023_st.csv. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/establishment-entry-rate/us-states?period=2015.

Harvard

U.S. Census Bureau (2025) Business Dynamics Statistics: establishment entry rate, all covered industries, nation and states from 1978, counties from 2010, US states by establishment entry rate, 2015 [Dataset]. Available at: https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/bds/tables/time-series/2023/bds2023_st.csv, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/establishment-entry-rate/us-states?period=2015 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{census_us_states_by_establishment_2015,
  author = {{U.S. Census Bureau}},
  title = {{Business Dynamics Statistics: establishment entry rate, all covered industries, nation and states from 1978, counties from 2010: US states by establishment entry rate, 2015}},
  year = {2025},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/bds/tables/time-series/2023/bds2023_st.csv},
  urldate = {2026-10-12},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/establishment-entry-rate/us-states?period=2015. Publisher attribution: U.S. Census Bureau. Business Dynamics Statistics: establishment entry rate, all covered industries, nation and states from 1978, counties from 2010. https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/bds/tables/time-series/2023/bds2023\_st.csv. Retrieved 2026-10-12.},
}
RIS
TY  - DATA
AU  - U.S. Census Bureau
TI  - Business Dynamics Statistics: establishment entry rate, all covered industries, nation and states from 1978, counties from 2010: US states by establishment entry rate, 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.csv
L2  - https://invokely.ai/rankings/establishment-entry-rate/us-states?period=2015
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/establishment-entry-rate/us-states?period=2015.
N1  - Publisher attribution: U.S. Census Bureau. Business Dynamics Statistics: establishment entry rate, all covered industries, nation and states from 1978, counties from 2010. https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/bds/tables/time-series/2023/bds2023_st.csv. Retrieved 2026-10-12.
ER  -
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Questions

Which state has the highest establishment entry rate?

Nevada, with 12.89% in 2015, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Which state has the lowest establishment entry rate?

West Virginia, with 7.562% 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: establishment entry rate, all covered industries, nation and states from 1978, counties from 2010. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Establishment entry rate: other rankings

US states: more rankings