Research · Updated October 18, 2026

What percentage of new businesses fail?

How many new business locations are still open after one, five and ten years, in the U.S. and in each state. The figures come from the Bureau of Labor Statistics and run through March 2025.

50 states + D.C.51Jurisdictions

What percentage of new businesses fail

About 22% of new U.S. business establishments close within their first year, about 49% within five years and about 65% within ten.

Put the other way: 77.9% survive one year, 51.4% reach five years and 34.7% reach ten.

Still open after 1 year77.9%closed: 22.1%
Still open after 5 years51.4%closed: 48.6%
Still open after 10 years34.7%closed: 65.3%

U.S. private-sector establishments. Each rate uses the most recent group of openings that has reached that age, measured in March 2025. Source: BLS Business Employment Dynamics, Table 7.

How many new businesses survive one to ten years

The Bureau of Labor Statistics tracks every new private-sector business location in the U.S. from the year it opens. Its latest count, taken in March 2025, shows how each year's group of openings has held up.

Table 1

Share of new U.S. establishments still open in March 2025

Age	Opened	Openings	Still open, March 2025	Survival	Closed
1 year	Apr 2023 to Mar 2024	988,310	769,449	77.9%	22.1%
2 years	Apr 2022 to Mar 2023	1,049,106	691,774	65.9%	34.1%
3 years	Apr 2021 to Mar 2022	1,065,228	599,752	56.3%	43.7%
5 years	Apr 2019 to Mar 2020	767,573	394,689	51.4%	48.6%
10 years	Apr 2014 to Mar 2015	677,876	235,071	34.7%	65.3%

Source: BLS Business Employment Dynamics, Establishment Age and Survival, Table 7, U.S. total private. Survival is measured in March 2025.

Each row is a different group of openings. The three-year figure (56.3%) is below the average of the latest three groups at that age (59.7%). Its group, which opened in the year to March 2022, was the largest on record and also had a weak first year (see "Survival since 1994").

One group of new businesses, followed for ten years

The rates above mix groups that opened in different years. To see how a single group thins out, follow the 677,876 private-sector establishments that opened in the U.S. between April 2014 and March 2015.

By March 2016, 79.6% were still open.
By March 2020, 50.2% were still open.
By March 2025, 34.7% were still open: 235,071 locations.

The first year took the largest share. 20.4% of the group closed within its first year, another 29.4% closed in years two through five, and 15.5% closed in years six through ten. After year five, the group lost about 3 percentage points a year.

Older groups show the long run. Of the establishments that opened in the year to March 1994, 12.6% were still open in March 2025, 31 years later.

Figure 1

Of every 100 establishments that opened in the year to March 2015

Closed in year 1 (20)
Closed in years 2 to 5 (29)
Closed in years 6 to 10 (16)
Still open after 10 years (35)

Shares are rounded to whole establishments out of 100.

Figure 2

Share still open, by years since opening

Establishments that opened April 2014 to March 2015. Select a state to compare it with the U.S.

Show the numbers

Source: BLS Business Employment Dynamics, Table 7, survival since birth, measured each March from 2016 to 2025.

Five-year survival by state

23 of the 50 states and the District of Columbia had a five-year survival rate above the U.S. rate of 51.4%. Among states without a data flag, the five-year rate runs from 46.3% in New Mexico to 57.1% in Pennsylvania.

Fourteen jurisdictions carry a data flag because their rates move a lot from one group of openings to the next: Alaska, Connecticut, the District of Columbia, Idaho, Maine, Missouri, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, Washington and West Virginia. Their numbers are shown as published, with a hatched fill on the map and a † in the table.

Figure 3

Five-year survival, compared with the U.S. rate of 51.4%

Establishments that opened April 2019 to March 2020, still open in March 2025. Select a state on the map.

4 or more points below
2 to 4 below
0 to 2 below
0 to 2 above
2 to 4 above
4 or more above
Hatched: data flag

United States

51.4%

767,573 openings · 394,689 still open

Source: BLS Business Employment Dynamics, Table 7. Points are the state's rate minus the U.S. rate.

All 50 states and D.C.

Table 2

Survival rates for new establishments, by state


United States	77.9%	65.9%	56.3%	51.4%	34.7%			767,573
Alabama	77.1%	64.5%	58.7%	51.4%	36.4%	24	0.0	8,908
Alaska†	74.4%	61.7%	51.7%	50.8%	33.4%	28	−0.6	1,277
Arizona	79.0%	66.1%	56.0%	52.1%	34.3%	22	+0.7	13,685
Arkansas	76.6%	63.2%	56.6%	48.0%	31.8%	39	−3.4	6,153
California	80.3%	72.1%	62.4%	53.7%	34.1%	12	+2.3	142,133
Colorado	75.9%	62.8%	53.7%	48.5%	31.9%	36	−2.9	18,478
Connecticut†	78.2%	64.1%	54.0%	51.1%	31.2%	25	−0.3	7,828
Delaware	72.8%	62.4%	53.0%	48.1%	29.6%	37	−3.3	2,583
District of Columbia†	67.1%	57.4%	46.1%	42.4%	27.3%	50	−9.0	3,621
Florida	76.0%	64.4%	53.6%	49.5%	34.0%	34	−1.9	64,451
Georgia	75.1%	63.2%	52.2%	49.9%	32.1%	32	−1.5	24,232
Hawaii	77.1%	62.8%	53.9%	51.0%	41.9%	26	−0.4	2,719
Idaho†	76.6%	63.9%	50.6%	45.6%	33.3%	48	−5.8	6,537
Illinois	79.7%	67.3%	57.3%	55.6%	38.4%	3	+4.2	20,261
Indiana	79.5%	66.3%	57.8%	54.3%	38.5%	9	+2.9	10,082
Iowa	80.2%	68.1%	57.7%	53.7%	39.9%	12	+2.3	6,130
Kansas	76.4%	62.1%	52.4%	47.4%	34.6%	43	−4.0	5,804
Kentucky	78.7%	66.5%	60.8%	54.1%	36.4%	11	+2.7	7,961
Louisiana	80.4%	65.4%	57.2%	52.9%	35.6%	17	+1.5	7,245
Maine†	76.9%	64.2%	55.0%	54.9%	37.6%	5	+3.5	3,243
Maryland	75.5%	64.4%	52.8%	50.1%	34.6%	31	−1.3	10,757
Massachusetts	76.4%	62.8%	57.4%	52.7%	36.2%	18	+1.3	18,136
Michigan	77.6%	65.4%	59.0%	55.0%	35.7%	4	+3.6	16,031
Minnesota	79.4%	64.1%	57.6%	54.9%	41.9%	5	+3.5	9,685
Mississippi	77.9%	64.6%	57.2%	53.5%	35.9%	15	+2.1	3,966
Missouri†	74.1%	60.9%	53.2%	42.9%	29.7%	49	−8.5	17,768
Montana	78.3%	65.4%	56.8%	53.0%	38.5%	16	+1.6	3,539
Nebraska	78.8%	65.3%	57.2%	50.9%	32.6%	27	−0.5	4,648
Nevada	75.9%	62.7%	51.3%	47.6%	32.9%	41	−3.8	8,350
New Hampshire	75.1%	61.1%	53.6%	47.7%	31.5%	40	−3.7	4,083
New Jersey	79.3%	65.1%	57.4%	50.5%	34.0%	29	−0.9	27,130
New Mexico	77.0%	62.7%	53.2%	46.3%	27.4%	46	−5.1	4,531
New York	79.6%	67.9%	59.2%	51.9%	33.7%	23	+0.5	39,833
North Carolina†	76.1%	65.9%	57.2%	54.2%	37.2%	10	+2.8	20,736
North Dakota	79.1%	63.1%	56.7%	54.4%	32.8%	7	+3.0	1,876
Ohio	78.7%	65.6%	57.9%	54.4%	38.4%	7	+3.0	17,578
Oklahoma†	73.5%	62.7%	54.6%	50.2%	31.9%	30	−1.2	7,745
Oregon†	73.3%	60.7%	53.1%	45.8%	37.1%	47	−5.6	11,037
Pennsylvania	78.8%	67.6%	59.5%	57.1%	36.4%	1	+5.7	21,339
Rhode Island	77.9%	63.5%	54.5%	48.1%	33.3%	37	−3.3	2,939
South Carolina†	82.3%	68.7%	61.4%	55.9%	35.7%	2	+4.5	11,535
South Dakota	78.5%	65.8%	55.3%	52.7%	38.8%	18	+1.3	2,236
Tennessee†	70.7%	59.7%	50.1%	46.4%	32.8%	45	−5.0	14,614
Texas	78.4%	66.3%	57.8%	52.5%	36.6%	20	+1.1	57,777
Utah	76.3%	62.1%	53.3%	49.7%	35.5%	33	−1.7	9,901
Vermont	75.9%	62.7%	52.8%	46.6%	35.4%	44	−4.8	1,407
Virginia†	76.0%	63.1%	56.4%	48.8%	30.4%	35	−2.6	20,074
Washington†	82.5%	64.9%	37.9%	42.2%	31.7%	51	−9.2	18,593
West Virginia†	76.3%	68.0%	60.5%	53.6%	38.0%	14	+2.2	3,082
Wisconsin	79.5%	66.1%	58.7%	52.4%	37.4%	21	+1.0	11,391
Wyoming	75.2%	62.3%	54.2%	47.5%	28.9%	42	−3.9	1,950

Rates are the latest group at each age, measured in March 2025. Ranks are out of 51 (50 states and D.C.); ties share a rank. † Data flag: see the state panel or the methodology. Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands are published by BLS but not ranked here.

Highest and lowest rates

The leaders change with the time frame. These lists leave out the 14 jurisdictions with a data flag; their published rates are in the table above. The rank shown is out of all 51. States tied with the fifth-place rate are all listed.

Figure 4

All 51 rates on one scale

Hollow dots: data flag · Line: U.S. rate

Highest, among states without a data flag

Lowest, among states without a data flag

As published, Washington (42.2%), D.C. (42.4%), Missouri (42.9%), Idaho (45.6%) and Oregon (45.8%) have the five lowest five-year rates. All five carry data flags.

Survival since 1994

Each point is one year's group of openings. One-year survival for U.S. establishments has stayed between 75.2% and 80.9% since 1994.

The low, 75.2%, was the group that opened in the year to March 2008.
The high, 80.9%, was the group that opened in the year to March 2020.
The group that opened in the year to March 2022 was the largest on record, 1,065,228 openings. Its one-year survival, 76.3%, was the lowest since 2008.

Five-year survival has edged up. It bottomed at 45.4% for the group that opened in the year to March 2006 and peaked at 51.9% for the 2018 group. Every group since 2009 has reached five years at 50% or more.

Figure 5

Survival by year of opening, 1994 to 2024

Year of opening ends in March. Five-year rates stop with the 2020 group, the last one old enough. Select a state to add it.

Source: BLS Business Employment Dynamics, Table 7.

Survival by industry

59.8% of new retail establishments and 59.3% of new accommodation and food service establishments (the sector that includes restaurants) reached five years, against 51.4% for all industries. Information businesses, which include publishing, media and telecom, had the lowest five-year rate at 45.7%.

Table 3

Five-year survival by industry, U.S.

U.S. 51.4%

Agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting61.8%
Utilities61.6%
Other services (except public administration)60.0%
Professional, scientific and technical services50.8%
Mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction48.5%
Information45.7%

Establishments that opened April 2019 to March 2020. Source: BLS Business Employment Dynamics, Table 7 by industry.
All 19 industries, and industry rates by state

What these numbers count

Locations

BLS counts establishments: a single store, office or plant. If a chain closes one branch, that branch counts as a closure even though the company carries on. A business with three locations counts three times.

Closures

An establishment leaves the count when it stops operating. Some closed because they lost money. Others were sold, merged, moved or closed when the owner retired. The data does not say which.

Private employers only.

The count covers private-sector establishments with employees that report to state unemployment insurance programs. Sole proprietors without staff are not in it.

No legal form.

The data does not record whether a business is an LLC, a corporation or a sole proprietorship. It cannot show whether forming an LLC changes a business's odds, and this page makes no claim that it does.

Years end in March.

An establishment's opening year runs from April through March. "The 2020 group" means establishments that opened between April 2019 and March 2020.

Methodology

Source

Survival rates come from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics' Business Employment Dynamics (BED) program, "Establishment Age and Survival," Table 7 ("Survival of private sector establishments by opening year"). The state and national files were downloaded on October 18, 2026, and contain data through March 2025.

The one-year rate is the share of establishments that opened between April 2023 and March 2024 and were still operating in March 2025. The five-year rate uses the April 2019 to March 2020 group, and the ten-year rate uses the April 2014 to March 2015 group.
Rates are the survivors divided by the original openings, rounded to one decimal place. Failure rates are 100 minus the survival rate.
Rankings cover the 50 states and the District of Columbia. Ties share a rank.
For stability, we also calculate a three-group average: the mean of the latest three opening groups at each age.

Data flags

We flag a state in two cases, computed the same way for every state:

Unstable rank: its one-year or five-year rank moves 15 or more places between the latest single group and the three-group average.
High volatility: the standard deviation of its one-year survival across the 2015 to 2024 groups is at least 3 points and at least twice the U.S. figure of 1.17 points.

Flagged: Alaska, Connecticut, District of Columbia, Idaho, Maine, Missouri, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia.

Washington

Washington's one-year rate (82.5%, the highest as published) and its five-year rate (42.2%, the lowest) come from different groups of openings. Its group sizes jump: 18,593 openings in the year to March 2020, 18,600 in 2021, 36,828 in 2022 and 22,520 in 2023. The 2022 group had a one-year survival rate of 53.0%. Averaged over the latest three groups, Washington's one-year rate is 69.7%, rank 50 of 51. The Washington file also shows older groups whose survivor counts rise from one year to the next, mostly in March 2018 and March 2019, which points to administrative or reclassification changes. BLS does not document a cause, and we have not asked BLS about it.

Cross-check

We compared these rates with firm-based estimates from the Census Bureau's Business Dynamics Statistics (BDS) 2023. For the U.S., BDS gives 76.9% at one year and 54.1% at five, against 77.9% and 51.4% here. The median gap between the two sources on five-year survival is 4.3 points. At five years the Census figure is higher nationally too (54.1% against 51.4%), so the difference is not only a state effect. For Washington, BDS gives 54.0% at five years (BED 42.2%); for D.C., 55.0% (BED 42.4%). Those gaps are much larger than the median, and the reason for them is not known. We use BDS only as a check, never for the headline numbers. BLS does not give reasons for year-to-year changes in survival, and this page does not add any.

What we left out

BLS also publishes Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands; they are not in the rankings. Rates cannot be calculated for a group before it reaches that age, so the ten-year column always uses the group that opened in the year to March 2015.

Frequently asked questions

What percentage of businesses fail in the first year?

About 22%. Of the U.S. private-sector establishments that opened between April 2023 and March 2024, 22.1% had closed by March 2025 and 77.9% were still open.

What percentage of businesses fail within five years?

48.6% of the establishments that opened between April 2019 and March 2020 had closed by March 2025. 51.4% were still open.

What percentage of businesses fail within ten years?

65.3% of the establishments that opened between April 2014 and March 2015 had closed by March 2025. 34.7% were still open.

Which state has the highest business survival rate?

It depends on the time frame. At five years, Pennsylvania is highest at 57.1%. At ten years, Hawaii and Minnesota tie at 41.9%. At one year, the highest rate without a data flag is Louisiana's 80.4%.

Which state has the lowest business survival rate?

As published, the District of Columbia is lowest at one year (67.1%) and ten years (27.3%), and Washington is lowest at five years (42.2%). Both carry data flags. Among states without a flag, Delaware is lowest at one year (72.8%) and New Mexico at five years (46.3%) and ten years (27.4%).

Do 90% of new businesses fail?

Not according to BLS. About 65% of new establishments close within ten years, and 12.6% of those that opened in the year to March 1994 were still open 31 years later.

Which industries survive longest?

At five years, agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting (61.8%), utilities (61.6%) and other services (60.0%) had the highest rates. Information had the lowest (45.7%). See the industry page for all 19 sectors.

Does forming an LLC improve a business's chance of survival?

This data cannot answer that. BLS does not record a business's legal form, so there is no way to compare LLCs with other businesses here.

Why do these figures count "establishments" rather than businesses?

BLS tracks individual locations. A company with five stores counts as five establishments, and if it closes one store, that counts as one closure even though the company is still operating.

Cite this page

You are welcome to use these figures and charts with a link to this page. For a single state, link to this page with the state's postal code at the end, for example #tx. The state panel at the top gives a citation for each state.

Suggested citation

Mainstay Filing, "Business Survival Rates by State," updated October 18, 2026, using U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Business Employment Dynamics, Establishment Age and Survival, Table 7 (data through March 2025). https://mainstayfiling.com/research/business-survival-rates-by-state/

Last updated:October 18, 2026
Data through:March 2025
Next update:after BLS publishes data through March 2026

Sources

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Business Employment Dynamics, Establishment Age and Survival, Table 7, state and U.S. files. https://www.bls.gov/bdm/bdmage.htm. Data through March 2025; downloaded October 18, 2026.
U.S. Census Bureau, Business Dynamics Statistics 2023, firm age by state. https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/bds.html. Used for the cross-check only; downloaded October 18, 2026.

† Data flag. This state's rate moves a lot from one group of openings to the next, or its rank changes by 15 or more places when three groups are averaged. The published figure is shown; see the methodology.

Mainstay Filing is a business filing service, not a law firm or tax advisor. This page reports public government statistics and is not legal, tax or financial advice.