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Industries With the Most New Business Applications (2025)

Retail trade drew 1,166,015 EIN-based business applications in 2025, professional services 764,007 and construction 519,090. All 19 NAICS sectors and the unclassified group, from Census data.

Business applications by industry, 2025, top 12 of 20 groups
Retail Trade1,166,015
Professional Services764,007
Construction519,090
Other Services483,258
Administrative and Support377,364
Transportation and Warehousi366,727
Health Care and Social Assis352,046
Accommodation and Food Servi300,236
Real Estate271,556
Finance and Insurance232,425
Arts and Entertainment163,691
Unclassified153,093
Census Business Formation Statistics, not seasonally adjusted, sum of twelve months; our addition.
Chart: the 12 industry groups with the most business applications in 2025, led by retail trade at 1,166,015; the full 20 are in the table.

As of · calendar-year 2025 business applications by industry, US12

Industries With the Most New Business Applications (2025), as of 2026-10-26
Rank Industry NAICS Applications (2025, count) Relative to the highest Share of all (2025, %) Applications (2024, count) Change (2024 to 2025, %) High-propensity (2025, count) Source
1 Retail Trade 44-45 1,166,015 20.6% 940,066 +24.0% 226,087 1, 2
2 Professional Services 54 764,007 13.5% 668,033 +14.4% 191,504 1, 2
3 Construction 23 519,090 9.2% 522,048 −0.6% 266,773 1, 2
4 Other Services 81 483,258 8.5% 484,120 −0.2% 73,236 1, 2
5 Administrative and Support 56 377,364 6.7% 372,098 +1.4% 63,753 1, 2
6 Transportation and Warehousing 48-49 366,727 6.5% 351,159 +4.4% 76,846 1, 2
7 Health Care and Social Assistance 62 352,046 6.2% 325,109 +8.3% 247,553 1, 2
8 Accommodation and Food Services 72 300,236 5.3% 279,607 +7.4% 300,236 1, 2
9 Real Estate 53 271,556 4.8% 258,265 +5.1% 32,698 1, 2
10 Finance and Insurance 52 232,425 4.1% 223,652 +3.9% 63,581 1, 2
11 Arts and Entertainment 71 163,691 2.9% 142,325 +15.0% 23,477 1, 2
12 Unclassified — 153,093 2.7% 115,486 +32.6% 24,764 1, 2
13 Wholesale Trade 42 114,740 2.0% 125,419 −8.5% 30,276 1, 2
14 Information 51 110,329 1.9% 99,520 +10.9% 19,852 1, 2
15 Educational Services 61 86,290 1.5% 83,167 +3.8% 14,597 1, 2
16 Manufacturing 31-33 84,445 1.5% 96,244 −12.3% 31,511 1, 2
17 Management of Companies 55 66,600 1.2% 57,652 +15.5% 12,691 1, 2
18 Agriculture 11 47,012 0.8% 66,023 −28.8% 7,361 1, 2
19 Utilities 22 7,270 0.1% 8,616 −15.6% 876 1, 2
20 Mining 21 5,642 0.1% 5,567 +1.3% 1,183 1, 2

Ranked by business applications in calendar year 2025: our own addition of the twelve monthly values of Census’s not-seasonally-adjusted Business Applications series for each industry sector, nationally. The 20 groups add up to the series’ own US total of 5,671,836 for 2025 (5,224,176 for 2024), so the table is exhaustive.1 A business application is an EIN application on IRS Form SS-4 after Census’s filters, not a business started; “high-propensity” applications are those whose form shows traits linked to becoming an employer, and the list includes a corporation, hiring plans, a first wages-paid date or a listed industry such as accommodation and food services.34 Sector labels follow Census’s release; “Unclassified” is the release’s label for applications without an industry code.2 Share and change are our calculations from the two annual totals; Census does not explain the year-to-year moves, and this post doesn’t either. Figures are as published on the October 14, 2026 release and can change with the annual revision on November 12, 2026.2

The top 10

#1

Retail Trade

1,166,015

Retail Trade had 1,166,015 applications in 2025, 20.6% of the total and up 24.0% from 940,066 in 2024; 226,087 of them were high-propensity.13

#2

Professional Services

764,007

Professional Services had 764,007 applications in 2025, 13.5% of the total and up 14.4% from 668,033 in 2024; 191,504 of them were high-propensity.13

#3

Construction

519,090

Construction had 519,090 applications in 2025, 9.2% of the total and down 0.6% from 522,048 in 2024; 266,773 of them were high-propensity. Parts of construction (237, 238) are on Census’s list of high-propensity industries.13

#4

Other Services

483,258

Other Services had 483,258 applications in 2025, 8.5% of the total and down 0.2% from 484,120 in 2024; 73,236 of them were high-propensity.13

#5

Administrative and Support

377,364

Administrative and Support had 377,364 applications in 2025, 6.7% of the total and up 1.4% from 372,098 in 2024; 63,753 of them were high-propensity.13

#6

Transportation and Warehousing

366,727

Transportation and Warehousing had 366,727 applications in 2025, 6.5% of the total and up 4.4% from 351,159 in 2024; 76,846 of them were high-propensity.13

#7

Health Care and Social Assistance

352,046

Health Care and Social Assistance had 352,046 applications in 2025, 6.2% of the total and up 8.3% from 325,109 in 2024; 247,553 of them were high-propensity. Parts of health care (621, 623) are on Census’s list of high-propensity industries.13

#8

Accommodation and Food Services

300,236

Accommodation and Food Services had 300,236 applications in 2025, 5.3% of the total and up 7.4% from 279,607 in 2024; 300,236 of them were high-propensity. Census counts every application in this sector as high-propensity by definition, which is why the two figures match.13

#9

Real Estate

271,556

Real Estate had 271,556 applications in 2025, 4.8% of the total and up 5.1% from 258,265 in 2024; 32,698 of them were high-propensity.13

#10

Finance and Insurance

232,425

Finance and Insurance had 232,425 applications in 2025, 4.1% of the total and up 3.9% from 223,652 in 2024; 63,581 of them were high-propensity.13

Sources

  1. U.S. Census Bureau, Business Formation Statistics, monthly data file (bfs_monthly.csv; not seasonally adjusted, national series BA_BA and BA_HBA by industry sector, 2024 and 2025), retrieved 2026-10-26.
  2. U.S. Census Bureau, Business Formation Statistics, September 2026 (release CB26-163, October 14, 2026), “Business Applications by Industry”, retrieved 2026-10-26.
  3. U.S. Census Bureau, Business Formation Statistics: Definitions, retrieved 2026-10-19.
  4. U.S. Census Bureau, Business Formation Statistics: Methodology, retrieved 2026-10-19.