Comparable baseline
Utah at a glance
| Population | 3,538,904 | July 1, 2025; +7.8% since 2020 |
|---|---|---|
| Business applications | 7,663 | July 2026, seasonally adjusted |
| Trailing-12-month applications | 83,442 | 2,357.8 per 100,000 residents |
| High-propensity applications | 1,842 | 24.0% of July applications |
| Projected employer formations | 442 | Census four-quarter projection for July's cohort |
| Small businesses | 371,569 | SBA 2025 profile; underlying employer and nonemployer data are from 2022 |
| Small-business employment | 690,069 | 45.4% of private employment in 2022 |
| Employer establishments | 95,494 | 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.
Utah combines a high level of business applications with rapid recent growth. The Census Bureau recorded 7,663 seasonally adjusted applications in July 2026, equal to 216.5 per 100,000 residents and eighth among states. Across the 12 months ending in July, application growth also ranked eighth.
Growth extends across the full year
Utah recorded 83,442 applications from August 2025 through July 2026, 27.7% more than in the preceding 12 months. Its trailing-year rate of 2,357.8 applications per 100,000 residents ranked seventh nationally. Within the West, Utah ranked second for growth and fourth for the July application rate.
July itself was 24.6% above July 2025 and 3.1% above June. Compared with July 2019, applications were 85.7% higher. The year-over-year and trailing-year increases reinforce each other: Utah’s story is both a high application level and broad recent momentum.
Utah ranked 22nd by raw July count but eighth per resident, a 14-place rise after population adjustment. The population-adjusted figure measures applications associated with the state, not a resident startup or success rate.
Utah’s population increased 7.8% from the 2020 base to July 2025, fifth-fastest among states.
The Wasatch Front holds more than two-thirds of measured jobs
Utah’s 2023 County Business Patterns data counted 95,494 employer establishments and 1,579,974 employees. Salt Lake County held 693,721 employees, or 43.9% of the state total. Utah County held 274,566, or 17.4%, and Davis County held 103,131, or 6.5%.
Together, the three counties accounted for 67.8% of measured private employment—more than two-thirds of the state total—and had the seventh-highest top-three concentration among states. The pattern makes statewide figures useful for orientation but less descriptive of rural Utah and smaller local markets. CBP measures jobs at workplaces, not where employees live.
Administrative/support and waste-management services employed 195,297 people, 12.4% of state private employment and 1.28 times the 50-state share. The category is broad and the difference from the 50-state share is modest.
A large business count does not mean small firms dominate employment
The SBA’s 2025 profile reports 371,569 small businesses using underlying 2022 data. That includes 76,760 small employer firms and 294,809 nonemployer establishments. Nonemployers made up 79.3% of the combined count.
Small employer firms provided 690,069 jobs, or 45.4% of private employment and rank 35 among states. Utah’s top-ten application rates therefore coexist with a below-median small-business employment share.
Official Utah business resources
- The Division of Corporations and Commercial Code provides entity filing and renewal guidance; OneStop coordinates several registration steps.
- The State Tax Commission explains how to create and manage business tax accounts.
- Utah’s Business Licensing and Registration Guide routes state requirements and reminds owners to check city or county licensing.
- The Utah SBDC offers confidential business advising at no cost.
OneStop is a coordination service, not proof that every municipal, professional, or industry-specific approval has been completed.
Source and calculation note
July figures use the seasonally adjusted July 2026 BFS release. The trailing-year total sums unadjusted applications from August 2025 through July 2026 and compares them with the prior 12 months. Rates use Utah’s July 1, 2025 population estimate of 3,538,904; ranks compare 50 states using unrounded values. Small-business measures use 2022 SBA profile components, and county/industry employment uses 2023 CBP. Sources were retrieved or checked September 3, 2026.