Monthly report

New business formation by state: September 2026

Name: New business formation by state, September 2026
Creator: ListRiver
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

174,737 new businesses were formed in September 2026 across the 14 states with complete September 2026 data, down 7% from August and up 23% from September 2025. Florida led with 53,317.

New businesses

174,737

14 states

Month over month

-7%

vs 187,985

Year over year

+23%

vs 141,948

Top state

Florida

31% of the total

New businesses per month, all 14 states

States ranked by new businesses, September 2026

#	State	New businesses	vs August	vs a year ago
1	Florida	53,317	-6%	+1%
2	Texas	34,397	-18%	+64%
3	New York	21,904	-2%	+0%
4	Colorado	13,203	-9%	+6%
5	Virginia	11,382	-4%	+101%
6	Pennsylvania	10,282	-2%	-7%
7	Ohio	9,023	-6%	+4777%
8	Oregon	6,636	+4%	-1%
9	Mississippi	4,461	+7%	+121%
10	Connecticut	4,394	+1%	+10%
11	Iowa	3,005	+0%	+15%
12	District of Columbia	1,041	-1%	+80%
13	Alaska	883	+6%	+20%
14	Vermont	809	-3%	+51%

Not included: California. That state is still reporting September 2026, so the count on file is incomplete.

Cities with the most new businesses

#	City	New businesses
1	Austin, TX	6,010
2	Miami, FL	5,917
3	Saint Petersburg, FL	4,528
4	Houston, TX	4,385
5	Denver, CO	4,106
6	Albany, NY	3,422
7	Brooklyn, NY	2,956
8	New York, NY	2,883
9	Orlando, FL	2,801
10	Dallas, TX	2,444
11	Tampa, FL	2,018
12	Philadelphia, PA	1,896
13	Jacksonville, FL	1,641
14	Portland, OR	1,581
15	Richmond, VA	1,500

Biggest year-over-year increases

#	City	New businesses	vs a year ago
1	Jackson, MS	1,044	+635%
2	Midlothian, VA	167	+193%
3	Suffolk, VA	154	+166%
4	Norfolk, VA	331	+165%
5	Manassas, VA	211	+148%
6	Amarillo, TX	245	+138%
7	Springfield, VA	152	+134%
8	Henrico, VA	350	+133%
9	Chesapeake, VA	320	+132%
10	Alexandria, VA	472	+116%
11	Oxford, MS	113	+113%
12	Sterling, VA	132	+113%
13	Woodbridge, VA	291	+112%
14	Herndon, VA	142	+112%
15	Roanoke, VA	189	+108%

Cities with at least 100 new businesses this month and 50 in the same month a year earlier.

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August 2026

Methodology

Totals cover the 14 states with complete September 2026 data (Alaska, Colorado, Connecticut, District of Columbia, Florida, Iowa, Mississippi, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas, Vermont, Virginia), not the whole country. Counts are businesses whose formation (registration) date falls in September 2026 and that appear on each state's register in ListRiver's data. Businesses already dissolved are not counted, so earlier months are slightly understated and year-over-year increases slightly overstated. States publish on different schedules, so the newest month can rise as late filings arrive. City refers to the business address on file. More in the methodology.

Cite this report: ListRiver, “New business formation by state: September 2026”, https://listriver.com/reports/new-businesses/all-states/2026-09. Journalists and researchers are welcome to use these figures with a link. Download the monthly counts by state and county (CSV).