North Dakota small business statistics
North Dakota produced 8,912 business applications in 2025, up 5.4% from 2024 and 29.6% from the pre-pandemic 2019 baseline. The page shows the latest employer-likely application signal, county concentration after adjusting for population, private-sector labor growth, SBA lending, unincorporated receipts, bankruptcy filings, and federal contract demand.
Public source files covering North Dakota business formation, labor, lending, proprietor income, bankruptcy, and federal contracting.
What the data shows
The topline combines new filing volume, employer-likely application quality, county concentration, labor-market structure, lending, and business stress signals.
North Dakota logged 8,912 business applications in 2025, up 5.4% from 2024 and 29.6% from the pre-pandemic 2019 baseline.
Through May 2026, total applications were up 14.2% from the same months in 2025; high-propensity applications were up 3.6%.
Cass filed 2,650 applications in 2025, the largest county total in North Dakota. Williams led the high-volume counties after adjusting for population.
Health care and social assistance added the most private-sector establishments since 2019. Arts and entertainment added the most private-sector jobs.
SBA 7(a) and 504 approvals to North Dakota businesses reached $146.4M in FY2025 across 188 loans, led by accommodation and food services, manufacturing, construction, retail trade, and other services.
Business bankruptcy cases tied to North Dakota counties fell from 43 to 24 in the 12-month period ending March 31, 2026.
New business formation
North Dakota business applications reached 8,912 in 2025, up 5.4% from 2024. Through May 2026, applications were running up 14.2% from the same months in 2025.
The long comparison starts before the pandemic reset.
The 2019 comparison uses the last full pre-pandemic year. The shutdown period and the business churn that followed reshaped EIN filing patterns; high-propensity applications totaled 1,388 through May 2026, up 3.6% from Jan-May 2025. Projected business formations within eight quarters rose 2.3% over the same period.
Metric note: Census BFS counts applications for employer identification numbers. Applications are early filings; confirmed operating-business counts arrive later.
Where applications are concentrated
Cass is the largest application market by raw volume. Among the high-volume counties shown below, Williams stands out most after adjusting for population.
Population-adjusted filing volume changes the county read.
The chart uses 2025 Census BFS applications divided by Census Vintage 2025 resident population estimates. Cass still has the most total filings in the table below, while Williams has the highest application volume relative to resident population among these high-volume counties.
Metric note: Census BFS counts EIN applications. The denominator is 2025 resident population, not existing businesses, so this is a scale adjustment rather than a startup conversion rate.
| County | 2025 applications | Change vs 2024 | Change vs 2019 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cass | 2,650 | +8.3% | +48.9% |
| Burleigh | 1,058 | +2.4% | -7.1% |
| Williams | 749 | +7.6% | +21.8% |
| Grand Forks | 628 | +15.0% | +49.2% |
| Ward | 623 | +8.5% | +24.6% |
| Stark | 463 | +9.2% | +26.8% |
| Morton | 353 | +1.4% | +84.8% |
| McKenzie | 264 | +1.9% | +10.5% |
| Stutsman | 183 | +12.3% | +52.5% |
| Mountrail | 138 | +2.2% | +11.3% |
| Richland | 124 | +2.5% | +20.4% |
| Barnes | 115 | +16.2% | +130.0% |
Jobs, establishments, and wages
In 2024, North Dakota had 34,330 private-sector establishments and 354,071 private-sector jobs in the QCEW annual file. Establishments changed 15.0% from 2019 to 2024; jobs changed 0.7%.
Health care and social assistance is the establishment-growth story.
Health care and social assistance added 948 establishments from 2019 to 2024. Arts and entertainment added 1,333 jobs over the same period.
QCEW tracks employer establishments. It is the recurring source here for jobs, wages, payroll, and local industry structure.
| Industry | 2024 establishments | Change vs 2019 | 2024 jobs | Change vs 2019 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Professional services | 3,965 | +937 (+30.9%) | 16,954 | +692 (+4.3%) |
| Construction | 3,936 | +244 (+6.6%) | 29,118 | +1,157 (+4.1%) |
| Health care and social assistance | 3,293 | +948 (+40.4%) | 64,172 | +1,195 (+1.9%) |
| Wholesale trade | 2,925 | +132 (+4.7%) | 24,508 | +256 (+1.1%) |
| Other services | 2,292 | +245 (+12.0%) | 11,493 | +156 (+1.4%) |
| Accommodation and food services | 2,220 | +86 (+4.0%) | 34,051 | -755 (-2.2%) |
| Finance and insurance | 2,164 | +257 (+13.5%) | 16,798 | -1,034 (-5.8%) |
| Administrative services | 2,158 | +171 (+8.6%) | 13,100 | +84 (+0.6%) |
| Agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting | 1,204 | +212 (+21.4%) | 4,937 | +344 (+7.5%) |
| Real estate and rental | 1,142 | +63 (+5.8%) | 5,337 | -95 (-1.7%) |
SBA lending
SBA 7(a) and 504 approvals to North Dakota businesses totaled $146.4M in FY2025 across 188 loans. The SBA files report 1,836 jobs supported for those approvals.
Accommodation and food services drew the most SBA capital.
Accommodation and food services drew $37.8M in FY2025 SBA approvals. manufacturing, construction, retail trade, and other services also ranked among the top capital destinations.
SBA fiscal year 2025 ran from Oct. 1, 2024, through Sept. 30, 2025. The source package was current as of April 28, 2026.
| Sector | FY2025 loans | FY2025 approvals | SBA jobs supported |
|---|---|---|---|
| Accommodation and food services | 33 | $37.8M | 404 |
| Manufacturing | 14 | $22.1M | 228 |
| Construction | 28 | $18.4M | 327 |
| Retail trade | 20 | $16.6M | 144 |
| Other services | 19 | $12.3M | 144 |
| Health care and social assistance | 22 | $9.9M | 172 |
| Professional services | 12 | $8.0M | 51 |
| Wholesale trade | 4 | $6.7M | 66 |
| Arts and entertainment | 3 | $4.1M | 36 |
| Mining | 8 | $3.5M | 124 |
| County | FY2025 loans | FY2025 approvals | SBA jobs supported |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cass | 78 | $58.6M | 729 |
| Burleigh | 19 | $23.7M | 251 |
| Grand Forks | 11 | $12.2M | 181 |
| Williams | 16 | $11.4M | 268 |
| Mountrail | 5 | $9.1M | 39 |
| Stutsman | 5 | $5.5M | 49 |
| Stark | 9 | $5.4M | 62 |
| Mckenzie | 4 | $4.3M | 24 |
| Ward | 12 | $3.7M | 62 |
| Dunn | 3 | $3.5M | 19 |
The unincorporated business economy
IRS SOI data show 65,171 North Dakota Schedules C and partnership returns/forms in Tax Year 2023. Those businesses reported $16.5B in gross receipts and $1.4B in the combined income/profit measure.
Sole proprietors account for most returns.
North Dakota had 52,806 nonfarm sole-proprietor Schedules C in Tax Year 2023, with $4.1B in gross receipts and $705.1M in net profit.
Partnerships reported more gross receipts.
North Dakota partnerships filed 12,365 Forms 1065 in Tax Year 2023 and reported $12.4B in gross receipts.
| County | Returns/forms | Gross receipts | Combined income/profit metric |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cass | 16,757 | $7.3B | $360.6M |
| Burleigh | 8,802 | $1.5B | $166.9M |
| Ward | 5,158 | $960.5M | $85.6M |
| Grand Forks | 5,014 | $1.1B | $101.3M |
| Williams | 3,374 | $678.6M | $95.1M |
| Stark | 3,251 | $817.6M | $79.4M |
| Morton | 2,686 | $213.5M | $47.2M |
| Stutsman | 1,514 | $234.2M | $34.5M |
| Richland | 1,305 | $247.6M | $34.2M |
| Mckenzie | 1,084 | $242.9M | $26.3M |
Business stress signals
U.S. Courts F-5A shows 24 business bankruptcy cases tied to North Dakota counties in the 12 months ending March 31, 2026, fell from 43 in the prior 12-month period. Chapter 11 cases totaled 2.
County bankruptcy rows can move sharply.
Cass had the largest business-bankruptcy count in the latest F-5A table. County bankruptcy rows can move when related business cases are filed in the same venue, so this table works best as a lead for follow-up reporting.
Definition: U.S. Courts classifies debt as business when the debtor is a corporation or partnership, or when business-related debt predominates.
| County | Business cases, 12 months ending Mar. 31, 2026 | Change vs prior 12 months | Chapter 11 cases | All bankruptcy cases |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cass | 5 | -8 | 0 | 237 |
| Williams | 4 | +2 | 1 | 46 |
| Burleigh | 3 | -3 | 0 | 84 |
| McIntosh | 3 | +3 | 0 | 3 |
| Ward | 2 | -5 | 0 | 72 |
| Ramsey | 1 | +0 | 0 | 9 |
| Morton | 1 | +1 | 0 | 29 |
| McLean | 1 | +1 | 0 | 6 |
| Dickey | 1 | +1 | 1 | 2 |
| Stark | 1 | +0 | 0 | 30 |
National credit backdrop
The 2026 Fed Small Business Credit Survey appendix reported that 94% of U.S. employer firms faced a financial challenge in 2025, 38% applied for financing, and 52% of applicants were fully approved.
Federal contract demand
USAspending reports $166.5M in FY2025 federal procurement obligations to recipients located in North Dakota. The filter covers procurement awards to ND recipients across award type codes A, B, C, and D.
| NAICS | Federal procurement category | FY2025 obligations |
|---|---|---|
| 524114 | Direct Health and Medical Insurance Carriers | $196.5M |
| 236220 | Commercial and Institutional Building Construction | $76.2M |
| 541990 | All Other Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services | $39.7M |
| 561210 | Facilities Support Services | $28.5M |
| 541611 | Administrative Management and General Management Consulting Services | $25.6M |
| 311999 | All Other Miscellaneous Food Manufacturing | $21.7M |
| 237990 | Other Heavy and Civil Engineering Construction | $20.3M |
| 221210 | Natural Gas Distribution | $19.1M |
| 623110 | Nursing Care Facilities (Skilled Nursing Facilities) | $18.8M |
| 541715 | Research and Development in the Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciences (except Nanotechnology and Biotechnology) | $17.4M |
Sources and methodology
The charts and figures on this page come from public source files or APIs. Annual sources use the most recent complete year available; partial-year figures are labeled in the text.
- Census BFS monthly CSV
Updated June 10, 2026, 14:00 GMT - Census BFS county workbook
Updated June 10, 2026, 14:22 GMT - Census county population estimates
Vintage 2025 county resident population estimates - BLS QCEW annual area files
2019 and 2024 annual API files - SBA 7(a)/504 FOIA package
Updated April 28, 2026, 14:42 GMT - IRS SOI Tax Year 2023 unincorporated tables
Tax Year 2023 county combined, sole proprietor state, and partnership state tables - U.S. Courts F-5A bankruptcy XLSX
12 months ending March 31, 2026 - Fed SBCS Main Street Metrics appendix
Last updated March 23, 2026 - USAspending API
FY2025 procurement obligations
Alex Morgan edits public business datasets for SMB Statistics, including Census, BLS, SBA, IRS, U.S. Courts, Fed SBCS, and USAspending files.