The Business Formation Statistics (BFS) are an experimental data product of the U.S. Census Bureau developed in research collaboration with economists affiliated with
Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, University of Maryland, and University of Notre Dame. The BFS provide
timely and high frequency information on new business applications and formations in the United States. You can find more information on the Census Bureau Experimental Data Products page.
Monthly Report
NEW Business Formation Statistics will be provided monthly at the national, regional, and state levels.
The January 2021 Business Formations Statistics Report was released on February 10, 2021 at 10:00 a.m., and is available as:
The Business Formation Statistics data for January 2021 are also available in the csv file and data visualization below. For help with using the file, please visit the BFS Monthly Data Dictionary and the
month date csv file.
2004 July - present (Adjusted and Not Adjusted): CSV [2,064 KB]
Time Series/Trend Charts: Use this link to access all Business Application series and Business Formation Series at both U.S. and State levels to create
customizable time series. For detailed instructions on using this Time Series/Trend Charts
application, please visit the Technical Documentation.
Weekly Data
Weekly data on Business Applications, Not Seasonally Adjusted are provided at the national, regional, and state levels. The weekly data are available in the csv files below. For help with using the CSV files,
please visit the BFS Weekly Data Dictionary and the
week date csv file.
NEW Business Applications by County data will be provided annually.
Business Applications data by county for 2005-2019 were
released on November 10, 2020 and are available in the Excel file and data visualization below. For help with using the file,
please visit the BFS County Data Dictionary.
Notice: Business Formation Statistics series are updated annually to revise information on business formations (firm births).
To accommodate the ongoing modernization of the methodology for the Business Dynamic Statistics (BDS) program that generates data on business formations,
the latest annual update was applied during the January 2021 monthly release. Results of the annual update will typically be released by the
publication of the December monthly data.
Notice: Starting with January 2021 of the monthly BFS releases and 2021 week 5 of the weekly BFS releases, a new
North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code assignment methodology was implemented. A Census Bureau-developed automated industry-coding program
first attempts to assign NAICS codes to all new EIN applications received from the IRS. The automated industry=coding program is based on established
patterns in the business name and descriptions provided on the EIN applications. For applications that did not receive a NAICS code during the auto-coding process,
BFS staff use a Census-developed machine learning algorithm to assign NAICS codes where possible. The Census Bureau periodically receives updated NAICS code
information for EIN applications from administrative sources and updates are applied to the BFS data. Changes to application counts may be observed when
comparing to data that was published in previous periods.
Notice: Production of the weekly BFS CSV files have resumed, no visualization will be produced. CSV files for 2021 week 1 through 2021 week 4
will be available February 4, 2021. Weekly CSV files will be published at the national, regional and state levels every Thursday by 12 p.m. EST. The Census Bureau
will continue to evaluate the feasibility of producing weekly estimates and provide future notice regarding the continuation of this series.
Notice: Due to quality concerns, combined weeks 52 and 53 data will be released on January 7, 2021. Data for week 52 in
the files will include applications for both week 52 and week 53.
Notice: After the BFS release of 2020 Q4 on January 14, 2021, BFS reports will no longer be released on a quarterly basis.
Starting with January 2021 data, available February 10, 2021, reports will be released monthly.
FRED Mobile App: Receive the latest updates on the nation's key economic indicators by downloading the
FRED App for both
Apple and Android devices. FRED, the signature database of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, now incorporates the Census Bureau's 13
economic indicators.
[PDF] or denotes a file in Adobe’s Portable Document Format. To view the file, you will need the Adobe® Reader® available free from Adobe.
[Excel] or the letters [xls] indicate a document is in the Microsoft® Excel® Spreadsheet Format (XLS). To view the file, you will need the Microsoft® Excel® Viewer available for free from Microsoft®.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau | Business Formation Statistics | 301-763-2000 |
Last Revised:
March 02, 2021
The Business Formation Statistics (BFS) are an experimental data product of the U.S. Census Bureau developed in research collaboration with economists affiliated with
Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, University of Maryland, and University of Notre Dame. The BFS provide
timely and high frequency information on new business applications and formations in the United States. You can find more information on the Census Bureau Experimental Data Products page.
Time Series/Trend Charts: Use this link to access all Business Application series and Business Formation Series at both U.S. and State levels to create
customizable time series. For detailed instructions on using this Time Series/Trend Charts
application, please visit the Technical Documentation.
denotes a file in Adobe’s Portable Document Format. To view the file, you will need the Adobe® Reader® 
available free from Adobe.
[Excel] or the letters [xls] indicate a document is in the Microsoft® Excel® Spreadsheet Format (XLS). To view the file, you will need the Microsoft® Excel® Viewer