Comparable baseline
Michigan at a glance
| Population | 10,127,884 | July 1, 2025; +0.6% since 2020 |
|---|---|---|
| Business applications | 16,514 | July 2026, seasonally adjusted |
| Trailing-12-month applications | 167,308 | 1,652.0 per 100,000 residents |
| High-propensity applications | 3,577 | 21.7% of July applications |
| Projected employer formations | 531 | Census four-quarter projection for July's cohort |
| Small businesses | 983,079 | SBA 2025 profile; underlying employer and nonemployer data are from 2022 |
| Small-business employment | 1,879,244 | 47.7% of private employment in 2022 |
| Employer establishments | 229,564 | 2023 County Business Patterns |
Application rankings cover the 50 states and use unrounded figures. Applications are qualifying EIN filings, not confirmed business openings. Measurement years differ because federal datasets are released on different schedules.
Michigan’s recent rise in business applications extends well beyond one monthly release. Census recorded 16,514 applications in July 2026, up 41.3% from July 2025 and 17.2% from June. Across the 12 months through July, the state generated 167,308 applications—24.0% more than in the preceding year.
Michigan ranked ninth among states for July year-over-year growth and 12th for trailing-year growth. Those two windows support a clear conclusion: application activity is accelerating, even though the data do not yet show how many applicants will become operating employers.
Growth is stronger than Michigan’s current application rate
By raw July count, Michigan ranked 10th. Its rate of 163.1 applications per 100,000 residents ranked 17th, while the trailing-year rate ranked 24th. The state is a recent growth leader rather than a top-tier state for the overall level of applications.
Michigan also ran ahead of its region. The Midwest median was 1,411.5 trailing-year applications per 100,000 residents and 16.2% growth; Michigan recorded 1,652.0 per 100,000 and 24.0% growth. That makes the current acceleration notable in both national and regional comparisons.
July filings were 120.6% above the 7,487 recorded in July 2019. Michigan’s population reached about 10.13 million in July 2025, only 0.6% above the 2020 Census base. The periods differ, so population stability should not be presented as the cause of application growth. It simply shows that the filing increase occurred without comparable population expansion.
The application mix provides a counterweight. Census classified 3,577 July applications as high propensity, or 21.7%, ranking 46th among states. Its model projected 531 employer formations from the cohort within four quarters, equal to 3.22 per 100 applications and 48th in the modeled state comparison.
Neither result is a failure rate. Applications are qualifying EIN filings, high propensity is an administrative classification, and projected formations are model estimates rather than observed openings. The measures show that total application growth and employer-oriented composition are different dimensions.
Manufacturing remains a large, concentrated source of jobs
Manufacturing employed 604,978 people in 2023, equal to 15.0% of employment covered by County Business Patterns. That share was 1.69 times the 50-state share. Health care and social assistance was slightly larger at 645,129 jobs, but manufacturing was much more concentrated in Michigan than across the states overall.
This is more than a symbolic legacy-industry label: roughly 605,000 covered private jobs were in the sector. Still, the employment concentration cannot explain the 2026 application surge without industry-level application data.
Michigan’s employer geography is distributed across several large counties. Oakland County held 18.2% of covered private jobs, Wayne 16.5%, and Kent 9.5%. Together they represented 44.1%. Oakland, rather than Wayne, led this particular workplace-employment measure.
In total, County Business Patterns counted 229,564 employer establishments and about 4.04 million covered private jobs. The close Oakland–Wayne balance and substantial Kent market make Michigan a multi-center employer economy rather than one dominated by a single county.
Established small firms employ nearly half the private workforce
The SBA counted 983,079 Michigan small businesses from 2022 data. The total combined 173,653 small employer firms with 809,426 nonemployer businesses. Nonemployers made up 82.3%, close to the broad state pattern rather than a standout Michigan result.
Small firms employed 1,879,244 people, or 47.7% of private-sector employees, ranking 24th.
Official starting points for a Michigan business
- Entity filings: The LARA Corporations Division links the MiBusiness Registry Portal for filings, searches, certificates, and copies.
- State taxes: The Department of Treasury’s online registration service covers applicable business tax accounts and sales-tax licensing.
- Licenses and permits: LARA’s licensing directory indexes regulated professions, trades, and commercial activities.
- Business assistance: Michigan SBDC offers confidential consulting through a statewide network.
Source and calculation note
Application data use the Census July 2026 Business Formation Statistics release. Monthly values are seasonally adjusted; trailing-year totals sum unadjusted applications from August 2025 through July 2026 and compare them with the preceding August–July period. Rates use the July 1, 2025 population estimate. SBA measures use 2022 employer and nonemployer components. County and industry figures use 2023 County Business Patterns employment. BizFacts calculated changes, rates, regional medians, ratios, shares, location quotients, and 50-state ranks from sources retrieved September 3, 2026.