Data / Rankings / Establishment exit rate / US states

US states by establishment exit rate

Florida had the highest establishment exit rate of 51 states in 2015, at 10.411%. Iowa had the lowest, at 7.034%. The median was 8.274% and the figure for the United States was 8.811%. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.

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Highest10.411Florida
Lowest7.034Iowa
Median8.27451 states
United States8.811History

Map of states, 2015

Alabama: 7.83 %Alaska: 8.851 %Arizona: 9.625 %Arkansas: 8.152 %California: 9.477 %Colorado: 9.954 %Connecticut: 8.365 %Delaware: 9.035 %District of Columbia: 9.546 %Florida: 10.411 %Georgia: 9.245 %Hawaii: 7.961 %Idaho: 8.722 %Illinois: 8.802 %Indiana: 7.517 %Iowa: 7.034 %Kansas: 7.917 %Kentucky: 7.842 %Louisiana: 8.105 %Maine: 8.154 %Maryland: 8.772 %Massachusetts: 8.163 %Michigan: 8.098 %Minnesota: 7.926 %Mississippi: 7.815 %Missouri: 9.108 %Montana: 8.533 %Nebraska: 7.305 %Nevada: 10.056 %New Hampshire: 7.842 %New Jersey: 9.784 %New Mexico: 8.756 %New York: 9.841 %North Carolina: 8.327 %North Dakota: 8.183 %Ohio: 7.625 %Oklahoma: 8.498 %Oregon: 8.055 %Pennsylvania: 7.875 %Rhode Island: 8.274 %South Carolina: 8.128 %South Dakota: 7.279 %Tennessee: 8.001 %Texas: 8.926 %Utah: 9.602 %Vermont: 7.231 %Virginia: 8.618 %Washington: 8.784 %West Virginia: 7.907 %Wisconsin: 7.137 %Wyoming: 8.436 %
  • Under 7.8
  • 7.8 to 8
  • 8 to 8.3
  • 8.3 to 8.8
  • 8.8 to 9.4
  • 9.4 and over
%, 2015. Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Business Dynamics Statistics: establishment exit rate, all covered industries, nation and states from 1978, counties from 2010. Boundaries: U.S. Census Bureau cartographic boundary files.

All states, 2015

Florida: 10.411 %Florida10.411Nevada: 10.056 %Nevada10.056Colorado: 9.954 %Colorado9.954New York: 9.841 %New York9.841New Jersey: 9.784 %New Jersey9.784Arizona: 9.625 %Arizona9.625Utah: 9.602 %Utah9.602District of Columbia: 9.546 %District of Columbia9.546California: 9.477 %California9.477Georgia: 9.245 %Georgia9.245Missouri: 9.108 %Missouri9.108Delaware: 9.035 %Delaware9.035Texas: 8.926 %Texas8.926Alaska: 8.851 %Alaska8.851Illinois: 8.802 %Illinois8.802Washington: 8.784 %Washington8.784Maryland: 8.772 %Maryland8.772New Mexico: 8.756 %New Mexico8.756Idaho: 8.722 %Idaho8.722Virginia: 8.618 %Virginia8.618Montana: 8.533 %Montana8.533Oklahoma: 8.498 %Oklahoma8.498Wyoming: 8.436 %Wyoming8.436Connecticut: 8.365 %Connecticut8.365North Carolina: 8.327 %North Carolina8.327Rhode Island: 8.274 %Rhode Island8.274North Dakota: 8.183 %North Dakota8.183Massachusetts: 8.163 %Massachusetts8.163Maine: 8.154 %Maine8.154Arkansas: 8.152 %Arkansas8.152South Carolina: 8.128 %South Carolina8.128Louisiana: 8.105 %Louisiana8.105Michigan: 8.098 %Michigan8.098Oregon: 8.055 %Oregon8.055Tennessee: 8.001 %Tennessee8.001Hawaii: 7.961 %Hawaii7.961Minnesota: 7.926 %Minnesota7.926Kansas: 7.917 %Kansas7.917West Virginia: 7.907 %West Virginia7.907Pennsylvania: 7.875 %Pennsylvania7.875Kentucky: 7.842 %Kentucky7.842New Hampshire: 7.842 %New Hampshire7.842Alabama: 7.83 %Alabama7.83Mississippi: 7.815 %Mississippi7.815Ohio: 7.625 %Ohio7.625Indiana: 7.517 %Indiana7.517Nebraska: 7.305 %Nebraska7.305South Dakota: 7.279 %South Dakota7.279Vermont: 7.231 %Vermont7.231Wisconsin: 7.137 %Wisconsin7.137Iowa: 7.034 %Iowa7.034Florida: 10.411 %Florida10.411Nevada: 10.056 %Nevada10.056Colorado: 9.954 %Colorado9.954New York: 9.841 %New York9.841New Jersey: 9.784 %New Jersey9.784Arizona: 9.625 %Arizona9.625Utah: 9.602 %Utah9.602District of Columbia: 9.546 %District of Columbia9.546California: 9.477 %California9.477Georgia: 9.245 %Georgia9.245Missouri: 9.108 %Missouri9.108Delaware: 9.035 %Delaware9.035Texas: 8.926 %Texas8.926Alaska: 8.851 %Alaska8.851Illinois: 8.802 %Illinois8.802Washington: 8.784 %Washington8.784Maryland: 8.772 %Maryland8.772New Mexico: 8.756 %New Mexico8.756Idaho: 8.722 %Idaho8.722Virginia: 8.618 %Virginia8.618Montana: 8.533 %Montana8.533Oklahoma: 8.498 %Oklahoma8.498Wyoming: 8.436 %Wyoming8.436Connecticut: 8.365 %Connecticut8.365North Carolina: 8.327 %North Carolina8.327Rhode Island: 8.274 %Rhode Island8.274North Dakota: 8.183 %North Dakota8.183Massachusetts: 8.163 %Massachusetts8.163Maine: 8.154 %Maine8.154Arkansas: 8.152 %Arkansas8.152South Carolina: 8.128 %South Carolina8.128Louisiana: 8.105 %Louisiana8.105Michigan: 8.098 %Michigan8.098Oregon: 8.055 %Oregon8.055Tennessee: 8.001 %Tennessee8.001Hawaii: 7.961 %Hawaii7.961Minnesota: 7.926 %Minnesota7.926Kansas: 7.917 %Kansas7.917West Virginia: 7.907 %West Virginia7.907Pennsylvania: 7.875 %Pennsylvania7.875Kentucky: 7.842 %Kentucky7.842New Hampshire: 7.842 %New Hampshire7.842Alabama: 7.83 %Alabama7.83Mississippi: 7.815 %Mississippi7.815Ohio: 7.625 %Ohio7.625Indiana: 7.517 %Indiana7.517Nebraska: 7.305 %Nebraska7.305South Dakota: 7.279 %South Dakota7.279Vermont: 7.231 %Vermont7.231Wisconsin: 7.137 %Wisconsin7.137Iowa: 7.034 %Iowa7.034
%. 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

RankStates2015 (%)Change on 2014
1Florida10.411-0.28 pts
2Nevada10.056-0.32 pts
3Colorado9.954+0.25 pts
4New York9.841+0.1 pts
5New Jersey9.784+0.08 pts
6Arizona9.625+0.02 pts
7Utah9.602-0.06 pts
8District of Columbia9.546+1.09 pts
9California9.477-0 pts
10Georgia9.245-0.17 pts
11Missouri9.108+0.18 pts
12Delaware9.035-0.03 pts
13Texas8.926+0.16 pts
14Alaska8.851-0.16 pts
15Illinois8.802-0.22 pts
16Washington8.784-0.21 pts
17Maryland8.772+0.01 pts
18New Mexico8.756+0.01 pts
19Idaho8.722+0.09 pts
20Virginia8.618+0.02 pts
21Montana8.533-0.46 pts
22Oklahoma8.498+0.39 pts
23Wyoming8.436-0.25 pts
24Connecticut8.365+0.03 pts
25North Carolina8.327-0.56 pts
26Rhode Island8.274-0.39 pts
27North Dakota8.183+0.35 pts
28Massachusetts8.163+0.21 pts
29Maine8.154-0.18 pts
30Arkansas8.152+0.03 pts
31South Carolina8.128-0.3 pts
32Louisiana8.105+0.2 pts
33Michigan8.098-0.09 pts
34Oregon8.055-0.57 pts
35Tennessee8.001-0.27 pts
36Hawaii7.961+0.16 pts
37Minnesota7.926+0.15 pts
38Kansas7.917+0.08 pts
39West Virginia7.907-0.18 pts
40Pennsylvania7.875-0.01 pts
41Kentucky7.842-0.22 pts
41New Hampshire7.842-0.1 pts
43Alabama7.83+0.13 pts
44Mississippi7.815+0.14 pts
45Ohio7.625+0.07 pts
46Indiana7.517-0.54 pts
47Nebraska7.305+0.31 pts
48South Dakota7.279-0.27 pts
49Vermont7.231-0.79 pts
50Wisconsin7.137-0.19 pts
51Iowa7.034-0.09 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, 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 exit rate, all covered industries, nation and states from 1978, counties from 2010, US states by establishment exit 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-exit-rate/us-states?period=2015. 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, 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-exit-rate/us-states?period=2015.

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, 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-exit-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 exit rate, all covered industries, nation and states from 1978, counties from 2010: US states by establishment exit 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-exit-rate/us-states?period=2015. 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, 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-exit-rate/us-states?period=2015
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/establishment-exit-rate/us-states?period=2015.
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?

Florida, with 10.411% in 2015, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Which state has the lowest establishment exit rate?

Iowa, with 7.034% 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 exit rate, all covered industries, nation and states from 1978, counties from 2010. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Establishment exit rate: other rankings

US states: more rankings