Data / Rankings / Establishment entry rate / US states

US states by establishment entry rate

Florida had the highest establishment entry rate of 51 states in 2021, at 14.584%. West Virginia had the lowest, at 7.932%. The median was 9.911% and the figure for the United States was 10.845%. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.

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Highest14.584Florida
Lowest7.932West Virginia
Median9.91151 states
United States10.845History

Map of states, 2021

Alabama: 9.423 %Alaska: 10.826 %Arizona: 12.427 %Arkansas: 9.606 %California: 11.835 %Colorado: 12.763 %Connecticut: 9.18 %Delaware: 11.903 %District of Columbia: 10.406 %Florida: 14.584 %Georgia: 13.12 %Hawaii: 8.618 %Idaho: 12.852 %Illinois: 10.031 %Indiana: 9.094 %Iowa: 8.382 %Kansas: 8.981 %Kentucky: 9.113 %Louisiana: 9.349 %Maine: 9.818 %Maryland: 9.991 %Massachusetts: 8.952 %Michigan: 10.141 %Minnesota: 9.233 %Mississippi: 9.087 %Missouri: 9.911 %Montana: 11.309 %Nebraska: 8.939 %Nevada: 13.694 %New Hampshire: 8.837 %New Jersey: 10.26 %New Mexico: 9.363 %New York: 10.279 %North Carolina: 11.092 %North Dakota: 8.65 %Ohio: 8.954 %Oklahoma: 9.844 %Oregon: 10.159 %Pennsylvania: 8.78 %Rhode Island: 9.215 %South Carolina: 10.884 %South Dakota: 8.989 %Tennessee: 10.473 %Texas: 11.851 %Utah: 14.13 %Vermont: 8.41 %Virginia: 10.032 %Washington: 11.315 %West Virginia: 7.932 %Wisconsin: 8.319 %Wyoming: 12.044 %
  • Under 8.9
  • 8.9 to 9.2
  • 9.2 to 9.9
  • 9.9 to 10
  • 10 to 12
  • 12 and over
%, 2021. 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, 2021

Florida: 14.584 %Florida14.584Utah: 14.13 %Utah14.13Nevada: 13.694 %Nevada13.694Georgia: 13.12 %Georgia13.12Idaho: 12.852 %Idaho12.852Colorado: 12.763 %Colorado12.763Arizona: 12.427 %Arizona12.427Wyoming: 12.044 %Wyoming12.044Delaware: 11.903 %Delaware11.903Texas: 11.851 %Texas11.851California: 11.835 %California11.835Washington: 11.315 %Washington11.315Montana: 11.309 %Montana11.309North Carolina: 11.092 %North Carolina11.092South Carolina: 10.884 %South Carolina10.884Alaska: 10.826 %Alaska10.826Tennessee: 10.473 %Tennessee10.473District of Columbia: 10.406 %District of Columbia10.406New York: 10.279 %New York10.279New Jersey: 10.26 %New Jersey10.26Oregon: 10.159 %Oregon10.159Michigan: 10.141 %Michigan10.141Virginia: 10.032 %Virginia10.032Illinois: 10.031 %Illinois10.031Maryland: 9.991 %Maryland9.991Missouri: 9.911 %Missouri9.911Oklahoma: 9.844 %Oklahoma9.844Maine: 9.818 %Maine9.818Arkansas: 9.606 %Arkansas9.606Alabama: 9.423 %Alabama9.423New Mexico: 9.363 %New Mexico9.363Louisiana: 9.349 %Louisiana9.349Minnesota: 9.233 %Minnesota9.233Rhode Island: 9.215 %Rhode Island9.215Connecticut: 9.18 %Connecticut9.18Kentucky: 9.113 %Kentucky9.113Indiana: 9.094 %Indiana9.094Mississippi: 9.087 %Mississippi9.087South Dakota: 8.989 %South Dakota8.989Kansas: 8.981 %Kansas8.981Ohio: 8.954 %Ohio8.954Massachusetts: 8.952 %Massachusetts8.952Nebraska: 8.939 %Nebraska8.939New Hampshire: 8.837 %New Hampshire8.837Pennsylvania: 8.78 %Pennsylvania8.78North Dakota: 8.65 %North Dakota8.65Hawaii: 8.618 %Hawaii8.618Vermont: 8.41 %Vermont8.41Iowa: 8.382 %Iowa8.382Wisconsin: 8.319 %Wisconsin8.319West Virginia: 7.932 %West Virginia7.932Florida: 14.584 %Florida14.584Utah: 14.13 %Utah14.13Nevada: 13.694 %Nevada13.694Georgia: 13.12 %Georgia13.12Idaho: 12.852 %Idaho12.852Colorado: 12.763 %Colorado12.763Arizona: 12.427 %Arizona12.427Wyoming: 12.044 %Wyoming12.044Delaware: 11.903 %Delaware11.903Texas: 11.851 %Texas11.851California: 11.835 %California11.835Washington: 11.315 %Washington11.315Montana: 11.309 %Montana11.309North Carolina: 11.092 %North Carolina11.092South Carolina: 10.884 %South Carolina10.884Alaska: 10.826 %Alaska10.826Tennessee: 10.473 %Tennessee10.473District of Columbia: 10.406 %District of Columbia10.406New York: 10.279 %New York10.279New Jersey: 10.26 %New Jersey10.26Oregon: 10.159 %Oregon10.159Michigan: 10.141 %Michigan10.141Virginia: 10.032 %Virginia10.032Illinois: 10.031 %Illinois10.031Maryland: 9.991 %Maryland9.991Missouri: 9.911 %Missouri9.911Oklahoma: 9.844 %Oklahoma9.844Maine: 9.818 %Maine9.818Arkansas: 9.606 %Arkansas9.606Alabama: 9.423 %Alabama9.423New Mexico: 9.363 %New Mexico9.363Louisiana: 9.349 %Louisiana9.349Minnesota: 9.233 %Minnesota9.233Rhode Island: 9.215 %Rhode Island9.215Connecticut: 9.18 %Connecticut9.18Kentucky: 9.113 %Kentucky9.113Indiana: 9.094 %Indiana9.094Mississippi: 9.087 %Mississippi9.087South Dakota: 8.989 %South Dakota8.989Kansas: 8.981 %Kansas8.981Ohio: 8.954 %Ohio8.954Massachusetts: 8.952 %Massachusetts8.952Nebraska: 8.939 %Nebraska8.939New Hampshire: 8.837 %New Hampshire8.837Pennsylvania: 8.78 %Pennsylvania8.78North Dakota: 8.65 %North Dakota8.65Hawaii: 8.618 %Hawaii8.618Vermont: 8.41 %Vermont8.41Iowa: 8.382 %Iowa8.382Wisconsin: 8.319 %Wisconsin8.319West Virginia: 7.932 %West Virginia7.932
%. 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

RankStates2021 (%)Change on 2020
1Florida14.584+2.38 pts
2Utah14.13+1.98 pts
3Nevada13.694+1.85 pts
4Georgia13.12+2.59 pts
5Idaho12.852+1.16 pts
6Colorado12.763+1.47 pts
7Arizona12.427+1.69 pts
8Wyoming12.044+1.02 pts
9Delaware11.903-0.8 pts
10Texas11.851+1.34 pts
11California11.835+0.22 pts
12Washington11.315+1.19 pts
13Montana11.309+0.77 pts
14North Carolina11.092+1.6 pts
15South Carolina10.884+1.6 pts
16Alaska10.826+1.7 pts
17Tennessee10.473+1.65 pts
18District of Columbia10.406+1.16 pts
19New York10.279+0.78 pts
20New Jersey10.26+0.78 pts
21Oregon10.159+0.63 pts
22Michigan10.141+1.91 pts
23Virginia10.032+1.26 pts
24Illinois10.031+1.32 pts
25Maryland9.991+1.23 pts
26Missouri9.911+0.74 pts
27Oklahoma9.844+0.79 pts
28Maine9.818+1.32 pts
29Arkansas9.606+1.12 pts
30Alabama9.423+1.7 pts
31New Mexico9.363+0.63 pts
32Louisiana9.349+1.35 pts
33Minnesota9.233+0.99 pts
34Rhode Island9.215+0.82 pts
35Connecticut9.18+0.79 pts
36Kentucky9.113+1.42 pts
37Indiana9.094+1.12 pts
38Mississippi9.087+1.47 pts
39South Dakota8.989+0.25 pts
40Kansas8.981+1.17 pts
41Ohio8.954+1.53 pts
42Massachusetts8.952+0.33 pts
43Nebraska8.939+0.94 pts
44New Hampshire8.837+1.08 pts
45Pennsylvania8.78+1.06 pts
46North Dakota8.65+0.55 pts
47Hawaii8.618+0.82 pts
48Vermont8.41+0.87 pts
49Iowa8.382+0.75 pts
50Wisconsin8.319+0.85 pts
51West Virginia7.932+1.12 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, 2021) [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, 2021. 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=2021. 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, 2021. 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=2021.

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, 2021 [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=2021 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{census_us_states_by_establishment_2021,
  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, 2021}},
  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=2021. 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, 2021
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=2021
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/establishment-entry-rate/us-states?period=2021.
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?

Florida, with 14.584% in 2021, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Which state has the lowest establishment entry rate?

West Virginia, with 7.932% in 2021.

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