Core source files
State pages use public, refreshable source files. Each page names the relevant source period because the datasets update on different schedules.
| Source | Used for | Current page treatment |
|---|---|---|
| Census Business Formation Statistics monthly CSV | State business applications, high-propensity applications, and projected business formations. | Annual totals use complete calendar years. Partial-year 2026 figures are labeled as Jan-May. |
| Census BFS county annual workbook | County-level business application totals and changes versus 2024 and 2019. | County charts show high-volume counties and tables preserve the raw filing totals. |
| Census Vintage 2025 county population estimates | Resident-population denominator for county application rates. | County rate charts use applications per 10,000 residents. |
| BLS QCEW annual files | Private-sector establishments, jobs, wages, payroll, and industry structure. | State pages compare 2024 with the pre-pandemic 2019 baseline. |
| SBA 7(a) and 504 FOIA package | Approved SBA loan dollars, loan counts, jobs supported, sectors, and counties. | Pages use FY2025 approvals and identify fiscal-year timing in the note. |
| IRS SOI unincorporated business tables | Schedules C, Forms 1065, gross receipts, and income/profit measures. | Pages use Tax Year 2023, the latest complete unincorporated-business year used on the site. |
| U.S. Courts F-5A bankruptcy workbook | Business bankruptcy cases, Chapter 11 cases, and all bankruptcy cases by county row. | Pages use the 12 months ending March 31, 2026 and compare with the prior 12 months. |
| Federal Reserve Small Business Credit Survey appendix | National credit backdrop for small employer firms. | Used as national context near the stress section. |
| USAspending API | Federal procurement obligations to recipients located in each state. | Pages use FY2025 procurement obligations and group contract demand by NAICS category. |
Questions each source can answer
Formation: how many business applications were filed, how the latest year compares with 2024 and 2019, and whether employer-likely filings are moving with or against total filings.
Local concentration: which counties produce the largest raw filing counts and which places stand out after adjusting for resident population.
Employer base: how private-sector establishments and jobs changed by industry using BLS QCEW annual files.
Capital flow: where SBA 7(a) and 504 dollars went by sector and county in FY2025.
Business stress: where business bankruptcy case rows rose or fell, with Chapter 11 context.
Demand signals: which federal procurement categories drew obligations to recipients in the state.
Source limits
Business applications are early administrative filings. They can move before a company hires, leases space, opens to customers, or appears in employer datasets.
County application rates use resident population as a denominator. The rates provide scale. High values can reflect filing-location, registered-agent, business-address, or legal-entity patterns.
Projected employer formations are modeled from applications. Employer establishments, jobs, receipts, lending, and stress data provide additional evidence about operating businesses.
QCEW tracks employer establishments covered by unemployment insurance. Nonemployer businesses appear in other sources.
SBA approvals cover one part of the business lending market. USAspending obligations measure federal procurement awarded to recipients located in the state; broader customer demand falls outside that dataset.