City rankings

Fastest-growing cities for new businesses in District of Columbia

Washington grew fastest: 12,346 new businesses, up 80% from the 12 months before. Washington had the most new businesses of any District of Columbia city in the 12 months through September 2026: 12,346, 100% of the state total.

Fastest-growing District of Columbia cities

#CityNew businessesYear beforeChange
1Washington12,3466,868+80%

New businesses formed in the 12 months through September 2026 against the 12 months before. Cities with at least 100 this year and 50 the year before.

District of Columbia cities with the most new businesses

#CityNew businessesShare of stateChange
1Washington12,346100%+80%

New businesses formed in the 12 months through September 2026.

Want the businesses, not just the count?

The new District of Columbia businesses behind these rankings are available as a file: name, address, entity type, formation month and, where the state publishes it, the registered agent.

New Business Monthly

$199 a month

One file every month with the businesses newly registered across 12 states since the file before (more than 170,000 in the latest one). Cancel any time.

Get new businesses every month

New Business File

$1,499 one time

Every business formed in the last 12 months across 15 states: more than 2.2 million records, one CSV per state, with 2 monthly updates included.

Get the last 12 months

The formation date in the files is the year and month. Most records have no email address or EIN.

Get a list of new District of Columbia businesses by city

See the exact count and price as you filter by county, city, ZIP, entity type and formation date. Download a CSV right away and get monthly refreshes. Verified businesses can pay 20% today and the rest over 6 months with Pay-in-6™, building business credit as they pay.

Build this list

Common questions

Which District of Columbia city has the most new businesses?

Washington had the most new businesses of any District of Columbia city in the 12 months through September 2026: 12,346, 100% of the state total.

Which District of Columbia city is growing fastest for new businesses?

Washington grew fastest: 12,346 new businesses, up 80% from the 12 months before. The ranking covers cities with at least 100 new businesses in the 12 months through September 2026 and 50 in the 12 months before.

Where do these numbers come from?

From District of Columbia's official business registry. ListRiver counts businesses by the formation date the state reports and the city of the business address on file.

Monthly District of Columbia new-business reports · All states ranked · District of Columbia businesses by county and city

Methodology

Counts are businesses registered with the state of District of Columbia whose formation (registration) date falls in the period shown and that appear on the state register in ListRiver's data. City is the business address on file, with spellings as the state records them. Businesses already dissolved are not counted, so the earlier 12 months are slightly understated and increases slightly overstated; the effect is similar across a state's cities, so the order is a fair comparison. More in the methodology.

Cite this page: ListRiver, “Fastest-growing cities for new businesses in District of Columbia”, https://listriver.com/reports/new-businesses/district-of-columbia/cities. Journalists and researchers are welcome to use these figures with a link.