Business Formation Pulse

U.S. Business Formation Statistics

Explore where business applications are rising or falling, compare application types over time, and open a state page for the full published history.

Updated from the July 2026 Census release

Business Formation Snapshot

Latest U.S. application activity

July 2026
Business applications578,926+23.4% year over year
High-propensity applications151,857+5.9% year over year
Applications with planned wages35,024-20.0% year over year
Corporate applications44,738+3.9% year over year

Explore the map

Where are business applications rising or falling?

Choose a metric, month, and view. Select a state on the map or with the accessible state control to update the page.

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D.C. and smaller states can also be selected from the state control.

Application activity

Application mix over time

These categories overlap, so they are shown as separate lines rather than stacked as additive totals.

Series
Range
View recent published values
Recent U.S. business application values
PeriodBusiness applicationsHigh-propensity applicationsApplications with planned wagesCorporate applications
July 2026578,926151,85735,02444,738
June 2026535,690149,79235,58743,365
May 2026528,929146,98335,51741,110
April 2026506,807147,12635,67341,692
March 2026493,792144,97036,51340,864
February 2026496,121146,25238,06841,469
January 2026526,115148,12739,07744,422
December 2025496,139136,57836,69141,368
November 2025537,266145,00738,25743,555
October 2025498,416141,26636,81042,852
September 2025510,794143,11637,07343,769
August 2025478,074142,22139,80443,102
July 2025469,274143,44943,79343,075
June 2025462,692142,29042,90143,276
May 2025448,815141,57043,44543,297
April 2025456,024142,82844,28444,985
March 2025461,056141,44144,33344,603
February 2025432,820139,44044,61344,009
January 2025385,618128,33840,98241,545
December 2024464,450148,91748,20447,049
November 2024446,146141,48945,37344,762
October 2024426,875139,53244,43944,583
September 2024427,221142,58945,89545,431
August 2024436,267144,68946,18345,834

State vs. U.S.

California vs United States

Each indexed line starts at 100, so the chart compares relative change without treating state and national totals as if they were the same scale.

View
Range
View recent state and U.S. values
Recent California and U.S. business application values
PeriodCaliforniaUnited States
July 202661,133578,926
June 202652,889535,690
May 202652,447528,929
April 202648,689506,807
March 202647,121493,792
February 202649,777496,121
January 202656,976526,115
December 202548,748496,139
November 202549,794537,266
October 202548,957498,416
September 202547,983510,794
August 202544,678478,074
July 202544,258469,274
June 202543,729462,692
May 202543,519448,815
April 202546,777456,024
March 202546,120461,056
February 202542,998432,820
January 202541,837385,618
December 202445,320464,450
November 202444,465446,146
October 202444,804426,875
September 202444,233427,221
August 202445,446436,267

Formation outlook

Actual vs projected business formations

Follow application cohorts from observed formations into the published Census projection period.

Formation horizon

Projected formations are estimates for application cohorts, not businesses that formed during the displayed month.

View published formation values
U.S. formations within four quarters, published combined series
Application cohortPublished valueObservation status
July 202629,959Projected estimate
June 202629,755Projected estimate
May 202629,553Projected estimate
April 202628,587Projected estimate
March 202628,992Projected estimate
February 202628,993Projected estimate
January 202629,970Projected estimate
December 202528,573Projected estimate
November 202528,868Projected estimate
October 202527,479Projected estimate
September 202527,747Projected estimate
August 202525,849Projected estimate
July 202525,383Projected estimate
June 202525,365Projected estimate
May 202525,218Projected estimate
April 202525,386Projected estimate
March 202524,759Projected estimate
February 202524,542Projected estimate
January 202521,761Projected estimate
December 202425,916Projected estimate
November 202424,573Projected estimate
October 202424,549Projected estimate
September 202424,928Projected estimate
August 202425,446Projected estimate
July 202424,706Projected estimate
June 202424,976Projected estimate
May 202424,472Projected estimate
April 202424,094Projected estimate
March 202424,810Projected estimate
February 202425,148Projected estimate
January 202425,163Projected estimate
December 202325,972Projected estimate
November 202325,947Projected estimate
October 202325,502Projected estimate
September 202326,208Projected estimate
August 202326,612Projected estimate
July 202326,472Projected estimate
June 202326,650Projected estimate
May 202325,577Projected estimate
April 202326,331Projected estimate
March 202327,753Projected estimate
February 202326,908Projected estimate
January 202325,635Projected estimate
December 202225,080Actual
November 202224,672Actual
October 202224,651Actual
September 202224,247Actual
August 202224,511Actual
July 202224,929Actual
June 202224,354Actual
May 202225,773Actual
April 202223,623Actual
March 202224,211Actual
February 202225,433Actual
January 202226,377Actual
December 202125,588Actual
November 202126,624Actual
October 202126,291Actual
September 202126,134Actual
August 202125,532Actual

Where growth is fastest

Fastest year-over-year growth

The chart and exact-value table stay synchronized with the map controls.

States ranked by latest year-over-year change in business applications
RankStateValueYear over yearHistorical percentile
1Alaska1,367+95.8%99th
2Arkansas5,023+61.8%100th
3Mississippi6,979+57.0%99th
4Kansas4,392+52.1%100th
5Oklahoma6,461+51.0%99th
6Colorado17,259+44.7%100th
7Missouri12,159+43.8%100th
8Indiana10,639+42.8%100th
9Michigan16,514+41.3%99th
10Wisconsin7,657+38.5%100th
11California61,133+38.1%100th
12New Hampshire1,947+37.3%99th

Side by side

Compare states

Selected-state business application comparison
StateValueYear over yearHistorical percentile
California61,133+38.1%100th
Texas57,190+25.5%100th
Florida65,332+22.3%100th
Arizona14,085+30.1%100th

Records & outliers

Business applications, all-time context

Record high

578,926 applications in July 2026

DDT calculation based on Census BFS

Record low

158,475 applications in July 2004

DDT calculation based on Census BFS

Largest month-over-month move on record

+45.0% in July 2020

DDT calculation based on Census BFS

Published calculations

What changed?

Formula v1.0.0

Year Over Year

The latest value is 23.4% above the same month one year earlier.

DDT calculation based on Census BFS · n=265

Month Over Month

Applications moved 8.1% from the previous month.

DDT calculation based on Census BFS · n=265

Historical Percentile

The latest value ranks in the 100th percentile of the published monthly history.

DDT calculation based on Census BFS · n=265
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