Comparable baseline
Oklahoma at a glance
| Population | 4,123,288 | July 1, 2025; +4.0% since 2020 |
|---|---|---|
| Business applications | 6,461 | July 2026, seasonally adjusted |
| Trailing-12-month applications | 69,235 | 1,679.1 per 100,000 residents |
| High-propensity applications | 1,522 | 23.6% of July applications |
| Projected employer formations | 286 | Census four-quarter projection for July's cohort |
| Small businesses | 395,520 | SBA 2025 profile; underlying employer and nonemployer data are from 2022 |
| Small-business employment | 706,906 | 50.8% of private employment in 2022 |
| Employer establishments | 96,402 | 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.
Growth was strong across both time windows
Oklahoma recorded 6,461 seasonally adjusted business applications in July 2026, up 51.0% from July 2025 and 21.2% from June. The annual increase ranked fifth among the states.
This was more than a one-month comparison. Oklahoma logged 69,235 unadjusted applications over the 12 months ending July 2026, 28.6% more than in the preceding 12 months. That growth ranked sixth. When the latest month and full trailing year both place near the top, the evidence for recent filing momentum is stronger than a solitary spike would provide.
July applications had been subdued in the two preceding years: 4,246 in 2024 and 4,280 in 2025, after 5,166 in 2023. The 2026 count was 30.1% above July 2022 and 92.5% above July 2019. The official adjusted series also contains month-to-month volatility—including an unusually high February 2026—so the trailing-year comparison remains the steadier summary.
Business applications are qualifying EIN filings, not confirmed business openings. The growth establishes more prospective-business filing activity, not an equivalent percentage increase in operating firms or jobs.
Fast growth came from a middle-ranked level
Oklahoma ranked 30th in raw July applications. Adjusting for its 2025 population of 4,123,288 moved it to 22nd with 156.7 applications per 100,000 residents. Its trailing-year rate was 1,679.1 per 100,000, ranking 21st.
Oklahoma was among the fastest-growing states, but its current filing level per resident remained closer to the middle.
The application mix was less exceptional than the growth rate. July included 1,522 high-propensity applications, 23.6% of the total and 35th among the states. Census projected 286 employer formations within four quarters, equal to 4.43 per 100 applications and ranking 38th. These category and model measures do not cancel the filing growth; they show why the overall increase should not automatically be described as equivalent growth in payroll employers.
Oklahoma City and Tulsa account for half the employer base
In 2023 County Business Patterns, Oklahoma County accounted for 407,951 covered private jobs, or 28.5% of the statewide total. Tulsa County accounted for 329,036, or 23.0%. Together, the two metro counties held 51.5% of private employment.
Cleveland County added 78,352 jobs, or 5.5%, bringing the top-three share to 56.9%. The state’s employer geography is therefore best understood through an Oklahoma City–Tulsa split rather than one dominant center.
Oklahoma also has a pronounced extractive-industry specialization. Mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction employed 33,467 people, or 2.34% of covered private employment. That share was 5.89 times the corresponding 50-state share. Health care remained much larger by total employment, with 229,612 jobs or 16.0%.
Small businesses employ about half of private workers
The SBA’s 2025 profile reported 395,520 small businesses in Oklahoma using principally 2022 employer-firm and nonemployer components. The published count ranked 27th among the states.
Small businesses employed 706,906 people, or 50.8% of private-sector workers, ranking 13th. Their employment share was therefore more distinctive than their business count.
Nonemployer establishments accounted for 81.7% of the published small-business total. That means the headline count includes many self-employed operations with no paid employees and should not be used as an employer-firm count.
Official resources for starting an Oklahoma business
- Follow the Oklahoma Business Hub’s Launch sequence for planning, Secretary of State registration, a federal tax ID, licenses, and employer filings.
- Use the Oklahoma Tax Commission New Business Center to identify required tax permits and accounts, including sales and use tax, and links to unemployment and other agency registrations.
- Check the Business Hub’s licenses and permits guide for activity-specific state requirements. Some listed activities do not need a state occupational license, but municipalities may still require one.
- The Oklahoma SBDC provides no-cost, confidential one-on-one advising, workshops, and technical assistance for new and existing businesses.
A Secretary of State filing is not a business license. Requirements depend on the legal form, activity, employer status, and city or county, and current tax permit fees and processing details should be confirmed on the live agency pages.
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.