US states by establishment exit rate, 2023

Colorado had the highest establishment exit rate of 51 states in 2023, at 11.172%. North Dakota had the lowest, at 7.986%. The median was 8.785% and the figure for the United States was 9.396%. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.

Highest11.172Colorado

Lowest7.986North Dakota

Median8.78551 states

United States9.396History

All states, 2023

%. Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Business Dynamics Statistics: establishment exit rate, all covered industries, nation and states from 1978, counties from 2010. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Full ranking

Rank	States	2023 (%)	Change on 2022
1	Colorado	11.172	+0.02 pts
2	Florida	10.909	-0.3 pts
3	Nevada	10.757	+0.53 pts
4	Utah	10.464	+0.01 pts
5	Idaho	10.426	+0.72 pts
6	Washington	10.333	+0.06 pts
7	Wyoming	10.319	-0.08 pts
8	California	10.256	+0.42 pts
9	Arizona	10.25	+0.24 pts
10	Georgia	10.23	-0.52 pts
11	Delaware	9.949	-0.35 pts
12	Oregon	9.82	+0.5 pts
13	Montana	9.705	+0.2 pts
14	New York	9.691	-0.14 pts
15	New Jersey	9.58	-0.04 pts
16	Missouri	9.576	-0.01 pts
17	Texas	9.394	-0.36 pts
18	New Mexico	9.245	-0.03 pts
19	Illinois	9.135	-0.34 pts
20	Maryland	9.125	-0.33 pts
21	Alaska	9.122	-0.77 pts
22	North Carolina	9.073	+0.02 pts
23	Virginia	8.949	-0.61 pts
24	Oklahoma	8.918	-0.61 pts
25	District of Columbia	8.862	-1.26 pts
26	Hawaii	8.785	+0.14 pts
27	Rhode Island	8.774	+0.42 pts
28	Tennessee	8.722	-0.33 pts
29	Maine	8.624	-0.15 pts
30	Minnesota	8.592	-0.34 pts
31	South Carolina	8.58	-0.09 pts
32	Vermont	8.57	-0.1 pts
33	Mississippi	8.544	-0.25 pts
34	New Hampshire	8.522	+0.1 pts
35	Connecticut	8.473	-0.21 pts
36	Massachusetts	8.442	-0.06 pts
37	Michigan	8.428	-0.41 pts
38	Indiana	8.424	+0.06 pts
39	Iowa	8.413	-0.12 pts
40	South Dakota	8.353	+0.63 pts
41	Kansas	8.326	-0.23 pts
42	West Virginia	8.312	-0.31 pts
43	Alabama	8.232	-0.27 pts
44	Nebraska	8.214	-0.03 pts
45	Kentucky	8.203	-0.18 pts
46	Pennsylvania	8.159	+0.11 pts
47	Ohio	8.152	-0.35 pts
48	Wisconsin	8.095	-0.16 pts
49	Louisiana	8.056	-0.96 pts
50	Arkansas	8.052	-0.82 pts
51	North Dakota	7.986	-0.55 pts

Other periods

About this ranking

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

Counts closed locations, including branches of firms that keep operating elsewhere, so it is not a firm failure rate. Not comparable with enterprise_death_rate, which counts enterprise deaths 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 exit 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 exit rate, all covered industries, nation and states from 1978, counties from 2010 (US states by establishment exit rate, 2023) [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 exit rate, all covered industries, nation and states from 1978, counties from 2010, US states by establishment exit rate, 2023. 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-exit-rate/us-states. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

U.S. Census Bureau. 2025. Business Dynamics Statistics: establishment exit rate, all covered industries, nation and states from 1978, counties from 2010. US states by establishment exit rate, 2023. 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-exit-rate/us-states.

Harvard

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

BibTeX

@misc{census_us_states_by_establishment_2023,
  author = {{U.S. Census Bureau}},
  title = {{Business Dynamics Statistics: establishment exit rate, all covered industries, nation and states from 1978, counties from 2010: US states by establishment exit rate, 2023}},
  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-exit-rate/us-states. Publisher attribution: U.S. Census Bureau. Business Dynamics Statistics: establishment exit 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 exit rate, all covered industries, nation and states from 1978, counties from 2010: US states by establishment exit rate, 2023
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-exit-rate/us-states
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/establishment-exit-rate/us-states.
N1  - Publisher attribution: U.S. Census Bureau. Business Dynamics Statistics: establishment exit 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 exit rate?

Colorado, with 11.172% in 2023, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Which state has the lowest establishment exit rate?

North Dakota, with 7.986% in 2023.

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 exit rate, all covered industries, nation and states from 1978, counties from 2010. Retrieved 2026-10-12.