US Counties With the Lowest Net Business Formation Rates

3,144 US counties ranked by net business formation rate, from lowest to highest. First are Loup County, NE (-27.3), Van Buren County, TN (-23.8) and Baker County, GA (-21.4). The middle one of the 3,144 has 0.9.

What this measures

The opening rate minus the closing rate, as a percentage of the place's business locations. It is positive when more businesses open than close. Source: Census Business Dynamics Statistics.

For most measures, a national ranking mostly sorts places by income and by how urban they are. Each county’s own page compares it with the 50 counties most like it instead, which is often the fairer view.

The 100 lowest counties

Rank	County	% of establishments
1	Loup County, NE	-27.3
2	Van Buren County, TN	-23.8
3	Baker County, GA	-21.4
4	Daggett County, UT	-20
5	Hayes County, NE	-18.8
6	Glascock County, GA	-18.2
7	Billings County, ND	-18
8	Mellette County, SD	-17.4
9	Fulton County, KY	-16.9
10	Harding County, SD	-15.8
11	Jackson County, CO	-14
12	Thomas County, NE	-13.6
13	Hooker County, NE	-13.3
14	Foard County, TX	-13
15	Bland County, VA	-12.8
16	Wirt County, WV	-12.7
17	Prairie County, MT	-12.2
18	Knox County, TX	-12.2
19	Kiowa County, CO	-12.1
20	Mineral County, NV	-12
21	Greer County, OK	-11.8
22	Wrangell City and Borough, AK	-11.6
23	Kinney County, TX	-11.1
24	Trinity County, CA	-10.6
25	Hinsdale County, CO	-10.5
26	Dundy County, NE	-10.4
27	Corson County, SD	-10.4
28	Atchison County, MO	-10.3
29	Marion County, GA	-10.3
30	Alpine County, CA	-10.2
31	Garden County, NE	-10.1
32	Faulk County, SD	-10.1
33	Menard County, TX	-9.76
34	Sanborn County, SD	-9.71
35	Lewis County, KY	-9.61
36	Hickman County, KY	-9.52
37	Sheridan County, ND	-9.52
38	Jefferson County, MS	-9.35
39	Nance County, NE	-9.3
40	Kimball County, NE	-9.26
41	Eddy County, ND	-9.23
42	Steele County, ND	-9.09
43	Schleicher County, TX	-9.09
44	Elliott County, KY	-8.96
45	Haskell County, TX	-8.91
46	Metcalfe County, KY	-8.53
47	Johnson County, NE	-8.16
48	Franklin County, NE	-8
49	Garfield County, WA	-8
50	Chambers County, AL	-7.97
51	Searcy County, AR	-7.93
52	Sterling County, TX	-7.79
53	Worth County, IA	-7.74
54	Crowley County, CO	-7.69
55	Claiborne County, MS	-7.65
56	Prowers County, CO	-7.6
57	Tyler County, TX	-7.53
58	Macon County, GA	-7.5
59	Graham County, KS	-7.32
60	Noxubee County, MS	-7.18
61	Berrien County, GA	-7.14
62	Oneida County, ID	-7.14
63	Charlton County, GA	-7.09
64	Taylor County, IA	-7.06
65	Todd County, SD	-7.02
66	Highland County, VA	-6.99
67	Troup County, GA	-6.98
68	Lee County, AR	-6.83
69	Gallatin County, KY	-6.82
70	Pierce County, NE	-6.7
71	Columbia County, WA	-6.63
72	Gallatin County, IL	-6.62
73	Oldham County, TX	-6.59
74	Crenshaw County, AL	-6.48
75	Red Lake County, MN	-6.37
76	Tama County, IA	-6.25
77	Glacier County, MT	-6.22
78	Lipscomb County, TX	-6.15
79	Claiborne Parish, LA	-6.09
80	Cheyenne County, CO	-5.94
81	Crockett County, TN	-5.9
82	Leslie County, KY	-5.85
83	Hardin County, IL	-5.83
84	Nevada County, AR	-5.71
85	Fillmore County, NE	-5.68
86	Polk County, NE	-5.67
87	Poquoson city, VA	-5.66
88	Hardeman County, TN	-5.64
89	Donley County, TX	-5.63
90	Stanton County, KS	-5.61
91	Wheatland County, MT	-5.61
92	Dickey County, ND	-5.56
93	Mineral County, CO	-5.5
94	Hancock County, IA	-5.5
95	Livingston County, KY	-5.49
96	Knox County, NE	-5.46
97	Oscoda County, MI	-5.37
98	Okfuskee County, OK	-5.33
99	Pemiscot County, MO	-5.32
100	Stanton County, NE	-5.29

Every state, lowest first

Each state’s own published figure, not an average of its counties.

Rank	State	% of establishments
1	Pennsylvania	0.103
2	Iowa	0.159
3	District of Columbia	0.263
4	New Hampshire	0.27
5	Minnesota	0.295
6	Connecticut	0.309
7	Vermont	0.374
8	Illinois	0.391
9	Hawaii	0.414
10	Oregon	0.435
11	Missouri	0.456
12	Rhode Island	0.509
13	Washington	0.519
14	Mississippi	0.533
15	Ohio	0.555
16	Colorado	0.615
17	Maryland	0.631
18	Nebraska	0.739
19	Wisconsin	0.748
20	Maine	0.792
21	New York	0.839
22	Kansas	0.851
23	West Virginia	0.855
24	Louisiana	0.878
25	New Jersey	0.927
26	New Mexico	1.03
27	Virginia	1.07
28	Alabama	1.07
29	Oklahoma	1.13
30	California	1.15
31	Massachusetts	1.16
32	Kentucky	1.17
33	South Dakota	1.18
34	North Dakota	1.26
35	Michigan	1.32
36	Alaska	1.56
37	Georgia	1.56
38	Arkansas	1.57
39	Idaho	1.63
40	North Carolina	1.64
41	Indiana	1.7
42	Montana	1.71
43	Nevada	1.78
44	Tennessee	1.89
45	South Carolina	2.11
46	Arizona	2.16
47	Florida	2.2
48	Utah	2.3
49	Wyoming	2.42
50	Texas	2.46
51	Delaware	2.86

More on net business formation rate

A ranking describes places, not the people in them, and a high or low place does not by itself say why. All US rankings.