The United States recorded 578,926 business applications in July 2026, according to the Census Bureau’s seasonally adjusted Business Formation Statistics. That was the highest monthly total in the series, which begins in July 2004.
The application series provides an early measure of business-starting activity. It is published before the federal government can observe which applicants actually begin operating or hire employees.
The latest monthly figures
| Census measure | July 2026 | Change from June |
|---|---|---|
| Business applications | 578,926 | +8.1% |
| High-propensity applications | 151,857 | +1.4% |
| Applications with planned wages | 35,024 | −1.6% |
| Projected employer formations within four quarters | 29,959 | +0.7% |
All figures are seasonally adjusted. The first three are application counts. The final figure is Census’s projection of how many employer businesses will emerge from July’s application cohort within the following four quarters.
July was unusually strong
July’s application total was:
- 23.4% higher than revised July 2025
- 106.4% higher than July 2019
- the highest monthly reading in the current Census series
These comparisons show that business-application activity is much higher than before the pandemic. They do not mean that the number of operating employer businesses has doubled.
Why applications and business starts are different
A business application is a qualifying application for an Employer Identification Number. It signals an intention to establish or reorganize a business, but it does not confirm that the business opened, earned revenue, or hired anyone.
Census therefore publishes narrower measures alongside the headline total:
- High-propensity applications have characteristics historically associated with becoming an employer business.
- Planned-wage applications include a stated date for beginning to pay employees.
- Projected formations estimate how many applicants will develop into employer businesses with payroll tax liabilities.
Some applicants never begin operating. Others become businesses without employees. Some sole proprietors operate without an EIN and are not included in the application series at all.
Which number should you use?
Use 578,926 applications to describe the latest monthly level of U.S. business-starting activity.
Use 151,857 high-propensity applications when the question concerns applicants with a stronger historical likelihood of becoming employers.
Use 29,959 projected formations when discussing how many employer businesses Census expects from the July cohort over the following four quarters.
None of these figures is a complete count of every business that opened during July.
Source note
BizFacts calculated the historical and percentage comparisons from the Census Bureau’s current monthly file, retrieved September 3, 2026. Census periodically revises seasonal factors, classifications, and formation outcomes, so figures copied from earlier releases may differ slightly from the current series.