Data / Rankings / Establishment exit rate / US states

US states by establishment exit rate

New York had the highest establishment exit rate of 51 states in 2021, at 13.065%. South Dakota had the lowest, at 7.307%. The median was 9.254% and the figure for the United States was 10.11%. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.

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Highest13.065New York
Lowest7.307South Dakota
Median9.25451 states
United States10.11History

Map of states, 2021

Alabama: 8.018 %Alaska: 9.254 %Arizona: 9.691 %Arkansas: 8.476 %California: 12.182 %Colorado: 10.571 %Connecticut: 9.987 %Delaware: 9.665 %District of Columbia: 11.57 %Florida: 10.536 %Georgia: 9.671 %Hawaii: 12.193 %Idaho: 8.767 %Illinois: 10.075 %Indiana: 8.238 %Iowa: 8.195 %Kansas: 8.038 %Kentucky: 8.713 %Louisiana: 8.816 %Maine: 8.841 %Maryland: 10.079 %Massachusetts: 10.808 %Michigan: 9.97 %Minnesota: 8.435 %Mississippi: 8.429 %Missouri: 9.122 %Montana: 8.71 %Nebraska: 7.64 %Nevada: 10.557 %New Hampshire: 9.055 %New Jersey: 11.972 %New Mexico: 10.367 %New York: 13.065 %North Carolina: 9.102 %North Dakota: 8.093 %Ohio: 8.477 %Oklahoma: 8.963 %Oregon: 9.98 %Pennsylvania: 9.709 %Rhode Island: 10.408 %South Carolina: 8.424 %South Dakota: 7.307 %Tennessee: 8.609 %Texas: 9.602 %Utah: 9.103 %Vermont: 9.945 %Virginia: 9.714 %Washington: 10.369 %West Virginia: 8.788 %Wisconsin: 8.197 %Wyoming: 9.526 %
  • Under 8.4
  • 8.4 to 8.8
  • 8.8 to 9.3
  • 9.3 to 10
  • 10 and over
%, 2021. 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, 2021

New York: 13.065 %New York13.065Hawaii: 12.193 %Hawaii12.193California: 12.182 %California12.182New Jersey: 11.972 %New Jersey11.972District of Columbia: 11.57 %District of Columbia11.57Massachusetts: 10.808 %Massachusetts10.808Colorado: 10.571 %Colorado10.571Nevada: 10.557 %Nevada10.557Florida: 10.536 %Florida10.536Rhode Island: 10.408 %Rhode Island10.408Washington: 10.369 %Washington10.369New Mexico: 10.367 %New Mexico10.367Maryland: 10.079 %Maryland10.079Illinois: 10.075 %Illinois10.075Connecticut: 9.987 %Connecticut9.987Oregon: 9.98 %Oregon9.98Michigan: 9.97 %Michigan9.97Vermont: 9.945 %Vermont9.945Virginia: 9.714 %Virginia9.714Pennsylvania: 9.709 %Pennsylvania9.709Arizona: 9.691 %Arizona9.691Georgia: 9.671 %Georgia9.671Delaware: 9.665 %Delaware9.665Texas: 9.602 %Texas9.602Wyoming: 9.526 %Wyoming9.526Alaska: 9.254 %Alaska9.254Missouri: 9.122 %Missouri9.122Utah: 9.103 %Utah9.103North Carolina: 9.102 %North Carolina9.102New Hampshire: 9.055 %New Hampshire9.055Oklahoma: 8.963 %Oklahoma8.963Maine: 8.841 %Maine8.841Louisiana: 8.816 %Louisiana8.816West Virginia: 8.788 %West Virginia8.788Idaho: 8.767 %Idaho8.767Kentucky: 8.713 %Kentucky8.713Montana: 8.71 %Montana8.71Tennessee: 8.609 %Tennessee8.609Ohio: 8.477 %Ohio8.477Arkansas: 8.476 %Arkansas8.476Minnesota: 8.435 %Minnesota8.435Mississippi: 8.429 %Mississippi8.429South Carolina: 8.424 %South Carolina8.424Indiana: 8.238 %Indiana8.238Wisconsin: 8.197 %Wisconsin8.197Iowa: 8.195 %Iowa8.195North Dakota: 8.093 %North Dakota8.093Kansas: 8.038 %Kansas8.038Alabama: 8.018 %Alabama8.018Nebraska: 7.64 %Nebraska7.64South Dakota: 7.307 %South Dakota7.307New York: 13.065 %New York13.065Hawaii: 12.193 %Hawaii12.193California: 12.182 %California12.182New Jersey: 11.972 %New Jersey11.972District of Columbia: 11.57 %District of Columbia11.57Massachusetts: 10.808 %Massachusetts10.808Colorado: 10.571 %Colorado10.571Nevada: 10.557 %Nevada10.557Florida: 10.536 %Florida10.536Rhode Island: 10.408 %Rhode Island10.408Washington: 10.369 %Washington10.369New Mexico: 10.367 %New Mexico10.367Maryland: 10.079 %Maryland10.079Illinois: 10.075 %Illinois10.075Connecticut: 9.987 %Connecticut9.987Oregon: 9.98 %Oregon9.98Michigan: 9.97 %Michigan9.97Vermont: 9.945 %Vermont9.945Virginia: 9.714 %Virginia9.714Pennsylvania: 9.709 %Pennsylvania9.709Arizona: 9.691 %Arizona9.691Georgia: 9.671 %Georgia9.671Delaware: 9.665 %Delaware9.665Texas: 9.602 %Texas9.602Wyoming: 9.526 %Wyoming9.526Alaska: 9.254 %Alaska9.254Missouri: 9.122 %Missouri9.122Utah: 9.103 %Utah9.103North Carolina: 9.102 %North Carolina9.102New Hampshire: 9.055 %New Hampshire9.055Oklahoma: 8.963 %Oklahoma8.963Maine: 8.841 %Maine8.841Louisiana: 8.816 %Louisiana8.816West Virginia: 8.788 %West Virginia8.788Idaho: 8.767 %Idaho8.767Kentucky: 8.713 %Kentucky8.713Montana: 8.71 %Montana8.71Tennessee: 8.609 %Tennessee8.609Ohio: 8.477 %Ohio8.477Arkansas: 8.476 %Arkansas8.476Minnesota: 8.435 %Minnesota8.435Mississippi: 8.429 %Mississippi8.429South Carolina: 8.424 %South Carolina8.424Indiana: 8.238 %Indiana8.238Wisconsin: 8.197 %Wisconsin8.197Iowa: 8.195 %Iowa8.195North Dakota: 8.093 %North Dakota8.093Kansas: 8.038 %Kansas8.038Alabama: 8.018 %Alabama8.018Nebraska: 7.64 %Nebraska7.64South Dakota: 7.307 %South Dakota7.307
%. 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

RankStates2021 (%)Change on 2020
1New York13.065+2.08 pts
2Hawaii12.193+3.43 pts
3California12.182+2.32 pts
4New Jersey11.972+2.18 pts
5District of Columbia11.57+2.53 pts
6Massachusetts10.808+2.23 pts
7Colorado10.571-0.16 pts
8Nevada10.557+0.65 pts
9Florida10.536-0.33 pts
10Rhode Island10.408+2.02 pts
11Washington10.369+0.3 pts
12New Mexico10.367+1.38 pts
13Maryland10.079+1.18 pts
14Illinois10.075+0.67 pts
15Connecticut9.987+1 pts
16Oregon9.98+0.77 pts
17Michigan9.97+1.21 pts
18Vermont9.945+1.45 pts
19Virginia9.714+0.9 pts
20Pennsylvania9.709+1.9 pts
21Arizona9.691+0.19 pts
22Georgia9.671+0.18 pts
23Delaware9.665+0.91 pts
24Texas9.602+0.17 pts
25Wyoming9.526-0.52 pts
26Alaska9.254+0.06 pts
27Missouri9.122-0.06 pts
28Utah9.103-0.93 pts
29North Carolina9.102+0.49 pts
30New Hampshire9.055+1.05 pts
31Oklahoma8.963-0.48 pts
32Maine8.841+0.67 pts
33Louisiana8.816+0.43 pts
34West Virginia8.788+0.42 pts
35Idaho8.767-0.41 pts
36Kentucky8.713+0.65 pts
37Montana8.71-0.38 pts
38Tennessee8.609+0.32 pts
39Ohio8.477+0.22 pts
40Arkansas8.476+0.29 pts
41Minnesota8.435+0.09 pts
42Mississippi8.429+0.26 pts
43South Carolina8.424-0.12 pts
44Indiana8.238-0.11 pts
45Wisconsin8.197+0.53 pts
46Iowa8.195+0.56 pts
47North Dakota8.093+0.05 pts
48Kansas8.038-0.27 pts
49Alabama8.018+0.2 pts
50Nebraska7.64-0.4 pts
51South Dakota7.307-0.67 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, 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 exit rate, all covered industries, nation and states from 1978, counties from 2010, US states by establishment exit 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-exit-rate/us-states?period=2021. 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, 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-exit-rate/us-states?period=2021.

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, 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-exit-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 exit rate, all covered industries, nation and states from 1978, counties from 2010: US states by establishment exit 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-exit-rate/us-states?period=2021. 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, 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-exit-rate/us-states?period=2021
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/establishment-exit-rate/us-states?period=2021.
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?

New York, with 13.065% in 2021, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Which state has the lowest establishment exit rate?

South Dakota, with 7.307% 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 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