Comparable baseline
Minnesota at a glance
| Population | 5,830,405 | July 1, 2025; +2.1% since 2020 |
|---|---|---|
| Business applications | 6,604 | July 2026, seasonally adjusted |
| Trailing-12-month applications | 76,661 | 1,314.8 per 100,000 residents |
| High-propensity applications | 1,753 | 26.5% of July applications |
| Projected employer formations | 352 | Census four-quarter projection for July's cohort |
| Small businesses | 560,428 | SBA 2025 profile; underlying employer and nonemployer data are from 2022 |
| Small-business employment | 1,252,842 | 45.8% of private employment in 2022 |
| Employer establishments | 154,455 | 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.
Minnesota’s business applications remain well above their pre-pandemic level, but current momentum is modest compared with other states. Census recorded 6,604 applications in July 2026, 8.6% more than a year earlier and just 0.9% above June.
Over the 12 months through July, applications increased 13.1% to 76,661. Minnesota ranked 38th among states for that growth and 42nd for July’s year-over-year change. Both windows point in the same direction: activity is rising, but more slowly than in much of the country.
The long-term rise is stronger than the current trend
July’s application count was 77.2% above the 3,726 recorded in July 2019. That is a substantial accumulated increase, but it should not be confused with the latest year’s 13.1% growth.
Minnesota’s current application intensity also sits below the national middle. Its 113.3 July applications per 100,000 residents ranked 41st, and its trailing-year rate ranked 40th. The state’s raw July volume ranked 29th, so population adjustment moves it further down the comparison.
Applications are qualifying EIN filings rather than confirmed openings. Minnesota’s high-propensity share and modeled formations per 100 applications both ranked near the national middle.
The Twin Cities shape the map without containing the whole economy
Hennepin County accounted for 939,201 jobs, or 33.5% of employment covered by 2023 County Business Patterns. Ramsey County held 10.5% and Dakota County 6.6%, bringing the top-three share to 50.6%.
The Twin Cities region therefore has substantial weight in any statewide employment statistic, but nearly half of covered private jobs remained outside those three counties. Hennepin’s leading-county share ranked 15th among states—concentrated enough to matter, but not comparable with the one-county dominance found in Arizona or Nevada.
The percentages measure workplace employment. They do not say where business applicants live, where customers spend, or how business conditions vary across rural Minnesota.
Management-of-companies employment is nearly twice the national share
Health care and social assistance was Minnesota’s largest covered sector, with 482,616 jobs. Manufacturing employed 325,317 and had an employment share 1.31 times the 50-state share.
The more distinctive specialization is management of companies and enterprises. Establishments in that NAICS sector employed 151,489 people, or 5.4% of covered private workers—1.96 times the national share. The category includes establishments whose primary role is holding securities or overseeing other parts of an enterprise. It overlaps with common ideas about corporate management, but should not be reduced to a count of headquarters.
The industry figures describe Minnesota’s 2023 employer economy. They do not explain the recent change in applications.
Small firms account for a below-median share of employment
The SBA reported 560,428 small businesses from 2022 component data: 118,083 small employer firms and 442,345 nonemployer businesses. Small firms employed 1,252,842 people, or 45.8% of private-sector workers, ranking 34th among states.
From March 2023 to March 2024, the SBA counted 15,229 small-business establishment openings but only a net gain of 617 small-business jobs. The two measures can coexist because openings are only one part of establishment and employment dynamics; the net figure incorporates gains and losses across the small-business sector.
Official starting points for a Minnesota business
- Form an entity: The Secretary of State’s startup guide covers structure, business names, and filing methods.
- Register taxes: The Department of Revenue explains Minnesota tax IDs and applicable accounts.
- Find licenses: License Minnesota searches state licenses, permits, registrations, and certifications.
- Navigate requirements: The DEED Small Business Assistance Office answers regulatory and registration questions.
- Get advice: Minnesota’s SBDC network provides confidential consulting through regional centers.
Source and calculation note
Application figures 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. Per-capita rates use the July 1, 2025 population estimate. SBA measures use 2022 employer and nonemployer components. County and sector figures use 2023 County Business Patterns employment. BizFacts calculated changes, rates, regional medians, shares, ratios, location quotients, and 50-state ranks from sources retrieved September 3, 2026.