Comparable baseline
Wisconsin at a glance
| Population | 5,972,787 | July 1, 2025; +1.3% since 2020 |
|---|---|---|
| Business applications | 7,657 | July 2026, seasonally adjusted |
| Trailing-12-month applications | 79,523 | 1,331.4 per 100,000 residents |
| High-propensity applications | 1,784 | 23.3% of July applications |
| Projected employer formations | 363 | Census four-quarter projection for July's cohort |
| Small businesses | 497,370 | SBA 2025 profile; underlying employer and nonemployer data are from 2022 |
| Small-business employment | 1,247,875 | 48.0% of private employment in 2022 |
| Employer establishments | 144,774 | 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.
Wisconsin’s business applications are rising quickly from a comparatively low population-adjusted level. The state recorded 79,523 applications during the 12 months ending July 2026, 27.8% more than in the preceding 12 months. That growth ranked seventh nationally and third in the Midwest.
The application rate told a different story. Wisconsin ranked 39th on the trailing-year rate and 38th for July applications per resident. Fast growth describes the direction of change; it does not automatically create a high current level.
July and the trailing year reinforce each other
The Census Bureau recorded 7,657 seasonally adjusted applications in July 2026, up 38.5% from July 2025 and 25.3% from June. The year-over-year increase ranked tenth among states. Because the broader trailing-year measure also ranked in the top ten, Wisconsin’s acceleration does not rest on one unusually strong month.
The current July count was 128.6% above July 2019. At 128.2 applications per 100,000 residents, however, Wisconsin remained below the 50-state median of 154.3. Raw July volume ranked 23rd, while the per-capita rate ranked 38th.
Manufacturing’s employment share is twice the national share
Wisconsin’s 2023 County Business Patterns data counted 144,774 employer establishments and 2,642,958 employees. Manufacturing employed 479,846 people, or 18.2% of the state total. That share was 2.05 times the corresponding 50-state share.
Health care and social assistance employed 410,656 and retail trade 312,489, with shares close to their national counterparts. Manufacturing is therefore not merely one of Wisconsin’s largest sectors; it is the one with a clearly exceptional employment concentration.
The sector result describes the existing employer economy, not the source of recent applications. State-level BFS does not identify which Wisconsin industries produced the July increase. CBP also excludes most crop and animal production, so the table is incomplete for agriculture.
Employment extends well beyond the three largest counties
Milwaukee County held 435,400 private employees in 2023, or 16.5% of the state total. Dane County held 314,435, or 11.9%, and Waukesha County held 246,232, or 9.3%. Together, the three accounted for 37.7%.
That concentration ranked 38th when states were ordered from most concentrated, leaving nearly two-thirds of measured employment outside the largest three counties. Wisconsin’s employer base is not dominated by one metro county.
The SBA profile reports 497,370 small businesses using underlying 2022 data: 107,594 small employer firms and 389,776 nonemployer establishments. Small firms provided 1,247,875 jobs, or 48.0% of private employment and rank 22.
Official Wisconsin business resources
- The Department of Financial Institutions provides online entity filing and registration and annual-report guidance.
- Wisconsin One Stop coordinates covered entity, tax, and workforce registrations.
- The Department of Revenue’s Starting a Business page covers applicable tax accounts.
- DSPS uses LicensE for covered professional and business licenses.
- The Wisconsin SBDC provides statewide no-cost, confidential consulting.
One Stop covers selected registrations; it does not replace all professional, industry, municipal, or county approvals.
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 preceding 12 months. Rates use Wisconsin’s July 1, 2025 population estimate of 5,972,787; ranks compare 50 states using unrounded figures. Small-business measures use 2022 SBA profile components, and county/industry employment uses 2023 CBP. Sources were retrieved or checked September 3, 2026.