Comparable baseline
North Carolina at a glance
| Population | 11,197,968 | July 1, 2025; +7.2% since 2020 |
|---|---|---|
| Business applications | 17,717 | July 2026, seasonally adjusted |
| Trailing-12-month applications | 198,245 | 1,770.4 per 100,000 residents |
| High-propensity applications | 4,701 | 26.5% of July applications |
| Projected employer formations | 973 | Census four-quarter projection for July's cohort |
| Small businesses | 1,107,537 | SBA 2025 profile; underlying employer and nonemployer data are from 2022 |
| Small-business employment | 1,815,569 | 44.2% of private employment in 2022 |
| Employer establishments | 258,169 | 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.
The trailing year carries the stronger signal
North Carolina recorded 198,245 unadjusted business applications from August 2025 through July 2026, up 20.2% from the preceding 12 months. That growth ranked 18th among the states and extended a period of high filing volume rather than hinging on one unusually strong month.
July itself was comparatively restrained. The state received 17,717 seasonally adjusted applications, up 3.0% from June and 7.0% from July 2025. The year-over-year increase ranked 44th, so the broader trailing year carries the stronger growth signal.
The July series also shows how the level has changed. Applications rose from 12,986 in July 2022 to 17,717 in July 2026, a 36.4% increase. The latest count was 101.6% above July 2019. Those comparisons establish substantially more filing activity than in earlier Julys; they do not count businesses that opened.
Business applications are qualifying filings for federal employer identification numbers. Some become operating businesses and some do not.
North Carolina is high-volume, but not a per-capita leader
North Carolina ranked seventh in raw July applications, reflecting both sustained filing activity and a large population. The state’s estimated population reached 11,197,968 in 2025, 7.2% above 2020 and the sixth-fastest increase among the states.
After population adjustment, July’s application rate was 158.2 per 100,000 residents, ranking 21st. The trailing-year rate was 1,770.4 per 100,000, ranking 17th. North Carolina is therefore a high-volume state with an above-middle filing rate, not a national per-capita leader.
July included 4,701 high-propensity applications, 26.5% of the total and 25th among the states. Census projected 973 employer formations within four quarters from the July cohort, equal to 5.49 per 100 applications and ranking 18th. These are employer-oriented indicators, not observed openings, hiring totals, or success rates.
Charlotte and Raleigh anchor a distributed employer map
North Carolina’s employer base is less concentrated in one county than in most states. In 2023 County Business Patterns, Mecklenburg County accounted for 732,418 covered private jobs, or 17.1% of the state total. Wake County accounted for another 556,250, or 13.0%, and Guilford County for 265,517, or 6.2%.
Mecklenburg and Wake together held 30.1% of statewide employment, while the top three counties held 36.3%. Nearly 70% remained outside the Charlotte and Raleigh counties. Mecklenburg’s leading share ranked 41st among the states, supporting a two-pole story without reducing North Carolina’s employer economy to those metros.
Manufacturing employed 472,162 people, or 11.0% of covered private employment. Health care employed more people—641,503, or 15.0%. Neither sector measure identifies the industries behind recent applications.
A large small-business base does not produce a high employment share
The SBA’s 2025 state profile reported 1,107,537 small businesses in North Carolina using principally 2022 employer-firm and nonemployer components. That was the eighth-largest published count among the states.
Those businesses employed 1,815,569 people, or 44.2% of private-sector workers, ranking 41st. The contrast matters: a large number of small businesses does not necessarily mean small firms account for a large share of payroll employment.
Nonemployer establishments accounted for 82.6% of the published small-business total. The headline count therefore includes many self-employed operations without paid employees and should not be read as a count of employer firms.
Official resources for starting a North Carolina business
- Begin with NC.gov’s Start My Business guide for the state’s planning, registration, tax, employer, and permit sequence. North Carolina does not issue one generic state business license.
- Use the Secretary of State’s Online Business Services for creation filings, annual reports, entity status, and records.
- Register supported state tax accounts through the Department of Revenue’s Online Business Registration, which covers withholding, sales and use tax, and listed special taxes.
- Ask EDPNC Small Business Advisors for free, tailored guidance on state licenses and the appropriate city, county, or federal contacts.
- The North Carolina SBTDC offers basic management counseling without charge through its university-affiliated network; some education and in-depth research services use cost-recovery pricing.
Entity registration alone does not settle zoning, building, health, occupational, or local permit requirements. Check the rules for the activity and every jurisdiction where the business will operate.
Source and calculation note
BizFacts used the Census Business Formation Statistics revision available September 3, 2026. July figures are seasonally adjusted; trailing-year totals sum unadjusted applications from August 2025 through July 2026 and compare them with the preceding 12 months. Rates use the July 1, 2025 population estimate. County and industry figures use 2023 County Business Patterns; small-business figures use the SBA 2025 profile’s principally 2022 components. Rankings compare the 50 states using unrounded values.