Vital signs: Entrepreneurship keeps hitting all-time highs across the U.S.
Registered Agents, the nation’s largest business formation service provider, released its July 2026 New Business Formation Report, revealing that the record-setting pace of American entrepreneurship continued into the second half of the year.
A total of 553,918 new businesses were formed nationwide in July, making it the strongest July on record, according to the release. Formation activity increased 6% from July 2025 and 21% from July 2024, when 455,830 new businesses were formed.
Through the first seven months of 2026, approximately 4.12 million new businesses were formed across the United States. That is 15% more than during the same period in 2025, indicating that the entrepreneurial momentum established during the first half of the year has continued into the third quarter.
Although national formations declined 4.3% month over month, the decrease was consistent with the seasonal slowdown typically seen during the summer. July’s record total indicates that the underlying level of business creation remains historically strong.
Strong annual growth was seen in Mississippi at 60%, Missouri at 57%, Alabama at 51%, North Dakota at 46% and Oregon at 43%.
Florida, Texas and California remained the nation’s highest-volume states. Florida recorded 57,527 new formations, followed by Texas with 44,599 and California with 43,782. Delaware and Wyoming completed the top five with 30,426 and 22,832 formations, respectively.
Source: Registered Agents
553K — new businesses were formed nationwide in July
4.1M — new businesses formed nationwide since the start of the year
-4.3% — month-over-month decline in new businesses formed from June to July
