2.9 million new US businesses filed in five months

The United States recorded nearly 2.9 million new business formations between January and May 2026, according to the Business Formation Report published by Registered Agents Inc. The company describes it as the strongest five-month start it has on record.

Its report tracks filings in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. The US Census Bureau's new business application data points the same way, running above pre-pandemic levels.

May alone produced 558,693 formations on Registered Agents Inc.'s count. That was 5.5% down on April, which the company puts down to a normal seasonal pattern, and 10% up on May 2025.

The gains were broad. Forty-three jurisdictions were up year on year in May; eight were down.

Florida led on volume with 63,790 formations, ahead of Texas on 43,913 and California on 42,644. Delaware, New York, Wyoming, Colorado and Georgia made up the rest of the largest filing states.

Delaware took 31,015 filings. Wyoming came sixth nationally with 23,224, up 21% year on year, and Mississippi posted the fastest growth rate at 47%. Colorado recorded 21,421 formations and 34% growth.

Wyoming's position is not explained by its population. The state offers cheap, simple filing, and owners of limited liability companies there are generally not required to list their names and addresses publicly if they use a registered agent.

That profile fits the kind of company being formed. Registered Agents Inc. describes a population weighted towards solo ventures, consultancies, digital agencies, ecommerce shops, creator businesses, real estate entities, holding companies and professional-service firms rather than premises with staff.

The one-person end of that spectrum is growing fastest. Research from the Nasdaq Economic Institute found applications from one-person firms rose by more than 20% between early 2025 and mid-2026, which it attributes to software doing work that used to need a small team.

The age mix is shifting too. A report by the payroll company Gusto found Gen Z founders accounted for 9% of new business formations in 2025, against 5% for baby boomers.

Two consequences follow for anyone already running a company. The first is competitive: in crowded categories such as agencies, consulting and ecommerce, the number of entities chasing the same small contracts is rising by double digits a year, and most of those entities cost almost nothing to keep alive.

The second is about hiring. The people a founder wants to recruit now have a cheaper, well-trodden alternative to taking a salary, and the filing data suggests a good number of them are choosing it. Counter-offers are no longer only against other employers.

One caveat is worth holding on to. These are registrations, not trading businesses, and nothing in the report says how many of the 2.9 million will still exist in a year.