Los Angeles County and Sheridan County, Wyoming, don’t share many similarities, except for one main area: a high volume of business applications.
That’s one of several findings from the US Census Bureau’s most recent business application data release in June. The data track applications for Employer Identification Numbers (EINs) submitted to the Internal Revenue Service.
Business Insider sorted the data by which US counties saw the most EIN applications and calculated the percent change compared to 2024 data, while also cross-referencing with the agency’s 2025 county population dataset to determine the rate of applications per 1,000 residents. These applications did not necessarily result in a business being formed.
Overall, the US saw a roughly 8% increase in business applications in 2025, rising to 5.6 million from 5.2 million in 2024. That could be loosely tied to an economic shift during President Donald Trump’s first year of his non-consecutive second term, including a weaker labor market that may have pushed some laid-off or out-of-work Americans toward entrepreneurship.
The boom in artificial intelligence, too, has torn down some obstacles that previously barred entrepreneurs from starting and running a business, ushering in an AI startup golden age.
While most of the top counties include large metropolitan areas like Philadelphia and Miami, a small county called Sheridan in the US’ least-populated state, Wyoming, ranked 16th, with 47,787 business applications in 2025; its population is just 33,241 residents. That’s more than half of the state’s 79,024 applications overall.
George Mocsary, a professor and corporate and small-business law expert at the University of Wyoming, told Business Insider that Wyoming is attractive to entrepreneurs because it has an industry built around simple, low-cost business formation services, particularly for small LLCs, including registered agents that provide designated addresses for receiving official notices.
When applying for an EIN, he said businesses can use an address associated with their registered agent, in this case, Sheridan, making it appear as though tens of thousands of businesses are opening in the small Wyoming county when they may actually operate elsewhere.
“You’ve got an entire industry in the state, and in Sheridan in particular, that’s set up to let you [start a company],” Moscary said.
Here are the 25 US counties with the most business applications in 2025.
25. Philadelphia County, PA
Business applications in 2025: 31,924
Percent change from 2024 to 2025: 5.0% increase
Population as of 2025: 1,574,281 residents
Applications per 1,000 residents: 20.3
24. Queens County, NY
Business applications in 2025: 34,304
Percent change from 2024 to 2025: 3.1% decrease
Population as of 2025: 2,358,182 residents
Applications per 1,000 residents: 14.5
23. Sacramento County, CA
Business applications in 2025: 35,789
Percent change from 2024 to 2025: 14.6% increase
Population as of 2025: 1,618,460 residents
Applications per 1,000 residents: 22.1
22. Pinellas County, FL
Business applications in 2025: 38,333
Percent change from 2024 to 2025: 10.8% increase
Population as of 2025: 948,563
Applications per 1,000 residents: 40.4
21. Wayne County, MI
Business applications in 2025: 39,517
Percent change from 2024 to 2025: 10.1% increase
Population as of 2025: 1,769,038
Applications per 1,000 residents: 22.3
20. Tarrant County, TX
Business applications in 2025: 39,814
Percent change from 2024 to 2025: 13.2% increase
Population as of 2025: 2,248,466 residents
Applications per 1,000 residents: 17.7
19. Hillsborough County, FL
Business applications in 2025: 43,619
Percent change from 2024 to 2025: 6.7% increase
Population as of 2025: 1,574,115 residents
Applications per 1,000 residents: 27.7
18. San Diego County, CA
Business applications in 2025: 45,546
Percent change from 2024 to 2025: 8.1% increase
Population as of 2025: 3,282,248 residents
Applications per 1,000 residents: 13.9
17. King County, WA
Business applications in 2025: 46,989
Percent change from 2024 to 2025: 25.3% increase
Population as of 2025: 2,344,939 residents
Applications per 1,000 residents: 20.0
16. Sheridan County, WY
Business applications in 2025: 47,787
Percent change from 2024 to 2025: 25.1% increase
Population as of 2025: 33,241 residents
Applications per 1,000 residents: 1,438
15. Palm Beach County, FL
Business applications in 2025: 48,510
Percent change from 2024 to 2025: 1% decrease
Population as of 2025: 1,575,726 residents
Applications per 1,000 residents: 30.8
14. Kings County, NY
Business applications in 2025: 48,687
Percent change from 2024 to 2025: 0.3% decrease
Population as of 2025: 2,653,963 residents
Applications per 1,000 residents: 18.3
13. Travis County, TX
Business applications in 2025: 48,974
Percent change from 2024 to 2025: 15.2% increase
Population as of 2025: 1,389,670
Applications per 1,000 residents: 35.2
12. Orange County, FL
Business applications in 2025: 49,392
Percent change from 2024 to 2025: 2.4% increase
Population as of 2025: 1,528,002
Applications per 1,000 residents: 32.3
11. Fulton County, GA
Business applications in 2025: 49,873
Percent change from 2024 to 2025: 5.3% increase
Population as of 2025: 1,098,791 residents
Applications per 1,000 residents: 45.4
10. Orange County, CA
Business applications in 2025: 49,945
Percent change from 2024 to 2025: 6.6% increase
Population as of 2025: 3,149,507 residents
Applications per 1,000 residents: 15.9
9. Clark County, NV
Business applications in 2025: 51,725
Percent change from 2024 to 2025: 7.7% increase
Population as of 2025: 2,407,226 residents
Applications per 1,000 residents: 21.5
8. New York County, NY
Business applications in 2025: 54,695
Percent change from 2024 to 2025: 5.2% increase
Population as of 2025: 1,664,862 residents
Applications per 1,000 residents: 32.9
7. Dallas County, TX
Business applications in 2025: 61,000
Percent change from 2024 to 2025: 8.3% increase
Population as of 2025: 2,661,397 residents
Applications per 1,000 residents: 22.9
6. Broward County, FL
Business applications in 2025: 72,422
Percent change from 2024 to 2025: 1.4% decrease
Population as of 2025: 2,013,317 residents
Applications per 1,000 residents: 36.0
5. Maricopa County, AZ
Business applications in 2025: 98,384
Percent change from 2024 to 2025: 14.5% increase
Population as of 2025: 4,689,558 residents
Applications per 1,000 residents: 21.0
4. Cook County, IL
Business applications in 2025: 99,217
Percent change from 2024 to 2025: 8.1% increase
Population as of 2025: 5,194,625 residents
Applications per 1,000 residents: 19.1
3. Harris County, TX
Business applications in 2025: 99,688
Percent change from 2024 to 2025: 6.5% increase
Population as of 2025: 5,045,026 residents
Applications per 1,000 residents: 19.8
2. Miami-Dade County, FL
Business applications in 2025: 135,758
Percent change from 2024 to 2025: 2% decrease
Population as of 2025: 2,802,029
Applications per 1,000 residents: 48.4
1. Los Angeles County, CA
Business applications in 2025: 172,540
Percent change from 2024 to 2025: 4.1% increase
Population as of 2025: 9,694,934 residents
Applications per 1,000 residents: 17.8
